Italy criminalizes heresy

Posted by Fred Scrooby on January 26, 2007, 10:36 PM | #

Who exactly is the predominant force behind these Holocaust laws?  The Jews?  It’s not impossible they’re the work predominantly of the Jews.  If not, from exactly what quarter of the political spectrum are they being pushed?  Who’s shelling out the big bucks for the behind-the-scenes campaigns to ram them through?  Who exactly is benefitting from them?  Cui bono?

What’s the deal on these extremely bizarre laws?  Anyone know?

Posted by Robert ap Richard on January 26, 2007, 11:17 PM | #

A total mystery.  Who?  Hmmmm, let’s see…. who benefits .... hmmm ... yep, that’s a tough one ....  Maybe our studio audience could help us out on this one.  Whadya say, Folks?  Our lines are open, we’re taking calls now.  Can you guess who is responsible for all of this?

Posted by Bud White on January 27, 2007, 12:06 AM | #

“What’s the deal on these extremely bizarre laws?  Anyone know?”

I believe they are trying to integrate them into the EU charter by-laws.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/intro/fsj_intro_en.htm

“Who exactly is the predominant force behind these Holocaust laws?”

I found this link.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/01/eu-justice-commissioner-urges.php

Posted by Robert on January 27, 2007, 05:14 AM | #

Good news! Italy rejects law;
Monde
Négationnisme : l’Italie fait marche arrière
Pressé par les historiens, le gouvernement renonce à créer un délit de «négation de la Shoah».
Par Eric JOZSEF
QUOTIDIEN : samedi 27 janvier 2007
Rome de notre correspondant
Symboliquement, la mesure devait être adoptée avant le 27 janvier, Journée de la mémoire de l’Holocauste. Mais jeudi, le gouvernement de Romano Prodi a préféré renoncer. Le délit de «négation de la Shoah» ne sera pas introduit dans le code pénal transalpin. A l’occasion du dernier Conseil européen des ministres de l’Intérieur et de la Justice, qui s’est tenu à la mi-janvier à Dresde et au cours duquel l’Allemande Birgite Zypries avait demandé à l’UE d’adopter des sanctions contre les révisionnistes, le garde des Sceaux transalpin, Clemente Mastella, avait pourtant enchéri : «La civilisation européenne a le devoir de dire non au négationnisme. Il ne peut y avoir de liberté d’opinion quand il s’agit d’incitation à la haine raciale.» Et d’annoncer, dans la foulée, la présentation d’un texte allant dans ce sens au Conseil des ministres italien.
Mais la proposition a provoqué un véritable tollé parmi les historiens. A l’appel du professeur Marcello Flores, 150 d’entre eux, parmi lesquels Carlo Ginzburg ou Claudio Pavone, ont publié un manifeste intitulé : «Contre le négationnisme, pour la liberté de recherche», dans lequel ils dénoncent le risque d’établir «une vérité historique d’Etat». Pour eux, les lois en vigueur «suffisent à poursuivre les comportements criminels» en la matière. «Aujourd’hui, c’est le négationnisme qu’on cherche à punir, mais demain ?» s’interrogeait l’historien Angelo d’Orsi.
Devant cette levée de boucliers, Clemente Mastella a fait marche arrière. D’autant que, au sein même de la majorité de centre gauche, certains voyaient d’un mauvais oeil un texte pouvant apparaître comme liberticide. Quant à la communauté juive, elle s’est divisée. Certains de ses représentants ont estimé qu’après les lois raciales adoptées en 1938 par le régime fasciste de Benito Mussolini ils n’avaient pas besoin de nouvelles «lois spéciales». A l’inverse, Amos Luzzatto, ex-président des communautés juives italiennes, est convaincu que «nier l’Holocauste doit être un délit».
Prévoyant initialement une peine de douze ans de réclusion pour les négationnistes, le garde des Sceaux a ensuite évoqué l’idée de considérer la remise en cause de la Shoah comme une circonstance aggravante dans le cas de procès pour incitation à la haine raciale. Au bout du compte, le gouvernement s’est contenté de durcir les normes existantes. La diffusion d’idées fondées «sur la supériorité et la haine raciales ou ethniques» sera désormais sanctionnée d’une peine pouvant aller jusqu’à trois ans de prison. Au lieu d’un an et demi de réclusion ou une amende de 6 000 euros dans le «délit d’opinion» tel que l’avait révisé le gouvernement Berlusconi, début 2006.
Le projet de loi qui doit encore être adopté par le Parlement prévoit également la création auprès du chef du gouvernement d’un Observatoire sur l’antisémitisme. Le porte-parole de la communauté juive de Rome, Riccardo Pacifici, a salué ce «texte important». En attendant désormais une initiative européenne sur le négationnisme.

http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/231318.FR.php
© Libération

Posted by Fred Scrooby on January 27, 2007, 12:42 PM | #

Here’s what the Le Monde article posted by Robert says (the Paris newspaper Le Monde is left-wing in much the same mold as the Guardian and the New York Times newspapers):
______

HOLOCAUST DENIAL:  ITALY TAKES A STEP BACKWARD

Under Pressure from Historians, the Government Declines to Make “Shoah Denial” a Crime

By Eric Jozsef

January 27th, 2007

Rome, from our correspondent

As a symbolic gesture the measure was to have been adopted January 27th, Holocaust Memorial Day.  But the Prodi government decided Thursday to drop it.  The crime of “Shoah denial” will not be introduced into the Transalpine [i.e., Italian] penal code. 

At the last meeting of the European Council of Justice Ministers and Interior Ministers in Dresden in mid-January, at which Germany’s Birgite Zypries called on the E.U. to pass laws against Holocaust deniers, the Italian Justice Minister, Clemente Mastella, went further:  “European Civilization has an obligation to say No to Holocaust denial!  Freedom of opinion cannot be permitted where incitement to racial hatred is concerned.”  And he took the occasion to announce the proposal of a law along these lines to the Italian Council of Ministers.

But the proposed law raised a general outcry among [Italian] historians.  Responding to a call by Professor Marcello Flores, 150 of them, including Carlo Ginzburg and [the French text says “or”] Claudio Pavone, published a statement titled “Against Holocaust denial, [but] in favor of freedom of research,” in which they warn of the risk of establishing “state-approved historical truth.”  For them, existing law “is sufficient for pursuing criminal behavior” in this matter.  Historian Angelo d’Orsi asked himself, “Today it’s Holocaust denial we seek to punish, but tomorrow ?”

Faced with this academic protest, Clemente Mastella backed off, not to mention that some among the Center-Left majority looked with scant approval on a law that could seem to limit freedom.

As for the [Italian] Jewish Community, it is divided.  Some of its representatives have judged that, after the racial laws adopted in 1938 by the fascist régime of Benito Mussolini, they didn’t need any more “special laws.”  On the other hand, Amos Luzzatto, former president of the Jewish Communities of Italy, believes “Holocaust denial must be made a crime.”

The Italian Justice Minister, calling at first for twelve years in prison as punishment for denying the Holocaust, later explored the idea of considering the expression of doubts about the Shoah an aggravating factor in cases of prosecution for incitement of racial hatred.  In the end, the government was satisfied merely to make existing law harsher:  expressing [the French text says “spreading”] ideas based “on racial or ethnic superiority or hatred” will henceforth be punished by up to three years in prison, which strengthens the punishments for “crimes of opinion” mandated by the Berlusconi government at the beginning of 2006, a year-and-a-half behind bars or a fine of 6,000 euros. 

The law, which must be approved by the Italian Parliament, also provides for the creation of a body close to the head of government for the monitoring of anti-Semitism. 

The spokesman for Rome’s Jewish Community, Riccardo Pacifici, praised this “important bill.”  [Scroob note:  The illiterate leftist totalitarian asshole writing this article doesn’t always speak in complete sentences, and this next sentence of his, the article’s last, is an example of it.  It’s not grammatically a complete sentence, but seems to mean something like the following.]  Here’s hoping for [or, “We’re awaiting,” or “We’ll see if there’ll be” — something like that] an E.U. bill on Holocaust denial.

Posted by Bud White on January 27, 2007, 01:33 PM | #

“In the end, the government was satisfied merely to make existing law harsher:  expressing [the French text says “spreading”] ideas based “on racial or ethnic superiority or hatred” will henceforth be punished by up to three years in prison, which strengthens the punishments for “crimes of opinion” mandated by the Berlusconi government at the beginning of 2006, a year-and-a-half behind bars or a fine of 6,000 euros. “

If this isn’t the “Hegelian dialect” at work, I don’t know what is. Thesis vs antithesis resulting in synthesis.

Im sure when Franco Frattini ultimately gets his way in the EU, Italy will be forced to capitulate and abide by the holocaust denial laws in full measure.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/01/eu-justice-commissioner-urges.php