Human rights tribunal in Canada fines Holocaust-denying journalist

TORONTO, Feb. 7 (JTA) — A Canadian human rights tribunal has fined a journalist some $2,000 for a series of articles that promoted anti-Semitism. The articles written by Doug Collins, which included Holocaust-denial, “reinforce some of the most virulent forms of anti-Semitism,” according to one of the members of the Vancouver tribunal. The ruling marks the first time anyone has been found in violation of the anti-hate legislation that the province of British Columbia enacted as part of its human rights code in 1993. Collins, a 78-year-old retired writer who still contributes occasionally to the 60,000-circulation North Shore News, called the decision “outrageous” and, claiming freedom of speech, said he would write the same statements again. One of the columns, which appeared in 1994 under the heading “Hollywood Propaganda,” dismissed as “nonsense” that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust and suggested the figure was more like “hundreds of thousands.” In that column, Collins called “Schindler’s List” and other Holocaust films “hate literature in the form of films” and asserted that Jews control Hollywood and are making up lies to extort billions of dollars in reparations from Germany. “What happened to the Jews during the Second World War is not only the longest-lasting but also the most effective propaganda exercise ever,” he wrote. “Dr. Goebbels himself couldn’t have done any better.” Two years ago, in a case brought by the Canadian Jewish Congress, the tribunal found in Collins’s favor, finding that one of his columns was anti-Semitic but could not be classified as hate literature. In the present case, which was the result of a complaint launched by Victoria businessman Harry Abrams, the tribunal considered the cumulative effects of four of his columns. Besides ordering Collins and the North Shore News to pay Abrams $2,000 for “injuries to his dignity and self-respect,” the tribunal ordered the newspaper to publish a summary of its ruling. Canadian civil liberties groups opposed the ruling, saying it silenced free speech. But representatives of the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai Brith Canada joined Abrams in celebrating the ruling as an important precedent. “This ruling shows that you shouldn’t be vilifying people because of their identifying characteristics time after time,” Abrams said. “It demonstrates that some things are harmful. You don’t make a mockery of genocide. I believe in free speech, but some opinions are too abhorrent.” Collins, who once appeared as a witness in the trial of notorious Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel, is urging the newspaper to request a judicial review of the tribunal’s decision.