
Rochelle Wilner President	Frank Dimant Chief Executive Officer	Prof. Stephen Scheinberg National Chair	Ruth Klein National Director of Advocacy

1998 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents

HATE PROPAGANDA AND HOLOCAUST DENIAL

1998 saw the continued efforts of hatemongers trying to recruit new members and disseminate their message through various means. Businesses and individuals across Canada were targeted with hate pamphlets, letters and email replete with a myriad of classic antisemitic themes and hate propaganda, including Holocaust denial, anti-feminism and anti-Zionism. Specifically, several Jewish lawyers received Holocaust denial pamphlets that were sent to their offices. It is not known why these people were targeted with this sort of material. It should be noted that while such a mail campaign affects a great number of individuals directly targeted by the material, it is treated as one incident for statistical purposes for the Audit (see Methodology section). The following are a few cases which are representative of the promotion of hate propaganda and Holocaust denial in Canada.

Update on Zundel

“Holocaust denial is at the centre of the web of hate”, stated noted Holocaust scholar, Professor Deborah Lipstadt, delivering a keynote address at B’nai Brith Canada’s International Symposium on Hate on the Internet. Throughout 1998, Ernst Zundel, based in Toronto, continued to publish and disseminate Holocaust denial material world-wide, both on the Internet and through the exports of his publishing house, Samisdat. Much to the chagrin of most Canadians, Zundel continues to be a leading figure of Holocaust denial in the world.

The Toronto Mayor’s Committee on Community and Race Relations (TMCCRR) and Ms. Sabina Citron made two complaints (dated July 18, 1996 and September 25, 1996 respectively) to the Canadian Human Rights Commission for:

Discriminating against persons on the grounds of race, religion national or ethnic origin by placing on the World Wide Web (WWW) messages which are likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt by reason of the fact that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination contrary to section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act

The subject matter of one complaint was the content of Zundel’s postings on the web site known as the "Zundelsite" based in California. The second complaint was based on subsection 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act which states that:

“it is a discriminatory practice for a person or a group of persons acting in concert to communicate telephonically or to cause to be communicated, repeatedly, in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a telecommunications undertaking within the legislative authority of Parliament, any matter that is likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt by reason of the fact that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.”

The Human Rights Tribunal that commenced in 1997, continued throughout 1998 and might continue well into 1999. The case is a complicated one and focuses on many issues. The "Zundelsite" is registered under the name Ingrid Rimland of San Diego, which makes it difficult to hold Zundel responsible under Canadian law. Is the Internet a telephonic device (a necessary condition of 13(1) of the Human Rights Act)? Does the Canadian Human Rights Act have the jurisdiction to deal with the Internet? Does the material on the Zundelsite site constitute hate propaganda or not?

After the Commission brought forward several compelling expert witnesses to establish jurisdiction and that the Internet is a telephonic device, in the latter half of 1998 Zundel brought forward several so-called "expert" witnesses for the defense. So far, Zundel’s witnesses have included Bernard Klatt and Mark Weber, who was previously the news editor for the National Vanguard, the voice of the National Alliance, William Pierce’s neo-Nazi antisemitic organization. Weber is now editor of the pseudo-historical Holocaust-denying Journal For Historical Review. To date, four of Zundel’s "expert witnesses" have had their credentials partly or totally refuted by the Tribunal, amongst them Robert Faurisson. Faurission is arguably the most published Holocaust denier in history. Once a professor at the University of Lyon, Faurisson lost his tenure because of his Holocaust denial beliefs, and has been charged in France under the Fabius-Gayssot law passed in 1990 which makes Holocaust denial illegal. The Zundel hearings will resume in March 1999 when Zundel will try to have more expert witnesses qualify to offer testimony. With the Zundel trial continuing in 1999 and some of the most notorious international members of the Holocaust denial community sure to be parading through Toronto, there will most likely be a resurgence of Holocaust denial activity in the next few months in Canada.

The Collins Case

In July 1998 the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada was granted intervener status in the case brought against Doug Collins by Victoria businessman, Harry Abrams. Mr. Abrams took both the North Shore News and Doug Collins to a Human Rights Tribunal because of four columns written between January and April 1994. Marvin Kurz, National Legal Counsel and National Co-Chair for the League for Human Rights, served as the League’s Counsel during the Human Rights Tribunal in July 1998.

This was the second of two human rights complaints lodged against the North Shore News and Doug Collins. The first complaint was brought by the Canadian Jewish Congress, but involved a single article criticizing the Academy Award-winning film, Schindler’s List.

The Tribunal in the Canadian Jewish Congress case upheld the constitutionality of the law under which the charges had been brought. However, even though the Tribunal determined the article was “...obviously antisemitic...” and “presents Jews in a negative light, as powerful propagandists and profiteers, and depicts, in grossly inaccurate terms, the extent and victimization in the Holocaust...”, the Tribunal concluded the column was not antisemitic enough to be considered "hateful" and warranting action under the B.C. Human Rights Code. The Tribunal also stated the case “does not carry the same weight as it would in the case where several publications are the subject of a complaint...”.

The second Collins case involved multiple articles on denial of the Holocaust and Jewish conspiracies. Abrams’ complaint offered that these articles show a systematic antisemitic pattern in Collins’ writings, which had a cumulative effect of promoting hatred and contempt towards Jews. Abrams sought $5000 in damages from both Collins and the North Shore News for the League for Human Rights’ legal fund, $2000 for his lost time and expenses, a full apology, and an order that the North Shore News and Collins abstain from publishing similar articles in the future. On February 3, 1999 the B.C. Human Rights Commission ruled against Doug Collins and the North Shore News. The Commission stated that four of Collins’ articles put together are likely to expose groups to hatred and contempt. Mr. Collins and the North Shore News were ordered to pay $2000 to Harry Abrams, not to publish similar articles, and the North Shore News was ordered to print an unedited summary of the decision.

Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam

In February 1998 Louis Farrakhan spoke in Toronto to an audience of approximately 3000. This was of great concern to many communities in Toronto due to the Nation of Islam’s history of sexism, homophobia and antisemitism. This time there was little controversy, as Farrakhan was careful not to make public antisemitic pronouncements. Classic antisemitic texts like Martin Luther’s Concerning the Jews and their Lies and the forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion did not appear to be sold at the event as they had been at previous such programs. However this toned-downed approach was short-lived. In June, the Nation of Islam opened its first mosque in Canada under the leadership of Don Muhammad. Muhammad, also known as Brother Donny X, was previously headquartered in Brampton, but the mosque was opened as a storefront in the heart of downtown Toronto. The celebrations involved 500 core supporters. During the ceremony Don Mohammed fueled the crowd with typical NOI conspiratorial and paranoid theories.

Then comes the NOI creation story — an evil scientist spliced the genes of the black race to produce whites — and the warning that if black people heed the coded warnings of the mass media, they will realize that Armageddon is upon us.... Then he points to the Ellen Degeneres show, which he says represents part of the danger threatening to wipe out the black race in the coming century. “When they start talking about Ellen having a gay relationship and it is broadcast across the television, that’s propaganda,” says the minister. “That’s bringing our children into a whole new reality they know nothing about.” There’s also a plot involving a Masonic Lodge, and a computer bug that threatens to destroy the public and private sector databases in the year 2000. For Black Muslims that techno glitch spells the end of white civilization and the beginning of another, one in which the Nation of Islam will ascend.
(Bizzarre Utterances From The Nation Of Islam, NOW Magazine, July 21, 1998)

The NOI press release for the meeting declared that “The members of the Nation of Islam ...have always professed, and proven that they do not hate any group and they are not antisemitic.” But Muhammad couldn’t restrain himself. Eerily voicing the obsession of Holocaust deniers, he announced that there are serious questions as to whether six million Jews actually died in the Holocaust. Jews, he said, beating the familiar NOI hate drum, have long been involved in financing wars of nations in order to enrich themselves.

“They loan billions of dollars trying to take over the sovereignty of the governments and they have to find a way to collect their debts.” He says, “They create enemies for different countries, and it is so deep brothers, it is so involved, that we need to take an examination of it.” Humorous if it were not so frightening.
(NOW Magazine, July 21, 1998.)

This was exactly the type of propaganda the League for Human Rights was concerned about when it heard that the Nation of Islam was opening a mosque. “It’s dishonest for someone to come in and say all they’re doing is pulling up their own community when part of the way they are doing it is by increasing anger and potential violence against another community. That’s not what our society is about, that’s not what a multicultural society is about”, stated Dr. Karen Mock, National Director of the League for Human Rights in a public statement at the time of the opening of the mosque.