DouG COLLINS IF SOME of the letters to the editor are to be believed, I am not only a rotter but an anti-Semite, which is defined in my big dictionary this way: ‘‘A person who is hostile to Jews.”’ (in fact, Jews are not the only Semites. So are the Arabs. But we'll let that pass.) Making excuses for what one writes, and putting hand on heart to say mea non culpa is a low ac- tivity fit only for backsliders and hair-shirt artists. But { will risk be- ing put into that class by saying that 1 am not hostile to Jews and by delivering a lecturette on ‘‘an- ti-Semitism.”’ Like ‘‘racism,”’ the word has been cheapened. It is very easy to be an ‘‘anti-Semite”’ these days. One thing that will get you the label is criticism of the actions of Israel. Strangely enough, that sort of thing makes lots of Jews anti- Semites, too. Only recently, Gabor Mate, a Jew, doctor and commentator, wrote to the Vancouver Sun to complain that the CBC had drop- ped him from a forum on Middle East politics. After the usual pressure groups had complained, you see, the Peo- ple’s Network gave him the bum's rush. And the complainers weren't Baptists, you can bet your boots. Arabbi went public to suggest, for instance, that Dr. Mate had a “very negative attitude to anything that has to do with Israel.” Mate denied having any such at- titude, but stated: ‘‘What I have been critical of is the policy of the Israeli government toward Palesti- nians, which I regard as op- pressive, catastrophic for both Jews and Arabs, and incompatible with Jewish moral tradition."’ Enter your man Doug, whose head has been sought by two Jew- ish professors plus numerous less exalted persons for his nefarious works. Didn't I review that conirover- sial book *“The Hoax of The Twentieth Century,’ which cast doubt on the Holocaust? Didn't ! say that its author, Arthur Butz, had made a substantial case? Didn’: I appear as a witness for the defence at the Zundel trial? Didn't f say that although his school board may have had every right to fire Jira Keegstra for in- troducing his personal views to his students, he had every right in the world to talk about Jewish con- spiracies, Catholic conspiracies, Protestant conspiracies, or con- spiracies in your back yard without being hauled into court for it? (Later, incidentally, the learned appeal judges in Alberta agreed with that view.) Didn't | also review that reveal- ing book ‘‘They Dared To Speak Out,”’ by former Congressman Psul Findley, who explained how the Jewish lobby in the U.S. gang- ed up against him and other Amer- ican politicians and defeated them for not being 100 per cent pro- Israel? That lobby is entitled to work for a politician’s ouster, of course, but why is it ‘‘an- ti-Semitic’ to tell the story of what the lobby did? Haven't | also written reams about our lovely hate laws — laws that are foreign to our traditions and were enacted by a pusillanimous parliament after the Canadian Jewish Congress and other Jewish groups had agitated for them? Haven't [ complained about how Jewish bodics (plus a lot of dumb Gentiles) have agitated suc- cessfully for removing the Lord’s Prayer and the Bible from our schools? Guilty as charged! On those counts and many others. And so what? If Jewish organizations want to be in politics they must take politi- cal criticism. Everyone else has to. So why can’t they — without yell- ing ‘‘foul,’’ that is? lam not talking about Jews as such. Many Jews couldn't care less and are not members of organiza- tions like the Canadian Jewish Congress that claim to represent them. But those groups are fond of hitting out and should not com- plain when they are punched back. They want free speech for thetnselves, it seems, but not for others. . 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A FREIGHT 988-1100 ar suis FAL ) CALL TODAY 880-8501 OPEN COLLEGE A parmer in Open Learning in Sikes slumbia. arning rks! en. Wo “In 1987, E needed two courses to complete my High Schoo! education. My daughter was very young and demanded a lot of my time and attention, so [ chose open leaming. Open learning allowed me to study when and where | wanted. Since graduating through the Open College, Pam now studying full-time at the University of Victoria, working on a degree in Political Science. [hope eventually to study law and hecome a lawyer. | doubt that ] would be where Lam today without open learning: it made me understand that ] could do anything Ewanted with my fife — and Thave.” Donna Harkonen Open Learning can work for you! For more informarion on Eligh School complenoan and other progmuns, phone the Open College at 660-2221 or 1-800-663-9711; or write to PO. Box 94000, Richmond, BC V6Y 2A2.