Freedom of Speech

The twofold policy of the West on the subject of “freedom of speech” is quite visible in their law making. One example is the holocaust (term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II) and its related legislation in the West.

It is quite surprising to know that the so called “freedom of speech” is quite restricted when it comes to holocaust. Only denying holocaust is explicitly or implicitly illegal in 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. E.g. in Austria, you can be punished with imprisonment up to twenty years.

It is even more surprising to know that the word denial means denying the following major claims:

1. The Nazis had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews.
2. Nazis did not use gas chambers to mass murder Jews.
3. The figure of 5-6 million Jewish deaths is a gross exaggeration, and the actual number is an order of magnitude lower.
4. Stories of the Holocaust were a myth initially created by the Allies of World War II to demonize Germans. Jews spread this myth as part of a grander plot intended to enable the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and now to garner continuing support for the state of Israel.
5. Documentary evidence of the Holocaust, from photographs to the Diary of Anne Frank, is fabricated.
6. Survivor testimonies are filled with errors and inconsistencies, and are thus unreliable.
7. Nazi confessions of war crimes were extracted through torture.
8. The Nazi treatment of Jews was no different from what the Allies did to their enemies in World War II.

Now if someone says any of the following, he/she can be jailed in many of the European countries:

1. It was not an official policy of the Hitler to exterminate Jews.
2. The figure of 5-6 million Jewish deaths is questionable.
3. Holocaust is propaganda for the creation of a separate state of Israel.
4. Some of the images of the holocaust are fabricated.
5. The survivors of the holocaust are exaggerating the matter.
6. And the most fascinating of them all is that if I only say that Hitler did this to everyone without specifically targeting Jews.

Now when the Muslims say that stop making fun of our beloved prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) the west claims that it freedom of the speech. But in case of holocaust denial…. It’s highly illegal and there are legislations available in many of the European countries.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_against_Holocaust_denial