Canada Holocaust-Denier Ruling Hailed (will be deported)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/25/05 | Beth Duff-Brown - AP

[NormsRevenge]

TORONTO - Jewish activists Friday hailed a court ruling that allows Canada to deport German Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel to face prosecution at home.

Zundel, author of "The Hitler We Loved and Why," has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society.

Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais said Zundel's activities were not only a threat to national security, "but also a threat to the international community of nations."

Zundel, a leading proponent of white supremacy, claims the Holocaust never happened.

In his 63-page decision released in Ottawa on Thursday, Blais called Zundel a racist hypocrite and said his Toronto home was a "revolving door" for some of the world's most notorious white supremacists who have promoted violence and hatred against Jews and minorities.

"It is time for Zundel's plane to take off. This should mark a closure to the tireless efforts of many to bring Zundel to justice," said Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B'nai Brith of Canada.

B'nai Brith and other Jewish organizations in Canada and the United States have for decades followed Zundel's activities and intervened in the legal proceedings against him.

"The impact of Zundel's removal from Canada is significant," said Len Rudner, national director of community relations for the Canadian Jewish Congress. "It's an indictment of hatred, an indictment of violence."

Zundel faces prosecution in Germany for his neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denying activities. Since the late 1970s he has operated Samisdat Publishing, one of the leading distributors of Nazi propaganda and since 1995 has been a key content provider for a Web site dedicated to Holocaust denial, according to the the Anti-Defamation League.

German authorities told the Canadian Press on Friday that Zundel would be picked up and arrested as soon as he arrived back in his homeland.

Zundel's lawyer Peter Lindsay said in statement that Zundel would not appeal and expected to be deported as early as next Tuesday.

"Probably no one cares because Mr. Ernst Zundel is notorious and reviled," Lindsay said. "The powerful and the popular do not need to rely on the fairness of our legal system. The marginalized and the reviled do. Our system has failed Mr. Zundel."

Zundel spokesman Mark Weber said Zundel was being persecuted for his personal beliefs.

"The government case is based on pretext, innuendo," Weber said by phone. "The judge cites no concrete basis that he is a threat to national security. He merely points out that Zundel met with people who, arguably, might be a threat to national security. That's not a crime. It's a dangerous precedent and it's a dangerous blow against freedom for Canadians."

Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel emigrated to Canada in 1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001. Canadian officials rejected his attempts to obtain Canadian citizenship in 1966 and 1994. He moved to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., until he was deported back to Canada in 2003 for alleged immigration violations.

Zundel claimed in court that he is a peaceful man who has no criminal record or charges against him in Canada. Lindsay, his attorney, challenged the constitutionality of the security certificate review process, saying it violates his client's right to free speech and association.

The Canadian security certificate law, passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, allows the government to hold terrorism suspects without charge, based on secret evidence that does not have to be disclosed to a suspect's defense.

Alan Borovoy, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said intelligence authorities may know of criminal offenses by Zundel, which cannot be disclosed for reasons of national security, but the detainment without charge or public evidence smacks of injustice.

"Zundel, I have no difficulty saying, is a nasty, nasty character and everything I'm saying is without the slightest sympathy for him," Borovoy said. "But the process in itself is unfair."

_____

On the Net:

Web site for followers of Zundel: www.zundelsite.org

Text of ruling: www.fct-cf.gc.ca/bulletins

[NormsRevenge]

Ernst Zundel speaks to reporters during a recess in his detention review with the Immigration and Refugee Board in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in this March 31, 2003 file photo. Jewish activists Friday Feb. 25, 2005 hailed a court ruling that allows Canada to deport German Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel to face prosecution at home. Zundel, author of 'The Hitler We Loved and Why,' has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society. (AP Photo/CP, Aaron Harris/ File)

[GeronL]

Not a lot of Holocaust deniers around these days... there are millions who deny the holocausts of Stalin, Lennin, Mao, Pol Pot, North Korea et al.

But then they're still running the history departments.

[dighton]

Zundel, author of "The Hitler We Loved and Why" ...

Life overtakes art.

[martian_22]

If only they would go after islamofascists with the same zeal.
Truth stands alone. Lies need the force of law. Why does this formula not seem to fit here.

[opinionator]

Future Deportations?

• Global Warming deniers
• Evolution deniers

[fish hawk]

I hear that he was recently offered teaching jobs at Colorado University and the University of Hawaii. (joke)

[sourcery]

The Holocaust clearly was a real event. It clearly involved the murder of millions of innocent people (most of whom were Jewish, although that's completely irrelevant.) And the Holocaust was clearly one of the most evil deeds ever perpetrated by any society, political movement or government.

Nevertheless, one person's right to proclaim the evils of the Holocaust depends utterly upon the equal and reciprocal right of people such as Mr. Zundel to deny the Holocaust, in whole or in part. In fact, the same is true of every right of every individual. If we let any person's rights suffer unjustified violation, we endanger everyone's rights--and far more so than whatever danger may be involved in letting evil (or at least severely misguided) people such as Zundel have their say. The reason that's so is because rights are intrinsically a function of the principle of reciprocity.

Or as Jesus said, "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." So, when the goon squads come to arrest you for your unpopular views/statements, O you smug, self-righteous Canadians, to what principle will you appeal?

[ikka]

When they start deporting imams, let me know. Canada is sucha nation of PC suck-ups.

[Arkinsaw]

He should have no problem, he can just pretend he wasn't deported.

[staytrue]

Freedom of speech was meant to defend unpopular speech. If a speech is popular, it does not need defending.

I don't like this guys views, but I think he should be allowed to say it.

[sourcery]

If a speech is popular, it does not need defending.

Unless you're a conservative student at an ultra-liberal university, of course :-)

[spyone]

He's lived in Canada for 30 years. What an inefficient system.

[Allan]

Holocaust deniers who write for the New York Times get the Pulitzer Prize.

[Finalapproach29er]

Irony.

[TheDon]

What's the old line about, "They came for the Holocaust deniers, and I didn't do anything, because I wasn't a Holocaust denier..."

Looks like Canada fails the "Townsquare Test" in this case.

[BenLurkin]

Scratch a Ward Churchill and there is a Holocaust denier not too far under the surface I suspect.

[sarah_f]

Zundel? PoS!

[claudiustg]

---Zundel, author of "The Hitler We Loved and Why," has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society.---

No bill of rights for you!

[rcocean]

Amazing, some crazy ol nut gets deported for denying a historical even - meanwhile people who support terrorists who are killing people right now - are allowed to speak and live in Canada.

Blame Canada

[The Electrician]

Does Canada have a Bill of Rights?