Oxford debating society criticized for inviting Holocaust denier
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The head of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission condemned Oxford University's debating society Sunday for inviting David Irving, a historian once jailed in Austria for denying the Holocaust.
Protests are expected Monday when Irving attends the Free Speech Forum, along with Nick Griffin, leader of Britain's far-right British National Party. The BNP has opposed immigration and been accused of promoting race riots in northern England between whites and South Asian immigrants.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission, said Irving never should have been invited.
"I think it is an absolute disgrace. As a former president of the National Union of Students, I'm ashamed that this has happened," Phillips told British Broadcasting Corp. television. "This is not a question of freedom of speech; this is a juvenile provocation."