Global Holocaust-deniers bill passed in Knesset

[newyorican]

Legislation that would make Holocaust-denial committed overseas an offense under Israeli legal jurisdiction was approved unanimously in first reading by the Knesset on Tuesday.

The passage of the measure would enable Israel to demand the extradition of Holocaust-deniers for prosecution.

More from the Compost...

From the country that just told the World Court (and the world by extension) to Cheney itself...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. The Likud and the GOP are becoming more and more alike each day

They both prefer to piss on the world with their fascism. Then they wonder why no one likes them.

[shadu]

3. Amen

[lapfog_1]

5. Likud == neocon == GOP

It's no wonder that Joe Lieberman and Ed Koch and others are
defecting to the GOP... they are all rabid pro Israel and are
close to the Likud party.

[bluestateguy]

2. That's just silly

Holocaust deniers are usually ignorant and/or just plain racist, but holding an opinion, even a grossly misinformed one, cannot be made criminal in a nation that calls itself a democracy.

[geek tragedy]

11. Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, Australia, Canada, and

France, I believe.

[Gaul]

15. Holocaust denial

Yes, but it is only a crime when committed within the national borders, IIRC. If I understand correctly, Israel will now be able to demand the extradition of foreign nationals because they denied the Holocaust in their own country.

[geek tragedy]

16. I agree that Israel doesn't have jurisdiction over such matters

I was just noting that banning certain kinds of expression aren't unusual in democracies. Germany in particular has good cause.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Yes, but Germany doesn't demand that the US send all their neonazis there

Because Germany knows being a neonazi is legal in the US. This is WAY different. It's like some mullah or ayatollah declaring a fatwa to all women who don't cover their heads anywhere in the world. Even THEY are not that stupid.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Well, there goes Mel Gibson's dad!

Mel Gibson's dad said in an interview that the Holocaust never took place because it would have taken "a liter of petro" and "twenty minutes" to burn a human body. Where did he get that info?

[Djinn]

6. they can demand all they like

how many nations will hand over their citizens for prosecution in Israel of a "crime" (I'm not big on criminalising speech even idiotic moronic speech that presumes that 6 million plus jews and millions more trade unionists, communists, gypsies etc just disappeared) that was committed on their own soil.

This is patently ridiculous and presumably is nothing more than a sop to Israeli right wingers.

[oscar111]

7. hot pursuit?

Reagan claimed the right to send a posse anywhere to grab.

Does bush also?

[Blayde Starrfyre]

8. Well that's just great

Free speech in an actual free country is now punishable in Israel.

Where are the people who call Israel the Middle East's only democracy now?

[Moloch]

9. What the hell is this crap?

This is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard coming from Israel. How dare they call themselves a democracy. The way to deal with holocaust deny-ers is to prove them wrong not to prosecute them.

[Jack Rabbit]

10. This is a bit of a concern

In my three-part definition of democracy, I include a provision for a set of civil liberties to encourage discourse. This is to allow an individual to express his views without fear of retribution, no matter how unpopular or even absurd they might be.

One of the downsides of democracy is that citizens must put up with pornography and hate speech in order to keep public discourse open. It is better to tolerate some nonsense like that in order to make sure that all ideas are aired; what may sound unreasonable at first may turn out to be the best working solution. As for pornography and hate speech, if one cannot simply brush aside such garbage with the proverbial back of the hand, then one needs to learn better debating skills.

Holocaust denial falls into the category of absurd reasoning almost by definition. I've got a bridge to sell to anybody who seriously believes that it either didn't happen or wasn't nearly as bad as reported. Hitler set up a system dedicated to the mass murder of those he found undesirable. The Nazi killing machine claimed between 10 and 12 million noncombatant victims, of which between 4.5 and 6 million were Jews. Anti-Semitism was the central point of Hitler's ideas on race. Although others died in addition to Jews, the myth of Jewish inferiority was used to justify the establishment of a set of oppressive laws that culminated in the construction of the Nazi state's infamous network of death camps.

These are historical facts. Only a fool would deny them.

What this law does is to raise this foolishness to the level of an international crime. It would not be the first time in Israel's history that she presumed the right to prosecute those overseas who had committed crimes against the Jewish people. In her first days, Israel claimed the right to apprehend and prosecute Nazi war criminals such as Eichmann. However, Eichmann was guilty of mass murder, not of merely being an idiot.

There are much more serious evils in today's world than denying obvious historical facts. Even now, some people are still being killed or robbed simply because they are part of some perceived inferior group. We should spend our time going after the murderers and thieves who actually perpetrate such crimes and leave those who, for whatever reason, merely speak to justify them to make fools of themselves.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. I consider this a severe flaw in a country's democracy status.

Unfortunately, too many otherwise fully democratic counties have this flaw.

[Djinn]

14. totally agree Jack

there's no point supporting freedom of speech unless you also support it for speech that you vehemently disagree with, after all everyone agrees with the freedom to say something one agrees with.

How hard is it to prove Holocaust denial freaks wrong? not very - far better to highlight their idiocy than to let the sad acts who beleive this crap to delude themselves even further and pretend that there's a "conspiracy" against them.

As for Australia, it's not illegal to deny the Holocaust per se - but we do have racial discrimination laws that pretty much cover it. I'm not a big fan of it.

[lefty_mcduff]

12. So now Israel wants to make stupidity and ignorance

an international crime that supersedes sovereign borders, treaties and laws.

Wow - not *too* full of their own importance...