Copyright (c) 1998 - Ingrid A. Rimland


November 7, 1998

 

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

 

Here is a quick follow-up on the Australian Adelaide Institute Internet censorship situation. I don't know who wrote this report, but it was sent via Adelaide e-mail.

 

Here it is:

 

"On November 2, Dr Fredrick Toeben appeared before the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) here in Sydney in an action bought against him by the Australian Council of Jewry (ACJ) and B'nai Brith.

 

Dr Toeben runs the Internet website 'ADELAIDE INSTITUTE' and the ACJ asserts that many articles and statements made on this website are defamatory, insulting and hurtful to the Jewish community.

 

Around 25 people attended the hearing, the ACJ (Australian Council of Jewry) was represented by Mr Jeremy Jones, Solicitor and Barristers Messrs Peter Wertheim and Mr Rothman, and 3 other unidentified persons.

 

Dr Toeben had 8 supporters in the room; the rest of the group was made up of members of the press.

 

Dr Toeben started the proceedings by trying to extract an affirmation from the HREOC Commissioner Ms. McEvoy that TRUTH COULD BE USED AS A DEFENCE in the proceedings.

 

Commissioner McEvoy refused to give this assurance.

 

The more Dr Toeben tried to get an assurance, the more the Commissioner continued to side-step the issue.

 

Dr Toeben contended that "IF TRUTH IS NOT A DEFENCE THEN THE LIE MUST PREVAIL and the proceedings must therefore be immoral.. Then he walked out of the proceedings.

 

The outraged Jewish Solicitor Mr Peter Wertheim ran out into the lobby to confront Dr Toeben, berating Dr Toeben about how the whole Wertheim family had been murdered in Krema 3 in Auschwitz - a somewhat unbelievable claim as Mr Wertheim does not seem to be older than around 45 years old.

 

Despite the fact that Dr Toeben had nothing to do with anything that occured in Auschwitz, Mr Wertheim became quite (verbally?) aggressive before rejoining his group.

 

A Number of Newsgroups reported on the proceedings and, surprisingly the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp) ran a quite balanced report about the proceedings, including an interview with Dr Toeben, on the evening TV news.

 

We do not know how this affair will continue to develop. The Council of Australian Jewry may choose to force the matter into the Federal Court of Australia, in which case TRUTH must be a defence, or they may choose to pursue the matter through the HREOC by way of written submissions.. We will keep you informed!"

 

 

Thought for the Day:

 

"Since Zundelsite has gone up, hate crime has gone down in the US. We need more Zundelsites."

 

(Giwer the Facetious)


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