[continued from previous message] 
  
 We believe in freedom of speech, conscience, opinion, and expression. 
  
 It is the opponents of this conference who clearly don't believe in freedom 
 of speech and conscience. It is they who have thrown elderly men and women 
 into prison for years for simply expressing their opinions. 
  
 Yet, instead of condemning these tyrants, the media even celebrates the 
 imprisonment of human beings who dare to question. 
  
 Dr. Bruno Gollnisch, a professor of Literature at the University of Lyon, 
 and a member of the European Parliament was convicted of Holocaust Denial. 
  
 Speaking in Lyon, France, in October 2004, Gollnisch said: "I do not deny 
 the existence of deadly gas chambers. But I'm not a specialist on this 
 issue, and I think we have to let the historians debate it." He did not 
 contest the "hundreds of thousands, the millions of deaths" during the 
 Holocaust, but added: "As to the way those people died, a debate should take 
 place." 
  
 For simply advocating free speech, Gollnisch was convicted of Holocaust 
 Denial. Has Europe gone crazy? 
  
 Freedom of speech is important for two reasons. 
  
 First, freedom of speech is a vital human right. It is the cornerstone of 
 all other rights, because without freedom of speech no one has to the right 
 to even freely know and learn of the abrogation of other rights affecting 
 human freedom and survival. That is why the American founding fathers put 
 freedom of speech, press and religion as the first and highest of the Bill 
 of Rights. 
  
 Second, freedom of speech and debate are absolutely vital for the truth to 
 prevail. If one side of any controversial issue can suppress the voice of 
 opposition, we cannot arrive at the certainty of any truth. If academics and 
 citizens can be blackmailed monetarily and in career; if they can be 
 threatened with firings, loss of income, or imprisonment for simply 
 sincerely pursuing an historical inquiry and publishing it, how can the 
 truth be discovered? 
  
 How does one even know the real revisionist opinion, if that opinion is 
 repressed? 
  
 A perfect example of the biased treatment of the Western press is the recent 
 adoption of the term "Holocaust denier" to slander anyone who may question 
 any part of the complex and expansive Holocaust story. The term "Holocaust 
 denier" was created by Simon Wiesenthal to denote any one who dares to 
 question any part of his version of the Holocaust. To "deny" is usually 
 associated with an allegation of a personal crime. For example, "John Doe 
 denies that he committed the robbery." It has a very negative connotation. 
 It is not commonly used to denote people holding a contrary historical 
 opinion. 
  
 In truth, revisionists are not deniers, they are simply questioners who are 
 being imprisoned and slandered for simply questioning with research and 
 reason this tragic period of history during the Second World War. 
  
 The Holocaust Conference in Iran is truly about respect for intellectual 
 freedom. 
  
 Iran has organized the first international conference dedicated to freedom 
 of speech and inquiry on this important historical matter that has so many 
 ramifications on the Mideast and many other present political realities. 
  
 I am here in Tehran as a speaker in this conference because I am dedicated 
 to freedom of speech, conscience, and thought. I am honored, as are all of 
 you, to be here at this historic conference. 
  
 I urge the fair-minded people of the world, before they condemn this 
 conference, the Iranian President, all the speakers and me, to ask the 
 question: who are the patrons of freedom and who are the real deniers, the 
 deniers of our precious human right of freedom of speech! 
  
 [end] 
  
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