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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: Haaretz: Questioning holocaust "is tantamount to saying that the Jews have led the world astray" A court in Austria this week sentenced British historian David Irving to three years in prison after convicting him of violating the law that forbids denial of the Holocaust. Irving was convicted by his own admission for two speeches he made in Austria in 1989. He claimed in court that he had changed his opinion since then, and had erred when he stated there had been no gas chambers in Auschwitz. Several European states and Israel have enacted laws forbidding denial of the Holocaust; Britain and the United States have no such ban. Irving's sentence raises an argument, which resonates in Israel as well. Some argue that laws forbidding Holocaust denial infringe on the freedom of expression and do nothing to deter the deniers. Others maintain that denying the Holocaust has lessened in recent years, and attribute this, among other things, to the deterring force of the laws forbidding it. In the West, denial thrives among a lunatic fringe that operates through the Internet. Its effect is marginal, especially because the Holocaust has become a universal code for absolute evil. In many countries it plays a central role in the public, political and moral discourse, and in study programs, museums, films, books and the like. Therefore, it seems that the Holocaust does not need laws forbidding its denial. In the Muslim world, Holocaust denial serves mainly to nurture hostility toward Israel. Iran's president has jumped on the denial bandwagon and made it his pet theme. His country is planning a world conference of deniers, which is apparently expected to advance Iran's comprehensive war against western culture. Many Muslims see the denial as a kind of retaliation to the publication of the caricatures against Mohammed. Laws against Holocaust denial in Austria and Israel will deter neither the Iranians nor the Arabs. Holocaust denial has been prevalent in the Arab states for years. This trend is worrisome, because it is impossible to understand Israel without understanding the Holocaust's central place in creating Israeli identity. And without understanding one's enemy, one cannot make peace with him. Therefore, Arabs who refuse to partake of the denial should be encouraged. These include several prominent Palestinian intellectuals, who even acted a few years ago to cancel a deniers conference planned in Beirut. Denying the Holocaust should be outlawed because it is a type of racial, anti-Semitic incitement. Claiming the Holocaust did not happen is tantamount to saying that the Jews have led the world astray. Anyone who says that is depriving the Jews of their main argument in their demand that the world protect them, and is abandoning them to their foes. Denial harms not only Jews. The Holocaust heritage sets a benchmark for universal humane values, and its denial weakens its validity, and legitimizes racism and violations of human rights, which require constant bolstering. From this point of view, Holocaust denial is a crime against humanity, and freedom of expression should not apply to it.
Poster Comment: "Claiming the Holocaust did not happen is tantamount to saying that the Jews have led the world astray. Anyone who says that is depriving the Jews of their main argument in their demand that the world protect them, and is abandoning them to their foes." The chutzpah grows by the day. They're their own worst enemy.
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#22. To: bluegrass (#0)
What I can't understand about Irving getting bird is that his speeches and interview were given in 1989 and the law that outlawed such comments was introduced in 1992, three years later. This man has gone to jail for breaking the law before the law for his "offence" was even created. What next?
Interesting, I didn't know that. I think that's what's referred to as an ex post facto law and is expressly forbidden by our Constitution. Or at least it's supposed to be. When the Holohoax laws come here, we'll see.
#29. To: Esso, Phantom (#27)
I thought the Nazis' making use of ex post facto laws (violations of the principle Germans call nulla poena sine lege) was thought to be one of their worst legal abuses.
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