AAP NEWSFEED
February 29, 2000, Tuesday
SECTION: Nationwide General News; Australian General News
LENGTH: 354 words
HEADLINE: fed: Jewish lobby group angered by Darville’s Irving story
BODY:
Darville By Chris Herde
BRISBANE, Feb 29 AAP – A Jewish lobby group today accused a magazine of
“cheap sensationalism” for commissioning an article by controversial
author Helen Darville about Nazi historian David Irving.
Darville, who fabricated Ukrainian ancestry as Helen Demidenko for her
first award winning novel amid claims that the book was anti-semetic,
interviewed Irving for Australian Style magazine.
The interview has angered the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs
Council community affairs director Jeremy Jones, who claimed it was a
cynical move to increase sales of the magazine which goes on the news
stands tomorrow.
“It’s cheap sensationalism. Helen Darville is notorious as a person who
perpetrated a literary fraud with a book that was widely viewed as
justifying anti-semitism,” Mr Jones told AAP today.
“She was then asked by a magazine to go and interview somebody who has a
status in the eyes of many far right wingers as an icon.
“How is the cause of public information served by the combination of
these two personalities.”
The interview was conducted in London during a libel case against an
American academic whom Irving, who has been refused a visa to Australia,
is suing for allegedly depicting him as denying the Holocaust and as a
“Hitler partisan”.
However Australian Style editor Jack Marx criticised Mr Jones’ stand,
claiming there was “no gimmick involved” and he would use Darville for
other articles.
“It’s a totally expected kneejerk reaction by a bunch of people who are
pro-censorship,” Marx said.
“The article is balanced and anyone who reads it will see that she pokes
holes through many of Irving’s arguments.
“She is actually quite knowledgable about the topic.”
Darville, who now lives in London and was not contactable, won the Miles
Franklin award for her book, The Hand That Signed The Paper.
A few years ago Darville apologised for claiming Ukrainian ancestry
saying she was sorry if her book or actions were perceived as
anti-semitic.
She said she condemned without reservation the perpetrators of the
Holocaust.
Copyright 2000 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd.
