Zundel finally deported

BAILA LAZARUS

Jewish Canadians, along with their supporters, are feeling a little vindicated now that Ernst Zundel has been deported to face prosecution at home.

Zundel borded a plane Tuesday morning for Germany and reaction from Canadian Jewish groups followed soon after.

"Canadians are well-served by the deportation of Zundel from this country," said Frank Dimant, B'nai Brith Canada's executive vice-President. "We are gratified that the Government has moved quickly and immediately to have Zundel removed. We hope that this signals a new and tougher approach by Canada to crackdown without exception on practitioners of hate.

"For decades Zundel has spewed his venom and imbued his brand of hate in a new generation of white supremacist groups that had made him a hero."

Canadian Jewish Congress national president Ed Morgan underlined the importance of Zundel's deportation in a culturally diverse society."

"This is a significant day for the Jewish community and for all those who treasure tolerance in a multicultural society," said Morgan. "Zundel's departure demonstrates Canada's abhorrence for those who would propagate Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. It brings closure to our efforts to bring this man
to justice."

Added Joel Richler, "This man has been found to be a threat to national security. By his own admission, he is the guru of the white supremacist movement. Canada's action in deporting him is, without question, the correct one."

Zundel, a known Holocaust-denier and the author of The Hitler We Loved and Why, has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society.

Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais said Feb. 25 that Zundel's activities were not only a threat to national security, "but also a threat to the international community of nations."

In his 63-page decision released in Ottawa, Blais called Zundel a racist hypocrite and said his Toronto home was a "revolving door" for some of the world's most notorious white supremacists who have promoted violence and hatred against Jews and minorities.

Zundel faces prosecution in Germany for his neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denying activities. Since the late 1970s, he has operated Samisdat Publishing, one of the leading distributors of Nazi propaganda, and, since 1995, has been a key content provider for a website dedicated to Holocaust denial, according to the the Anti-Defamation League.

Zundel spokesman Mark Weber said Zundel was being persecuted for his personal beliefs.

"The government case is based on pretext, innuendo," Weber told the Jeruslaem Post. "The judge cites no concrete basis that he is a threat to national security. He merely points out that Zundel met with people who, arguably, might be a threat to national security. That's not a crime. It's a dangerous precedent and it's a dangerous blow against freedom for Canadians."

Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel emigrated to Canada in 1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001. Canadian officials rejected his attempts to obtain Canadian citizenship in 1966 and 1994. He moved to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., until he was deported back to Canada in 2003 for alleged immigration violations.

Zundel claimed in court that he is a peaceful man who has no criminal record or charges against him in Canada. Peter Lindsay, his attorney, challenged the constitutionality of the security certificate review process, saying it violates his client's right to free speech and association.

The Canadian security certificate law, passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, allows the government to hold terrorism suspects without charge, based on secret evidence that does not have to be disclosed to a suspect's defence.

Alan Borovoy, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said intelligence authorities may know of criminal offenses by Zundel that cannot be disclosed for reasons of national security, but the detainment without charge or public evidence smacks of injustice.

"Zundel, I have no difficulty saying, is a nasty, nasty character and everything I'm saying is without the slightest sympathy for him," Borovoy said. "But the process in itself is unfair."

According to B'nai Brith, German embassy officials have confirmed that they will apprehend Zundel as he touches down on his native soil, and enforce the outstanding arrest warrant against him on charges of Holocaust denial. B'nai Brith expects that he will be prosecuted there to the full extent of the law.

With files from the Jerusalem Post

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