HOLLAND MOVES TO BAN HOLOCAUST DENIAL
By Hilary Leila Krieger
Jerusalem Post
June 11 2006
When a Dutch family comes back to Holland after eight years of living
in Israel, people tend to assume its members are Jewish.
So says Leon Meijer, and he should know. Meijer, who completed his
doctorate at the Technion, learned that lesson the hard way when his
11-year-old daughter was told by a classmate soon after her return:
“It’s a pity Hitler didn’t finish the job.”
Meijer was shocked not only by the comment, but by the discovery that
the Netherlands has no laws clearly outlawing Holocaust denial.
Now, six years later, he has drafted legislation which would do just
that. Under his proposal, individuals who deny or glorify genocide
with the intent to hurt others could be fined or sentenced to up
to a year in jail. The law would be added to current legislation
prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of race and religion.
Meijer, who serves as an adviser to the Christian Union party,
which is sponsoring the legislation, described the measure as more
urgent now that “echoes” of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad’s
denials of the Holocaust could be heard in Holland. “People copy these
kinds of remarks,” he said, also noting that the number of Holocaust
survivors who can personally testify to what happened during World
War II is dwindling.
Though the Christian Union holds only three seats in the 150-member
parliament, Meijer said that his bill enjoys a good deal of support.
Even so, it would take at least six to nine months to approve.
He noted that possible pitfalls include fears that the law would limit
free speech, which is one reason he offered to explain why Holland –
unlike its neighbors – hasn’t banned Holocaust denial outright.
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Romania, Slovakia,
Czech Republic, Lithuania and Poland all have made Holocaust denial
illegal, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Dutch Jewish community leader Ronny Naftaniel said the proposed
law could also encounter political obstacles. Since the law isn’t
limited to the Holocaust but includes all genocide as defined by the
International Criminal Court, objections could arise based on other
conflicts, such as the current crisis in Darfur or the past experience
of Armenians in Turkey.
“I can imagine that there will be political difficulties, but maybe
it will get through,” said Naftaniel, director of the Center for
Information and Documentation on Israel.
Even so, he praised the initiative as “a step forward.” He noted that
there has been prosecution of Holocaust denial under the existing
Dutch anti-discrimination laws on the basis that negation of the
Holocausts insults survivors and their children. But he said that
any move to codify the offense was welcome.
“There are fewer and fewer survivors and even their children are not
numerous anymore, and we think it’s important to keep the symbol of
the Holocaust complete and without debate. It should not be dependent
on the survivors and their children,” he said.
The general climate toward Jews worsened starting in 2000, with an
increase in instances of spitting, name-calling and other forms of
abuse, according to Naftaniel. But he said that the attacks – none
of which were violent – had levelled off in the last few years.
Still, ADL associate national director Kenneth Jacobson said “any
kind of effort for a Holocaust denial law is a way of dealing with
the trend that’s developing and to stop it in its tracks.”
He noted, however, that “all the polls indicate the vast majority of
Europeans” are aware that the Holocaust happened.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
