TORONTO (AP) – Jewish activists Friday hailed a court ruling that allows Canada to deport German Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel to face prosecution at home.

Zundel, author of “The Hitler We Loved and Why,” has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society.

Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais said Zundel’s activities were not only a threat to national security, “but also a threat to the international community of nations.”

Zundel, a leading proponent of white supremacy, claims the Holocaust never happened.

In his 63-page decision released in Ottawa on Thursday, Blais called Zundel a racist hypocrite and said his Toronto home was a “revolving door” for some of the world’s most notorious white supremacists who have promoted violence and hatred against Jews and minorities.

“It is time for Zundel’s plane to take off. This should mark a closure to the tireless efforts of many to bring Zundel to justice,” said Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B’nai Brith of Canada.

B’nai Brith and other Jewish organizations in Canada and the United States have for decades followed Zundel’s activities and intervened in the legal proceedings against him.

“The court has rightfully labeled Zundel as a hate monger and provocateur and therefore a danger to all Canadians,” Dimant said.

Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel emigrated to Canada in 1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001. Canadian officials rejected his attempts to obtain Canadian citizenship in 1966 and 1994. He moved to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., until he was deported back to Canada in 2003 for alleged immigration violations.

Zundel faces prosecution in Germany for his neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denying activities. Since the late 1970s he has operated Samisdat Publishing, one of the leading distributors of Nazi propaganda and since 1995 has been a key content provider for a Web site dedicated to Holocaust denial, according to the the Anti-Defamation League.

German authorities told the Canadian Press on Friday that Zundel would be picked up and arrested as soon as he arrived back in his homeland.

“Mr. Zundel has associated, supported and directed members of the (white supremacist) movement who in one fashion or another have sought to propagate violent messages of hate and have advocated the destruction of governments and multicultural societies,” Blais said.

Zundel claimed in court that he is a peaceful man who has no criminal record or charges against him in Canada. His attorneys have challenged the constitutionality of the security certificate review process.

The Canadian security certificate law, passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, allows the government to hold terrorism suspects without charge, based on secret evidence that does not have to be disclosed to a suspect’s defense.

Zundel’s defense attorney told reporters after the ruling on Thursday that he intends to appeal to the Supreme Court and that he was not allowed to play a meaningful role in his defense “in the face of secret evidence.”

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On the Net:

Web site for followers of Zundel: www.zundelsite.org

AP-ES-02-25-05 1609EST

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