Zundel in the Kangaroo Court

The Hole of Oblivion is not solely the trademark of communism. For instance, besides his close associates, few in Europe and America have heard of Mr. Ernst Zundel, an aging publisher and activist who is currently languishing in Canada's prison-system on some obscure and vague charges.

The rumor goes that the incarcerated Zundel is viewed by Canada's judiciary as a "threat to national security" - allegedly on the grounds of his "incitement to hatred" via the Internet, and his long-term association with "holocaust denial." On the other hand, the administrative reason for his expulsion from the USA and his deportation to Canada, which transpired in February of this year, was apparently due to his having missed a visa appointment with local US immigration officials. This may sound like a postmodernist joke, in view of the fact that Mr. Zundel has been married to a US citizen, has had no criminal record, and also in view of the fact that millions of illegal immigrants roam with impunity the land of the free and home of the brave.

Why then did the Canadian authorities, with all due local media coverage, deem it necessary to keep this old and harmless German-born old man in solitary confinement?

In modern liberal meta-language Mr. Zundel is denounced for having preached violence and terror on the Internet. One can immediately draw the parallel with the syntax and semantics of the ex-Communist judiciary. In Eastern Europe, communist lawmakers and their scribes employed similar linguistic constructs, such as "incitement to hatred," " hostile propaganda," "fascist terrorists," or "foreign spies," in order to discredit and then arrest their own trouble-makers. Oh, how eagerly did the Western media jump at every such chance to give wide publicity to anticommunist dissidents in the late Soviet Union and Eastern Europe! At least Western moral support had a nourishing effect for anti- communist gadflies. They knew that somebody in the West paid lip service to freedom of speech.

Not so in the case of Ernst Zundel. He has dared to question openly the veracity of some modern liberal verities which serve as the foundation of the liberal system, and which, in addition, provide the pecuniary backing for a host of pressure groups. Allegations against Zundel resemble medieval rhetoric against witches and werewolves. Unless Zundel some day publicly admits having slept with the Devil Adolf and openly recants his critical comments about the holocaust, he may well do extra time in prison.

The much-vaunted verbiage about human rights and freedom of speech does not carry much weight. When a person prone to intellectual curiosity -- however honest, bizarre, or witty his motives may be -- questions some "self- evident" truths, he will likely have his career and his life ruined.

In hindsight, the advantage of communism was its transparent barbarism that left torrents of blood in its wake. The danger of liberal democracy lies in its temptation to rehash the cliche of "freedom of speech" as a cover and an alibi to remove persons who dare to speak freely -- as Mr. E. Zundel has done. Zundel seems to be among the first victims of this new version of totalitarian salami tactics.

Who will be next?