ZGram - 6/18/2003 - "National Post interview re Amnesty International"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

June 18, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Regarding that full page ad for which I collected some very nice 
pledges until PayPal cancelled my account:  The ad was approved, then 
dis-approved - approved again, then dis-approved - and now approved 
for the third time to run in a large metropolitan paper on Sunday. 

Keep fingers and toes crossed!

After it has actually appeared, I hope to collect from those of you 
who pledged - and maybe even from those of you who didn't?  Like so 
much else we do - it's not just an ad, it's a story! 

I hope to be able to tell you more on Monday.

In the meantime, I am waiting for one of my attorneys to come back 
from a trip to see if we should do something with Amnesty 
International's libelous statement that Ernst Zundel is in prison in 
Canada because of "hate" speech.  If Amnesty International had done 
even the most superficial research instead of yelping right along 
with Canada's lapdog media, they would have discovered that Ernst is 
in prison because - get this once and for all and let it sink in! - 
he missed an interview with immigration authorities which, as it 
turned out, was never even scheduled!

For that, he now has to wear the orange jump suit of serial murderers 
and rapists - if that isn't a case of the grossest human rights 
violation in a so-called "democratic" country that a decent, 
law-abiding person might imagine, I can't imagine what might be! 

As if clear-headed people don't see through THAT charade!

Tomorrow I will run a cross-section of the letters in response to my 
request to write to Amnesty International and give them a piece of 
your mind since they don't seem to have one of their own.  Today I'll 
just run by you a brief interview I did with a Canadian journalist 
via email: 

=====

To the attention of Ingrid Rimland:

I am a reporter with the National Post, a large, daily newspaper based in
Toronto, Canada.

I am interested in speaking with you today (Monday, June 16) regarding
Amnesty International's statement on the case of your husband, Ernst Zundel.
I would very much appreciate a quick call. I can be reached at (416)
383-2388, and, please, feel free to call collect.

Thank you for your consideration,
---   Adrian Humphreys  
National reporter   National Post   ---  
300-1450 Don Mills Road,   Toronto, ON,    Canada, M3B 3R5    ---  
(416) 383.2388 (vox)   (416) 383.2305 (fax)  
ahumphreys at nationalpost.com   http://www.nationalpost.com   ---  

=====

My reply:

Why don't you call Ernst at the prison directly and see if they will 
let the media do an interview - I bet you a dime that they won't! - 
or send me a few questions which I will try to answer?

=====

Questions submitted and my replies:

National Post: 

Why do you think Amnesty International has declined to intervene in 
your husband's case?

Ingrid:

It is my understanding that AI at headquarters decided some years ago 
that historical revisionists weren't worthy of protection and weren't 
persecuted or prosecuted - or if they were, it was their own fault. 
Double-check at
  http://www.zundelsite.org/english/debate/faurisson_beaten.html and
  http://www.zundelsite.org/english/debate/victims/index.html if in 
doubt what's being done to historical revisionists. 

Amnesty International did what politically correct courts do - they 
took "judicial  notice" that the Holocaust was essentially what 
Hollywood told the  world it was.  An intellectually honest outfit 
professing to champion  free speech ought to have at least 
investigated the scientific facts  behind so-called "hate speech" - 
since science does not lie, not even for a "Nazi".  But Amnesty 
International is not an honest organization - it is a Marxist front, 
in many people's eyes.

National Post:  -

Did you ever seriously expect assistance from Amnesty International 
in regards to your husband's case?- If not, why seek it?

Ingrid:  

Well, hope springs eternal, doesn't it?  Besides, why are you writing 
this article?  Would you have  bothered, had Zundel supporters not 
pressured Amnesty International all over the world to stop playing 
coy and live up to its mission statement?

National Post: 

Now that Amnesty International has declined to call for Ernst's 
release -- and in fact, they seem to be pushing for a continuation of 
the  investigation into his activities -- what is your response to 
their statement?

Ingrid:

  What activities?  His activities have been investigated for decades 
in Canada, and nothing "hateful" has ever been found.  There is 
nothing to investigate any more.  Further "investigations" will make 
Jewish lawyers richer and Canadian taxpayers poorer.  Is that what
  Canada wants?

National Post:

An earlier post -- from you, I believe, on the Zundelsite -- suggests 
a double standard is being applied to Ernst's case vis-a-vis other 
cases that Amnesty International has trumpeted. Could you please 
elaborate on this? What comparisons do you draw between Ernst's case 
and others that Amnesty International champions?

Ingrid:

  Well, think of Nelson Mandela.  Certainly violence attached to that 
man and his supporters.  Even the government of Canada admits that 
Ernst Zundel is not, and has never been, a violent man.

National Post:

Had they decided otherwise, and issued a call for his release, do you 
think it would have had any impact on the Canadian officials?

Ingrid:

One never knows.  Sometimes a government is grateful for a fig leaf, 
after it has painted itself in a corner and stands there, naked, for 
all the world to see.

=====

Here is what the National Post published, some of it lifted from 
previous ZGrams:

[START]

Amnesty refuses to support campaign for Zundel's release

In Toronto jail: Not 'a prisoner of conscience,' says human rights body

Adrian Humphreys
National Post

Tuesday, June 17, 200

Under pressure from supporters of Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel to 
denounce his imprisonment, Amnesty International has instead issued a 
policy statement declaring it has no concerns over his incarceration.

"Amnesty International does not consider Ernst Zundel to be a 
prisoner of conscience and is not calling for his release," says a 
statement issued by the London-based International Secretariat of 
Amnesty International.

"Amnesty International has reminded the Canadian government that 
numerous allegations of possible commission of hate crimes have been 
made against Ernst Zundel, largely stemming from his position with 
respect to the Holocaust.

"Those allegations must be investigated, leading to charges if borne 
out by the evidence," says the statement.

The policy was drafted last week in response to a growing number of 
queries about the case.

Mr. Zundel's supporters have been lobbying Amnesty International -- 
the world's foremost human rights organization -- to join the 
campaign against his detention by the Canadian government.

Mr. Zundel is in jail in Toronto pending a Federal Court review of 
the government's declaration that he is a threat to national 
security, an order requiring removal to his native Germany where he 
faces charges of inciting hatred.

"Amnesty International does not adopt persons who are imprisoned for 
'hate speech' as prisoners of conscience," Amnesty International's 
statement says.

Mr. Zundel's supporters lashed out at the organization over its decision.

"Amnesty International is not an honest organization -- it is a 
Marxist front, in many people's eyes," said Ingrid Rimland, Mr. 
Zundel's wife, in an interview with the National Post conducted 
through e-mail.

"[Amnesty International] did what politically correct courts do -- 
they took 'judicial notice' that the Holocaust was essentially what 
Hollywood told the world it was."

Ms. Rimland accused the organization of having a double standard, one 
that champions the cause of Nelson Mandela, the former president of 
South African who was imprisoned under the Apartheid regime, but 
turns its back on Mr. Zundel.

In an e-mail to Mr. Zundel's supporters, she said of Amnesty 
International: "The minions pimping for the Canadian Holocaust Lobby 
are beginning to paint themselves nicely into a corner. They are a 
non-profit organization, flying under false flags -- and ever more 
Zundel watchers world-wide are speculating that they are a Fifth 
Column Zionist front."

Alex Neve, Secretary-General of the Canadian branch of Amnesty 
International, said his group has no hidden agenda or ulterior 
motives.

"Amnesty International stands for one thing and one thing only and 
that is the protection of human rights," Mr. Neve said.

"When it comes to freedom of expression, there are some legitimate 
limits and inciting people to hatred is one such limit," he said.

Amnesty International's policy on the case reiterated, however, its 
concerns over the security certificate process under which Mr. Zundel 
was detained.

The government's declaration ended his claim for refugee status after 
he was deported here from the United States.

Although not a Canadian citizen, Mr. Zundel lived for decades in Canada.

"We think refugee systems should be open," Mr. Neve said.

"The minute we allow politicians to have any kind of role in deciding 
who gets access to the refugee systems and who does not, we just know 
from around the world that is bad news for genuine refugees," he said.

The government said in court that Mr. Zundel is the figurehead or 
patriarch of the white supremacist ideology and that violence is a 
tool the movement uses.

Mr. Zundel, testifying earlier on his own behalf, denied allegations 
that he is involved in violence or advocates violence.

The judicial review of the security certificate against him continues 
next month.

ahumphreys at nationalpost.com

[END]

Tomorrow:  A cross-section of reader letters to Amnesty International