The Internet Anti-Fascist: Friday, 7 Apr 2000 -- 4:30 (#411)

[Paul Kneisel <tallpaul@xxxxxxxx>]

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              The Internet Anti-Fascist: Friday, 7 April 2000
                         Vol. 4, Number 30 (#411)
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CONTENTS
Updates to Latest Readings
Web Sites of Interest:
   Disability Holocaust Project
Dispute Over "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
   Kristi Heim (San Jose Mercury News), "Online booksellers post disclaimer
     on disputed work," 30 Mar 00
   Greg Butterfield, "amazon.com Promotes Fascist Book," 3 Apr 00
What's Worth Checking: 10 stories

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UPDATES TO LATEST READINGS

The latest anti-fascist readings at <http://www.anti-fascism.org> have been
updated to include:

Antifa Info-Bulletin (#244) 2 Apr 00
   Tom Burghardt's publication from the U.S. west coast.
GLAAD Alert 30 Mar 00
   The regular online newsletter from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
   Defamation.
Immigration News Briefs (#3:3) Mar 00
   A monthly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas
UNITED for Intercultural Action's E-News 28 Mar 00
   E-zine from the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism
   and in support of migrants and refugees.

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WEB SITES OF INTEREST:

Disability Holocaust Project
http://www.dralegal.org/disability_holocaust/

"During the Holocaust, people with disabilities were the first to be taken
away. Yet the world has ignored the fact that Germany, before its terrible
campaign against the Jewish people, systematically tried to exterminate all
people with disabilities. This omission also has profound contemporary
significance. Throughout the world today, people with disabilities lead
lives of exclusion and poverty, pushed to the margins of society and
segregated by architectural and attitudinal barriers. Moreover, many
current and even fashionable notions concerning disability echo the mind
set which fueled the Nazi horrors.

"The Disability Holocaust Project has two main purposes. It will bring to
world attention the systematic, compulsory sterilization and mass
extermination of over three-quarters of a million people with disabilities
during the Holocaust. At the same time, it will raise the level of
international awareness about the current desperate plight of people with
disabilities, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe."

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Online booksellers post disclaimer on disputed work
Kristi Heim (San Jose Mercury News)
30 Mar 00

Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com on Wednesday took the unprecedented step
of posting a disclaimer from the Anti-Defamation League that criticizes a
book they are selling as an anti-Semitic forgery and tool of hate groups.

The book, "The Protocol of the Elders of Zion," is believed by many
historians to be a document forged by Russia's secret police in the 19th
century to provoke anti-Semitic sentiment. It claims to reveal a Jewish
conspiracy to take over the world.

The book has been sold in online and offline bookstores for years, but a
favorable excerpt written by its publisher touched off an e-mail campaign
calling on the companies to remove the book or add a disclaimer in its
description.

Although the companies stopped short of removing the book from their sites,
their actions are stirring a debate about how far commercial Web sites
should go to regulate the material they sell or post.

Deborah Pierce, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an
online civil rights group, said the precedent could lead to any number of
groups seeking similar disclaimers on material they found offensive, such
as abortion.

"This is an easy case," she said. "Most people would find this book
distasteful. But what happens when you get to things that have a little
less consensus? Where do we draw that line?"

The Internet's other major bookseller, Borders.com, insists it won't bow to
pressure to add such disclaimers to its titles.

"There are times when our customers disagree with our decision to carry a
certain book. That's to be expected in a world where there's so many points
of view and competing interests," said site editor Rich Fahle.

But the ADL argues that online retailers have a responsibility to offer
"guidance" to Internet users who may not know what they're buying.

"The Net is a very personal and individual thing," said national director
Abraham H. Foxman. "How do you alert the innocent that they're entering a
hate zone? People may think that it's a very legitimate book."

The ADL contacted the booksellers after receiving hundreds of complaints,
he said. The controversy started after Amazon.com posted an excerpt from
the book's publisher, Book Tree Press, that suggested the book's claims
might be valid.

"If `The Protocols' are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively),
it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs," the
publisher wrote.

The passage sparked outrage by readers such as Jeffrey Arnowitz, who wrote
his own review of the book March 27 on the Barnesandnoble.com site.

"Though the content is completely unfounded nonsense, it has been the cause
of thousands of deaths," Arnowitz wrote. "It was even one of Hitler's
favorites. No one should contribute to the reproduction of a text such as
this, so please join me in boycotting this book."

Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which both say they deal with complaints on a
case-by-case basis, agreed to post the ADL's disclaimer Wednesday alongside
the publisher's review.

" `The Protocols' has been a major weapon in the arsenals of anti-Semites
around the world, republished and circulated by individuals, hate groups
and governments to convince the gullible as well as the bigoted that Jews
have schemed and plotted to take over the world," the ADL's posted
statement said.

Amazon added its own note that it does not endorse the views expressed in
the book or in the publisher's description. Spokeswoman Patty Smith said
the company took action to clarify the issue because many viewers thought
the favorable review had been written by Amazon.

Such decisions are a bookseller's prerogative, argues Michael Froomkin, a
professor of law at the University of Miami. "If a non-government
bookseller chooses not to carry a book, or to only carry a book with a
disclaimer, that's their right in a free society," he said.

Interest groups have been intensifying their scrutiny of offensive material
sold online in recent months. Earlier this year, eBay banned the sale of
hate material on its site. Last year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center raised
questions about the sale of Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf," on
Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com in Germany. The sites later
prohibited such sales in Germany, citing a German law that forbids the sale
of Nazi propaganda.

Barnesandnoble.com called the ADL's statement an "informational posting"
and said it consulted a rabbi before agreeing to post it Wednesday.

"The book is considered a forgery," Barnesandnoble.com representative Gus
Carlson said. "In a situation where there is concern over the legitimacy of
the book, it is our job to make certain facts clear."

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amazon.com Promotes Fascist Book
Greg Butterfield
3 Apr 00

Dear Friends,

As you may know, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was an antisemtic book
written by the Czarist secret service early in this century, that has been
supremely and fatally successful in spreading the theory of an
international Jewish conspiracy to take over the world and harm non-Jews.
It is today a best seller among neo-Nazis, and in such countries as Jordan,
Syria, Egypt and among the Palestinians. Experts on antisemitism see it as
one of the most dangerous books ever written, responsible for the loss of
untold Jewish life.

amazon.com has chosen to sell this book.  That is their right, although
legitimate booksellers in America do not sell it. What is absolutely
immoral and irresponsible, is that they review the book positively, saying
that it has not been proven to be a "hoax" -- that is, that it can be read
as a valid expose of the Jewish plot to destroy everyone else.

The president of Amazon was informed about this problem, and nothing has
been done to remove the review.

I would not shop in a store that sells neo-Nazi hate literature. I will
never buy a book from Amazon.com again, and I urge you to do the same, and
to let them know why.

p.s.  please forward this letter to everyone on your email list.  it is
vitally important that Amazon realize that the American public will not
support pandering to neo-Nazis for profit.

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                        WHAT'S WORTH CHECKING
   stories via <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/story6/>

Timothy Williams (AP), "Shooting Becomes Hot-Botton Issue In N.Y. Senate
Race," 24 Mar 00, "The fatal shooting of a black man by New York City
police has taken center stage in New York's race for the U.S. Senate. The
death alone likely would have stirred anger in the city's minority
communities. But Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's release of Patrick Dorismond's
sealed juvenile record and his repeated suggestions that the man was
responsible for his death have evoked protest and extended the life of an
episode in the middle of what is expected to be a very close contest."
<1506.txt>

Paul Barnsley ([Vancouver] Windspeaker), "Former cop says FBI/RCMP faked
Peltier's arrest," Mar 00, "A former Alberta police officer claims the FBI
staged a show arrest to make Leonard Peltier look bad so Canadian
authorities would agree to extradite him to the United States for trial. In
a letter to the president of the United States, (with copies sent to U.S.
Attorney General Janet Reno, Peltier, Amnesty International and the
Assembly of First Nations) Bob Newbrook, 50, claims he arrested Peltier a
day before the date when FBI records say he was arrested. During a Feb. 21
phone interview from Vancouver, he suggested the FBI and RCMP already had
Peltier in custody when they re-arrested him the next day." <1507.txt>

Kim Murphy (Los Angeles Times), "Behind All the Noise of Hate Music:
Shunned by recording industry, skinhead bands try to win over youths with
clandestine concerts. Author of white racist tract 'Turner Diaries' now
produces CDs with violent lyrics," 30 Mar 00, "The meeting point is a gas
station 20 miles north of Detroit. As carloads of people from across the
Midwest cruise in, a young man in a blue flannel shirt quietly signals them
to follow him. They drive past a line of watchful police cars, through
suburbs dotted with strip malls and fast-food restaurants. Finally, they
reach working-class Shelby Township and turn left down a country road,
where a Disabled American Veterans assembly hall advertises free admission
to a flea market. Car after car pulls in, and a parade of young men--many
with the trademark shaved heads, Doc Martens boots and swastika tattoos of
neo-Nazi skinheads--file into the hall. The front door closes, and the
trouble starts. Thundering guitars strike up an infernal rhythm. A call--it
might be a human shriek or the growl of a bear--rises with the music:
Victory or Valhalla . . . We will never surrender. And then the crowd
strikes up a chant that can be heard out on the street: 'Sieg Heil! Sieg
Heil! Sieg Heil'!"  <1508.txt>

StopDrLaura.com, "Two National Advertisers Cancel On 'Dr. Laura:' Company
Executives Inform StopDrLaura.com of Decisions," 28 Mar 00, "Two national
advertisers have canceled commercials during Laura Schlessinger's radio
program, according to information obtained today by StopDrLaura.com. The
companies' decisions come in the midst of a growing controversy over
Paramount's plans to offer the "Dr. Laura" show on television this fall.
StopDrLaura.com learned of the companies' decisions in e-mails from company
executives. An executive with More.com, an online pharmacy, wrote to one
concerned customer: 'We do not want to have any association with Dr.
Laura.' The message was written by Alessia Johnson, customer contact
specialist for More.com, in direct response to a customer concerned about
Schlessinger's anti-gay statements. 'We certainly do not want to give our
valued customers the wrong idea about more.com,' Johnson continued. "We do
not support her views and we refuse to advertise with her again."
<1509.txt>

Marilyn Henry (Jerusalem Post), "Hate crimes sentences may get tougher," 30
Mar 00, "The US Supreme Court this week heard arguments in an important
hate-crimes case that could determine when tougher sentences can be imposed
if crimes were motivated by bias. Most states have some kind of "hate
crimes" statute that provides for longer terms if convicts intended to
intimidate or cause harm on the basis of race, gender, religion or sexual
orientation. The case at issue is based on a 1994 incident in which a white
man fired several rifle rounds into the New Jersey home of his neighbors,
who were black. He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm,
saying he was drunk at the time and had fired at the house's purple door.
That charge called for a sentence of 5 to 10 years. However, the state
judge, under a provision known as "enhanced sentencing," determined that
the incident was racially motivated, and gave a harsher sentence of 12
years." <1510.txt>

AP, "Spanish skinhead found guilty of killing soccer fan," 31 Mar 00, "A
court Friday convicted a Spanish skinhead of killing a Basque soccer fan
hours before Atletico de Madrid met Real Sociedad in a UEFA Cup match. A
jury reached the verdict two days after the end of the three-week trial.
The judge will announce the sentence next week." <1511.txt>

AP, "Jesse Jackson and white supremacist ordered to stay away from school,"
30 Mar 00, "A judge has approved a permanent injunction barring the Rev.
Jesse Jackson, a white supremacist and numerous other protesters from
demonstrating within 50 feet of any Decatur high school. The ruling by
Macon County Circuit Judge James A. Hendrian extends a temporary injunction
he granted in December after Jackson came to Decatur to protest the
expulsions of six black students for fighting in the stands at a football
game." <1512.txt>

Reuters, "German Far-Right Smaller, More Violent - Report," 3 Apr 00, "The
number of far-right and Neo-Nazi activists in Germany declined last year,
but violent attacks by the extremists were more frequent, according to an
official report obtained Monday by Reuters. The report, prepared by the
country's internal security agency for the government, showed the total
number of extreme right-wingers falling to around 51,000 last year from
nearly 54,000 in 1998." <1513.txt>

AP, "U.S. House Condemns Austrian Party," 3 Apr 00, "The House approved a
resolution Monday condemning the 'anti-democratic, racist and xenophobic
views' expressed by Joerg Haider and other leaders of the right-wing
Freedom Party that joined an Austrian government coalition last February.
The non-binding resolution, passed by voice, expressed 'profound regret and
dismay' that the Freedom Party would play a major role in the new
government and urged the White House and the administration to make clear
to Austria U.S. concern about the inclusion of a party associated with
xenophobic, racist policies." <1514.txt>

Pauline Jelinek (AP), "Jewish Groups Lament Anti-Semitism," 5 Apr 00,
"Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel on Wednesday urged
lawmakers to fight re-emerging anti-Semitism and other prejudice around the
world, telling a Senate committee that 'hatred is still alive and well'."
<1515.txt>

                           * * * * *

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.

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                               FASCISM:
   We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget.
      (No permission required for noncommercial reproduction)

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