NO REVERENCE

AP Photo
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."(Elie Wiesel}



Seventy-eight year old Elie Wiesel has witnessed more in his time on earth than most of us ever will. Living through the Holocaust and being torn from his family would have caused most people to be bitter and frightened and, perhaps, reclusive. Not Elie, though. He continues to bring his message and his knowledge to audiences around the world.

Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out against violence, repression, and racism. The author of over 40 books, Eli Wiesel was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 1985, and was knighted in Great Britain in 2006. Elie has been called "a messenger to mankind." Frail, and soft spoken, Mr. Wiesel has been the recipient of countless awards and recognitions - yet his battle against racism and anti-Semitism took a step backward last week when he was accosted in a San Francisco hotel.

That's right. Elie Wiesel was pulled from an elevator while heading to his room and assaulted by a man calling himself "Eric Hunt." Today, the man responsible began posting a rant about his hate crime and how his plans to force Wiesel to make a videotape stating that he had lied about the Holocaust were foiled. "Hunt" got worried as Mr. Wiesel began to clutch his chest and scream for help so he ran. In his rant he claimed that the police were never called - false. Not only were they called, but they are now searching for the person responsible.

Today they may have caught a break as the opportunist and "Look at Me" Nazi claimed that he had confirmed that while the perpetrator of this despicable act is not a member of his American National Socialist Party, he is a supporter. One can only hope that such an admission will cause Mr. White to have to answer some questions to law-enforcement.

As one looks at the enormous list of accomplishments by Elie, one cannot help but ask what has his attacker, or even those who gloat over such an act, accomplished? "Eric Hunt" proved nothing in his rant. All he did was claim that certain things reported by Mr. Wiesel "never happened."

Bill White, who seemed rather pleased to announce that the perpetrator was a supporter of his, has bought some property, evicted people from their homes and, in essence, become a slum lord. He has paraded around in a Nazi "Wannabe" uniform and said a few Sieg Heils for the cameras. He has alienated many of those whose favor he has sought, and been the laughing stock of both the racists and the anti-racists.

Of course, with Bill White, you never know where the truth ends and the lies begin and it is highly possible that it is just more hot air being spewed as Bill enters another manic phase of his debilitating psychosis.

Elie Wiesel has more than proven his character and his integrity. What can we say about someone who would terrorize an old man on the way to his room? Perhaps that's why the "Eric Hunt's" and the Bill White's of this world will continue to find themselves getting their dicks slapped into the dirt everytime they turn around.