I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IN
THE HOLOCAUST Fredrick Töben - thinking aloud 23 August 2006 _________________________________ Jewish Groups Should Withdraw Invitations to Mel Gibson, in Response to News of His Ties to Holocaust-Deniers 8/21/2006 2:50:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Rafael Medoff of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, 215-635-5622 or rafaelmedoff@aol.com PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In the wake of the new disclosure that Mel Gibson has been involved with a Holocaust-denial group in Australia, The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies is urging Jewish and other organizations that recently extended speaking invitations to Gibson to withdraw them. Wyman Institute director Dr. Rafael Medoff said: "Holocaust- denial is a form of antisemitism, and Gibson's involvement with Holocaust-deniers in Australia indicates that his apology for his recent antisemitic outburst was not sincere. Gibson seems to be hiding a closet full of extremist and antisemitic connections. Under these circumstances, those groups which sought reconciliation and invited him to speak should cancel those invitations." New York Post investigative reporter Philip Recchia revealed (Aug. 21, 2006) that Gibson and his father, Hutton Gibson, in recent years attended a dinner sponsored by the Australian League of Rights, a group that denies the Holocaust. An ALR publication described their attendance as the "sensation" of the event, and ALR director Don Autherlonie "didn't deny Gibson's attendance when contacted last week" by the Post. Earlier this month, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported (Aug. 6, 2006) that Mel Gibson had supported the political candidacy of the ALR's Rob Taylor, when he ran for local office in northern Victoria in 1987. A former ALR leader, Charles Pinwill, confirmed to the Sun that both Mel Gibson and his father Hutton "were interested in some of our ideas." Dr. Medoff, director of the Wyman Institute, said that the claim by Gibson spokesman Alan Nierob that Mel Gibson "has never heard of" the ALR (New York Post, Aug. 21, 2006) "is hard to believe, given the mounting evidence of Gibson's association with the League." Following Gibson's recent apology for his antisemitic outburst, a number of Hollywood personalities came to his defense. Ironically, one of Gibson's most ardent supporters was Jodie Foster, who said, "Is he an anti-Semite? Absolutely not." Yet just last year, Foster also claimed, implausibly, that Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was not really a Nazi. "No matter how much she admires Gibson or Riefenstahl, Ms. Foster needs to judge them according to their actual statements and actions, not according to her fantasy image of them," Dr. Medoff said. "Other celebrities who defended Mel Gibson in recent weeks must likewise reconsider, in view of the new evidence of his links to Holocaust-deniers." The U.S. State Department officially considers Holocaust- denial to be a form of antisemitism. In the State Department's January 2005 "Report on Global Anti-Semitism," there are nine separate references to incidents of Holocaust-denial included among the report's listing of antisemitic incidents in various countries. The Wyman Institute is the only organization that publishes an annual report on Holocaust-denial activity around the world. The Wyman Institute previously raised questions about Mel Gibson's view of the Holocaust, following his failure to clearly repudiate his father's Holocaust-denial. In a February 2004 interview on ABC Television, Gibson was asked by Diane Sawyer about his father's Holocaust-denial statements. Gibson replied: "He's my father. Gotta leave it alone, Diane. Gotta leave it alone." In a March 2004 interview with Reader's Digest, Gibson was asked by interviewer Peggy Noonan, "The Holocaust happened, right?" Gibson responded by minimizing the uniqueness and enormity of the Holocaust, saying: "Yes, of course, Atrocities happened. War is horrible. The second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million starved to death between 1932 and 1933." --- ABOUT THE WYMAN INSTITUTE: The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, located on the campus of Gratz College (near Philadelphia), is a research and education institute focusing on America's response to the Holocaust. It is named in honor of the eminent historian and author of the 1984 best-seller The Abandonment of the Jews, the most important and influential book concerning the U.S. response to the Nazi genocide. The Institute's Advisory Committee includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, Members of Congress, and other luminaries. Its Academic Council includes more than 50 leading professors of the Holocaust, American history, and Jewish history. The Institute's Arts & Letters Council, chaired by Cynthia Ozick, includes prominent artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers. (For a complete list, please visit http://www.WymanInstitute.org ) © 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ ____________________________ Executive Order 13397 --Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland [Federal Register: March 9, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 46)] Executive Order 13397--Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Title 3-- Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security. (c) propose initiatives to remove barriers identified pursuant to section 3(a) of this order, including but not limited to reform of regulations, procurement, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach activities; (d) propose the development of innovative pilot and demonstration programs to increase the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal as well as State and local initiatives; and
(a) This order shall be implemented subject to the availability of appropriations and to the extent permitted by law.
Security With Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 12273-12276]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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Part IV
The President
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Security With Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
The President
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Executive Order 13397 of March 7, 2006
Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security With Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet America's social and community needs, it is hereby ordered as follows:
(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).
(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.
(c) The Department shall provide the Center with appropriate staff, administrative support, and other resources to meet its responsibilities under this order.
(d) The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.
Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.
Sec. 3. Responsibilities of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In carrying out the purpose set forth in section 2 of this order, the Center shall:
(a) conduct, in coordination with the WHOFBCI Director, a department-wide audit to identify all existing barriers to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social and community services by the Department, including but not limited to regulations, rules, orders, procurement, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach activities that unlawfully discriminate against, or otherwise discourage or disadvantage the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal programs;
(b) coordinate a comprehensive departmental effort to incorporate faith-based and other community organizations in Department programs and initiatives to the greatest extent possible;
[[Page 12276]]
(e) develop and coordinate Departmental outreach efforts to disseminate information more effectively to faith-based and other community organizations with respect to programming changes, contracting opportunities, and other agency initiatives, including but not limited to Web and Internet resources.
Sec. 4. Reporting Requirements.
(a) Report. Not later than 180 days from the date of this order and annually thereafter, the Center shall prepare and submit a report to the WHOFBCI Director.
(b) Contents. The report shall include a description of the Department's efforts in carrying out its responsibilities under this order, including but not limited to:
(i) a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to the full participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social and community services identified pursuant to section 3(a) of this order and the proposed strategies to eliminate those barriers; and
(ii) a summary of the technical assistance and other information that will be available to faith-based and other community organizations regarding the program activities of the agency and the preparation of applications or proposals for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and procurement.
(c) Performance Indicators. The first report shall include annual performance indicators and measurable objectives for Departmental action. Each report filed thereafter shall measure the Department's performance against the objectives set forth in the initial report.
Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Secretary. The Secretary shall:
(a) designate an employee within the department to serve as the liaison and point of contact with the WHOFBCI Director; and
(b) cooperate with the WHOFBCI Director and provide such information, support, and assistance to the WHOFBCI Director as requested to implement this order.
Sec. 6. General Provisions.
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(Presidential Sig.)B
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 7, 2006.
[FR Doc. 06-2362
Filed 3-8-06; 11:05 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
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Dr. Rafael Medoff 's problem with Mel Gibson is a problem only for those who have BERÜHRUNGSÄNGSTE.
In a vibrant democracy all sorts of interest groups interact to exchange view-points. This is what the BATTLE OF THE WILLS is all about. A fanatical belief in democracy makes democracy impossible, and within which rogues seek refuge to label their opponents HATERS, HOLOCAUST DENIERS, ANTISEMITES, RACISTS, XENOPHOBE!
The wellspring of democratic thinking is the biological - genetic law that states not one person is like another. Such individual differences need to be cherished and not to be condemned, even less to be feared. It makes sense of the Categorical Imperative: Act in such a way that your action can become a universal law, i.e. don't kill because you don't want to be killed; don't lie because you don't want anyone to lie to you.
This basic premise of human nature has been perverted by those who wish to impose 'freedom and democracy' upon the world, where individual differences are killed off by claiming that democratic actions - even violently enforced ones such as the exercise of military might - will bring about equality among nations.
The German word BERÜHRUNGSÄNGSTE - fear of association - clarifies this matter further and show how it becomes a weapon used by those who are deeply totalitarian in mind but claim to be the messengers of 'freedom and democracy'. English words such as 'hypocrisy' and 'cant' describe this mindset that ever so subtly attempts to conduct the battle of the wills with all means to hand, including by way of deception.
The world-wide attack on the Gibson family clearly illustrates the use of this uncivilized process as used by those who have run out of arguments, where smearing, abusing and defaming individuals is the order of the day.
Think on these things.
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