I have been on the Net since mid-1994 and have seen my share of drama and excitement, but never have I seen important news zip around cyberspace as fast as today!
As I am sure all Revisionists know by now but the general public might not yet know, the cancellation of the Revisionist conference, planned for Lebanon in just a few days, has succeeded - due to pressure at the very highest levels of government in America, Europe and the Arab world. We knew of course that it could happen but were hoping against hope we might succeed. Not this time!
Here is the first article that came my way this morning, titled "Lebanon Won't Host Revisionists", dated March 22 , 2001, written by Sam F. Ghattas, Associated Press Writer:
Ghattas:
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanon's government said on Thursday that it would not allow a gathering of Holocaust revisionists in Beirut planned for later this month.
The move won the praise of Jewish groups, which had called the conference organized by groups that say accounts of Holocaust atrocities are exaggerated ``a gathering of hate.''
Zundelsite:
Amazing, the spin-doctoring! A "gathering of hate"? Of course the rabbis will be overjoyed that they managed after all to manipulate the Lebanese government - long the chief target for Israelis indiscriminate terror bombings, raids, repeated shelling, cluster bombs, invasion and occupation of whole provinces - into banning the conference, which would have knocked Israel's chief weapon, its sword and shield, the "Holocaust", out of its hands.
Ghattas:
``This conference will not be held in Beirut,'' Prime Minister Rafik Hariri told The Associated Press, several hours after a Cabinet meeting that discussed the issue.
Zundelsite:
A Prime Minister speaks after a Cabinet meeting no less! The torture of thousands, the maiming of more tens of thousands, the deliberate shelling of civilians, the massacres of Sabra and Shatila - all seemed not to matter. The Israelis and Diaspora Jews did not like it that their dismal record and wanton crimes were going to be examined and exposed right at their doorstep. So they pulled out all stops and even enlisted little, bludgeoned Switzerland and ever-so-compliant Sweden - and ultimately apparently even the State Department of the United States to lean on those poor Lebanese. And Revisionism, some still claim, is of no consequence?
Ghattas:
In the United States, the Simon Wiesenthal Center praised Lebanon's decision. ``It is an extraordinary development and I think it is very, very positive. It's one of the few bright spots to try to create an environment of moderation,'' said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an associate dean of the center.
Zundelsite:
Anytime an outfit like the Simon Wiesenthal Center praises an enemy, which they have mercilessly tormented for decades and humiliated as well as badmouthed internationally - you bet something big in favor of the Jewish agenda has happened.
Ghattas:
But one of the organizers, the Institute for Historical Review of Newport Beach, Calif., accused Lebanon of giving in to pressure from Jewish groups.
``I regard this as outrageous,'' institute director Mark Weber said, charging it was hypocritical to support free speech and ban a conference that would have been legal in other countries.
Zundelsite:
The concept of true "Free Speech" is not an Arab concept but uniquely American. Germans, Austrians, Swiss and French Revisionists could not have organized a get-together in their countries either, even though their constitutions state hypocritically that there is Freedom of Speech for all.
Ghattas:
Organizers had not revealed the exact location of the March 31-April 3 conference, citing security concerns.
Extremist groups, such as the conference organizers, question the historical record that 6 million Jews died in Nazi death camps during World War II.
Jewish groups and scholars accuse them of distorting history and anti-Semitism.
Zundelsite:
Just like that one becomes an "extremist group"! Where, pray, is the extremism? Anyone who differs with the Jewish propaganda version of history and dares to confront them with facts versus their concocted myths is an "extremist"?
They are the extremists. They are the ones who point their fingers and marginalize and demonize perfectly decent and law-abiding people.
Ghattas:
The conference's co-organizer was Swiss-based Verite et Justice. Its head, Juergen Graf, is currently in Iran after a Swiss court sentenced him in 1998 to 15 months in jail for ``Holocaust denial,'' according to the Institute for Historical Review.
Zundelsite:
"Truth and Justice", the sponsoring organization, is not by the wildest stretch of the imagination anything but a collection of intellectuals, writers, school teachers etc. That Graf was convicted for questioning the long scientifically discredited Jewish myth hardly makes him an "extremist"!
Ghattas:
Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters on Thursday that no group had applied for a permit to hold such a conference. He described reports about the conference as part of ``a political, diplomatic and media campaign against Lebanon.''
Zundelsite:
What a sad reaction and response! One wonders what ordinary Lebanese people think about their politicians groveling and kowtowing to Israel's wishes and whims.
Ghattas:
Fourteen Arab intellectuals, including prominent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, had signed a letter calling for ``this anti-Semitic undertaking'' to be canceled.
Zundelsite:
There are shameless opportunists among all ethnic groups. One tiny question: What might the enemies have in their dirt files on Mahmoud Darwish?
Ghattas:
The organizers may have been counting on finding sympathy among Arabs, often at odds with Israel and Jews. Anti- Semitic writing, some of it denying the Holocaust or accusing Israel of imposing a new Holocaust on the Palestinians, has appeared in Arab media.
Zundelsite:
Well now - let's see. The news about the cancellation of the conference has been on many syndicate feeds where hundreds of papers will have picked up the news. Few people will change their minds by this cancellation, but untold millions of people the world over, but especially in the Arab world, will perk up their ears and undoubtedly check out the Revisionist websites where the visitor counts are soaring.
Ghattas:
Arab anger has increased following the collapse of the Middle East peace process and amid Palestinian-Israeli violence that has killed more than 430 people, 355 of them Palestinians, in the past six months.
Zundelsite:
The Revisionist message could have helped to end this bloodshed by drying up the sources for the funds which make this repression possible. No "Holocaust" in history - no more guilt money to be extracted from the Swiss, the Germans, and the Americans!
Ghattas:
Fathi Kleib, a spokesman for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine guerrilla group, said he had no opinion on holding the conference in Lebanon, but that ``reviewing and rereading history is beneficial in all cases.''
Zundelsite:
Now that's "revolutionary" talk, you will have to admit! It's sheer "terrorism", isn't it?
Ghattas:
Kleib said Israel has concentrated on the Holocaust in ``an exaggerated way'' while it denied the Palestinians their rights.
Zundelsite:
So says Hilberg, Finkelstein and other Jews of note - whom no one calls "guerrillas".
Ghattas:
But some Arabs said that such a meeting in Lebanon would only bring bad publicity.
Zundelsite:
Bad publicity for whom? Those who would have had their manipulation, extortion and fraudulent history exposed? It was my understanding that about half of the registrants to this conference were media folks from all over the world. Might we have gained some converts because they now have had their noses rubbed into reality?
Ghattas:
The widely read pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat said in an editorial last week that the meeting's ``damage to Lebanon is guaranteed.'' Lebanon is keen on attracting foreign investment and tourists to shore up an ailing economy weakened by debt and budget deficit after a 15-year civil war.
Zundelsite:
Again, guaranteed by whom? And who fomented that war? Who caused all that death and destruction? Doesn't the palpable fear by the Holocaust spinmasters translate into "Stop Revisionism at all costs - or lose billions?" And they say Revisionists don't count and don't have any influence? Billions ride on keeping Revisionists muzzled, obviously!
This paragraph above makes clear what Revisionists have long known: Entire states can be affected by one Revisionist conference of a handful of revisionist pioneers!
One final note:
This cancellation does not affect the trend that is worldwide - namely an honest search for truth. Meetings are taking place behind the scenes, away from the limelight. Revisionist scholars are briefing academics, politicians and diplomats in important Muslim countries. Chances are that this is happening even as we speak!
Thought for the Day:
"Another stumbling block? Another stepping stone!"
(Ernst Zundel, when told this morning of the Beirut cancellation."
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