Nazi here, Nazi there - Nazi, Nazi everywhere!

Sept 23, 2004

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

This IS funny - the generally disdainful Canadian Jewish Congress about all matters Zundel getting lectured by a Jewish member of the street-punk ARA - on Zundel!

I am sending this to you as it came to me:

[START]

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

The following is some fascinating correspondence. The first is the ARA call for community support for their counterdemonstration against CAFE's August 12 protest on behalf of political prisoner Ernst Zundel outside the Metro West Detention Centre in Toronto.

A specific letter of support was sent to Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress, seeking CJC endorsement, participation and support. It has since disappeared from the Internet, but items #2 and #3 remain, being Bernie Farber's reply and an ARA disappointed response to him.

Of special interest is Bernie Farber's ("BMF") response to the ARA, fascinating both for what it says and for what it does not say.Certainly, Farber turns down the ARA's call for endorsement and support. [Subsequently, the ARA's Rachel Rosen blamed the CJC in part for the ARA's paltry numbers - "we also lacked significant numbers"). On one level, one might cheer the CJC for distancing itself from the violence-prone anarchist ARA street thugs. After all, it would seem a little out of place for Farber and the lawyers and professionals of the CJC leadership rubbing shoulders with masked punks and street scruffs. Also, given the ARA's history, there was more than a chance of physical violence. Frankly, the CJC didn't need the risk or unpleasantness.

Yet, look a little closer. Farber writes: "Our support of the ARA vis-a-vis Zundel brings us into conflict with other positions you may hold specifically on the security certificate." (The ARA opposes the security certificate, while the CJC backs this totalitarian measure.) The sentence seems to strongly suggest that the CJC supports and has worked with the ARA on other issues, but wants to take a pass on this issue or this event.

It was significant that, when the ARA burst into Jack Astor's restaurant after the protest, shouting "Nazis out" and trying to assault CAFE supporters, one of their number screamed threats at bar employees: "Throw the Nazis out (in ARA's crack-addled ideology supporting free speech makes you a Nazi) or we'll tell the CJC and B'nai Brith and they'll shut you down." This certainly suggests some sort of relationship with the CJC, where, at least on their part, the ARA felt they had some pull. We do know that back in the mid-1990s, the ARA had received support and endorsement from Karen Mock of the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith.

Now, examine what is not said. Note that Farber does not say he disapproves of the protest. He does not say he disapproves of ARA violence. It's just that he and the CJC can afford to be picky. The ARA must get onside ideologically or expect nothing, at least on their anti-Zundel activities, from the CJC. Frankly, the CJC doesn't need the ARA on the Zundel issue. Why would CJC protest outside the prison. Its agenda is being implemented in Court. The Canadian government is keeping the German-born publisher and pacifist in prison and is seeking to deport him. That's exactly what the CJC wants. It doesn't have to stand outside a prison waving signs to get its voice heard. As evidence has shown during the Zundel hearings, in February of 2003, the CJC and B'nai Brith had high powered delegations bending the ears of the Minister of Justice (Anne McLellan) and the then Minister of Immigration Denis Coderre about Ernst Zundel. In the ruthless federal persecution and defamation of Mr.Zundel -- dubbing him a "terrorist" and threat to national security -- the CJC has gotten what it wants. It doesn't need the ARA.

I'm intrigued by what Farber does not say because of the standard to which I have been held. In 1997, I was fired after a 24-year much-praised career as an English instructor with the Peel District Board of Education. One of about a dozen incidents or sins held against me was my alleged conduct at a 1989 meeting of the Toronto's Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations. This noxious committee had made some nasty statements about skinhead ideology and had called for local bookstores to remove books with "racist" jokes. Several people and I had come as a delegation to comment on these issues. There were many delegations and our issue kept being knocked further down the agenda the committee clearly hoping we would get tired and go home. I was sitting beside Christie Blatchford, then a columnist with the TORONTO SUN. As the committee's machinations continued, there were some comments from the audience. It was alleged that a skinhead called out: "You're a dead man, Mr. Rose." Rose, as I recall, was a stooped and hostile representative of B'nai Brith on the Toronto Mayor's Committee. If this comment was made, I didn't hear it.

Anyway, before the Cowan Inquiry, in the submissions at my firing, in the case by Jewish lobby groups against me, and even in my arbitration hearings, I have always been blamed for not leaping up and denouncing the skinhead for his comment. Well, I never heard any such threat. Indeed, no such threat may ever have been made. Even if such a comment were made, I was not this skinhead's father, employer, or teacher, nor was he a member of any group I controlled. I had no authority to comment or reprimand him. Yet, that was the standard of conduct I was held to. Years late, I find it significant that Bernie Farber, one of my tormenters over the years, is not held to a similar standard. Thus, I find his refusal to explicitly condemn and repudiate ARA violence significant, as he, at least, had been asked by the ARA for his endorsement and opinion.

Paul Fromm

Director

ARA SEEKS CJC SUPPORT

#1

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From: A Lehrer <<mailto:cwicanada@sympatico.ca>cwicanada@sympatico.ca> Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 14:32:11 -0400 

To: <<mailto:san@lists.tao.ca>san@lists.tao.ca> 

Subject: Anti-Nazi rally Sunday

(please forward)

Hi,

Attached is the poster we're going to put up to promote the event. Please distribute!

Also, here's some info in text form:

On Sunday September 12th Canadian neo-Nazis and fascists will be demonstrating outside the Metro West Detention Centre (111 Disco Road in Etobicoke) in support of neo-Nazi guru and Holocaust denier, Ernst Zundel. We feel that whenever fascists raise their ugly heads they must be opposed, otherwise it makes it easier for them to organize, grow and threaten members of "minority" groups whether they be Jews and Muslims, immigrants or people of colour.

It's important for us to show fascists that they are a marginal group in society and that the vast majority of us oppose them and their tactics.

Please come out for our peaceful counterdemonstration. Buses will leave at 11:30 am (Sunday September 12th) from Christie Pits (across from Christie Subway Station). If you prefer to bring your own vehicle please meet us at Christie Pits and join our convoy.

For more information email aratoronto@canada.com or phone 416-295-8404

We've contacted TASC about also making this event a rally against the illegal detention of the "Secret Trial Five" and use of the national security certificate.

For clarification on our position on the National Security Certificate see: <http://ontario.indymedia.ca/twiki/bin/view/Toronto/ARAPublicMeetingOnZundelSecurityCertificate>

In short we are against use of the measure in all incidents and believe the government simply used it in the Zundel case in order to try to give it more legitimacy. In fact, Canada could have simply refused to accept Zundel when he was deported here by the US.

#2

_________________

Dear (ARA)-

My apologies for not responding to you more promptly on this matter, but I wanted to make use of the resources of our community relations committee (and others) to get a complete perspective on the matter. I've done so and, considering the input from my colleagues and lay leadership, have concluded that presently there appears to be some significant differences in approach which would make it problematic to assist in any official capacity.

It has come to our attention that there is a healthy debate within the ARA and its fellow travelers regarding the propriety of the security certificate under which Zundel is being held. Such debate is, of course, entirely legitimate, but the community that I represent is more or less consistent in its support of the use of security certificates to detain and remove dangerous individuals from this country. Given this, our support of the ARA vis-a-vis Zundel brings us into conflict with other positions you may hold specifically on the security certificate under which Zundel is being held.

I realize that this is not the answer that you were hoping for however I am sure you understand that we cannot support a position that runs contrary to established CJC policy.

BMF

#3

Dear Mr. Farber,

Re: your e-mail to Anti-Racist Action, dated Thursday,

September 9, 2004.

I trust by now that you are aware that the counter-rally against the supporters of Ernst Zundel, which took place on September 12, 2004, ended in the arrests of four ARA members.

Hindsight being 20/20, there are a number of things we could have done differently. The two factors that contributed to the violence the most, however, were low numbers on our side, and our lack of legitimacy in the eyes of 23 Division, who policed the rally. Both of these problems could have been averted, if only the CJC had stepped up to its mandate to combat anti-Semitism in Canada.

ARA and other community-based activist groups are presently the only forces that stand in the way of a massive rise in fascist violence in Toronto. The police have demonstrated their unwillingness to deal with white supremacists. In photographs taken by Zundel's supporters last Sunday, it is clear that the police targeted the counter-demonstrators rather than the Nazis allowing them freedom of movement while we were confined to a small area, positioning their paddy wagon so that it was protecting the Nazi demonstrators and open towards us, and standing with their faces (and weapons) to us and their backs to the Nazis. They even harassed CBC journalists who were walking between the two demonstrations in an attempt to interview both sides. Had a respected representative from the mainstream Jewish community leant his or her support to our rally, perhaps the police would not have viewed us as the agitators and the fascists as upstanding citizens.

We also lacked significant numbers, made worse by our inability to get the word out on time. Your organization could have helped there, even if no one from the CJC had the desire to attend the rally.

Having only thirty or so people in attendance made us look like an easy target for the fascists and reinforced what they had already told the police - that we were the archetypal small group of violent extremists.

One might think that the rise in Nazi activity in this city would be a rare instance of commonality between the CJC and ARA. That’s why I was so surprised when I read your e-mail to our member. Apparently, CJC's decision to withhold its resources and support came not from a policy of not working with street-level activist groups, but rather from your disagreement with our position on the post-September 11 Security Certificate legislation. To clarify, there is no debate within ARA as to the propriety of the Security Certificate. We absolutely oppose it. Our mandate is to fight against all forms of racism, and this piece of legislation has been used (in almost every case but Zundel's) as a tool to detain and deport people of Middle Eastern descent. To be honest, we are not sure why the CJC would support such legislation - surely your memories can't be so short that you do not remember the harsh measures once taken by the Canadian government against Jewish immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s. I work with ARA, but I am also a member of the Jewish community you claim to represent - as were some of those arrested fighting Zundel's supporters - and I can tell you that support for this unjust piece of legislation is by no means consistent or unanimous among Canadians, Jews or otherwise.

That being said, does the Canadian Jewish Congress really care more about defending the Security Certificate than defending the diverse communities of Toronto against fascists who have made it clear that they would like to see every Jew and person of colour dead or driven out? Does the CJC at all care about genuine threats to its constituents? How long do you intend to remain silent while people who believe that Hitler was a hero run amok in our city?

Your mission statement claims that your organization exists in part to combat racism and anti-Semitism and promote human rights. It's unfortunate that your actions in the face of the challenge Zundel's supporters have created fails to live up to your lofty ideals.

Sincerely,

Rachel Rosen

[END]

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Reminder:

Help free Ernst Zundel, Prisoner of Conscience. His prison sketches - now on-line and highly popular - help pay for his defence. Take a look - and tell a friend.

http://www.zundelsite.org/gallery/donations/index.html

Contribute to Ernst Zündel's Defence

Table of Contents for additional articles

Revisionism 101: Basic Revisionism

Revisionism 201 for Holocaust Skeptics

"David against Goliath": Ernst Zündel, fighting the New World Order

"Lebensraum!": Ingrid Rimland, pioneering a True World Order