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Shofar FTP Archive File: places/canada/bc/salmon_arm/salmon_arm.001


Newsgroups: alt.revisionism,bc.general,can.general,alt.discrimination,soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.canada
Subject: An Appeal for Aid: Racism in Salmon Arm, B.C.
Summary: 
Reply-To: kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca
Followup-To: alt.revisionism
Organization: The Old Frog's Almanac, Vancouver Island, CANADA
Keywords: Christie,Lethbridge,Salmon Arm,Irving,Zundel
Lines: 200

Archive/File: fascism/canada/bc salmon_arm.001
Last-Modified: 1994/05/21

[The following material reached me via the original recipient of
David Lethbridge's letter, who wishes, for the moment, to remain
anonymous. knm.]
   
   5 May 1994
   
   3521 20 Avenue NE
   Salmon Arm, BC
   V1E 4M4
   
   Tel: 604 / 832-6678
   
   xx. xxxxxxx xxxxxxx
   xxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxx
   xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx
   xxxxxxx, xxx.
   xxx xxx
   
   
   Dear Xx. Xxxxxx:
   
   
        Thank you so much for your letter of 25 April.  Yes, it is
   true that I am being sued by, as you put it, a Holocaust-denier.
   I am being sued for malicious defamation by Eileen and Claus
   Pressler.  Their lawyer is Doug Christie.  Eileen Pressler is the
   leader of the Council on Public Affairs (CPA), an organization
   devoted to anti-Semitism, Holocaust-denial, Identity theology,
   and white supremacy.  She edits the Council on Public Affairs
   Digest, which has a circulation of 12,000, and reprints articles
   from a variety of white racist and anti-Semitic sources.  She is
   assisted in this by Leonard Saunders who has written that WW2 was
   the fault of the Jews who intended to put the various "Aryan"
   nations against each other; and by Eustace Mullins, author of a
   number of books stating that Jews are subhuman beasts, that
   Auschwitz was virtually a resort for Jews to sit out the war in
   comfort, that rabbis on a regular basis kidnap perfectly formed
   prepubescent white boys, chain them naked to alters, murder them
   with ritual knives, and drink their blood as they die.  Pressler
   and her Council bring a variety of speakers into our region, and
   have held two "Leaders" conferences, the second of which was the
   largest gathering of fascist, racist, and Identity speakers ever
   held in Canada at any time.  Speakers included David Irving, Fred
   Leuchter, Doug Christie, Eustace Mullins, Jim Keegstra, Malcolm
   Ross, Everett Sileven, Jud Cyllorn, Murray Gauvreau, Paul
   Cameron, etc.
   
        The real reason they are suing me, I suspect, is because I
   released a 120-page report on their activities in 1992 (and in
   two weeks I will be releasing an even longer report); formed
   SACAR - the Salmon Arm Coalition Against Racism; written magazine
   articles on their activities; showed films at the local cinema on
   racism; hosted an anti-hate conference; attended anti-hate
   conferences; exposed them in the newspapers; gave any number of
   public speeches in the Okanagan and in Vancouver; gave any number
   of media interviews; etc., etc.
   
        The lawsuit against me (as director of SACAR) stems from a
   television segment about the Pressler's building project.  They
   are erecting several buildings on 20 acres and, needless to say,
   many people are worried about it.  During the broadcast I said
   that rumors of paramilitary training were unwarranted, but that I
   suspected that meetings might take place in these buildings since
   the CPA frequently sponsored and held meetings.  I also said the
   CPA was racist and anti-Semitic.  The initial legal papers
   referred only to the broadcast; subsequent legal papers suggest
   that the Presslers intend to accuse me of a two year campaign of
   malice.  SACAR fights on, as do I.
   
        I would be most grateful if you could put this information
   out through your various Internet groups.  I have included our
   3-page defence letter, and any material from that letter or from
   this can certainly be made public.  Thank you for your help, and
   I would like to stay in touch.  I have no e-mail or fax, but my
   phone number and address appear above.
   
   Sincerely,
   
   David Lethbridge
   
   ====================[ new page ]====================
   
   SACAR  The Salmon Arm Coalition Against Racism Needs your Help
   
   Eileen Pressler, head of the Council on Public Affairs, through
   her lawyer, Doug Christie, is suing David Lethbridge, director of
   SACAR, for libel.
   
   Doug Christie has been the lawyer for the KKK in Manitoba, for
   the racist telephone message service Canadian Liberty Net, for
   Rudy Stanko of the violent pro-genocide Church of the Creator,
   for Nazi propagandist Ernst Zundel, for anti-Semitic teachers Jim
   Keegstra and Malcolm Ross, etc.  It is no surprise that he now
   represents Eileen Pressler.
   
   Pressler has hosted a pair of Leadership Conferences whose guests
   included Ernst Zundel, Bo Gritz, Jim Keegstra, Malcolm Ross, Doug
   Christie, Fred Leuchter, Eustace Mullins, and David Irving.  Many
   of these high-profile individuals have a long history of racist
   and anti-Semitic activity.
   
        Pressler's journal, the Council on Public Affairs Digest,
   has reproduced pro-fascist, holocaust-denial, anti-Semitic and
   racist material.  This journal, with an international readership
   of 12,000 has advertised the Canadian Liberty Net and a wide
   variety of holocaust-denial and anti-Semitic literature.
   
        SACAR, the Salmon Arm Coalition Against Racism, is in its
   second year of exposing the combating organized racial hatred.
   SACAR has hosted and attended anti-racist conferences, produced a
   120 page Report on racism in the BC interior, written numerous
   smaller reports and magazine articles, serves as the B.C. liaison
   for the US based Klanwatch, works closely with anti-racist
   organizations across Canada, delivers public lectures and
   speeches, sponsors public events, pickets and protests racist 
   gatherings both locally and regionally, and works with the media
   to publicize racist issues.
   
        The Pressler lawsuit is clearly an attempt to prevent SACAR
   from continuing its work.  We need your help to raise money to
   pay our lawyer.  Please lend us a hand.  Together we can fight
   racism and we can win.
   
   Please send a donation to: SACAR DEFENCE, 3521 20 Avenue NE,
   Salmon Arm, BC, V1E 4M4
   
   Who is Eileen Pressler?  The Hansard of the Province of British
   Columbia - the official report of debates in the Legislative
   Assembly - refers to Ms. Pressler as: planning a hate
   conference; distributing Jewish Conspiracy literature; publishing
   a telephone number which had racist messages against Jews,
   blacks, and other minorities; and trivializing the magnitude of
   the Holocaust. (May 1, 1992).
   
        Ms. Pressler has been called "Canada's Woman of the Year" by
   the Canadian League of Rights (CLR), an organization hosted
   annually in the BC interior by Pressler's group.  The CLR has
   intimate ties to Liberty Lobby, the US based anti-Semitic
   organization, and to the WACL, characterized as a "Fascist
   International."
   
   What is the Council on Public Affairs (CPA)?
   
        Pressler's organization, the Council on Public Affairs,
   sells anti-Semitic literature, Holocaust-Denial materials,
   publishes a periodical, advertises racist materials, hosts public
   meetings by well known racists from the United States, Canada,
   and England.
   
   Why Am I Being Sued?
   
        The libel action taken by the Presslers stems from a CBC AT
   broadcast concerning a building project undertaken by the
   Presslers.  During this broadcast I referred to the organization
   run by Ms. Pressler as anti-Semitic and racist.  I further gave
   my opinion that the buildings being erected by the Presslers
   might be used to hold meetings of extreme right-wingers.  Leaders
   in other anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations are concerned
   that should the Presslers win their libel suit, a precedent will
   be set which will allow organized racist groups across the
   country to sue their opposition and to effectively muzzle any
   voices that speak up against the neo-Nazi, holocaust denial,
   agenda.  We must not allow this to happen.
   
   What we Need
   1.  More public awareness of the danger of organized racism.
   2.  More men and women across the country to join us in the
   struggle against organized racism.
   3.  $100,000 to defeat the Pressler lawsuit.  Please help us.
   Send a donation today to: SACAR Defence, 3521 20 Avenue NE,
   Salmon Arm, BC V1E 4M4
   
   Dear Friend:
   
   If you have read our defence fund letters, you know that we need
   $100,000 to fight organized racism.  It seems like a lot of
   money, but consider this: If only 4000 people gave $25 each, the
   money would be raised in no time.  We believe that there must be
   4000 people in this country who are willing to lend a hand in
   this fight.  We hope you are one of those 4000 people.  This
   struggle is not just Dr. Lethbridge's struggle; it is the
   struggle of all those who are opposed to racism, neo-nazism, and
   holocaust denial.
   
   We do not ask you to help, as if we were beggars.  We ask you to
   join us.
   
   SACAR Defense Committee
  
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