Editorial (August 21, 2009)
Toben deserves his jail sentence FREDRICK Toben's contempt of the Federal Court of Australia, which ruled he must stop publishing material denying there was a Holocaust, has well and truly earned him his three-month jail sentence. Toben persistently ignored the Federal Court's 2002 Order to remove material from his Adelaide Institute website, which attempted to cast doubt over the extermination of two thirds of European Jewry.
Toben deserves his jail sentence
FREDRICK Toben’s contempt of the Federal Court of Australia, which ruled he must stop publishing material denying there was a Holocaust, has well and truly earned him his three-month jail sentence.
Toben persistently ignored the Federal Court’s 2002 Order to remove material from his Adelaide Institute website, which attempted to cast doubt over the extermination of two thirds of European Jewry.
He and his supporters argue that his jail sentences in four countries have amounted to a stifling of free speech and debate, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The reality of the Holocaust, its planning, methodology, implementation and its mind-numbing harvest of death are painstakingly documented and its existence is not a topic of debate.
If words can be injurious, Toben added insult to injury. The articles he published not only cast doubt on whether there were gas chambers at Auschwitz and other catastrophic realities about a period seared into the psyche of a generation of Jewish Australians.
His material suggested the Holocaust was a lie invented by some Jews for base motives.
Toben, like other Holocaust deniers, attempted to portray Jews as sinister architects of some great Holocaust lie that would gain them geopolitical advantages.
Holocaust denial and the campaign to de-legitimise Israel emanate from the same dark recesses. The narrative is simply that Jews, like their national aspirations, are essentially bogus.
Words, some say – but they are dangerous words, because they inevitably carry an invitation, implicit or explicit, to enact violence against Jewish people.
Yet Toben is not serving time because he denied historical facts. In Germany, where Toben has been imprisoned, Holocaust denial is a criminal offence, but not in Australia.
From the time his activities came to the notice of our community 13 years ago, he ignored a ruling from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, which deemed his rants to be racial hatred, designed to humiliate and denigrate Jews, but could not enforce its findings.
However, in flouting a Federal Court Order, Toben broke the law. And that’s why he now sits in jail.
Mubarak’s historic opportunity
EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak’s visit to Washington this week offers a good opportunity to assess the current state of Egypt, in particular its relationships with Israel, the US and its role as a mediator for Middle East peace.
Egypt, one of Israel’s most formidable and militant foes in its first three decades, was also the first country to make peace with the Jewish State. It was a bold move that led to the assassination of its leader, Anwar Sadat.
Sadat’s successor Mubarak is now an octogenarian and at the twilight of his rule.
Often characterised as a “cold peace” devoid of cultural exchanges and significant trade, the relationship between Israel and Egypt has matured over the years to the point where the two countries routinely cooperate on matters of mutual interest.
Most recently, Israel and Egypt have strategised on confronting Iran, as well as forming a united front against Hamas in Gaza.
It’s worth noting that in the reams of NGO reports criticising Israel over the Gaza blockade, there is scant mention that there would be no blockade without Egypt’s participation.
It would be an error to assume altruistic motives. Egypt’s stability is greatly threatened by the militant Islamic Iranian-backed Hamas.
Egypt is the number one US Muslim ally and the second-largest recipient of foreign aid. It was only natural that President Barack Obama chose Cairo as the location for his June address to the Muslim world.
It is time for Egypt to come out of the shadows and once again embolden its role as a regional peace mediator. As a Muslim power that sits amid the Arab world, but is not truly Arab, Egypt is in a unique position.
Egypt must do more to secure Gilad Shalit’s release using the leverage only it has over Hamas. It needs to help Obama extract normalisation gestures from the Arab world, instead of parroting their talking points.
Israel’s other regional peace partner, Jordan, has a large Palestinian population, making it an interested party and diminishing its value as a mediator.
Mubarak must seize the opportunity and fulfil Egypt’s potential in this crucial role while securing his own legacy.
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