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From: dave@lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Freedom of speech and the holocaust
Message-ID: <864@lsuc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 22-Oct-85 09:48:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: lsuc.864
Posted: Tue Oct 22 09:48:16 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 22-Oct-85 16:10:54 EDT
References: <305@ihnet.UUCP> <645@hou2g.UUCP> <843@lsuc.UUCP> <121@mit-hector.UUCP>
Reply-To: dave@lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman)
Organization: Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 49

In <121@mit-hector.UUCP> melissa@mit-hector.UUCP (Melissa Silvestre) writes:
>
>First I'd like to note that it was the US Supreme Court that decided
>that cases like screaming "fire" in a crowded theatre are not
>protected. From what I've been able to gather of this conversation,
>the relevent comments were made under Canadian jurisdiction. Since
>when does Canada autmoatically adopt decisions by the US SC? Or did
>I miss something?

No, Canadian courts do not recognize U.S. courts as binding
authority. However, the same principles of defamation, which
originate in English common law, apply in Canada. Canadian courts
have indeed discussed the "fire in a theater" hypothetical.

>   What is the reason given for defending so vehemently the fact of
>the holocaust? So no one forgets so it will not happen again, is
>my understanding. Come on guys!

That is not the primary concern here. The primary concern is
that those who deny the fact of the Holocaust claim that it
was invented by Jews to gain reparations from Germany and/or to
justify the existence of the State of Israel. These people are
calling my relatives thieves and liars. That is defamation.
They are also clearly stirring up anti-semitism, by encouraging
non-Jews to believe that "the Jews" are thieves and liars.
That is criminal racism.

>   I should mention that I am an atheist, so all religions are equally stupid 
>in my eyes unless they do or say something to cause me to revise that 
>opinion.

Judaism and Jews ask nothing from the world except to be allowed
to practice their own religion without persecution. We certainly
don't proselytize. We have no interest in "converting" the world.
Our religion may be "stupid" in your eyes, but we entitled to defend
our right to practice it without others stirring up hatred against us.

>If a significant group of people are willing to listen to them,
>the Jewish community has a deeper, PR, problem.

Unfortunately, the Jewish community has had that PR problem for
a couple of thousand years. We do what we can, and educating
people by exposing as criminal those who foment hatred against
us is part of it.

Dave Sherman
Toronto
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