Holocaust denialist faces lawsuit
The SAJBD has had enough of a holocaust denialist who, it alleges, is spewing out anti-Jewish hate speech in e-mails.
|||Durban - The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has had enough of a holocaust denialist who, it alleges, is spewing out anti-Jewish hate speech in unsolicited e-mails sent to journalists, businessmen and even a retired judge.
The board has gone to Durban’s equality court asking for an interdict against self-styled consumer and legal adviser Snowy Smith and an order forcing him to apologise.
But Smith – who used to hand out similar pamphlets before he began his e-mail campaign – is unrepentant and says he is only telling the truth and has the protection of “free speech”.
The issue has already been considered by two equality court magistrates who have ruled that it is an appropriate case to be heard by the court, and a date for trial will be set at the end of this month.
In its complaint lodged with the court, the board says Smith is a “well-known anti-Semitic” with a propensity for uttering anti-Jewish hate speech in e-mails. In them he claims Jews are “the enemy”, that they want to destroy the white race, that they orchestrated all the world wars and they should be prosecuted for murder.
The board has attached dozens of pages of e-mails it claims Smith sent to several people, including a Cape-based journalist, a teacher at a Jewish school and Judge Mervyn King.
It says the Constitutional Court has emphasised that it is in the interest of the state to regulate hate speech, particularly when directed at a minority group, such as those who belong to the Jewish faith in South Africa.
It says the court must issue an order declaring the e-mails hate speech, a final interdict restraining Smith from his conduct and ordering that he make an unconditional apology to the people of the Jewish faith.
Smith, in his voluminous reply, says his views were sparked by a chance meeting he had with a Jewish man in a park in Durban 20 years ago.
“He told me that Jews invented communism, that the holocaust was a big lie, and that Jews promoted hatred.”
He cited Russian President Vladimir Putin as one of the “expert witnesses” he would call to court through the use of documents, statements and press releases.
He accuses the board of not addressing the “facts and issues of Jewish history” in its complaint. “I have a right to freedom of speech. It is a God-given right and it cannot be taken away by any man.”
The Mercury