subtle. He, in fact, does not deny the
Holocaust entirely.
D.D. Guttenplan wrote recently in
The Atlantic Monthly:
"Irving claims that ... Jewish vic-
tims of the Nazis number in the hun-
dreds of thousands, not millions. He
is, as he told a BBC interviewer, 'a
gas-chamber denier.' Finally, he dis-
misses evidence refuting his claims as
post-war fabrication."
The Guttenplan article, which is
largely critical of Irving, was, surpris-
ingly, posted on one of Irving's Web
sites. This striking willingness to
acknowledge his opponents lends
credibility to his positions. It suggests
they can stand up to criticism and are
based on reason and evidence, not
bigotry.
.
More Effective Bigotry
The Internet can be thanked for mak-
ing many hate groups considerably
more effective than they might have
been before.
By now, it's generally known that a
Web page is not a mark of legitimacy.
Any crackpot can sponsor one and a
great many do.
As it says in the ADL report,
"Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online":
"Bigots of all kinds recognized the
Internet's power and rushed to use it
to rally their supporters, preach to the
unconverted and intimidate those
whom they perceive as their enemies."
Still, to those of us who haven't
grown up with it — which includes
most people — the Web still exudes an
aura of wonder. The very fact of a Web
site's existence lends credibility to the
organization that posts it, an air of tech-
nical sophistication and worldliness.
This is a great boon to fringe groups
craving legitimacy from the public.
What's more, Internet sites often
reveal very little about who's behind
them. Is an organization's membership
15,000 or 150? Is the information dis-
played true or false? In many cases,
there's no way of knowing for sure.
This can work to the advantage of
bigots who make their case by distort-
ing the truth.
"Web development tools have-
made it simple for bigots to create
sites that visually resemble those of
reputable organizations," reads the
ADL report. "Consequently, hate
groups using the Web can more easily
portray themselves as legitimate voices
of authority."
Perusing Internet hate sites, one
comes across many that take Irving's
cue. The National Alliance's Web site,
(www.natall.com ) for example, con-
tains no overtly racist language or
symbols on its homepage, instead
offering users a choice of essays.
Clicking on, "Who Rules
America," one must read through
pages of persuasive, well-written text
before the answer is finally revealed:
"And who are these all-powerful mas-
ters of the media? As we shall see, to a
very large extent they are the Jews."
Even sites that do feature blatantly
racist symbols and language — and
there are many — are able to cover
themselves in a sheen of friendliness
and sensibility.
On the Sigrdrifa Publication's
Web site, (www.sigrdrifa.com) a
racist women's site, a graphic of a
swastika in an iron cross is accompa-
nied by this text: "Mothers of the
Movement would like to thank
Louise and Ruthee for their contin-
ued support and dedication to the
cause."
Most of us are rarely shown the
human face of bigotry. But when you
go to a bigot's Web site, you've
entered his home territory. Maybe
these people aren't so horrible after all,
these Web sites suggest.
The actual incidence of bigotry
may or may not be increasing (a
recent comment from the ADL's
civil rights director says that anti-
semitism in American society is
declining), but the ability of bigots
to make their case to the public cer-
tainly is increasing.
The ADL has developed a
"HateFilter" that blocks access to hate
group Web sites. It can be down-
loaded from the ADL's web site,
vvvvvv.adtorg
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Here's a listing of Irving-related
Web sites:
• www.fpp.co.u.k/ -- Focal Point
Publications, David Irving's pub-
lishing imprint
• www.codoh.com/irving/
irving.html — Irving's own page
on the Committee for Open
Debate on the Holocaust's Web
site, which is:
www.codoh.com/index.html
• www.lebensraum.org/english/
dsmrd/dsmrd35irving.html —
Irving's essay, "Did Six Million -
Really Die?" is found on the Web
site:
www.lebensraum.org/index.html
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