Fwd: ZGram - 7/19/2004 - "Israel to ask for Holocaust Deniers' extradition?"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

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>Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!
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>July 19, 2004
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>Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
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>With Ernst Zundel, it was done on the sly and surreptitiously - is 
>it going to be on demand from now on?
>Read and surmise!
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>[START]
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>Israel Will Prosecute Holocaust Deniers / Jerusalem Post, July 19, 2004
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>By NINA GILBERT
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>Holocaust denial crimes committed overseas would be an offense under 
>Israeli legal jurisdiction and serve as grounds for extradition 
>under legislation, which is expected to pass a first reading in the 
>Knesset this week.
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>The government is backing the bill, drafted by MK Aryeh Eldad 
>(National Union). Eldad originally proposed the measure as a move 
>against then Palestinian Authority prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu 
>Mazen) for his doctoral dissertation 20 years ago in which he 
>estimated that the Nazis killed less than a million Jews.
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>But the bill is unlikely to be anything more than declarative in 
>nature. Countries that don't have laws against Holocaust denial are 
>unlikely to extradite citizens to be tried in Israel for the crime, 
>although Israel's protective measure would not require such a law to 
>be on their books, according to Justice Ministry officials. Another 
>problem is the fact that Holocaust denial is a crime of expression, 
>and most countries treat such crimes liberally.
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>A more practical implication of the law is that it would deter 
>Holocaust deniers from visiting Israel.
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>In 1994, Israel extended its legal protection abroad for the state 
>and its citizens to Jews and Jewish institutions, which enables it 
>to obtain justice for them as it does for Israelis. At the time, the 
>idea of including Holocaust denial in Israel's ex-territorial laws 
>was considered, but eventually dropped.
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>Eldad said the amendment to the law in Israel, where Holocaust 
>denial is a crime, is necessary because "almost all" of those crimes 
>are committed abroad.
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>He said he believes the law is going to be "very practical," since 
>violations would give Israel the right to demand prosecution even if 
>it does not request extradition. He said it would also enable Israel 
>to file counter suits if Jews are sued for libel for labeling 
>Holocaust deniers.
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>The law would also "send a signal to a Holocaust denier like Abu 
>Mazen" that if he enters Israel he is a "criminal," Eldad said.
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>Moreover, he said the passage of the law would send a message that 
>for the Jewish people there is "no statute of limitations" on the 
>Holocaust. "The generation of survivors is dwindling," he noted, 
>emphasizing the need to keep Nazism from rearing again.
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>The bill has the support of Knesset factions on the Left and Right.
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>[END]