Monday, August 13, 2007

David Irving's Reality Check [2]: There is a judgment against me in the UK

David Irving gets weirder and weirder. Now he is telling people that there is a judgment against me and that if I showed up in the UK I would be jailed. As he recently wrote to a correspondent:
Professor Lipstadt knows very well why she does not give advance notice of her public appearances in England. If you cannot work it out, then ask her the reason. She knows (hint: there's a cell in Holloway waiting for her; or perhaps it should be Pentonville - one can never be too sure nowadays). If you don't believe it, invite her to give me formal notice when she next plans to visit. She won't.
Problem is that I have been in the UK numerous times. All my visits have been well publicized -- maybe just not on the websites Irving frequents -- and miracle of miracles no one has come to arrest or detain me.....

The fact is that there is no judgment of any sort against me. Moreover, David Irving is lucky I chose NOT to pursue him for the funds it cost to mount my defense.

11 comments:

Hume's Ghost said...

I haven't followed Irving that well, but I was under the impression that he at least attempted to cloak his revisionary efforts as a supposedly respectable effort at getting at historical "truth", but this is just Irving trailing off into blatant absudity.

Has he always been this bad or has he given up any pretense of trying to sway people who aren't already delusional?

Deborah Lipstadt said...

Got me...

I hardly ever spend time trying to figure what's making him tick. I wasted enough time doing that during my trial.

In my opinion, he's just not that important...

Hume's Ghost said...

I don't really think that Irving is important, either. But I do believe it important to understand why/how people believe such things in the face of reality ... it's why I've been meaning to read Michael Shermer's book on the subject, as he delves into the psychology of deniers.

I was too lazy to try and search to see if you've done a review of that book.

Deborah Lipstadt said...

You are correct. It's important to try to understand.

At the same time, it is important to remember that
Holocaust denial = a form of antisemtism = a form of pre-judice [i.e. prejudge], in other words it's irrational.

So on some level trying to impose a rationale onto it is already a losing proposition.-

Hume's Ghost said...

What I find interesting is the commonality in methodology ... the quote-mining, the selective use of facts or figures, the emphasis on minor flaws or corrections as if they constitute major challenges to an overall truth, the fabricated "facts", starting from "The Truth" and then revising reality accordingly etc. - of ideological thinking.

One of the reasons I find it interesting is you can look at it and it's a virtual walk through of how not to think.

With Irving, it's difficult to tell what is more troubling ... that he would deliberately lie about you or that he might actually believe his own lies.

Ulster Protestant said...

“The fact is that there is no judgment of any sort against me.”
What is he on about then? Any ideas? Is it just totally out of thin air or where you involved in any other cases in the UK besides the Irving one? I don’t want you to think that I’m casting aspersions on your character but it seems very strange that Irving would say the like without something being there (just reread that last sentence – perhaps it’s not so strange when you consider his track record!)

Deborah Lipstadt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deborah Lipstadt said...

Nada, zilch, none, zero.... or any other way you want to say it. No judgments.

Though i find it strange that you are surprised -- even for a sentence [I am glad you added that parenthetical remark at the end] -- by his taking something out of thin air. He did that numerous times in relation to the Holocaust, as we proved at my trial.

If he did it in relation to that, why wouldn't he do it in relation to me?

The minute you let something he does surprise you, you are suggesting that he operates in a reality universe.

Friendstacy said...

you keep on singing your Song! It is so beautiful, and the world needs to hear it and learn the lesson true history tries to teach us, so it never ever gets repeated again. People who don't want to hear the truth, or who promote untruth, are fighting their own demons. Their fears will eventually manifest into their worst nightmares.

muhamedmesic said...

If whatever Irving is doing were not sad, bad and disgusting, it would have been utterly funny. Laugh on, Deborah - we need you!

Unknown said...

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I am sending you my latest blog titled 'No basis for religious anti-Zionism'. This was written as an antidote to groups like Neturei Karta who spread malicious lies about Judaism and Zionism and covort with our enemies like Iran and Hamas. They claim that Judaism and Zionism are not compatible. These lies are picked up by some of the most unrelenting antisemites and used to prove the lie that they are just anti-Zionist and not antisemitic.
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http://blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=4&blog_id=80&blog_post_id=1422