ZGram - 2/24/2003 - "Follow-up: The Peter Warren Show"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGRAM  - WHERE TRUTH IS DESTINY - NOW MORE THAN EVER!

February 24, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

It is almost 4:30 a.m.  I have been up since 3:00 a.m., trying to 
reach Ernst's attorney, Rocco Galati, with an important message.  It 
seems that Ernst's enemies are really rushing it to get him out of 
Canada before he can document his legitimate claims - and last days' 
snowstorms seems to be on their side.  A supporter had to drive hours 
with a rented four-wheel truck through mountains of snow to retrieve 
these documents, and they are now in the possession of an officer to 
be handed to Ernst or his attorney before an important immigration 
hearing begins this morning.  I want to put on record that we have 
secured these documents, in case his enemies pull another fast one 
and lie through their teeth they don't exist!

Another supporter wrote this:

	[START]

Ingrid,

Here is a text I prepared for you, to show you the fallout from what you'd
done during 13-minutes of air-time. Use it as you see fit.

I've copied this to Mark Weber and the [name deleted] in Hamilton, 
dear old friends
of Ernst and Mark.

=====================================

The Peter Warren Show broadcasts from the Vancouver studio of CKNW radio,
on Saturday and Sunday, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. It may be reached via
the Internet:

http://www.cknw.com/home/index.cfm

Talk-show host, Peter Warren, is a kind of edgy populist, with an irascible
streak, reminiscent at times of the late Gordon Sinclair.

For example, in December 1998, Warren insulted a caller, a self-described
"born-again" Christian, saying he held such Christians to be "the scum of
the earth."

On Saturday, February 22, Warren included his usual 15-minute "Weekender"
Question of the Day: Should Ernst Zundel be afforded refugee status in
Canada? Quickie responses were solicited. Nine of 11 callers telephoned the
show to say Zundel should not be allowed to remain in Canada, whereas two
callers said he should at least be afforded due process.

Before this segment, Warren had heavily promoted Ingrid Zundel's appearance
on his show. It was obvious he considered this to be something of a coup.
He referred to it as "an exclusive."

In the 3rd hour of the show, she was able to read a prepared text. This, along
with the introduction, took just under 10 minutes. She then answered several
questions put to her by Warren; questions about launching a formal appeal to
the federal government, paying for legal help to defend Ernst Zundel and so on.
Her text was a well-written overview of the Zundel case and delivered with
a quaver of emotion. It would be the subject of phone-in calls in the next
part of the show.

Warren, who invited calls "on any topic under the sun," began by dismissing
Ingrid Zundel's call for a "global debate" on the Holocaust story as being
both "incredible" and "unbelievable" propaganda.

While the on-air calls were being arranged for, the talk-show host read two
emails. The first, from a Dorothy in Hamilton, deplored the continued
"persecution" of Ernst Zundel, coupled with the wasted millions spent to force
him through legal hurdles. Then Nellie of Qualicum Beach weighed in with email
that opined Zundel should be "put away for life."

The first caller up was Joe from Saskatoon. He asked whether Warren was
aware that there was no forensic evidence to prove the existence of the gas
chambers. Warren dismissed him with a "you're full of crap" retort.

The second caller, Doug from Victoria, argued on behalf of due process and
rule of law applying to Zundel the same as anyone else.

Holly in Edmonton expressed appreciation for having been able to hear about
the Zundel case from Ingrid and was critical of the one-sided opinion-makers
and decision-makers who slanted the story to suit themselves.

Ernie in Victoria recalled witnessing the Kristallnacht and said "creeps like
Zundel should be sent to Germany, pronto!"

Stan in London, Ontario, compared Ingrid Zundel to Dr Goebbels, and deplored
how "a couple of your callers" seemed to have "bought in" to her POV.

Don in Three Hills (Alberta) advocated that Zundel be punted back to Germany;
and suggested same for Ingrid, too.

David, a Scotsman with a brogue, then weighed in, wondering if Nazis would
have given Jewish refugees the consideration of due process in a court of
law.

Wayne in Vancouver asked  what Zundel was charged with, and Warren replied
that he "faces a whole pile of charges, including spreading hate." 
He mentioned
that Germany had formally asked for Zundel's extradition "last night."
Wayne then went on to suggest we should get past this case, that we had
"bigger fish to fry" and that "we should give people their rights 
back." Warren's response:
"You're full of it."

Graham in Burnaby asked if Zundel was charged in Germany with killing people
during the war. Warren replied that Zundel was only "8 years old" at the time,
but "saw" what happened. The caller then wondered why Zundel was being made
to endure the persecution he saw happening to him.

An exasperated Peter Warren cut him off, the same as he had the others who
expressed sympathy for Zundel.

February 23:

The Sunday program featured some fallout from Warren's decision to give to
Ingrid Zundel an opportunity to read her text on air. Warren was clear that
the listener reaction to Ingrid's appearance on his show had been strong,
coming in the form of emails, faxes, and recorded telephone messages. 
One such message
was replayed over the air.

Sound quality was poor. Listeners had to cock an ear to catch what was the
caller was saying. He called Ingrid's speech "an infomercial" and deplored the
decision Peter Warren made to air the speech. The recorded call lasted over
4 minutes and was played in its entirety. The caller deplored the platform
that the "Nazis" were given to engage in "Holocaust denial" and went on at
length by invoking anaglies. Toward the end, he became rather repetitive.

Warren alluded to "massive feedback" on the Ingrid speech and interview, and
reminded listeners that only a select portion of a few email submissions could
be read on air. Here is the gist what each said:

Helmut said that Zundel was merely a self-sufficient fellow exercising a right
to present his POV on history. Warren suggested he visit the Zundelsite where
it was evident donations were being solicited (as if this was wrong somehow).

Dale in Winnipeg found it hugely ironic the Zundels should protest treatment to
be meted out to them, inasmuch as such treatment (arbitrary arrest) had been
what the Nazis has done to the Jews, before murdering 6 million of them.

Manfred in Edmonton noted that Zundel was being persecuted for simply saying
how he viewed history, And that, moreover, his life in Canada had been free of
any criminal taint.

Matt in southern Alberta suggested that Warren had to "toe the party line" on
the Holocaust and professed sympathy for his having to behave in a blinkered
fashion and skirt round the topic in the guise of a true-believer. But Warren
insisted that he laboured under no such constraints, often defending himself in
the courts, he said, for having had the temerity to speak his mind.

Klaus, a wartime German, recalled having to greet the teachers with a "Heil
Hitler" and asked Warren to phone him back.

Hans emailed Warren to deplore his lack of support for Zundel's right to free
speech.

Another Hans regretted that the right to free speech was abused by Zundel and
his ilk. He had seen boxcars full of Jews, he said, "headed for Germany" during
the war.

The next emailer - Jamie in Vancouver - recommended that Warren view the
documentary "Mr Death" to watch the story of Zundel's public discrediting.

Steve's email expressed the wish that Zundel "rots in hell" and thanked Warren
for his "show-making" savvy.

This "show-making" phrase recalled an observation the late Doug Collins made
about how sex and Nazis were the two topics guaranteed to sell newspapers. I
have to think that Warren understands this very well indeed, having been in the
newsbiz all over the world for several decades now.

Toward the end of the Sunday program, there were a few calls regarding the
Holocaust in the open-line segment.

A German-sounding caller called to argue away the Holocaust via statistics
-- only to dismissed and cut off.

A cell-phone caller in a vehicle in northern Alberta wondered why the Jews and
the Holocaust were made into a kind of historical fetish, as if other
peoples had not had terrible things to endure. Warren replied that Jews had
been "singled out" and been "stereotyped" and, hence, fell into a different
category than the soldiers. As if the hundreds of thousands who died in
Dresden were not killed because in fact they were Germans, as if Allied
wartime propaganda had not stereotyped the Germans...

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                             **********************************
                                     Orest Slepokura
                                  slepokuo@telus.net
                             **********************************