NO genocide may be denied, not just Hitler's effort
"Under a European Union directive tabled this week, anyone found denying or even questioning the official history of the Holocaust or recent conflicts in Africa and the Balkans could be punished with up to three years in jail....
The benchmark set by the legislation is that the "minimisation" of genocidal crimes must be borne out of "racist and xenophobic motives". Exactly what qualifies as "racist and xenophobic" is anyone's guess, as is the reason why "racist and xenophobic" minimisation of such crimes is deplorable but minimisation for other means is not....
Whatever the truth, such scholarly debate would be severely damaged and perhaps even stopped altogether under the new legislation. The pursuit of truth would be cast aside in favour of an unconditional acceptance of the official account of events, and the citizenry's right to free speech would be completely trampled upon.
This view is echoed by scholars such as Lipstadt, who believes that the facts should stand for themselves. "When you pass these kinds of laws it suggests to the uninformed bystander that you don't have the evidence to prove your case."...
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