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Richard Duffy writes from Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, May 10, 2000


 

typewriter

Folly of attacking the Traditional Enemies of the Truth

 

10 May 2000

 

AS a lawyer I long ago read the law report of Cassell -v- Broome &c, I thus find it the more amazing that anyone as intelligent as yourself should be so foolhardy as to precipitate an attack on the vested interests of those Jews who claim to be asking for compensation for the (now mainly expired) "Holocaust" victims, but have realised that in this liberal age and apology-era the sufferings of their co-religionists is a honeypot to be shamelessly exploited. The truth is of no interest to such people: they only fear the first crack which will lead to the breaking of their "rice-bowl".

I do not believe that any right-thinking person would consider you to have been defamed or your reputation was damaged by any remarks from such as Lipstadt. I doubt you will get far on Appeal since to have a decision of a judge, sitting alone, on matters fact declared perverse is almost impossible (even without the politics -- and the risible performance of the House of Lords in the Pinochet matter has done little to improve the British judiciary's erstwhile reputation for impartiality). Nevertheless, I enclose a token donation to your fighting fund

What prompted me to write was the incredibly emotional and slanted news coverage on the trial and result. Having lived in Asia for 30-plus years, I have become accustomed to rely on the BBC World Service as a source of unprejudiced news, but, in trying to compete with CNN, its standards are slipping badly. I was amazed to see that as evidence of your alleged anti-Semitism they show a video clip in which you suggested that Jews ask themselves why they have been persecuted for the last 3,000 years.

We may all have different answers to such a question, but it is worthy of debate, and if more openly discussed would, I believe, improve human relationships rather than promote anti-Semitism. I also saw your Hardtalk interview and was appalled that [Tim] Sebastian omitted or declined the customary handshake at the end of the interview -- exhibiting an appalling lack of manners or common courtesy, or perhaps in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the so-called politically correct (or loony left) BBC politburo. At least 2 or my friends have sent email to the BBC on this subject.

Perhaps, for a change of scene, you should examine the Cambodia "holocaust" - which rivalled and was more excessive than the "Final Solution". The death of 1.7 out of 6m Cambodians, more brutally than those in the German death camps, is under- publicised; not a great deal of the world media is Cambodian owned, and the upcoming highly politicised trials in Cambodia should be of interest to an historian such as yourself.

Richard Duffy

 


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