1. 23/06/13 5:32 PMToben backing for peace centre | The Australian
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Toben backing for peace centre
SYDNEY University's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies has received an unwelcome
endorsement from Australia's most notorious Holocaust denier.
Fredrick Toben -- who has served prison time in both Germany and Australia as a result of his Holocaust
denial and anti-Semitic activities -- has written an open letter to the centre's head, associate professor
Jake Lynch, urging him to stand firm in the face of legal threats over its support for the anti-Israeli
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Shurat HaDin of the Israeli civil rights legal centre has threatened to take legal action against Associate
Professor Lynch and the Sydney Peace Foundation director, professor emeritus Stuart Rees.
Mr HaDin alleges that their support for BDS violates the Racial Discrimination Act.
Dr Toben has encouraged Professor Lynch to stand firm in the face of "Jewish pressure".
"My constant maxim has always been: 'Don't only blame the Jews, also blame those that bend to their
pressure'," he wrote.
"I have had this kind of Jewish pressure put on me for just on 17 years, which ultimately led to my
imprisonment and bankruptcy, but I still did not bend.
"This whole matter of bringing the force of law into your work now questions your moral and intellectual
integrity, and a yielding to it will not satisfy those that are now wanting you to recant and to stop the
academic boycott against Israel."
Both Professor Lynch and Professor Rees have distanced themselves from Dr Toben.
"I have nothing to do with Fredrick Toben and refute all and any of his claims," an emphatic Professor
Rees said.
However, Jeremy Jones from the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council has said he is not surprised
that the centre has attracted Dr Toben's interest.
Mr Jones said there had been many examples of BDS and anti-Israeli activities in Sydney attracting neo-
Nazis.
"Why would anyone be surprised that someone like Fredrick Toben, who has run campaigns found to
have effectively defamed Jews, has supported a boycott of individuals based purely on their nationality?"
Mr Jones said.
THE AUSTRALIAN
CHRISTIAN KERR THE AUSTRALIAN JUNE 24, 2013 12:00AM