[UPDATE BELOW] 9:37AM EST: NYS Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), a child of Holocaust survivors, is leading the charge among his colleagues to force American Express to rescind the merchant agreement of notorious Holocaust denier David Irving, who has commenced a United States book tour to promote his new hate-filled tome entitled, Banged Up: Survival as a Political Prisoner in 21st Century Europe. “The notion that a well-regarded financial entity like American Express conducts business with someone of Irving’s ilk is absolutely astounding to me,” remarked Hikind.
To express their outrage, Hikind and a dozen elected officials, including Senate Democratic Conference Leader John L. Sampson, wrote to AMEX Chairman and CEO Kenneth I. Chenault saying, “By processing charges for tickets to Mr. Irving’s United States, hate-filled speaking tour, as well as for his publications, your company is sanctioning his repugnant message.”
The letter continues, “According to your own merchant reference guide, ‘American Express has built a brand that is synonymous with trust, integrity, security, quality, and customer service. We work diligently to uphold our reputation and restrict Merchants from engaging in activities that would harm our business or brand.’ Surely, Mr. Irving’s actions constitute a breach of the merchant agreement. My undersigned colleagues and I strongly urge you to rescind Mr. Irving’s merchant agreement.”
Previously, Irving has claimed that people pretend to be Holocaust survivors because, “there’s money involved and they can get a good compensation cash payment out of it.” Some of his other rabid and factually perverse comments include, “It [the Holocaust] is something like a religion…..The Intellectual Adventure is that we are reversing this entire trend within the space of one generation – that in a few years time, no one will believe this particular legend anymore……Yes, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, but there were no factories of death. All that is a blood libel against the German people.”
In response to Irving’s outrageous statements, Hikind remarked, “It is my sincere hope that American Express will do the right thing in this regard, and take swift and decisive action to revoke Mr. Irving’s privileges to bring us one step closer to putting Mr. Irving out of business.”
The following elected officials lent their names to the letter sent to AMEX Chairman Chenault:
Assemblymembers Peter Abbate, Michael Benjamin, Vivian Cook, Rory Lancman, Nick Perry; Senators Eric Adams, Carl Kruger, John Sampson, and Diane Savino; Councilmembers Mathieu Eugene, Michael Nelson, and Kendall Stewart.
5:00PM EST: Assemblyman Hikind has just released the following statement:
AMEX SPOKESPERSON: “DAVID IRVING’S ACCOUNT HAS BEEN REVOKED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY”
HIKIND: “We applaud American Express for doing the right thing. Let this be a lesson to all of us to remain vigilant against hate-mongers like Irving.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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13 Responses
Oy vey!!! What am I going to do about my American Express card now?!
hikind gets his name in the news again what a shocker
oy vey order a muzzle with it
How far does this go? To we tell merchants to not sell anything to antisemites? Do we protest where he gasses up his car? Which brings me to the point, how many of us research where our gas stations get their oil from. If you go with Exxon, Shell, Gulf, etc. you are supporting terrorism against our people. Some gas companies get their oil near Russia, Scotland, South America, etc. Buying from stations that outright get their oil from Saudi Arabia is not something you want to do.
Go to the website of your preferred gas retailer and see where their oil comes from.
In fact, here is a list, but do further research.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle
Eastern oil from Arab countries :
Shell……………………….. 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco……… 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil…………… 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway… 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco……………………….62,231,000 barrels
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18
BILLION! At $50/bbl it amounts to about $33,000,000,000!!!
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern
oil:
Citgo…………………..0 barrels
Sunoco……………….0 barrels
Conoco……………….0 barrels
Sinclair………………..0 barrels
BP/Phillips………….. 0 barrels
Hess……………………0 barrels
Arco………………….. 0 barrels
#2 How about getting your name in the NEWS by doing something positive for the Jewish Nation? You are the ‘all talk, no action chevra’.
Kendall Stewart’s name is on the list? Isnt he a soina yisroel?
@rebshalom, he is a friend, but has spoken against him on TV regarding the Holocaust.
URGENT: The gas station information is a hoax. Gasoline is gasoline in the US (save for Citgo which should be avoided because of ownership, not origin of gas). Check Snopes and other sources.
Kol HaKavod to Dov! Once again, on top of the news and working for our community!
#8, not a half bad point, but as bad as Chavez is, thank heaven he is not a Saudi or other brand of arab. There are choices other than Citgo, too.
Hey I know another antisemite: Jimmy Carter, ex-president (according to some Jews}, maybe Mr. Hikind can have his credit cards revoked!
Most of those who are called “Holocaust denier” only are skeptical about the methods and numbers of the Holocaust, obviously many (mostly undeservingly) Jews suffered because of the policies of Germany.
Mr. Hikind is a child of Holocaust survivors. Boy those devilish Nazis did a pretty bad job of exterminating the Jews with all these Holocast servivors popping up everywhere, one must wonder who did they kill?
The best way to bild the antisemite base is the actions of the like of Mr. Hikind.
This is why I am such a strong believer in a cashless society. So you want to buy drugs, illegal weapons or highly offensive hate propaganda? Sorry, not with our money system.
Want the latest copy of, “Did Six Million Really Die?” Great, go down the street and barter with Wilbur – perhaps you can trade a pair of old socks for it …