B'nai Brith 1996 Press Releases Page

BBC PLAYS KEY ROLE IN STOPPING HATE BOOK "THE TURNER DIARIES"

For Immediate Release

Toronto, July 11, 1996... B'nai Brith Canada has learned that Revenue Canada has determined that The Turner Diaries is hate literature and will be banned from being imported and sold in Canada.

We recently learned, from National Vice-President of B'nai Brith Canada, Stephen Scheinberg, that a new version of The Turner Diaries, published by Barricade Books in the U.S., had slipped into Canada and was to be distributed by a large book company into mainstream bookstores. The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada contacted the company informing them of the nature of the book and the possibilities of prosecution. The book company agreed to voluntarily stop distribution of the book. The League contacted Revenue Canada for verification that this newest version of The Turner Diaries would be placed on the list of prohibited materials as hate propaganda. B'nai Brith Canada conducted numerous consultations with various government agencies, Police Hate Crimes units, and community human rights groups. This and the legal scrutiny and assesment of the book on the part of Revenue Canada has culminated in this recent determination.

Rochelle Wilner, National Chair of the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada, released the following statement: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is prefaced by the notion that all rights are equal. This includes the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom from oppression. The issue of The Turner Diaries fits squarely in the balance of these rights and the Canadian government has sent a clear message that such a promotion of hatred and violence, as contained in this tract of pure hate propaganda, has no place in our society. This measure shows a strong commitment to fighting intolerance and those who seek to create violent discord amongst the peoples of Canada.”

After consultations with members of the book industry, Revenue Canada appears confident that the books will not be entering Canada and will not be sold in any of the mainstream bookstores.

When William Pierce, a.k.a. Andrew MacDonald, wrote The Turner Diaries, first published in 1978, it is undeniable that he was creating a manifesto for his own group called "The Order". William Pierce is the leader of the West Virginia based National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group. Pierce is also a founder and trustee of the "Cosmotheist Church." a "Christian Identity" group which shares membership and organizational space with the National Alliance. Injected into the social fabric of the West, The Turner Diaries becomes a spark that encourages the shift from merely spouting hatred and anti-government propaganda to acting upon these views in the form of violence and vigilant attacks against government and innocent citizens.

The list of groups and individuals who have been driven to violence using, among others texts, the words and ideas that appear in The Turner Diaries include: Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber; David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian at Waco; the Weaver family, former inhabitants of Ruby Ridge; the Freemen in Montana, and a motley collection of spurious white supremacist, anti-government, paramilitary groups such as, the White Aryan Nations, White Aryan Resistance, the KKK, etc. The death toll from these people alone is already in the hundreds.

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