Another day in the life of Ernst Zundel! From the Zundel Headquarters Daily Log, I piece together the following:
On February 16, a reporter by the name of Fine, purporting to be from the Globe and Mail, called and wanted to know where Joerg Haider was staying upon his visit to Canada.
Ernst Zundel said he didn't know.
The next day, a reporter from MacLean's Magazine called re "Haider's visit" and wanted to know: What did it all mean?
"Why ask me?" asked Mr. Z.
Did Mr Zundel know whom Haider was seeing?
"Don't ask me," said Mr. Z.
Did Mr. Haider know Mr Zundel?
Not personally.
Or about him?
Most likely.
Was he staying at the Zundel-Haus?
"No," said a patient but presidential Mr. Zundel. "Joerg is not staying with me. But should he visit, I would sneak him in the back door. If Joerg has no objection, you are welcome to join Joerg and the Zundel staff for dinner."
Next, the MacLeans reporter received a salt-and-pepper explanation on the silliness of this entire Joerg Haider campaign. Mr. Zundel pointed out that the backlash this was producing in nationalist and conservative circles in Europe - all the way from Le Pen's party in France to Blocher's followers in Switzerland and spreading to many outskirt European countries. That Haider was a symptom of the reaction against the New World Order intimidation and shakedown of whole countries and branches of industry that was now setting in. That there was more reaction to be expected. That if the Socialist-Capitalist Alliance was not careful and toppled the Austrian government, Haider would be elected Chancellor of Austria outright the next time around. That this idiotic campaign against Haider posed a threat to E.U. expansion to the East, where Slovakia, Hungary and others were rethinking their positions in light of the intemperate rhetoric and actions of Brussels, Washington and Israel in the Haider affair.
Whereupon the MacLeans reporter quietly signed off.
In the afternoon of February 17 a reporter from the Toronto Star by the name of Schiller called, with similar questions, to which he got similar answers.
No, Joerg had not arrived yet. No, nobody knew what his plans were for dinner or visits. Yes, EZ did know some people in the Haider party who did know Joerg etc. Yes, it definitely seemed logical he would visit local, well-heeled Austrian businessmen in Canada.
The reporter floated some famous names. EZ would not or could not confirm or deny their possible support of Haider. All he knew what their identity. You're welcome. Have a nice day! Click!
A truly B-Movie-like scenario!
Against that backdrop, I am excerpting below three articles from lapdog media, reflecting on the Haider visit to Canada.
Montreal Gazette, February 17, 2000:
Europe's most controversial politician, Joerg Haider, leader of Austria's Freedom Party, visited Montreal yesterday and claimed in an exclusive interview with The Gazette that his party is being unfairly demonized as neo-fascist by Austria's and Europe's traditional socialist parties.
Austria has become the pariah of Europe since Haider's Freedom Party, having won 30 per cent of the vote in Austria's last federal election (...)
Haider, who is governor of the province of Carinthia, has no formal role in the federal government, but members of his party have been given six of 10 ministerial posts, including finance, defence and justice.
Zundelsite:
Finance, Defense and Justice are the most powerful ministries in any government. Haider himself is not a minister. Bernard Baruch would say: "It's amazing what you can get accomplished if you do not want to take the credit for it."
Montreal Gazette:
Members of the European Union have threatened to expel Austria. EU members have walked out of meetings at which Austrian politicians presided. Israel has withdrawn its ambassador. The United States temporarily recalled its ambassador, Kathryn Walt Hall. And Canada downgraded its relations with Austria.
Zundelsite:
In the olden days it used to be that if you withdrew your ambassador, you were one step away from hostilities. What's next? NATO air strikes? Followed by news bulletins spin-doctored by a smirking Jamie Shea?
Montreal Gazette:
Haider arrived in Montreal Tuesday night on an unofficial visit, with a small entourage of Freedom Party members, including Peter Sichrovsky, an Austrian journalist and one of the party representatives to the European parliament. (...)
Zundelsite:
An Austrian *Jewish* journalist, please note. Why not state that one up front?
Montreal Gazette:
Haider said he came to Montreal because he had been invited in December to a wedding in the Tash Hasidic community in Boisbriand. He said he had close ties with the community and with another Hasidic community in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"We are invited to come here and to meet people from the Jewish community," he said. "We have good links to them."
Zundelsite:
Hassids no less! Who is using whom here? Can Judas be far behind?
Montreal Gazette:
But Haider never put in an appearance at the Boisbriand wedding last night. There were conflicting stories of invitations issued and withdrawn. There were even denials that any invitation had ever been extended.
Zundelsite:
Aha! The plot is thickening. Was Mr. Haider sucked into a sting operation to embarrass him on American soil for the media's benefit?
Montreal Gazette:
Considering he had come all the way from Austria, Haider's visit appeared disorganized and ad-hoc. It also focused entirely on the Jewish community. Asked about that focus, Haider said he meets with many different groups. However, no other groups were on his agenda here.
Zundelsite:
Who knows Haiders agenda? The Toronto Police had not been informed, as they normally always are for security reasons when prominent politicians come to town. They knew of no agenda. Neither did the Toronto Press. Obviously.
Montreal Gazette:
Haider said he also wished to open dialogue with other members of the Jewish community and explain his party's program. His attempts to meet with B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress, however, were rebuffed.
Zundelsite:
Fat chance! Remember Lipstadt's "Don't debate...!"? She has her debate. The Big H Lobby will have to contend with Haider sooner or later. According to Zundel-Haus sources, Haider does not easily forget a slight.
There is intelligence that Canada's "war criminal in waiting", Lloyd Axworthy, told Haider to be careful what he was saying, the implication being "...we arrested, tried and kicked out Irving who had not said a thing." The message? "Better watch it! You could suffer Irving's fate!" Loud and clear!
Montreal Gazette:
Both the Canadian Jewish Congress and B'nai Brith have organized demonstrations against Haider and his Freedom Party in front of the Austrian consulate, claiming the party is neo-fascist.
Zundelsite:
That's how David Irving's troubles started - caused by the same cast of actors, serving the same agenda.
Montreal Gazette:
Sichrovsky, who is Jewish, said the refusal to meet Haider reflects a division in the community and an inherent fear of any right-wing party coming out of Germany or Austria that, he said, is "understandable."
"There is immense pressure from other Jewish groups to not meet with him," Sichrovsky said. But he added it is important to open a dialogue and straighten out 'misconceptions.'"
Zundelsite:
Weighty words from the "Keeper of the Haider Gate." Immense pressure? You don't say!
Montreal Gazette:
"We have to accept that the world is very sensitive if something happens in Austria dealing with the Second World War and with the closeness to any kind of right-wing, neo-Nazi suspicion, and we have to accept this and we have to weather it and the only thing we can do is not say everybody is stupid who says this," Sichrovsky said.
"We have to confront these people and we have to say who we are and what we do and what our program is."
Zundelsite:
All the soft-soaping and back-tracking is not going to help Haider. Facts don't matter to these people! Power, terror and fear are their weapons! Domination and control are their aims!
Montreal Gazette:
Haider was also accompanied to Montreal by an Israeli businessman, Gasit Muehlstine, who said it's important for Israel to forge ties with all democratically elected parties in Germany and Austria.
Zundelsite:
Is Haider covering all bases by having an Israeli businessman nearby? That's also a good spot from which to observe and note what Austrian emigrees might want to approach Haider with financial support. Who is benefitting most in this scenario - which must look odd to Austrians?!
Montreal Gazette:
"Most of the orchestrated campaign from the international media and the Israeli media against the Freedom Party is based on motives that are not totally as they appear to be," (Muelstine) said.
Zundelsite:
Right on! Socialists, Marxists, Eurocrats trying to topple the populist outsider, the new kid on the block! They fear a Haider avalanche effect on the rest of Europe - just like they fear the unraveling of the Holocaust racket. Have they enough fingers to plug the holes in the dikes?
Montreal Gazette:
Muehlstine said he believes Haider is not a neo-Nazi but rather a democrat with right-wing economic policies that threaten the traditional power structures of Austria. He fears that what he called the Jewish community's misunderstanding of and subsequent protests against Haider and the Freedom Party could "boomerang" and create a backlash that will reawaken anti-Semitic feelings in Austria, he added.
Zundelsite:
It is already boomeranging! If there are new elections called in Austria, chances are that Haider will become Chancellor in his own right.
Montreal Gazette:
Haider has been universally criticized for making statements that appear to refer favourably to the Nazi era. He once referred to concentration camps as "punishment camps." In yesterday's interview, he said this was largely a question of language and common usage in Austria and Germany.
Zundelsite:
That's what they were - like it or not! Like Buchanan in America, Haider gets pummeled in Europe for telling the truth some folks in the media and in the corridors of power don't like.
Montreal Gazette:
He was similarly criticized for a 1991 speech comparing Austria's employment policies unfavourably with those of Hitler. He apologized and denied that he meant the statement as a message of support for Hitler's policies of forced labour.
Zundelsite:
Why apologize? Who are these people to dictate what a man may say and think - especially since what is said is historically true?
Montreal Gazette:
Haider said criticism of the Freedom Party's immigration policy is also unfair, claiming that his policies are more liberal than those of many other European countries. Austria is not properly feeding and educating its current immigrants and does not have the ability to accept large numbers of new ones, he said.
Zundelsite:
The Socialist-Capitalist Agenda needs a "Lumpenproletariat" - in other words, cheap labor from the Third World to exploit for profit!
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To the article above, there are a few follow-up developments, gleaned from various sources:
* Joerg Haider has unsuccessfully tried to visit Montreal's Holocaust Centre during an unannounced trip to Canada. The president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Moshe Ronen, stated that the museum had rejected what he described as "a bizarre request." Ronen called Mr Haider a "cynical manipulator of public opinion" who carried the legacy of Hitler "wherever he goes". He said if Mr Haider had had constructive reasons for coming to Canada and visiting the Holocaust Centre, he would have announced his trip and requested a tour in advance.
* Protesters gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montreal where Haider is staying. Mr Haider refused to comment on his request to visit the Center, saying only: "It's a private visit."
* In Budapest 3000 people demonstrated, supporting the Freedom Party leader.
* Israel has withdrawn its ambassador from Vienna and has banned Mr Haider from entering the country.
* Austria's 14 EU partners immediately implemented bilateral sanctions following the swearing-in of the government.
* The United States recalled its ambassador for consultations.
* In Canada, Toronto's symphony orchestra decided on Wednesday to go ahead with a three-day tour to Vienna after considering a boycott. The orchestra plans to produce a programme insert for its Vienna concerts, containing a personal statement by TSO Music Director Jukka-Pekka Saraste, ". . . which will reflect the views of the musicians."
* US rock star Lou Reed cancelled a show in Vienna, and Gerard Mortier, artistic director of the Salzburg Festival - one of the top events in Europe's annual musical calendar - and said he would quit earlier than scheduled in protest against the Freedom Party in government. --
* And finally - get this! - according to the Independent, 19 February 2000, reported by Frederick Baker in Vienna:
". . . (i)n an act of mass truancy, 5,000 Viennese school children emptied their classrooms yesterday to take part in protests against the new Austrian government.
"Although the walkout was banned by Elisabeth Gehrer, the Education Minister, the children marched from all directions and caused traffic chaos. They converged for a rally outside President Thomas Klestil's offices and said: "We cannot vote yet, so this is our only way of expressing our anger."
"Placards carried by the marchers read: "Schüssel [Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel] plus Haider [Jörg Haider leader of the far-right Freedom Party] equals isolation and division," and "Resistance against racism and social cutbacks".
Zundelsite:
Well, now! Just what you would expect from children so dumbed down they don't know how to spell, read or write?!
Those are not the actions of children! This is an amazing development and shows the desperation of the enemy to resort to a tactic that is bound to backfire with every parent who will start asking questions how such a massive walk-out came about! Who put these children up to it? What Commie-Socialist Teachers Union dreamed this up?
Inquiring Austrian parents will surely want to know!
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Thought for the Day:
"Although I have forgiven, I have sworn an oath to forget nothing and remember everything," Mr Barak said, opening his address in the Swedish capital in Hebrew, recalling a poem called The Vow.
"We are plagued by despicable Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis, racist groups, and ultra right-wing political parties. Can we afford to remain complacent?"
(- Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak at Stockholm's Holocaust Conference, February 18, 2000, BBC News)