Washington Demands of Lebanon And Warns It Against Hosting The 'Holocaust Denial' Conference 2001

Information from:

Institute for Historical Review

Revisionist Conferences

Beirut Conference 2001

Revisionist conferences always attract a lot of attention, but the upcoming conference on "Revisionism and Zionism" in Beirut, Lebanon, is fast becoming a focal point for interested parties around the world.

As-Safir (Beirut, Lebanon)

March 3, 2001

[Translation from Arabic]

Washington Demands of Lebanon
... And Warns It Against Hosting
The 'Holocaust Denial' Conference.

By Hisham Melhem

The American government desires of Lebanon that it prohibit convening a conference in Beirut of groups and organizations that deny that the Nazi "Holocaust" against the Jews occurred. It expressed its concern over the negative effects such a conference would have not only on the reputation of Lebanon abroad, but also over the effects it might have on the attitude of Congress towards Lebanon and the aid it will grant it.

This has appeared at the same time that several American Jewish organizations demanded that the Lebanese government prohibit the convening of the conference whose sponsors these organizations accused of being racist and anti-Semitic.

Informed American sources have told as-Safir that Washington informed Lebanon of this position via its ambassador, David Satterfield in Beirut and in communication with the Lebanese ambassador in Washington, Farid Abboud. Sources in Congress have also conveyed their reservations about the conference to the Lebanese government.

The organization Verité et Justice that is headquartered in Switzerland is organizing the conference in cooperation with the Institute for Historical Review which has its headquarters in the state of California and is considered one of the foremost American organizations that deny that the "Holocaust" occurred. This is the first time in which a conference of this type will be held in an Arab state. Until now the organizers of the conference have not announced the place where the conference will be held in Beirut, though they have declared that it will begin on the 31st of this month and end on the 3rd of April. The title of the conference is Revisionism and Zionism.

American officials say that Iran and "Hezbollah" in Lebanon are behind the organization of the conference although they say that they have no firm proof of that. They add that if Lebanon cannot prohibit the conference on the grounds of freedom of expression -- particularly since similar conferences have been held in America and the authorities could not ban them -- then Lebanon must at least declare that it has no connection with the conference. American uneasiness over the conference stems from the content of the conference as well as from its timing -- coinciding as it does with an explosion of the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis and the tension that the region as a whole is experiencing. The Americans question whether it is appropriate to hold such a conference in Lebanon and say that Lebanon, which faces many problems and threats, is not in need of an additional problem, particularly since the conference is inexcusable morally and politically and because it can only create problems and distress for Lebanon.

According to a registration questionnaire distributed by the Institute for Historical Review, prior registration is required for those attending the conference for security reasons. Every conference participant will be given his own telephone number in Beirut and he must call that number upon arrival at Beirut airport "to obtain information on the location of the conference."

Some days ago Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an official of the Jewish Simon Wisenthal center in California, sent a letter to the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri demanding that he prohibit the conference. The letter read in part, "there are many opinions concerning the possibility of attaining peace in your region, but definitely introducing the topic of denial of the "holocaust" into the political discourse in Lebanon and the Arab world is not one of those opnions. This will only lead to poisoning the hearts and minds of the uninformed and will further inflame the fires of hatred and lack of trust in the region." The letter indicated the director of the organization Verité et Justice in Switzerland, Jürgen Graf, had fled from Switzerland in 1998 to avoid a prison sentence and took refuge in Iran.

The director of the Jewish Anti Defamation League, Rabbi Abraham Foxman said that those who deny the occurrance of the "Holocaust" and who hitherto have focused their activities on Europe and America "are now trying to spread anti-Semitism in the Muslim states where there is an evil record of using denial of the holocaust against Israel." In Foxman's opinion the tense situation in the Middle East now provides fertile ground for those who deny the occurance of the holocaust. Jewish organizations have informed the State Department and Congress of their position in opposition to the conference in Beirut and demanded that they put pressure on the American administration in turn to put pressure on Lebanon to ban the convening of the conference.

Conference information

Conference news from the Journal of Historical Review
Registration information (January 2001)
First announcement (December 2000)
Conference background

Media attention

IHR letter to USA Today in response to their op-ed piece by Rabbi Cooper (March 9, 2001)
A South African Jewish Report article tells of strong objections from the SA Jewish Board of Deputies -- March 9, 2001
Rabbi Abraham Cooper gets hysterical in USA Today -- March 8, 2001
IHR Press Release on Zionist efforts to ban the Conference (March 7, 2001)
The Tehran Times reports that the U.S. State Department is trying to stop the conference -- March 4, 2001
As-Safir reports that the U.S. State Department is trying to stop the conference -- March 3, 2001
The Simon Wiesenthal Center calls on the Prime Minister of Lebanon to end free speech -- March 1, 2001
News item from Reuters -- February 22, 2001
Article in the Canadian Jewish News -- February 22, 2001
Press release from the Simon Wiesenthal Center -- February 12, 2001
Press release from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) -- February 11, 2001

REVISIONISM

Zionism & Israeli Apartheid
Israeli/Zionism's racism & discrimination --- Sabra & Shatila massacre
WWII Zionists' indifference to Jewish suffering --- Politicizing the Holocaust
Israeli Terrorism & aggression --- Home demolitions & torture
Israeli Ethnic cleansing, expansionism & settlements
Zionist-Nazi & Zionist-Fascist alliance --- Israeli human right violations & massacres

Israel Allowed Argentinian Jews to Die (Return 12/1990)
Zionism's Attitude to Anti-Semitism by Tony Greenstein, (Return 03/1989)
The Jewish Question and the Zionist Movement by Udi Adiv, (Return 12/1990)
Zionism's Failure to Support Resistance. (Excerpted from Nazi-Zionist Collaboration, pamphlet published in 1981 by BAZO-PS - British Anti-Zionist Organization/Palestine Solidarity, London.)
The Kastner Case. Kastner, a Jew, helped Nazis (Eichmann) locate and send a Million Hungarian Jews to concentration camps. (Excerpted from Nazi-Zionist Collaboration, pamphlet published in 1981 by BAZO-PS - British Anti-Zionist Organization/Palestine Solidarity, London.)
Zionism and the Holocaust by Haim Bresheeth (Return 03/1989).
Closed Door Policy Excerpts from the Nazi-Zionist Collaboration, pamphlet issued by BAZO-PS - British Anti-Zionist Organization/Palestine Solidarity, London, 1981)
Hannah Arendt Author of the famous book Eichmann in Jerusalem
Zionism and Anti-Semitism: A Strange Alliance Through History by Allan C. Brownfeld (Washington Report 07/1998)
The Role of Zionism in the Holocaust (from Jews Not Zionists)
Pleas to Rescue Jews in the Holocaust Ignored by Zionist Leaders (from Jews Not Zionists). The Zionists here ignored the pleas of Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel.
The Millions That Could Have Been Saved by I. Domb (from Jews Not Zionists)
Sharon Faults 'Left' for Jews' Holocaust Pligh t by Yossi Verter (Ha'aretz 03/16/2000)