Wednesday, October 28, 2009

On the Contrary: Fascists and Zionists in Italy: ban revisionism; fire Prof. Caracciolo

In Italy, sparked by the case of a dissident university professor, an attempt to outlaw defending freedom of speech and unorthodox investigations of WWII history is led by neo-Fascists and Zionists

Rome University Professor Antonio Caracciolo

by Miguel Martinez | Palestine Think Tank | October 26th, 2009

Pacifici and Alemanno – the Zionist and the Neo-Fascist decide who must be silenced in Italy.

Antonio Caracciolo is a scholar of philosophy of law who is a member of the Faculty of Political Sciences of Rome University in Italy. Politically, he is a liberal in the Italian sense of the word: a believer in the separation of Church and state, constitutional democracy, the rule of law and a free market; however he keeps his opinions strictly out of his work, reserving them for his blog Civium Libertas.

Recently, his blog has dedicated much attention to the politics of Israel and the methods used by Zionist organizations in Italy to silence criticism of Israel in the Italian media and political sphere.

The Zionist discourse, in recent years, has focused increasingly on the extermination of the European Judaics during the Second World War, and this has led Antonio Caracciolo to touch another topic. As a liberal and legal scholar, he considers the attempt to introduce prison sentences against "Holocaust deniers" or "revisionists" incompatible with Articles 21 and 33 of the Italian constitution, which protect freedom of expression and of inquiry. In this context, however, Antonio Caracciolo has refused to get involved in historical discussions, or to support any "revisionist" thesis.

His blog – one of hundreds of thousands on the net in Italy – passed unnoticed for over two years, until a few days ago Italy's leading daily, La Repubblica, decided to make its existence front page news, under the more-than-misleading title: 'The extermination of the Jews is a legend,"Holocaust denier professor, Rome University under shock."

Gianni Alemanno, mayor of Rome, immediately demanded that the President of Rome's University, Luigi Frati, take steps against Antonio Caracciolo. It is ironic to recall that Alemanno is not only the first neo-Fascist to become mayor of the Italian capital, he has also been the historic leader of the mystic current in the Alleanza Nazionale (former MSI) party, and is the son-in-law of Pino Rauti, who introduced the occult ideas of Julius Evola into the neo-Fascist movement. [1] In Europe, even in the Middle Ages, mayors had no right to tell universities whom to hire or fire. Yet, the President of the University, Luigi Frati, thanked Gianni Alemmano for his prompt action and promised to "look into taking disciplinary steps against Caracciolo," which could include his being fired from his job.

The right-wing president of the Rome town Council, Marco Pomarici, declared that "one cannot tolerate certain statements circulating freely around Europe's largest university, especially in a course on Philosophy of Law. Such theories can generate a return of anti-Semitism and it is quite clear that Caracciolo is not suited to teach and must be dismissed." Irony again, since Councilor Pomarici, a short time ago, declared publicly that "there were also many positive elements in Fascism."

Riccardo Pacifici, the very Zionist president of the Judaic community elected by a first-time right wing majority (on a ticket explicitly called "For Israel"), and well known in Italy for an "aid to Gaza" hoax, calls directly for imprisoning Antonio Caracciolo: "Such "gentlemen" in some European countries – alas, not in Italy yet – are punished by the law for the ideas they uphold".

The next day, Riccardo Pacifici launched an appeal (directly from Israel) to the academic world, announcing that he would take legal action against Caracciolo's blog, and calling on university professors to take steps to "prevent allowing certain people having contact with students" (La Repubblica, October 23, 2009). Specifically, he calls upon the professors to "help us so that Italy makes laws declaring holocaust denial a crime".

Pacifici claimed the existence of a "true Holocaust denial network" on the Internet, hardly surprising if we consider that the Internet is a network. Pacifici also told the press that he had presented a black list of websites to the police.

"The problem of the net, emphasizes Pacifici, is that it is uncontrolled. The risk is that one can write anything by simply opening a website in Moscow. We also need to intervene in terms of legislation about this."

Statements of indignation about Caracciolo's blog "are not enough," Pacifici goes on. "Unanimous condemnation is not enough. We need to act in terms of criminal law."

The Caracciolo case opens a new frontier. Not only would unpopular opinions be banned, but also the right to criticize this censorship. Pacifici's proposal, if applied in Germany, would put Henryk Broder, candidate-president of the German Judaic Community, in jail, since Broder has promised to fight for the repeal of "Holocaust denial" legislation.

The following day, October 24, Repubblica itself published an article by Christopher Hitchens which called for a military attack on Iran, no less, but this seems not to have sent any shock waves through the media.

Far more than Holocaust revisionism/denial is at stake. Pacifici is calling for legislation that would outlaw a blog like that of Antonio Caracciolo, which criticizes a government of the Middle East, analyzes the action of public figures and organizations in Italy, and defends freedom of speech.

Such legislation would be possible only if laws were passed forbidding opposition to government policies, declaring certain foreign states to be above criticism, and forbidding support for free speech.

This of course is the basic issue behind "Holocaust denial legislation," which is actually only part of the general attempt by governments to control the Internet and to make opposition – outside of very limited channels – a crime: one need only think of the Czech Republic, where legislators slipped a few extra words into the the "Holocaust denial" legislation.

In Prague today, one can go to prison for up to eight years for "supporting class hatred" in "print, film, radio, television." "Hatred" of course is a purely emotional term, and any judge will be free to decide whether the person organizing a strike had such wicked feelings or not.

Note:

[1] The Italian neo-Fascist party, MSI (later Alleanza Nazionale, now dissolved into the governing centre-right party) was a complex coalition, with three main strands: very conservative, largely Catholic anti-Communists; the "left-wing" which saw Mussolini as the "true" Socialist in the progressive and secular nationalist tradition of the 19th century; and a mystic, largely pagan wing with close cultural ties to certain currents of German thought.


(End quote)

Source: On the Contrary


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URGENT~STOP AMERICA FROM KILLING GOLDSTONE REPROT


Emergency! Congress Debates Burying the Goldstone Report!
by Max Ajl - Coalition to organize The Gaza Freedom March

The Gaza Freedom March, October 27, 2009
SUBJECT: TELL CONGRESS TO RESPECT US AND INTERNATIONAL LAW!

Emergency – Call Congress Now

The US Congress is a considering a bipartisan resolution which would officially reject the findings of Judge Goldstone’s report on the Gaza war and call on President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to use the US veto to prevent a vote on the report in the United Nations Security Council. A vote on the bill, House Resolution 867, is expected by this coming weekend.
It is urgent that you call both your Senators and your Congressperson today and tell them to vote against this outrageous bill. You can read the bill here. It ignores the conclusions of the Goldstone Report and simply parrots Israeli government denial.

Judge Goldstone has challenged the US to substantiate its claim that his report is "flawed." President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have made no response. The carefully researched and documented report deserves a response, not a veto. The people of Gaza, who were brutally attacked, deserve a hearing. What message are we sending to the rest of the world when we grant Israel complete impunity?

This legislation has very important implications beyond the war crimes committed in Gaza. Israel has responded to the report by demanding the Western powers rewrite international and US law, warning that acceptance of the Goldstone report will mean that the US’ military campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will be subject to similar scrutiny. (Judge Goldstone has drawn a distinction – stating that his report finds that Israel deliberately targeted civilians). This legislation also ignores serious allegations that Israel has violated the US Arms Export Control Act.

Let Congress know that such legislation is unacceptable. It is not in the US interest to disregard war crimes. It is not in the US interest to rewrite international law. It is not possible to grant Israel impunity while demanding that other nations respect human rights.

Call NOW! LINK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES OR CALL THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD at the numbers below.

US House of Representatives (202) 225-3121 or http://www.house.gov/
US Senate (202) 224-3121 or http://www.senate.gov/
Thank you for your support.
Coalition to organize The Gaza Freedom March

Source: Irish4Palestine
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ONLY JEWS DESERVE DIGNITY?


Lest they forget…..

jude

Shulamit Aloni slams decision not to indict Border Guard officers who abused Arabs

By Shulamit Aloni (former member and Minister in the Israeli Knesset)


On a hot summer day, two Border Guard police officers walked around the holy city of Jerusalem without any particular mission. At one point they decided that it would proper to prove their authority and respectful position to themselves and to the Palestinians. The officers proceeded to nab two Palestinians, yelled at them, and demanded that they salute “their majesties” numerous times.

Next, they made them face a wall [with their arms and legs pulled apart and got on with the task of displaying the beauty the power of Israeli police. They] pulled out a camera, in case their colleagues won’t believe them. They beat the Palestinians on their head and nape time and again, they lifted their shirts, removed their pants, continued to hit them, kicked them in the rear-end, and showed these Arabs [Arabushim (a derogatory term equivalent to “towelheads”) as the Minister in charge of the police called them] how strong they are and how loyal they are to their job as the Jewish Border Guard.

And so, these police officers continued to take pleasure in abusing, beating up, humiliating, and photographing it. They did this until they got tired, and then, satisfied and gleeful, decided to let their victims go.

Such abuse, which is accompanied by photos and glee, must not be disregarded. A representative of the victims turned to the State Prosecutor’s Office and demanded to bring the honorable Border Guard officers to justice on charges of abuse, humiliation, and assault.

Given the photographs and testimonies, these “heroes” indeed deserve to be put on trial for the offenses they committed: Misuse of authority and assault, which carry a prison term of two years or more. Moreover, there are suspicions that additional offences were committed in terms of physical and emotional abuse, as well as acts that border on sexual abuse.

Extraordinary response

Yet here we were surprised: The State Prosecutor decided not to look into the matter. The response was so impressive that it would be proper to distribute in on posters, so everyone will see and know.

According to State Prosecutor’s Office, the materials available in the case, including the videos, indeed show “improper conduct” on the part of the police officers. However, as the case in question involved very light beating that caused no real damage, prosecutors found no basis for intervention, leaving the matter to be treated by the police’s internal affairs unit.

What an extraordinary response. After all, the police officers indeed did not pluck out their victims’ eyes and did not cut off limbs; besides, after all, these victims are [only] Palestinian, and therefore it turns out that abusing and humiliating them doesn’t count. The appeal filed over the decision was also rejected by the State Prosecutor’s Office [which again recommended that the matter be referred to internal affairs department.]

What we have here then is a new method apparently: The army will probe itself and then will let us know how chaste it is. The police will probe police officers, and it will turn out everyone is righteous, and so on and so forth.

[I have recently gone over ten Bills submitted by members of the 18th Knesset. All are very patriotic being preoccupied with Zionism and Judaism and loyalty. They include a demand for a “loyalty oath to the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and Democratic state as well as its symbols and values” not to mention the flag and anthem. All these are necessary for being granted an Identify Card. Seeing that “its symbols and values” indicate that the Jews are the chosen people and ]in the face of the State Prosecutor’s decision on this matter, which is not unusual, I believe we should be amending the Basic Law: Human dignity and Liberty, and decide that the State of Israel is committed to maintaining the liberty and dignity of a person only if he’s Jewish; Just like we have land that is only for Jews and roads that are for Jews only.

By modifying the Basic Law as suggested, we will know that “dignity and liberty” in the Jewish state are only reserved for Jews.

[With thanks to Sol Salbe - of The Independent Middle East News Service - for providing a full translation - completing what was missing in Ynet English (between square brackets)] Bookmark and Share

French fine comedian $30,000 for hosting Auschwitz revisionist

Black comedian fined for naughty satire

Yesterday we reported that a German court fined Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson more than $16,000 for making naughty statements about Auschwitz. Today comes news that a black comedian, Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, has been fined $30,000 by a French court for inviting Auschwitz revisionist Dr. Robert Faurisson on stage during a satirical skit, to massive applause from the Paris audience. Douglas Reed titled one of his books Insanity Fair. We appear to be inhabiting a sequel which begs the question, who is the comedian, Mr. M'bala M'bala, or the French judiciary?


Comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala


France fines black comic for anti-Semitism
(AFP) Oct. 27, 2009

PARIS — French judges ordered a far-right black comedian to pay 20,000 euros (30,000 dollars) Tuesday over an anti-Semitic stunt during a stage show in which he invited a notorious Holocaust denier onto stage.

The Paris court fined Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a 43-year-old French stand up, 10,000 euros for his "public anti-Semitic insults" and told him to pay a further 10,000 in damages and legal fees to organisations that sued him.

He was prosecuted after he invited Robert Faurisson, an academic who has been convicted of Holocaust denial, onto stage during a Paris comedy show to receive a satirical award from an actor dressed as a Jewish deportee.

The comic admitted at the hearing that the show had been a "comedy bomb attack" but defended his right to free expression. Anti-racism and Jewish defence organisations welcomed the verdict.
Dieudonne, a former anti-racism campaigner whose father was Cameroonian, often courts controversy and this year tried to enter politics by standing for the European parliament as head of an "anti-Zionist" party.

In September 2007, Dieudonne was fined after he accused Jews of exploiting "memorial pornography" and attacked a "Zionist lobby which cultivates the idea of their unique suffering ... and has declared war on the black world."

Two months later he was back in court and was fined 5,000 euros for having compared Jews to "slave-traders". He remains under investigation over a video circulating on the Internet in which he appears to attack a "yid Zionist lobby" led by "racist liars".


Dieudonne M'bala M'bala introducing Prof. Robert Faurisson on stage in a Paris theatre, a "crime" for which he has been fined $30,000.


Source: On the Contrary


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