ZGram - 4/21/2004 - Hunger strike put on hold after Canadian Embassy contact

zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Wed Apr 21 08:51:59 EDT 2004



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

April 21, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

There is some misunderstanding even in our ranks about the purpose of 
a hunger strike.  Primarily, is not meant to dramatize our cause.  It 
is not meant to showcase my resilience.  It is not meant to blackmail 
our opponent.  It is not even meant to force mainstream media to pay 
attention to a dramatic spectacle with gruesome visuals of Ingrid 
starving herself to a skeleton.   All those are mere side shows. 
***A politically effective hunger strike is meant to force 
concessions, leading to negotiations perceived as useful to both 
sides.***

This outcome was already partially achieved when I succeeded in 
meeting with, and presenting our case to, my representative, Rep. 
William Jenkins, in a constructive face to face meeting I had not 
been previously able to arrange, despite much effort on my part and 
many faxes from our supporters.  I had originally set my deadline for 
a Freeport hunger strike for April 19, but after a very promising 
meeting I finally succeeded in arranging, I gladly abandoned both 
date and location for a hunger strike in Freeport, TN  and, instead, 
moved both time and location to Washington, D.C.  Why would I want to 
put myself into a hunger strike in Freeport when I achieved what I 
had wanted to achieve without a hunger strike?  There was no need for 
it.

But that was only an initial victory.  The next stage was in sight. 

With my foot in the door and having succeeded in calmly presenting 
the severity as well as righteousness of our plight to Mr. Jenkins, 
who listened sympathetically and must have come away from it 
convinced that I didn't wear any horns, I announced to my Internet 
friends as well as to my mailing list of thousands in 43 countries 
that I would move the hunger strike date forward to May 1st to give 
myself some time to scout out a new location and see what might be 
done in Washington, D.C. 

This was the purpose of my trip to our capital, which I undertook on 
Saturday, April 17, in the company of two supporters who had come to 
visit me in Tennessee.  Since one of them was flying back to Europe 
out of Washington, it saved me the expenses of at least half of the 
trip if I just rode along and took a rental car to get back home as 
soon as my reconnaissance mission was finished. 

This we did, and the report below is to give you a feel for what our 
reconnaissance turned out to be, and what we have achieved, as well 
as where we hope it to lead.

The 8-hour drive itself was pleasant.  The weather was on our side, 
and I enjoyed driving through the eastern part of the US that I had 
never seen before.  A few days before, another sponsor couple had 
offered me logistic support and free lodging in their lovely home in 
Springfield, Virginia, which I gladly accepted and greatly enjoyed. 
Since the next day was a Sunday, it gave me a chance to relax and get 
my mind in the right frame for what I expected to be a hostile 
encounter in the Canadian Embassy, the next target of my determined 
political protest.

Two days before I left for Washington, I had announced that I would 
come to speak with the Ambassador of Canada.  Knowing our enemies' 
aggravating tactic of stalling us for months and months on end before 
an appointment or a court date is set, I had not asked for an 
appointment;  I simply announced that I would come to make sure that 
the ambassador understood that I was serious, and to make sure I did 
not transgress against any rules and regulations about a political 
protest in such a high-visibility way. 

My host, an experienced translator of governmental and corporate 
documents, graciously offered to accompany me.  I had also made 
arrangements for a professional video-taping of my entering what my 
host half-jokingly called "the belly of the beast".  As we were 
coming down the wide steps from the backside of the building, where 
we had parked our car, I could see that the taping action was already 
taking place, kind of surreptitiously.  I have that video tape, and 
in a few days you will be able to preview it on the Zundelsite as yet 
another document in our struggle to obtain my husband's freedom.

I asked my escort, Walt, to write up for history what would be 
happening  next.  In part, I will be quoting from his report, already 
filed in a safe place in its entirety:

Walt: 

"DISCLAIMER:  The following are my paraphrased reflections of our 
visit to the Canadian Embassy. I am quite sure that our conversation 
in the foyer was recorded, and that transcriptions therefrom may be 
forwarded to concerned parties in Canada:

"We arrived at the Canadian Embassy at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington DC 20001 on Monday, April 19, 2004 just shortly after 
10:00 a.m. The American security personnel at the embassy foyer asked 
Dr. Ingrid Zündel to state the purpose of her visit, to which she 
responded that she wished to discuss the plight of her husband, Ernst 
Zündel and his incarceration in Canada as a political prisoner."

[Ingrid's comment:  I had mentally rehearsed what I would say, 
knowing I would encounter resistance.  What I said, as I remember it, 
is that I did not have an appointment, but that I had come to discuss 
the plight of my husband, a high profile political prisoner held in 
illegal custody in Canada.  I not get all of that in as calmly and 
assertively as I had rehearsed it in my mind, but enough to cause a 
startled and confused look in response to my announcement.]

Walt: 

"Ingrid stated that she had faxed the ambassador a letter informing 
him of her intentions to visit him. After a minute or two of what 
seemed to be perplexity and indecision on the part of the guard, he 
finally summoned a Canadian Embassy official from the confines of the 
embassy while another guard checked our identification cards and 
processed us through electronic security.

"Upon passing through electronic security, Ingrid was met by a 
Canadian embassy official to whom she stated her name, nationality 
and purpose of visit. From her brief conversation with the embassy 
official, it was evident that he was completely unfamiliar with the 
Ernst Zündel case, so Ingrid chronologically summarized the facts of 
the case for his edification. Furthermore, she expressed her grave 
concerns over the implications of an international incident due to 
the egregious manner in which Ernst Zündel was expelled from the 
United States and immediately incarcerated in Canada."

[Ingrid's comment:  I had taken along three fat folders of 
testimonials and endorsements from Zundel supporters from more than 
30 countries, which I intended to hand to the ambassador for his 
perusal, so he would know that I came fortified.  I fully expected 
that briefcase to be confiscated and copied;  however, that did not 
happen, much to my surprise.  We passed a perfunctory screening.  Now 
Walt and I stood inside the lobby, waiting patiently for what would 
happen next.] 

Walt: 

"The embassy official informed Ingrid that he was uncertain as to the 
current whereabouts of the Canadian ambassador. He suggested the 
likelihood that the ambassador might be out of town. In any event, 
the official took notes and accepted reference material from Ingrid, 
after which he instructed us to wait in the embassy foyer while he 
summoned another official.

"After a wait of approximately a quarter of an hour, the Consul 
General emerged and cordially greeted us. The Consul General informed 
us that although his function at the embassy primarily concerns 
international relations, he agreed to meet with us nonetheless, and 
added that he was already somewhat familiar with the Zündel case. He 
invited us to join him in the foyer while he listened and asked 
questions for approximately thirty minutes."

[Ingrid's comment:  Actually, our wait  seemed to me much longer than 
just 15 minutes.  It seemed more like 30 to 45 minutes.  At one 
point, I asked Walt, as I remember it:  "What do you think this means 
that it takes them so long?" and he replied:  "They're checking. 
They're checking."  We both agreed that that was a positive sign. 
They could have simply told us to go away and to return another day, 
replete with pre-set appointment, which would have been the coward's 
way out.  Instead, we were given the honor of a meeting with the 
Embassy's highest functionary - the   Ambassador being, more or less, 
the ceremonial figure head, as I would later learn. 

The Consul General, a man of slight built but very steady eyes, gave 
us his card and asked courteously but, so it seemed to me, rather 
coldly why we had come.  I said that I had come to talk to someone in 
authority.  Could I please talk to him?

He motioned to a sectional in the rather elegant and impressive 
foyer, and the three of us sat down.  I was aware in an icy calm 
within my heart, and I knew I would summarize well, finding just the 
right tone to soften the guarded look in the Consul General's eyes.]

Walt: 

"After briefly explaining her relationship to Ernst Zündel and 
providing the Consul General with a brief chronology of events 
surrounding his case. Ingrid reassured the Consul General that she 
and Ernst Zündel have only the highest regard for Canada, and that 
they share a deep sense of appreciation for the countless 
opportunities Canadian life has accorded them."

[Ingrid's comment:  Actually, what I talked about was my regard for 
the Canada I once knew but NOT the country of today - the civilized 
land I had entered as a young, helpless, spiritually wounded 
immigrant out of a Third World country, a Canada that had put its 
arms around me and given me a start in education.  I spoke with 
passion of the fair and decent country that I remembered fondly from 
my youth.  The Canada of yesterday was not, I stressed, the country 
of today.  The Canada the world now watched, aghast, ran roughshod 
over human rights.  It was a  country in the hands of alien interests 
who cared nothing about human rights, who were hurting the country's 
human rights' image by brutally settling a private agenda.  I said 
that I could sense that, with a new administration struggling to 
ameliorate the gross abuses of the Chretién Administration and to 
repair its tattered prestige, Canada might be amenable to take a 
second look at what was increasingly becoming a huge liability - the 
kidnapping and incarceration of a high profile pacifist from the 
United States.]

  Walt: 

"Given the advent of Canada's new administration, Ingrid proposed 
that it might now be in everyone's interest if she were to initiate 
and actively pursue a quiet and meaningful dialog with U.S. 
congressmen and Canadian diplomatic officials so as to avert what has 
now become an internationally politicized cause célèbre over the 
perception of judicial excesses, improprieties and official 
stonewalling. Ingrid mentioned instances whereby the Canadian news 
media, Amnesty International and other main stream venues have 
already started to publicly express alarm and outrage over Canada's 
abuse and denial of Ernst Zündel's civil rights. Additionally, Ingrid 
mentioned that she believes there is mounting evidence indicating 
collusion between U.S. and Canadian authorities weeks prior to 
Zündel's putative infraction for which he was deported to Canada."

[Ingrid's comment:  Up to that point, the Consul General had listened 
carefully but showing no emotion in his face.  When I mentioned, very 
briefly, that we had documented information, obtained through the 
Freedom of Information Act, about illegal shenanigans involving 
Canadian officials and organizations clearly involved in Ernst's 
deportation, something changed in his expression.  I can easily 
imagine, but I'd rather not speculate on, what the Consul General 
must have thought at that moment of his own nationals - or those who 
pass for nationals, their loyalties elsewhere  - ]

Walt:

"After Ingrid finished speaking, I mentioned to the Consul General 
that neither Ernst Zündel, Ingrid, their legal staff-- not even the 
magistrate adjudicating this case--have the slightest inkling of Mr. 
Zündel's so-called crime or crimes for which he has been incarcerated 
for the past fourteen months. The wording of Zündel's "Security 
Certificate" is so inherently vague and all-sweeping, it was 
tantamount to guilt by innuendo. I reminded the Consul General of the 
current spate of judicial abuses here in the United States, such that 
the civil rights of Americans were being systematically abrogated by 
the U.S. Department of Justice on similar vaguely worded "catch-all" 
laws. Thanks to the publicity and intervention of the American Civil 
Liberties Union and citizen watchdog groups, these incarcerations 
have since been ruled as illegal, and the victims of the U.S. justice 
system have been duly released."

[Ingrid's comment:  Inside myself, I did not feel that this is quite 
the case as yet.  There might have been exceptions.  But I believe 
that there is far too little attention, and far too much tolerance, 
for  judicial abuses so rampant in and so destructive to America.  I 
read about them every day.  Ashcoft's shock troops admit to having 
picked up some 500 cruelly targeted victims under false pretenses, 
without due process, without any recourse to attorneys, lawful 
remedies etc. - when, in fact, the number of such victims is 
reportedly as high as 5,000 !  Not everybody has as high a profile as 
Ernst Zundel, which makes our case all the more relevant on 
principle, not just for his sake, but for all who have been unjustly 
imprisoned.] 

Walt:

"Ingrid asserted that if Ernst Zündel had been living in Canada for 
more than forty years prior to his incarceration and never broken the 
law, to say nothing of ever posing a security threat to Canada, then 
why would someone, presumably a high-level Canadian authority, single 
out Ernst Zündel as a national threat? Indeed, if the Canadian 
government would simply come forward and disclose its legal line of 
reasoning and/or cold hard evidence of Mr. Zündel's putative criminal 
behavior, then perhaps a proper legal defense might be established, 
otherwise one has to wonder and assume the worst.

"From the standpoint of Canadian prestige as a democratic country, it 
would do much to dispel growing concerns as to whether the civil 
rights of Canadians are indeed being systematically eroded by 
Canada's system of justice. Ingrid asked the Consul General if he 
were familiar with the restrictions on conducting demonstrations in 
front of the Canadian embassy, and he suggested that she consult with 
the Washington, DC police."

[Ingrid's comment:  My clear impression was that, at this juncture, 
referring to my announced hunger strike, I hit a real nerve.  I did 
not stress this heavily, but I let it be known that, as a last 
resort, I would go ahead with my hunger strike right outside the 
Embassy doors.  I stressed that I would much prefer the quiet 
diplomatic route.  I told the Consul General that, for example, it 
would be enormously helpful if he would do two things for me:  First, 
help facilitate a personal meeting with the Acting Director of 
Immigration Enforcement, Mr. Timothy Haugh, so that we could unravel 
what could pass as a bureaucratic snafu, if that's the fig leaf U.S. 
government would want to use to hide its own misdeeds, and secondly, 
to help facilitate a meeting with the Canadian counterpart, the 
Honorable Minister of __________ Ms. Anne McClellan.  I said that I 
intended soon to visit the McLellan office in the company of both 
U.S. as well as Canadian businessmen, media, attorneys - a 
fact-finding delegation preferably led by a U.S. congressman or 
senator,  to explore what might be done. 

At that point, the Consul General said something that is noteworthy: 
"Why would a Congressman want to do that?"  and I locked eyes with 
him and let my own eyes speak.]

Walt:

"Inasmuch as it was Ingrid's first meeting with officials at the 
Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, and as everyone with whom we 
spoke impressed us as genuinely concerned, helpful and engaging, it 
seemed clear that a promising new door had opened. The Consul General 
gave Ingrid his assurances that he would pursue the Zündel case by 
reviewing her reference materials and contacting the appropriate 
authorities in Canada. He also informed Ingrid that he would follow 
up with her as well."

That's where we left it, and I drove back that afternoon, after 
having ascertained the location of the Herrington Hotel that I intend 
to use in case there is no action and I need to come back for my 
hunger strike protest.  I have since consulted with several advisors 
as well as with Ernst, and the consensus is that we ought not to 
jeopardize the inroads we have made with this Embassy contact by 
going ahead with the hunger strike NOW. 

Instead, we should be very clear that a hunger strike is our ultimate 
weapon, still in reserve and by no means abandoned.  However, we are 
willing to postpone such drastic action until such time when it is 
needed and will have major impact.  That is our strategy as of today. 

I will spend all of today getting additional material ready for the 
Consul General, which I will speedily FedEx to him.  I will also 
contact media, businessmen, and my own legal troops in a tentative 
strategy to travel to Canada to meet with Minister Anne McLellan, who 
- since she has inherited the mess the corrupt Chretién government 
has left behind, including the botched Zundel kidnapping which turned 
into a sore on the Canadian body politic -   has every reason to be 
listening. 

I hope to have much more for you tomorrow.

Stay tuned - and NO SURRENDER! 

Ingrid Zundel

=====

Reminder: 

Help free Ernst Zundel, Prisoner of Conscience.  His prison sketches 
- now on-line and highly popular - help pay for his defense.  Take a 
look - and tell a friend.

http://www.zundelsite.org/gallery/donations/index.html
=====






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