Sunday, November 25, 2007
Oxford University's students associated condemned the idea as well several Muslim students' organizations who object to Griffin's policies and the Jewish student body. Yet, the Debating Society insisted that in the name of free speech, all opinions must be heard.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission, said Irving never should have been invited.
"I think it is an absolute disgrace. As a former president of the National Union of Students, I'm ashamed that this has happened," Phillips told British Broadcasting Corp. television. "This is not a question of freedom of speech; this is a juvenile provocation."
He said students at Oxford were "supposed to be brilliant,'" and he appealed for them to "put your brains back in your head."
Phillips said people did not fight and die for the right to freedom of speech only for it to be used as a "silly parlor game."
Last week, British Defense Secretary Des Browne and at least three other lawmakers canceled appearances at Oxford University's 182-year-old debating society because of the Irving invitation. They were not invited to attend Monday's event, but were scheduled to speak before the union on other days.
Luke Tryl, President of the Society claimed that Griffin and Irving were invited to a forum that will discuss the boundaries of the freedom of speech alongside other speakers who will challenge their views.
The Society reported that tickets to event have been sold out.
How can you have a meaningful debate with a person like Irving who trades in lies? It's a dog and pony show.
More at Harry's Place.
Yet would this same Oxford Union invite Alan Dershowitz or an Israeli diplomat? Did it ever?
Maybe the OU is trying to repeat the tongue lashing Columbia's Bollinger gave to Ahm-mad-bout-jihad of the Islamofascist Regime of iran with the British nazi Party's Griffin.
Whenever I read about Irving or the BNP, it reminds me that there's still more than enough antisemitism on the Right--which, in our efforts to combat the raging antisemitism of the Left, we frequently forget. One has to give Oxford credit, though--in recent weeks, they've made a point to invite Jew-haters from both sides of the political spectrum. (Check out the Engage website for details of the theatrics surrounding a "debate" over whether Israel/palestine should be one state or two.) The UK is quite simply hopeless and tragic these days.
One of the really serious threats throughout Europe is that as Muslim immigrants attempt to undermine the traditional freedoms of Western society, racist "populist/nationalist" parties have the potential to rise to power. Check out Austria and France for the very ugly details.
Yes, there is anti-Semitism on the right. In the US currently, this is mostly confined to the *far* right fringe - which I believe has little or no influence. [People may criticize the "mainstream right" in the US for many of its advocated policies, but anti-Semitism is nowhere near the factor it is currently on the US left or the European right.]
You are absolutely correct that this must be monitored and addressed on the right. But what is striking is the occurrence on the political left. This is striking because it has been repeated often enough that anti-Semitism is a feature of the right. . But it has been repeated so frequently that people almost consider it unimaginable that anti-Semitism would come from the left. In fact, many on the left refuse to see that it is, in fact, anti-Semitism that is emerging precisely because it is coming from the left. A person will offer a host of excuses and different names ... anti-Zionism, anti-colonialism, and other similar crap - to avoid facing what the reality is.
It is also disturbing because the left has often claimed (in cases accurately) to stand for values that would make anti-Semitism particularly odious.
The frisson of thinking of one's self as among some avant garde sensibility, a superficial and contrived sense of being on the edge of things; duly and responsibly measured discriminating tastes and judgements be damned.
One might look forward to flat-earth debates. But that, the argument would go, would be irresponsible.