What on earth is going on at German universities? First the University of Cologne allows DKP "historian" Werner Rügemer to teach his conspiracy theories about (Jewish) Wall Street bankers being responsible for World Wars One AND Two, as well as for the Holocaust. Now the Uni Witten invites the well-known Truther "historian" Daniele Ganser on its campus to speak about the media. His appearance was protested by the SPD, Green Party, and Pirate party who, in an open letter wrote:
"Gerade in Zeiten von einer erstarkenden PEGIDA braucht es unserer
Meinung nach keinen weiteren Nährboden für ähnliche, weltfremde und undifferenzierte Äußerungen – erst recht nicht bei einer öffentlichen Veranstaltung unter dem Deckmantel der Wissenschaft."
("We believe that especially in these times where PEGIDA is showing strength the university shouldn't serve as another hotbed for similar crazy and unbsubstantiated statements - especially not in a public forum under the cloak of scientific inquiry.")
According to the official announcement about Ganser's lecture, the topic was supposed to be "who controls the fourth estate?" - a general discussion of the media and propaganda, not 9/11 conspiracy theories. But blogger Mercedes Nabert from the blog Ruhrbarone attended the lecture and reports that Ganser brought up the famous "third building" (Man erfuhr von ihm, wie das berühmte „dritte Gebäude“ des 11. Septembers, das WTC7, nur durch kontrollierte Sprengung in die Luft hätte gegangen sein können.) a favorite topic of Truthers that has been debunked many times for over a decade.
Ganser told the audience at Witten, which listened with rapt attention, to beware of "newspapers", since they were primarily "outposts of NATO public relations" ("überwiegend Außenstellen der Nato-Pressestelle"). He did have some reading recommendations for people who want to develop a more "objective" view of happenings in the world:
"(Ganser)er nimmt es sich auch heraus, zu einem Vortrag zum Thema Medienkompetenz eine Liste von unbedenklichen, empfehlenswerten Journalisten und Publizisten mitzubringen. Scharfsinnig stehen dort der KenFM-Betreiber Ken Jebsen, der „weis, wer den holocaust als pr erfunden hat“ und der langsam senil werdende Israel-Boykotteur Noam Chomsky auf einer Folie. Daneben eine Reihe der üblichen Verdächtigen: 9/11-Verschwörungstheoretiker und einige Namen, die so unbekannt sind, dass sie wömoglich bei einer Schülerzeitung in Freital oder Heidenau beschäftigt sein könnten. In der anschließenden Diskussion jedoch wird die Liste noch um Jürgen Elsässer, das Compact-Magazin erweitert.
Of course, reading a Holocaust denier like Ken Jebsen or a Putin fanatic like Jürgen Elsässer will serve to round out the perspective of everyone.
Daniele Ganser is a success because he delivers exactly what the audience wants to hear. He has a simple business model: anti-Americanism. The audience always roars with approval when told that America is responsible for everything bad in the world. And they ALWAYS thrill when told that "9/11 was an inside job."
I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and the First Amendment. Ganser should be allowed to present his fake "theories" to the public. But not at a university, where there has to be a commitment to scientific inquiry and truth. Daniele Ganser's lies have no place on a university campus.
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