So here I was sitting two days ago, doing the dutiful thing on behalf
of Freedom of Speech, trying to get the headline of a planned Zundelsite
press conference in Ottawa to blink an alert on my homepage - when all of
a sudden, thanks to a misplaced HTML code, the entire Zundelsite home page
started blinking and flashing like mad!
It was hilarious - and little did I know that chances are that at that very moment, or so I now flatter myself, some busybody on Parliament Hill in Ottawa must have pulled up the Zundelsite and concluded the Martians were coming - and galloped through the hallowed corridors of the revered House of Commons to inform a Chosenite of the impending danger!
It really is a hoot - in retrospect!
The headlines to follow, as always, were vicious - but the media attendance of Ernst Zundel's press conference, delivered from the steps in front of the House of Commons - after he was banned from Parliament by a unanimous vote on 4 June '98 ! - was massive, all the way to ethnic papers, TV and radio stations from the Portuguese to the Cantonese. (Ernst estimates 25 - 30 reporters, including almost all the mainstream media)
As Ernst reported happily: ". . . it was as in the days of old!"
The Ottawa Sun, (6-5-98):
"MPs turf Zundel from Parliament . . . but hate monger cheers the publicity":
"MPs hastily passed a motion yesterday banning convicted (sic) hate monger (sic) Ernst Zundel from the Parliament Buildings to prevent him from speaking there today. (...)
"Canadian Jewish Congress President Moshe Ronen kicked up a fuss with several cabinet ministers, who got all parties to agree to ban Zundel.
"'We were concerned that a hate monger would have come to espouse his views right here in the seat of government,' Ronen told the Sun. 'This should not be tolerated.'
"All five party leaders agreed and the motion passed unanimously.
"He's not wanted here,' said Don Boudria, Liberal House Leader who tabled the motion. 'A person who has a history of doing what this man does, is not going to do it in the house of democracy and tolerance, with the support, said or silent, of members of Parliament.'"
"Boudria said the motion obviously limits Zundel's freedom of speech, but he said it's warranted.
'He's not going to use the microphone of the people of Canada,' he said. 'He's not going to use the taxpayers' microphone.' (...)
"'T'he Parliament has supplied me with the audience,' (Zundel) said. 'My phone has been ringing off the hook. ... It's censorship...How else can any sane person see it? It's a brutal act of close-minded bigots censoring other people.
The Ottawa Citizen, same date, had some enlightening things to say about how this medieval Zundel-ban has come about:
"Before he introduced his motion, Mr. Boudria urged the press gallery to reconsider its decision and cancel Mr. Zundel's appearance. But gallery president Jules Richer refused, saying the gallery could halt it only if the Commons were to ban Mr. Zundel from entering the building.
"Mr. Richer said any person or group in Canada who wishes to hold a news conference about national affairs concerning Parliament is allowed to book the room.* He later defended Mr. Zundel's right to free speech and said the gallery would book him into a press theatre off Parliament Hill if he wished."
(*Explanatory comment here: This was done, and canceled within hours due to an "overbooking error". ;) Who gets to control and censor the Internet certainly is certainly of national interest and concerns the lawmakers in Parliament! So Ernst qualified!)
"Mr. Boudria rejected suggestions the Commons were denying Mr. Zundel's right to free speech.
"'How many rights do you know of that are absolutes? He will exercise (freedom of speech) elsewhere. He is not going to exercise it, if I have anything to do with it . . . in the one building in this country that should espouse all of the Canadian democratic values and the use of tolerance which Canadians believe in.'"
Please do not miss how easily and glibly these hollow phrases of "tolerance" and "democracy" run out of a politician's mouth! According to Graham Fraser of the Parliamentary Bureau, Mr. Boudria had additional unkind things to say about this German-Canadian activist:
"'Who would ever predict that Ernst Zundel would have the unmitigated gall to even ask to come to this place?' he asked. 'This is a Holocaust denier, this is a person that has spread what many others, not just me, have qualified as hatred against a particular group of people, namely people of the Jewish faith.' (...)
"Moshe Ronen, the newly elected president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, was on Parliament Hill yesterday when a staff member saw the announcement on Mr. Zundel's (sic) Internet web site that he would hold a press conference on Parliament Hill this morning to denounce a May 25 decision of the Canadian Human Rights Commission Tribunal.
"Mr. Ronen said in an interview that he immediately ***told*** Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, Hedy Fry. (emphasis added)
"Use of the press conference facilities is handled by the Press Gallery.
"'The policy is very clear - any group or person with something to say on the subject of federal government can reserve room 130-S,' said Jules Richer, president of the gallery. "Ernst Zundel called, and he was granted use of the facility. We make no selection - it's not up to us to determine who has the right to speak." (...)
"'If the Mounties lead me off the Hill, I will do what I have always done - I will follow their direction,' (Zundel) said in an interview. "Do we not have freedom of speech? Is the Charter of Rights utterly meaningless?'"
Well, evidently Parliament of Canada decided that it was. After some time-honored Chosenite-style arm-twisting, the gravy-train lackeys passed their historic motion, soiling democracy and free speech in the process, and Mr. Zundel, true to style, spoke from the steps of the House of Commons - as the first man in the history of Canada ***ever*** to be barred from the House of Commons by Parliament decree from using the press room set aside for the public to inform the media of wrongdoing of government of the day.
Some record these toadies have left!
Security was heavy - lots of plain clothes police and lots of discreetly distant federal police, the famed Royal Mounties. There was no incident. Ernst Zundel spoke with the fire and passion that has sustained his outreach on behalf of his people for more than three decades, and I suspect this video will be one of the historic ones that generations are going to study.
This video will be broadcast America-wide next Sunday evening at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Transponder 11, Galaxy 6 on the "Voice of Freedom" Satellite TV Show. Those who heard the press conference said it was exceptional as Ernst Zundel told a throng of reporters that, in the name of "tolerance" he had been barred - and gave his reasons why.
Ernst feels that, for once, he spoke to the reporters' souls. He says that he knows that he reached them. He says there was a special feel to it - was "the way it used to be" before his voice was gagged and his name demonized for nine long years until the Supreme Court of Canada gave him his freedom back in 1992 - which lasted exactly ***four days*** ! - until his tormentors were back, attempting new charges, courts, arson and bombs.
He wrote to some comrades afterwards:
"I was able to give an in-depth press conference. I aired most my grievances and, in spite of the fatigue factor, managed to make the public take notice and make my enemies furious.
"I felt privileged to witness to the truth about myself and my own people's history. One more time we have brought the issues before the Canadian public by our own engagement and sacrifice.
"I cannot do more. History and fate, maybe karma, will decide the rest."
"The rest" of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Hearings looks like this - a comparison drawn up by an observant friend:
====
The Spanish Inquisition:
To commence proceedings, a summons went to the "heretic" - a term of grace was allowed in which a confession could "reconcile the heretic to God". Reformed behavior and penance were essential for a "heretic".
The Canadian Human Rights / Section 13.1:
A respondent to a complaint about "hate mongering" can come before the Commission and make an apology and offer compensation, without the cost of a hearing - and hence be reconciled to the complainant. Reformed behavior is essential for a "discriminator".
=====
The Spanish Inquisition:
Heretics who failed to come forward were to be denounced by good Catholics in secret to the Inquisitor.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
Discriminators who fail to come forward and be reconciled to the complainant will be denounced in the media. Complaints can be made in secret to the Commission.
=====
The Spanish Inquisition:
Only witnesses of "good character" could testify, although "heretics" could testify against "heretics" but never for them.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
Only witnesses "free of racism" or "bias" or "discrimination" can be expert witnesses, although a "racists" can testify against a "racist" but never for him and be received
=====
The Spanish Inquisition:
A defendant had no witnesses, since such persons would themselves be "accomplices" or "heretics". Defendants could prove "truth" in their defense if they could prove their innocence.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
The defendant cannot call any witnesses to prove the truth of what he said because "truth is not a defense." There is no defense of truth if the ***effect*** is "hate"
=====
The Spanish Inquisition:
Counsel, though not explicitly denied at first , was later denied by Papal Authority, at least for acknowledged "heretics". This was known to the Inquisitor.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
Lawyers who represent defendants are labeled and libeled in the media as lawyers for "hate mongers." This is repeated until lawyer and client are seen as one. Truth not being a defense, intent not being required, legal aid being denied*, lawyers are pointless and scarce.
(*Explanatory comment for our foreign readers: This is a system in Canada where financially poor people have their lawyers' fees paid for by a state plan called "Legal Aid")
=====
Spanish Inquisition:
Witness and accusers' names were secret. Witnesses were often malicious.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
Accusers need not testify. Their malice is considered irrelevant and may not be proven.
=====
Spanish Inquisition:
After being convicted of "heresy" or "sin", the heretic could accept penance and confess. If he did not, the Inquisition never punished. It turned the heretic over to the civil arm for punishment for treason - usually death by burning. A confession after conviction permitted the heretic to be strangled before burning. Property was forfeit.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission / Section 13.1:
After being convicted of "discrimination", the defendant or discriminator can admit the breach, reform and pay money. If not, the Tribunal registers its judgment with the civil court who punishes with contempt, usually jail. Property is forfeit. One who admits "fault" before the civil court may simply be gagged by order.
=====
Nice system, eh? Just a few centuries between The Inquisition Then - The Inquisition Now.
The 1998 Canadian Inquisition-style hearings will last throughout the month of June. We don't know what lies beyond. But remember:
That the truth of the statements communicated on the Zundelsite are verifiable is ***irrelevant***. In fact, truth is ***inadmissible*** in these proceedings!
Truth is not a defense! The intent to right a wrong, to remove anti-German propaganda statements by publishing or countering them with historically true facts is not a defense! The only criterion that matters are the Chosenites' "hurt feelings."
Thus, certain designated groups become immune from criticism for their lies and/or actions. One must ask: For how long?
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"My experience with the Swiss is that, unless you hold their feet very close to the fire, they don't take you seriously."
(Edgar Bronfman, head of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and President of the World Jewish Congress, as quoted in the Globe and Mail, front page, June 2, 1998, referring to the "Nazi Gold")