[images added
by this website] 
Manawatu, New Zealand, September 16,
2004
We shouldn't be
scared of this man NEW Zealand democracy and one of
its most fundamental components -- freedom of
speech -- will be the loser if, as seems likely
now, historian David Irving is barred from
entering New Zealand, comments the Manawatu
Standard in an editorial. AS repellent and
discredited as Mr Irving's views on the
Holocaust are, and they are views which have been
rejected and comprehensively demolished by almost
all historians worthy of the name, they certainly
should not see him banned from New Zealand on some
bureaucratic pretext. His views -- such as
Hitler knowing little about the Holocaust
because no piece of paper bearing an order from him
to carry out such mass murder has ever been found,
for example, and the six million slain figure being
a ridiculous exaggeration -- are well enough
known. Is New Zealand democracy so fragile that it
won't survive hearing them espoused by the man
himself? There are plenty of historians in this country
who no doubt would enjoy taking Mr Irving apart
should he be so foolish as to want to debate his
views, although the same probably couldn't be said
with confidence of most of our so-called current
affairs TV and radio commentators, with one or two
notable exceptions. Mr Irving was invited here to
speak to the National Press Club in Wellington in a
move which some people will see as needlessly
provocative -- but these same people probably don't
fully understand the role of the media in a free
society, and that is to be a forum for all
opinions, from whatever quarter. A mature democracy
will see such views for what they are. Simply
asking Mr Irving here to talk about his opinions is
in no way akin to stopping the man shouting fire in
a crowded theatre -- the classic reason usually
given for shutting down free speech for the
supposedly wider good of society. That is not to say there is no such thing as
hate speech. There has been something like it in
recent election campaigns, words uttered by
political candidates which have been followed by
street attacks on members of ethnic minorities, for
instance. There has been a cause-and-effect between
the words and the deed, little doubt about that,
but no one has seriously suggested taking the
would-be politician to court. That too is as it
should be, for again it is surely better that we
hear this rubbish in the open and know who is
peddling it in order to better deal with it. Another reason for Mr Irving wanting to come
here is said to be to aid research for a biography
he is writing on Winston Churchill.
 Given
what he has had to say about
Churchill in the past, one can imagine what
kind of work he will produce on the great man. But
that is surely at the risk of Mr Irving's
publisher, if he can find one, and
the tattered remnants
of his reputation as a serious historian. It would
be interesting to hear directly from him what he
has in mind. Would Churchill have banned Mr Irving?
Deputy prime minister Michael Cullen,
(right) also an historian in a previous
life, might care to answer that one.  
Dossier:
attempts by New Zealand Jews to stop David
Irving's 2004 visit
FAQ:
Answers to frequently asked questions about Mr
Irving's visit-
NZ
Parliament's stance on Irving, anti-Semitism
eases strains with Israel
 -
Prof
Christopher Browning interviewed by The
Atlantic Monthly, Feb 2004: he
now seems to say that there was no Hitler order
to kill the Jews, no document exists, there were
no plans. The so-called "final solution" just
sort of happened. (He is probably right.)
-
Dossier:
The Books of David Irving: Free
downloads
|
write to David
Irving