Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), and Holocaust denier historian David Irwinig will address university students on Monday
Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP) and Holocaust denier historian David Irwinig, will speak today (Monday) to students at Oxford University. Despite the objections, the members of the Oxford University Debating Society voted by a majority of two to one in favor of the proposal to invite Griffin and Irving.
The move was condemned by the Oxford University Students' Union as well as by the Muslim student councils (opposing Griffin's policy) and the Jewish students. However, the members of the Oxford Debating Society argued that a platform must be given to representatives of all opinions.
Luke Trill, the president of the association said: "We do not give them a platform to praise their opinions but to talk about the limits of freedom of speech. They will speak in the context of the forum in which other speakers will also participate who will challenge and attack their positions head on."
Griffin claims that the BNP is not a racist party. He was convicted in 1998 of inciting racial injury, of distributing material denying the Holocaust. Irving was put in prison for three years after being convicted of Holocaust denial in Austria, but he denies being a Holocaust denier and claimed that he had no choice but to confess to the charges. The union said that all the tickets for the event, intended only for its members - most of them students - have been sold.
On Thursday, a protest campaign was held against the invitation and among the speakers were Holocaust survivors. Stefan Altman-Reicher, co-president of the Jewish Student Association at Oxford University says that while free speech is important, it is in the shadows on these issues. "I do not believe that these people should be invited by the Oxford union. As soon as you give them something, you give legitimacy to their things", he said.
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The show of life, also of humans, is complex, with many contradictions; there are also those on the edge of the border, between reasonable sanity, and something that pulls to the abyss.
Can someone explain the side of the Holocaust opponents here? As if I don't understand how it is possible to deny that there was a holocaust? What are they actually saying?
On the contrary, it is the right thing to do!!
This is the only way to confront and confront them by presenting pointed questions and there is no issue of legitimacy here.. Ahmadinejad is not waiting for legitimacy from anyone!!
Unless the opposing party is not sure of his arguments or he spreads empty slogans and half-truths and is not ready to hear the party representative and the author who painted him as a denier even though he denies that he denies!!
I once heard the leader of the party on a program on Channel 8 and what I remember of him is that he is in favor of Israel (as opposed to the left who discussed Israel's right to exist) also because he does not want Israeli immigrants to fill England!!
In Oxford there are quite a few deniers of Israel and its right to exist, and they are the truly dangerous ones..as it is said, beware of the hypocrites, because we will beware of the outspoken anyway!
For example, I'm in favor of inviting Ahmadinejad and people from Israel to a conference in one of the European countries to express opinions...he probably won't agree because he didn't agree in the past either, maybe because he has something to hide or because he's afraid he won't be able to meet the probing questions that will be directed at him! Even Putin the Democrat will not agree to such a meeting, he prefers a sympathetic media!
I would have worded it better, but as usual, time pushes to finish..goodbye