WINNIPEG – A First Nations chief in Manitoba says media coverage of David Ahenakew's hate trial will increase aboriginals' hatred of Jews and make the former leader of the Assembly of First Nations a martyr. Ahenakew, 71, was on trial in Saskatoon last week for promoting hatred against an identifiable group over comments he made at a conference in December 2002, when he praised Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust and referred to Jews as "a disease."
Roseau River Reserve Chief Terrance Nelson released a statement to the media saying he doesn't agree with Ahenakew's views – but he says he will not condemn Ahenakew, calling him a "frustrated [and] angry" old man "looking for a scapegoat."
"Sadly, how the press and Canada responds to this issue will surely cause natives to hate Jews even more then [sic] some of them do now," Nelson says in the letter, "and what Jews fear the most, active promotion of hatred against Jews in Canada will only rise dramatically amongst natives as they make a martyr out of an old man."
In the letter, Nelson claims Jews control Canadian media and ignore First Nations issues. He singles out CanWest Global Communications; its owners, Winnipeg's Asper family; and their newspaper, the National Post, as "the voice of Jews."
"Articles appear regularly in newspapers filled with hatred of natives," states the release. "Will there be a dramatic rise in hatred of Jews amongst native people? As a chief, I say 'yes there will be.'"
David Matas, a spokesperson with the B'nai Brith League for Human Rights, has demanded the Roseau River band fire Nelson.
Last week, Ahenakew's lawyer Doug Christie said the reporter who wrote the newspaper article quoting Ahenakew should be charged with a hate crime.
Christie said reporter James Parker, who used to work for the CanWest-owned Saskatoon StarPhoenix, knowingly disseminated hate by writing the article in the first place.
If found guilty, Ahenakew could face up to six months in jail. Provincial Court Judge Marty Irwin is expected to rule on the case on June 10.