Protesters in Britain disrupted a forum at the Oxford Union featuring a far-right politician and a historian who calls the Holocaust a myth.

As many as 300 protesters rallied outside the 184-year-old debating society while about 50 forced their way in to delay the forum's start, the BBC reported Tuesday.

The protesters, primarily students at Oxford, were angry over the debating society's invitation to Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and David Irving, a historian specializing in Nazi Germany.

Griffin, who arrived Monday surrounded by Skinheads for protection, was acquitted earlier this year of inciting hatred against British Muslims, while Irving was released last year after serving 13 months in prison in Austria for speeches denying the extermination of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Griffin and Irving spoke Monday in separate rooms of the Union while protesters outside argued over whether the Union was upholding free speech or giving a platform to fascists, the BBC reported.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 27 November 2007   

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