Finally!
A Canadian Federal Court judge has indeed been appointed by the higher-ups in Canada's Federal Court to get the Jewish intervenors in the Zundel Human Rights Tribunal case out of their self-inflicted fix.
You will recall - we do! - that Bernie Farber, formerly a registered lobbyist for the Canadian Jewish Congress, had submitted an alarmist "oy veying" affidavit about how much the Canadian Jewish community would suffer at the hands of the Zundelsite if that judgment of April 13, 1999, disallowing Reva Esther Devins to sit on the tribunal, would stand. This brought the Tribunal hearings, you will recall as well, to an amazing, screeching halt.
The Jewish side was shocked. Aghast.
They asked that that ruling be overturned. Pronto.
They demanded an "expedited appeal". "Forthwith!"
And for a while it looked as if they might get it - that is, until the Zundel defense team demanded to cross-examine Mr. Farber on his alarmist, far-fetched assertions in his affidavit - that Ingrid Rimland's ZGrams had been disparaging of Jewish sensibilities by talking about "Hebrew Huddles" and a few other things.
That request by the Zundel team to produce their shrill mouth piece for cross examination by fabled Mr. Christie seemed to make them have some serious second thoughts.
The Zundel side was jerked around a bit while Mr. Farber did several Houdinis. Dates were agreed to, promises made by gentile underlings which were then promptly overruled by other, more senior, this time Jewish lawyers.
Goy underlings found out they had to take the flak.
In the end, the case stalled. The Federal Court went on their summer holidays. And that was that.
No harm came to the Jewish community, as the hyper, emotional Mr. Farber had threatened would happen if the court did not give in to their collective temper tantrums.
July came and went. August came and went. We, too, went on a holiday - secure in the knowledge that "Esther" was still in the deep freeze.
September came - and finally, a week ago, on September 16, 1999, Judge Noel Décary, who had been appointed Case Management Judge to save the Jewish bacon, if you pardon the pun, moved with decisive swiftness.
This judge made short shrift of the motions made by the appellants, the Canadian Simon Wiesenthal Centre, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith of May 10th, May 18, and May 27, respectively. He also dismissed Ernst Zündel's motion to have the Jewish side produce the highly "wanted" Bernie Farber - since cross-examining the gentleman was now no longer relevant:
***He was not granting them the wished-for "expedited appeal."***
A bit of bad news also for the Zundel team: Nobody could recover costs.
That stuck Ernst Zündel one more time with all the costs incurred for several of attorney Christie's flights to Toronto and back - and, of course, his fees, plus incidental fees like court reporters, transcribing services, research fees, copies, printing etc. etc.
Further, the expeditious judge moved quickly and combined all the diverse Jewish appeals and cross appeals into one jumbo-appeal and ordered that, from now on, any motion in any of the three appeals by the three different Jewish groups ". . . shall be made jointly by one document."
There was joy at the Zündel-Haus. This meant the court was clearly fed up with the blizzard of motions, appeals and cross appeals raining down on them from the Jewish quarters.
Judge Decary wasted no time in setting a limit on what could go into their appeal books and handed down a time table we ***know*** they do not like one bit.
Here's the scenario:
* He gave the Jewish side until October 29 to prepare and file their combined appeal books. He ordered them to avoid duplication.
* He told them he expected them to reach a concensus among themselves on the content of these appeal books. He warned them that ". . . failing which, a motion shall be forthwith made to this court to determine such content."
Translation for the uninitiated: If they don't get their acts together, the court is going to tell them where things are at! That ruling means there is now time for lots of "Hebrew Huddles" in the most prestigious law firms of the land - or else the court steps in, in the person of Judge Décary!
* The judge also dictated to them that they had to submit, file and serve their memorandums of fact and law in each of the appeals, now ccombined, no later than December 3, 1999.
* He ruled that the Zündel team had til January 10, 2000 to file their submissions in response.
* He then gave the Jewish side til January 31, 2000 to file and serve their submissions in reply
* He stated in Point 9 of his order of September 16, 1999:
"The appeals will be heard in Toronto in the months of March or April of the year 2000 at dates to be discussed forthwith with the judicial administrator. Two days will be set aside for the hearing of the appeals."
There is more which I will skip. Let's just say that the Judge's tone was unmistakeable. The judicial authorities and court administrators had finally had their fill of Jewish grandstanding, engaged in so they could go back to their financial angels to raise money on the courts' and Zündel's back.
* For the court it means: Order out of chaos!
* For Bernie Farber it means that he managed to sneak out from being cross-examined by Christie - and having his modus operandi exposed, along with a few other things.
* For the Jewish Congress and the Intervenors it means that a gentile judge was needed to straighten out their incompetent mess. This gentile judge has told them to get lost - their temper tantrums did not work on the court administrators. It means that even Jews had to wait their turn and were not allowed to jump the cue - and never mind their self-importance.
***And best of all, they did not get their expedited appeal, as they had so confidently hoped!***
* For Ernst Zündel it was yet one more time "pay up time", for he could not recover costs the intervenors had caused him by their underhanded, unconsciounable behavior.
He claimed a consolation price, however - important in his long-term strategies:
He would not have to do battle with his persecutors before the Human Rights Tribunal well into next year - March or even April. And even though the court will sit and hear the case next Spring, instant decisons are not usually made right on the spot in complicated cases.
Weeks, even months, may go by - before the courts decide!
Should Zündel lose - always a possibility with political appointees increasingly filling the Canadian Federal Courts - and should Judge Campbell's decision be overturned, Ernst says already that he is prepared to appeal to the Supreme Court and try to get justice and clear the air once and for all - just as he did in 1992!
If the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, and Zündel is forced back to appear before the Tribunal - ALL THE LAWYERS FOR ALL THE MAIN COMPLAINANTS AND ALL THE INTERVENORS WILL HAVE TO AGREE ON A DATE AND TIME CONVENIENT TO EVERYBODY!
That won't be so easy, as experience has taught. That will be like loading a truckful of piglets - all at the same time!
The moral of the story is that Marvin Kurz's nightmare has come true. It is quite possible, the Oracle of Mount Olympus mutters darkly, the Zundelsite Tribunal will never see an end!
It's never simple to mess with Zündel - is it?
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"A new truth . . . will never be able to triumph by convincing its adversaries and by making them see the light, but rather finally these adversaries die and a new generation grows up for whom this truth is familiar."
(Max Planck)