At the same time, a group of masked anti-fascists stormed into the restaurant through the rear kitchen entrance. This militant action further disrupted Irving's presentation, as tables were knocked over, food was thrown and Irving's literature ripped and scattered. Irving himself was struck with a chair!

CHICAGO ANTI-FASCISTS DISRUPT APPEARANCE BY DAVID IRVING

ON Tuesday, September 19, [2000] the internationally despised Holocaust denier and historical revisionist David Irving was scheduled to speak at a secret meeting in Chicago regarding "Truth in History."

The topic of Irving's scheduled appearance is ironic, given that his reputation as a historian was thoroughly shredded by a judgement placed against him in a British high court earlier this year. In this case, where David Irving's beliefs and "evidence" were placed on trial, the judge found that

"Irving has for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence; that for the same reasons he has portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favourable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards, and responsibility for, the treatment of the Jews."

For the past 15 years, David Irving has pushed doctored historical evidence exonerating the Nazis from the extermination of Jews during World War II. He has peddled his ideas to the extreme right, consistently making appearances and speeches on behalf of fascist and right-wing groups in a number of countries, including the US, Canada and Germany. According to the British courts:

"The content of his speeches and interviews often displays a distinctly pro-Nazi and anti-Jewish bias."

There is no question that David Irving is an apologist and proponent of fascism.

A short time before David Irving was scheduled to speak in Chicago, the progressive right-wing monitoring group the Center for New Community (CNC) learned of the event and put out a call to anti-fascists around Chicago to respond and protest. Over 70 people turned out on only a day's notice, including a sizable contingent pulled together by Anti-Racist Action (ARA) as well as student activists from Depaul University. The activists gathered at DePaul University, only a few blocks away from Stefani's, the bourgeois restaurant hosting Irving's event. The anti-fascists then marched to the restaurant and staged a spirited protest out front. This rowdy protest was blocked from getting in the front door, but the highly visible and loud presence drew crowds of onlookers from the surrounding neighborhood, restaurants and workplaces.

At the same time, a group of masked anti-fascists stormed into the restaurant through the rear kitchen entrance. This militant action further disrupted Irving's presentation, as tables were knocked over, food was thrown and Irving's literature ripped and scattered. Irving himself was struck with a chair! The antifas withdrew from the restaurant before police arrived, and no arrests were taken.

The protest outside the restaurant continued for 45 minutes, before it left the area in the face of a growing police presence and escalated police threats. The entire night was undoubtedly a victory, as it showed that anti-fascists could organize on extremely short notice to disrupt a clandestine fascist affair and hand them a lesson they won't soon forget.

The anti-fascists themselves were a diverse bunch, including religious activists, Jewish students, Latino punks, white anarchists and class war skinheads.

The action was also successful because it incorporated space both for activists who merely wished to make a presence and expose the affair as well as militants who wished to take direct action and attempt to shut it down. Both played their part, and delivered a message that fascists will not be allowed to secretly spread their lies and organize without being directly confronted and opposed.

Freedom Site

Center for New Community

 

522 Church St. Box 90

Toronto, Ontario

M4Y 2E3 CANADA

[email protected]