Oxford Union reportedly invited Holocaust denier Irving to speak

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: Ha'aretz

The Oxford Union debating society raised ire among student groups and activists on Thursday after its president announced that he had invited Holocaust denier David Irving to come speak at the university, The Guardian reported Friday.

The society's president, Luke Tryl, told The Guardian he had also invited British National party chairman Nick Griffin and Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukoshenko to speak. He added that the group has not yet formalized its invitation list.

"The Oxford Union is famous for is commitment to free speech and although I do think these people have awful and abhorrent views I do think Oxford students are intelligent enough to challenge and ridicule them," Tryl said.
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The announcement has sparked controversy among students and anti-fascist activists, according to The Guardian.

"It will be a disgrace if these discredited speakers are allowed a platform at a forum on free speech. They have an embarrassing history of disregard for legal restrictions on it. It will certainly go down as a black mark on the reputation of the Oxford Union," Oxford Jewish Society co-presidents Daniel Bloch and Steven Altmann-Richer said in a joint statement.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/912311.html

[bluestateguy]

1. Next week they should invite a speaker who believes in the Easter Bunny and the Great Pumpkin

nt

[cali]

2. Doesn't make much sense to me.

There's a difference between discredited and controversial. Irving is a completely discredited Holocaust denier. The BNP and Nick Griffin are focused particularly on hating Muslims, and open only to whites of British or European extraction. Nick Griffin is a kissing cousin to David Duke. Here's their criteria for membership:

Membership of the British National Party is open to those of British or kindred European ethnic descent. While we welcome contact and co-operation with nationalists and patriots of other races, and with the many non-whites who also oppose enforced multi-racialism, we ask them to respect our right to an organisation of our own, for our own, as we respect and applaud their measures to organise themselves in like fashion.

As for Alexander Lukoshenko, I don't know much about him except that he's been in office for a long time and has been criticized for his anti-democratic stances.