Tyranny can’t tolerate free speech

Dear Editor:

Re: Abe Katz letter
“Politics and a free press.”

in his Sept. 6 Noth Shore
News letter to the editor Abe
Katz of North Vancouver takes
issue with Noel Wright’s article
entitled “Censorship Caused
The Holocaust.”

Mr. Katz contends that free
speech is not a threat to totali-
tarian, racist regimes such as
Nazi Germany or apartheid
South Africa.

I believe that Mr. Katz has
based his strange conclusion
on a misunderstanding of the
facts and on faulty reasoning.

. Mr, Katz says he is a South
African emigre and yet makes
the remarkable claim that free
speech existed in South Africa

‘oughout the “46-ycar peri-
od ... of apartheid” and con-
cludes that “apartheid tri-
umphed over the free press.”

Since apartheid is dead, due
to international pressure, it is
hard to. see how it “ti-
juumphed” over anything.

urtlier, although Mr. Katz.

admits the role of international
pressure, he curiously ignores
the reality that international
condemnation of apartheid
was mobilized by the intema-
tional news media which freely
reported what was known of
South Africa’s atrocities against
its: black. population and its
_ "<The Katz argument collaps-
es, however, in the face of the

unhappy truth confirmed by
South African scholar J.M.
Coetzee that “from the carly
1960s until about 1980, the
Republic of South Africa oper-
ated under one of the most
comprehensive censorship sys-
tems in the world.”

South Aftican censorship,
cuphemistically called publica-
tion control, “sought to con-
trol the dissemination of signs
in whatever form. Not only
books, magazines, films and
plays, but T-shirts, key-rings,
dolls, toys, and shop signs —
anything, in fact, bearing a
message that might be ‘unde-
sirable’ had to pass the scrutiny
of the censorship bureaucracy
before it could be made pub-
lic”. (Givin, se — Essays
on Censorship, University of
Chicago Press, 1996.)

It is true that from 1980 to
1990, South Africa’s notorious
Publications Act gradually
relaxed its censorious grip
under the somewhat more
enlightened direction _ of
J.C.W. van Royeen, a professor
of criminal law at the
University of Pretoria. Fi

an Royeen was appointe
in 1980 as the Chairman of the
Publications Appeal . Board
(PAB), the ultimate tribunal in
the censorship system. Van
Royeen, who authored
Publications Control in South
Africa (1978) and Censorship
in’ South Africa (1987),
favored censorship in principle,

He argued that govern-
ment contro! of individual
expression was necessary to
prevent the publication of
offensive words — i.e. words
having the potential to cause
repugnance, mortification,

in or other unwelcome fee!-
ings — that might injure soci-
ety’s general interest in peace
and stability.

Much the same argument
appears to underlie the NDP
government’s controversial
1993 amendments to B.C.’s
Human Rights act which
restrict free speech.

The PAB was itself insulat-
ed from criticism about such
intolerable restrictions on free
speech because South African
law made it an offence to
“insult, disparage or belittle”
any member of the PAB...

Itis unthinkable that a gov-
ernment tolerant of free speech
would enact such Jegislation.

On the subject of Nazi
Germany, Mr. Katz appears to

¢ that Nazi censorship and
propaganda did not facilitate
the Holocaust, To my know!-
edge, no historian or. political
scientist supports such a

roposition.

P Common sense tells us that
Hitler could not have enjoyed
continued support — from
Germany’s elite or even from
ordinary Germans if the
German news media had pub-
lished stories during the 1941-

1944 period about the shoot-

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9725 St. Christophers Rd., North Vancouver Ph 985-7435 Fax: 986-4948

ing or gassing of millions of
Jews, not to mention the
killings of many Gypsies and
Orthodox, Catholic and
Lutheran Christians.

Taken to its logical:conclu-

sion, Mr. Katz’s argument is
that Hitler could have tolerat-
ed daily German newspaper
photographs depicting pits full
of nude corpses of women and
children or newsreel footage
showing, the disoriented skele-
tal inmates of concentration
camps.
For good political reasons,
the Nazi regime took pains to
conceal the horrific truth from
the German population gener-
ally and from Allicd govern-
ments. Even today, revisionists
secking to whitewash Hitler
find it necessary to dispute the
Holocaust (particularly the gas
chambers) for obvious political
reasons,

Mr. Katz is probably on
stronger ground in suggesting
that the Allies should have
publicly condemned Hitler’s
extermination campaign ag-
ainst Europe's Jews before
their Declaration of Dec. 17,
1942. ‘ :

Some historians argue that
the Allies were justified in wait-
ing vo condemn the Nazis
because of a reasonable, initial
skepticism about the reliability
of the horrific, leaked informa-
tion about Nazi death camps.
It seems clear, however, that if
the German news media had
published timely reports about
the initiation of the Holocaust,
Allied condemnation would
necessarily have occurred
immediately.

I also firmly believe that
Allied governments would
have come under pressure
from their electorates to
advance Jewish emigration.

Unlike Mr, Katz, I believe
that apartheid South Africa
and Hitler’s Germany show
that totalitarian regimes can-
not afford to tolerate free
speech.

Only the democracies can
afford to give much-deserved,
priority value to free speech
and to honor the. collateral
principle that government
must account openly for its
deeds.

Roger D. McConchie
Barrister and solicitor

Loud pipes}
save lives

Dear Editor: :

Re: B. Scott and J.
Campbell letters regi
ing loud pipes on motog

cls.

1 do not own a mo
cycle although I used to.3
was in a severe motorcy%
accident and it laid me
for a year. ;

As a former rider, f
back the use of loud pipg
as motorcycle riders ha
had to adhere to a lot q
rules to make. it safe: 4
ride, for example head
lights on, helmets, co’
es. It’s the drivers.of caf
who need the educatic
about motorcycles: I ha
seen so many accideng
caused by negligent ‘dm
vers of cars who do ng
look before they chan
lanes, ride close to moto
cycle back ends, cut,
motorcycles — just igng
rant driving. are

Loud pipes save liv
and as a taxpayer. thi
an RCMP officer has: be|
ter things to do than wrikfa
ing muffler tickets...

Rob Arthurs.
North Vancouver’

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What's Happening in our Distric

Waterworks Project Affects Water Services _
in Wevt Deep Cove / Woodlands Area

Wwe on the Northlands water transmission main,between Thursday, Sept

at 11:00 pm and Friday, Sept 20

at 11:00.pm, will affect water service i

the West Deep Cove area and the Woodlands/Sunshine Falls area.

- Residents in these areas may experience reduced water pressure and discoloured
water due to sediment being stirred up. The discolouration is harmless and
should return to normal quite quickly. ‘ ae

i

We would ask residents in these areas

_! to please assist us in minimizing the demand =

d

“ “For further information, please contact
_') the Utilities Department at 990-3860.

on the water system by

keeping water use to a minimum

during this period.

o Bloons er J

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