A dispute to ponder

Editorial

On Monday, at the Vancouver Public Library, as part of an event called Freedom to Read, the truth-challenged Greg Felton, author of The Host and the Parasite: How Israel's Fifth Column Consumed America, spoke about his book and, in doing so, proved that free speech is a beautiful thing.

There were roughly 60 people at Felton's speech, including a group of Jewish gentlemen, some supporting Israeli flags on their caps, who came to witness the event and then blog about it. There was one man who identified himself as being Métis, there were a couple of Arab students. Some Israelis showed up. Representatives from the Canada-Israel Committee and Canadian Jewish Congress were there to monitor the event and take note of any incidences of hate speech, as was a member of the RCMP Hate Crimes Unit.

Signs at the entrance to the hall declared, "No unauthorized photographs or filming permitted." Another claimed, "Statements being made or positions being taken during meetings do not necessarily reflect the opinions and values of the Vancouver Public Library board." Maybe not, but many people were as upset with the library as they were with Felton, if not more so.

Felton was introduced by Vancouver head librarian Paul Whitney, to a mixture of applause and heavy silence. What Felton said is not important – suffice to say, he lectured for half an hour and was as outrageous as anticipated. What was noteworthy was the participation of the audience. Nearly every statement Felton made was accompanied by groans, gasps, chuckles or snickers. Several of his statements were rewarded by cheers from half of the audience and angry mutterings from the other. One man couldn't help himself and, throughout the whole speech, he challenged nearly everything that Felton said and bickered constantly with the people around him who wanted him to be quiet.

After the lecture, the floor was turned over to the audience. People of all sorts had their say: some challenged Felton on details he conveniently forgot to mention, some asked him to confirm their own conspiracy theories. Some derided him as a racist, while others commended his courage. People spoke, shouted, jeered, huffed, swore, cackled and used every possible means of expression but song to convey their opinions. Some weren't satisfied with reproaching Felton and began demanding explanations from Whitney, challenging him on whether he would ever consider bringing an anti-Muslim to speak at the library.

As an exchange of ideas, the evening was a flop – it is doubtful that anyone came out having changed their mind about the issues. But as an exercise in free speech, it was unbeatable. There was little feeling of resentment after the evening concluded, people had been given a chance to say what they wanted to say.

Prior to the event, there was discussion in the Jewish community as to whether community members should attend, whether that would provide Felton more publicity than he deserves and raise the possibility of a confrontation with his supporters. But those who decided to go witnessed and experienced firsthand the raison d'être for free speech protection and the public library served its purpose of providing a public forum for an open exchange of views.

Monday night showed that debate and discussion is possible, even among the most adversarial opponents. It should be that much easier when your counterpart shares the same basic values, as we all do within our community.

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