Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2012] REVISITING THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS 129
I. MANIPULATING HUMAN RIGHTS DISCOURSE IN ORDER
TO SUBVERT DEMOCRACY
With regard to the co-opting of what I will call the Henkian narrative,
14 the difficulty lies not with the advent of a rights culture, but with the
potential for its cynical manipulation. In the words of Andreas Kalyvas: “In
a democratic age, where the idea of popular self-government enjoys a vast
ideological hegemony. . . the effective challenge can only come from
within.” 15 Therefore, Kalyvas continues, instead of directly attacking
democracy, genocide deniers and proponents of violence against vulnerable
peoples opt for a more deceptive and cunning strategy of inner attrition. 16
An early example of the manipulation of human rights rhetoric in
Canada is that of Ernst Zundel, a Holocaust denier and one of the largest
distributors of hate literature in the world. In the multiple proceedings
against him, Zundel consistently posed as the noble champion for freedom
of expression. As Mark Freiman eloquently recounts, Zundel and his attorney
appeared in bulletproof vests, acting as victims of what they characterized
as the enemies of free speech and historical truth. 17
Moreover, blatantly racist rhetoric, 18 masked as the exercise of constitutionally
enshrined rights, is widespread within institutions of higher learning,
epitomized by recurring high-profile events such as “Israel Apartheid
Week.” Its disturbing but clear implication is that Israel—the ancestral
home to a people victimized in unspeakable proportions by the greatest
14. Professor Louis Henkin is known as the “Father of Human Rights Law.”
See, e.g., Clyde Haberman, “Lessons in a Life Well Lived, and Values Upheld,”
The New York Times, October 19, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/ny
region/19nyc.html.
15. Andreas Kalyvas, “Carl Schmitt and the Three Moments of Democracy,” 21
Cardozo L. Rev. 1525, 1528-29 (1999-2000).
16. Ibid.
17. Mark Freiman, “Litigating Hate on the Internet,” Canadian Human Rights
Commission, http://www.ccdp-chrc.ca/proactive_initiatives/hoi_hsi/page6-en.asp
(last accessed August 18, 2011).
18. See, e.g., Paul Lungen, “Police Asked to Investigate Anti-Israel Protest,”
The Canadian Jewish News, January 22, 2009, http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=16092&Itemid=86/ (providing a video released
by the Canadian Jewish Congress, some protesters are heard repeating the
medieval antisemitic libel that Jews drink blood). One woman is seen yelling,
“Jewish child . . . you’re going to f***ing die, Hamas is coming for you.” Ibid. See
also Canadian Jewish Congress, Toronto, Canada, “CJC Exposes Incitement to
Hatred and Violence at Pro-Hamas Rallies,” news release, January 14, 2009,
http://www.cjc.ca/2009/01/14/cjc-exposes-incitement-to-hatred-and-violence-atpro-hamas-rallies/.