To look again — part five
Dave's Diatribe — Unfair and Unbalanced

by David Mullenax
Augusta Free Press
11 June 2004

Liberty is the cornerstone of our Western civilization and the foundation of all societies wishing to create an environment for free men.

To some, the word has no meaning, but for fallen heroes, it's the last word ever spoken.  Liberty is the rallying cry for brave and courageous men who sacrifice their lives destroying the shackles of bondage and the chains of servitude.

Merriam-Webster defines the word as:

a. the quality or state of being free.

b. the power to do as one pleases.

c. freedom from physical restraint.

d. freedom from arbitrary or despotic control.

Unfortunately, there are government officials who have aligned themselves with Jewish pressure groups that subvert the guiding principles of our societies.  They do not believe in liberty for free men, but seek to censor those who speak out in ways they determine unacceptable.  Through legislation and intense lobbying efforts, they criminalize the right of citizens who dare to question matters including those involving the historical accuracies of the Holocaust.

Rather than safeguarding the rights of citizens, they control, condemn and convict those who participate in and exercise their freedom and liberty.  Government officials have decided that serving the interests of powerful lobbying groups over the citizens they are sworn to protect is in their best interests.

Then there are those who turn a blind eye to the perpetrators and criminals who seek to destroy the spirit and will of individuals who champion the cause of liberty.  Others involve themselves with selfish interests and consumerism while men and women are prosecuted, defamed, tortured and destroyed.

As I write this series, I am acutely aware of the benefits of a free society — one that embraces liberty.  Likewise, I am conscious of my surroundings.  Our young children are currently laughing and playing downstairs with all the innocence that young children possess.  My wife is sitting in comfort, enjoying a glass of red wine as she reads a book by candlelight.  I am also quite conscious that as of tomorrow it can all disappear.

If you are doubtful, the story of Ernst Zundel may prove convincing.

Ernst Zundel emigrated from Germany to Canada in 1958 at the age of 19.  As an immigrant in Canada, he became a productive member of society, establishing himself as a commercial artist, photographer and photo retoucher.  He worked hard and was well respected in his community.

During the late 1970s, Zundel saw a change in Canada and more specifically in the educational institutions of his adopted country.  In the school curriculum, the Holocaust was intensely promoted, and many German-Canadian children were being psychologically victimized.  It was his experience that children of German descent, even those born after World War II, were held collectively responsible for alleged Jewish suffering.

Being an honest and caring man, he disagreed with the unbalanced perspective of the Holocaust that he saw being taught in the school system.  As a Christian and pacifist, he opted for nonviolence to protest the one-sided and dominant Jewish perspective of history.  In response to this indoctrination, many books and pamphlets were published through his company, Samsidat Publishers.

The material offered alternative perspectives to the alleged industrialized killing of Jews under Hitler's Germany.  It questioned the universal belief in the existence of gas chambers and other stories of the Holocaust — including the fairness of the Nuremberg trials.

As could be expected, the organized Jewish lobby in Canada didn't take kindly to Zundel's freedom of expression and exercise of liberty.  Under intense pressure from these groups, the Canadian government prosecuted him under the False News law — a law that undermined and corrupted the very principle of liberty.  In Canada, the right to question historical events became politically incorrect, and so the assault on free thought and liberty began.

The trial commenced in 1985, and throughout its duration, Zundel and his attorney were victimized by intimidation, harassment and death threats.  In the end, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years probation, only to have the conviction overturned by an appellate court in 1987.

He was again brought before the courts in 1988 under a second False News trial.  After four months of deliberation, he was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.

It was this second trial that all Canadians owe Zundel a debt of gratitude.  In August 1992, the Supreme Court of Canada determined the ridiculous False News laws unconstitutional and a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights — similar to the U.S. Bill of Rights.  The court made a stand for free speech; thus Zundel and others were free to publish material critical of the Holocaust.  With free speech reestablished, anyone could pursue an objective approach to the studies of historical events in an attempt to uncover the truth.

Canadians, whether in agreement with Zundel's views or not — were thankful their country chose the side of liberty and free expression.

Bill Dunphy — editor of The Hamilton Spectator — essentially endorsed the court's decision: "Zundel ... did this country a favor by wiping off the books our disgraceful False News laws ..."

Unfortunately, the vicious attacks against Zundel were far from over.  During the 1990s — in what has become known as The Zundelsite Trial — the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, under pressure from Jewish lobbying groups, moved against a Web site bearing his name — www.zundelsite.org.

The Web site, owned and operated by Ingrid Rimland of the United States, was alleged by the CHRT to be hateful and offensive to Jews.  Through a widely publicized court case, many free-speech advocates followed the trial intensely, fearing a guilty verdict would set a precedent in other cases involving the Internet.  In the end, the Zundelsite was considered hate material, but beyond the jurisdiction of the Canadian government, as the Web site was U.S.-based.

Exhausted from years of prosecution and abuse, Zundel moved to America and married Rimland in 2000.  While hoping to settle into a peaceful retirement, his life took an unexpectedly different turn.  He was arrested this time by U.S. government agents in February 2003 and deported to Canada for missing an immigration appointment.  With the fervor generated by the events of 9/11, he was considered a threat to Canadian national security under the new anti-terrorism laws.

It is this misuse of anti-terrorism statutes that erodes freedom and liberty; laws that Jewish pressure groups are quick to cling to and promote in attempts at silencing others, especially those critical of the Holocaust.  Falsely and barbarously they have thrust the mighty sword of anti-terrorism into the heart of a patriot — into the heart of Ernst Zundel.  The same man who fought for the freedoms and liberties of all Canadian citizens.

Many in the Canadian media have spoken out against this abuse of power and sickening display of injustice used in this political persecution.

The Times Colonist declared in Zundel's defense, "The way the federal government is trying to get rid of Zundel is wrong — it is using law that is so sweeping in its scope that it may be, as Zundel's lawyer Doug Christie argues, unconstitutional."

One of Canada's leading newspapers, The Globe and Mail, essentially vindicated Zundel of any wrongdoing and warned citizens of governmental abuse of power in a March 6 editorial:

"These are extreme measures in a democratic society.  ...  He has never been charged with a violent crime and does not urge others to commit violence.  It is hard to know exactly how Ottawa defends its decision to jail Mr. Zundel, because, under the security-certificate process, it can keep most of its evidence secret — a provision that severely limits Mr. Zundel's right to mount a defense.  The real danger to Canadians comes ... from a government that casually discards their most precious rights."

Yet as newspapers publicly chastise this gross injustice, for the past 16 months he has remained in solitary confinement without being officially charged with any crime.  He is there not because he is a terrorist or a threat to national security, but because groups like the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association want him there.

However, some are still not satisfied.

Allan Young, an attorney in Canada, wrote a perverted homily in a Toronto newspaper calling for the torture of Zundel and other supposed hate criminals:

"It is bizarre that criminal justice officials try to do more to change the belief and behavior of johns charged with prostitution than they do with the Ernst Zόndels.  ...  Just as some cancers require invasive surgery, the hate crime needs intrusive measures.  The usual 'out of sight, out of mind' approach to modern punishment just won't work in this case.  For crimes of extreme stupidity, we need Clockwork Orange justice, strapping the hate criminal into a chair for an interminable period and keeping his eyes wide open with metal clamps so he cannot escape from an onslaught of cinematic imagery carefully designed to break his neurotic attachment to self-induced intellectual impairment.  In the context of hate crime, I do have some regrets that we have a constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.  ...  However, if the crime is unique, the sanctions should be also.  Simply dishing out more prison time or a larger fine is a dead end.  We need a punishment that can kick-start a brain."

I am sure that Allan Young is fond of Zundel's current situation.  Presently, the light in his cell is never turned off.  He is denied a pen and must write everything with children's colored pencils.  Often, his medicine is delayed, causing profuse bleeding of the gums.  But worst of all, he is separated from his beloved wife Ingrid and is denied the freedom and liberty that many of us take for granted.

Now some of you may say, "So what?  He is in Canada and not America.  Who cares about Ernst Zundel?"

Dear reader, Ernst Zundel is you and I.  He is the librarian who refuses to take an unacceptable book off the shelf and is fired.  He is the teacher who wants to teach a different perspective of WWII and is dismissed from his position.  He is the lone editor of an independent Virginia newspaper who makes a stand for liberty while refusing to cave in to pressure, harassment and intimidation.  Ernst Zundel is your husband, brother, wife, sister or neighbor who believes in freedom of speech and is denied the right to speak openly.  He is your young child who desperately wants a future that celebrates liberty and free thought not persecution and tyranny.

But for those that are convinced that the trading of liberty for security is noble and decent, it is Benjamin Franklin whose voice, like a lighthouse piercing through the fog of night, instructs the foolish and unwise, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

If Franklin or any of America's past heroes were alive today, I am certain they would demand the immediate release of Ernst Zundel.  Instead, U.S. politicians send military servicemen thousands of miles away under the banner of liberty, as the husband of an American citizen remains in prison without charge.

The current agenda of bought politicians and the powerful Jewish lobby is not one of liberty, but oppression and injustice — as the political persecution of Zundel has proven.  For certain, his life is an example for us all.

Now, I am not sure about you, but I stand with liberty and for that I stand with Ernst Zundel.

How you can help

If you would like to help, call or write to Canada's prime minister and protest the unfair treatment and political persecution of Ernst Zόndel.

For donations to the Zundel legal-defense fund, or other ways you can help, visit www.zundelsite.org.

Prime Minister Paul Martin
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
E-mail: [email protected]

David Mullenax resides in Fishersville. His column, "Dave's Diatribe - Unfair and Unbalanced," appears every Friday in The Augusta Free Press.

The views expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect those of management of The Augusta Free Press.