Anti-Semitic song played in court as Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz faces trial
Blogger who wrote song calling Auschwitz a 'theme park' faces five charges, as she's defended by the lawyer who represented David Irving against Deborah Lipstadt
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
A Westminster magistrate strongly reprimanded a member of the public on Wednesday after applause was heard in court following the playing of an anti-Jewish song. Judge John Zani made his warning — saying that if there were any repetition people would be removed from the public gallery — after a song was played which the Crown says is inciteful and likely to stir up hatred against Jews.
The song — and others which followed it — are the work of musician Alison Chabloz, a self-described Holocaust revisionist. Ms Chabloz, 53, from Derbyshire, sat in court on Wednesday morning clutching bouquets of tulips presented to her by a well-wisher before the case began, and was seen to be smiling broadly as the strongly anti-Jewish songs were replayed.
Prosecutor Karen Robinson said Ms Chabloz was facing five charges of sending, or causing to be sent for viewing on social media, several videos of her playing three songs, two of which were performed in front of an audience of the London Forum in September 2016.
Giving evidence against her on Wednesday morning, Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, unpicked the lyrics of the first song, [[[Survivors]]], whose three brackets Ms Robinson said denoted the “echo” used by antisemites to identify Jewish people on social media.
Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
[[[Survivors]]] has three named targets, the Holocaust survivor Irene Zysblat, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, and the teenage diarist Anne Frank. In each verse Chabloz mocks them and accuses them of lying to make money. The clear implication, Gideon Falter told the court, was to discredit their accounts and cast doubt on the veracity of Holocaust survivors.
In addition, he said, part of the melody used by Chabloz is the tune of the well-known Jewish folk song, Hava Nagila. “The clear intention was to cause as much offence as possible…the way in which she delivers this song to this audience is in such a way as to have no other purpose than to incite further hatred against Jews”.
Further witnesses were due to be called on Wednesday afternoon and it was thought likely that the case would carry on for a second day of prosecution and defence arguments. Ms Chabloz is being defended by Adrian Davies, who unsuccessfully represented Holocaust denier David Irving in 2001 in Irving’s case against Deborah Lipstadt.
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