*** Zundel article in PressAction.com***

zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Fri Mar 4 08:31:27 EST 2005




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Sunday, February 27, 2005

Progressivism and Free Speech for All

By Kim Petersen


"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according 
to conscience, above all liberties."
-John Milton

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your 
right to say it."
-The Friends of Voltaire

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There is a concerted right-wing effort to clamp down on liberal 
academics in the US. The attacks on M. Shahid Alam and Ward Churchill 
serve distinct notice that free-speech rights may be constitutionally 
protected on paper, but those rights are fragile.

The assault on free speech is not confined to the US. Canadian 
security bills enacted following 9-11 have severely curtailed 
freedoms enjoyed by Canadians. Several Muslim Canadians have been 
rounded up along with one infamous historical revisionist.

Sixty-five-year-old graphic artist Ernst Zundel, clad in an orange 
jumpsuit, sits on a pile of documents (because he is not allowed a 
chair) and sends off his last missives written with pencil stubs from 
his prison cell. He has just passed his second year of incarceration 
without charge. This prisoner is deemed to be a national security 
risk to Canada although he has no criminal record and is avowedly a 
Christian pacifist.

Zundel and his supporters have characterized his situation as a 
"political kidnapping disguised as a deportation, based entirely on 
drummed up charges." The situation was allegedly stacked against 
Zundel.

Once two cabinet ministers signed the draconian national security 
certificate, Zundel was denied the right to cross-examine his 
accusers or to know all the evidence against him. The Crown needed 
only to convince Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais (a former 
Canadian Security Intelligence Service head) that it was not 
unreasonable for two cabinet ministers to think Zundel might be a 
terrorist. Now, Zundel has abandoned his fight to stay in Canada and 
is slated for early deportation to Germany, where he will be 
immediately arrested and tried for his controversial views on the 
World War II Holocaust.

Zundel's lawyer Peter Lindsay said authorities had informed him there 
would be no wait for a Supreme Court of Canada review of his 
allegation of judicial bias or rule on the constitutionality of 
Canada's anti-terrorism laws. Lindsay condemned the legal process as 
"unfair." Said Lindsay, "We should care. But ... most of us don't 
give a damn."

Blais ordered the expulsion of Zundel, having determined him to be a 
hate-monger and threat. "Zundel's activities are not only a threat to 
Canada's national security but also a threat to the international 
community of nations," opined Blais.

Zundel's notoriety stems from his challenging the conventional 
history of the World War II Holocaust. He does not deny European Jews 
were persecuted: "The Jewish community has been victimized, no doubt 
in my mind Š by National Socialist Germany; they were robbed of their 
human rights. Š I say Germans should pay restitution, material 
restitution Š moral restitution to Jewish institutions."

The German-born Zundel was at one point enjoying a comfortable, 
well-to-do life in Canada based on his success as a graphic artist. 
But he gave that up when he took it upon himself to correct what he 
saw as inaccuracies in World War II history. Said Zundel, "I owe it 
to myself, as a person, to humanity, to tell this truth as I found 
it, and as I know it-to submit it to people. I don't ask people to 
love me. I don't ask people to even agree with me. I don't ask people 
anything but to let me state my case and then for them to reflect on 
it."

Zundel objects to the holocaust being portrayed as an exclusively 
Jewish holocaust. "That Second World War was a Holocaust for everyone 
in it. Š If we are to draw lessons from the Second World War, we must 
find out what led to this monstrous event Š We must find out as 
people, as a planet, as human beings what really happened. Because 
otherwise we might well overlook when real holocausts are planned in 
the future."

"Holocausts come under the guise of laws, robbing people of their 
civil rights, their human rights, imprisoning them for ideas; that's 
how holocausts start," says Zundel.

Since promulgating his views on the World War II Holocaust, Zundel 
has been threatened, a recipient of a mail bomb, physically attacked, 
and suffered an arson attack that destroyed his home. To compound his 
misfortune, he has been financially bogged down defending himself and 
his controversial views in Canada's so-called justice system.

Canada does limit free speech rights when hatred is promoted against 
an identifiable group. Contrary to what is commonly thought, Zundel 
was never prosecuted under the "group hatred" act. He was charged 
under an old section of the Criminal Code pertaining to 
disinformation. This is incredulous, as Zundel obviously believes in 
the verisimilitude of what he is saying.

At his 1988 trial, Zundel was tried and cleared in the Supreme Court 
for disseminating "false news" in the form of a reprinted 28-page 
revisionist booklet Did Six Million Really Die? by Richard Verrall 
(but penned under the name Richard Harwood). The False News Law was 
struck down.

Zundel stated that all his alleged crimes are Internet-related, 
dealing with the "Auschwitz Holocaust problem" and his defense of the 
German people. Vituperation is directed at the Zundelsite, which is 
adorned with Nazi-style flags featuring a "Z" fashioned after the 
swastika. The site carries the transcripts of his previous court 
appearances. Zundel considers this his legacy to revisionists.

The truth of his claims, however, was considered irrelevant. The 
Canadian Human Rights Commission, which is responsible for 
investigating "hate crimes," astonishingly concluded:

"The truth in some absolute sense really plays no role. Rather, it is 
the social context in which the message is delivered and heard which 
will determine the effect that the communication will have on the 
listener. It is not the truth or falsity per se that will evoke the 
emotion but rather how it is understood by the recipient."

Security Crack

On 18 February, a crack did emerge in the rigidity of Canada's 
national security laws. Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born alleged 
terrorist agent, was finally released from a ministerial security 
certificate detention after 21 months in jail.

Federal Court Judge Simon Noel ruled Charkaoui to be released on 
$50,000 bail-raised by several prominent Canadians-subject to a 
number of strict conditions such as obeying a curfew and wearing an 
electronic monitoring bracelet.

Charkaoui is, however, only one of several Muslim men being held 
under national security laws.

It was not enough to affect Zundel.

Free Speech Trumps Ideology

A Marxist-Leninist friend was surprised that I would write about the 
ordeal of Zundel. He advised, "Forget about him. He's a fascist and a 
Nazi." But he relented to the degree that, harkening to the wisdom of 
Martin Niemoeller, if Canadians remain silent about the human rights 
of Zundel then who will be there to speak out for their rights if and 
when their turn comes.

Zundel is not a sympathetic figure. He is an unabashed admirer of the 
Austrian-born and raised Hitler, who he lauds as "Germany's greatest 
son." It is unsure how this squares with his pacifist declaration. In 
the vein of Hitler, Zundel is also vehemently anti-Marxist. Marxism, 
according to Zundel, is a "psychopathic ideology." In addition, he 
adheres to a doctrine of white racial purity.

Nonetheless, his incarceration and upcoming deportation are morally 
wrong. It is relatively easy for progressives to stand up in defense 
of progressives when their free-speech rights are imperiled. The real 
test for progressives, however, is to defend free-speech rights of 
those whose views are anathema to progressivism.


Kim Petersen is a writer living in Nova Scotia, Canada. He can be 
reached at kimpete at start.no.

http://www.pressaction.com/


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