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Expanding Holocaust Denial and Legislation Against It
[Jewish Political Studies Review] Michael Whine - Over half the states of Europe now criminalize Holocaust denial. They accept the premise that deniers are extremists who use denial, among other means, to rehabilitate Nazism. Their legal rationale is usually that denial negates the historical facts established at Nuremburg in 1945, rather than that it constitutes offensive or threatening speech. International agreements take the same line, and this was reinforced and given a legal basis in April 2007 by the EU Common Framework Decision, which requires European states to criminalize denial. Legislation, however, has not stopped extremists from continuing to promote Holocaust denial and they are now joined and invigorated by Iran, which promotes it as state policy. Nevertheless, states now accept that Holocaust education is vital and several intergovernmental initiatives offer hope for the future. The writer is director of government and international affairs at the Community Security Trust and director of the Defense and Group Relations Division of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.