*** 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 by National Socialist Germany; they were robbed of their
human rights. I say Germans should pay restitution, material
restitution 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. If we are to draw lessons from the Second World War, we must
find out what led to this monstrous event 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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