Pacifica Forum
Encyclopedia
The Pacifica Forum is a controversial discussion group in Eugene
, Oregon
, United States. It has been listed as a white nationalist hate group
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC). It is hosted by retired University of Oregon (UO) professor Orval Etter. The Pacifica Forum is currently the only group in Oregon that is listed as white nationalist by the SPLC.
When it was founded in 1994, the Pacifica Forum had a generally left-wing orientation. However, in recent years it has also hosted right-wing speakers. After hosting two Holocaust deniers
, it was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its regular attendees respond that the forum is not a membership organization, and does not hold any positions itself. It offers a platform to all political views, including Zionism
and anti-fascism
.
.
The group previously met in a room at the Erb Memorial Union at the University of Oregon
. In January 2010, it was moved by UO to the less centrally located Agate Hall at the edge of campus. In March 2010, the group was moved to the Baker Downtown Center, still part of the UO campus but located in downtown Eugene, with UO citing "declining attendance" as the reason for the move.
as a "moral leper and communist dupe", and that the American Civil Rights Movement was funded by Jewish communists and the USSR in an attempt to incite violence. Orval Etter and many other attendees strongly reject this perspective.
The group hosted right-wing intellectual Tomislav Sunic
, former Croatia
n diplomat and author of Homo Americanus: Child Of The Post-Modern Age as a speaker in June 2008. David Irving
was also a featured speaker during the same month, speaking on his imprisonment in Austria for Holocaust denial.
In November 2007, Mark Weber of the Institute for Historical Review
, appeared at an event organized by the Pacifica Forum. Weber was billed by the group as "America's most prominent revisionist historian". The Weber event was promoted using a flyer that depicts a snake curled in the shape of a Star of David
and the headline: "Free Speech versus Zionist power". The meeting was attended by an estimated 60 people.
Orval Etter attended both the Irving and Weber talks, and states that both men are legitimate historians. The SPLC claims he stated "I admit that there were some bad things done to Jews during World War II, but I don't believe that everything they claim is truthful." Etter and other regular attendees say the same of the SPLC, and gave a series of talks during 2009, based on the research of John Tanton
, who criticizes the organization for innacuracy.
The former president of the UO, David B. Frohnmayer
, criticized the Pacifica Forum and stated that its views do not represent those of the university. The forum is the only group Frohnmayer has singled out in this way. It has also drawn criticism from the University of Oregon Hillel
, a Jewish student group. The forum has access to campus facilities, despite attempts by local anti-hate campaigners to evict it, due to a university policy allowing retired professors to host meetings on campus.
In December 2009, speaker Jimmy Marr gave a presentation entitled: "National Socialist Movement: An Insider's View of America's Radical Right." During the presentation, Marr invited all those in attendance to join him in giving the Sieg Heil salute. Marr also showed video footage from a National Socialist Movement
demonstration in Phoenix, Arizona
. According to a report in the Eugene Weekly
, the video shows one of the speakers pointing at a protester and shouting: "YOU are a Jew! A traitor Jew!".
On January 8, 2010, Pacifica Forum held a meeting entitled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Pacifica Forum but Were Afraid to Ask". Of the seventy-five people in attendance, about half were protesting the forum. The protest was organized in reaction to Marr's December speech. The forum's supporters responded that the group champions free speech and has nothing to do with Neo-Nazism. One angry and tearful UO student spoke to Valdas Anelauskas, saying that statements he had made in the past had made her feel unsafe. At that point ASUO student body president Emma Kallaway asked the Pacifica Forum members to leave the building.
In early 2010, a swastika
was found spray-painted into the carpet of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Queer Alliance, in the basement of the Erb Memorial Union. A computer was also vandalized with black paint. It was speculated to be related to a recent discussion by the Pacifica Forum held about the meaning of the swastika.
states that Etter does not consider himself antisemitic.
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. It has been listed as a white nationalist hate group
Hate group
A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
(SPLC). It is hosted by retired University of Oregon (UO) professor Orval Etter. The Pacifica Forum is currently the only group in Oregon that is listed as white nationalist by the SPLC.
Purpose
According to the group's founder, Orval Etter, the Pacifica Forum's purpose is to "provide information and points of view" on "war and peace, militarism and pacifism, violence and non-violence." The group was named the Pacifica Forum after a San Francisco-area supper club that had discussed similar issues.When it was founded in 1994, the Pacifica Forum had a generally left-wing orientation. However, in recent years it has also hosted right-wing speakers. After hosting two Holocaust deniers
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, it was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its regular attendees respond that the forum is not a membership organization, and does not hold any positions itself. It offers a platform to all political views, including Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and anti-fascism
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
.
Orval Etter
Orval Etter is an emeritus professor of planning, public policy, and management, a musician, and a pacifist who was a conscientious objector during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
University of Oregon
Other than its meeting place, and having a retired professor as its founder, the group is not affiliated with the university.The group previously met in a room at the Erb Memorial Union at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
. In January 2010, it was moved by UO to the less centrally located Agate Hall at the edge of campus. In March 2010, the group was moved to the Baker Downtown Center, still part of the UO campus but located in downtown Eugene, with UO citing "declining attendance" as the reason for the move.
Controversies
Valdas Anelauskas, a Lithuanian immigrant who describes himself as a white separatist, hosted a series of Pacifica Forum talks in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Another speaker, Jimmy Marr, described Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
as a "moral leper and communist dupe", and that the American Civil Rights Movement was funded by Jewish communists and the USSR in an attempt to incite violence. Orval Etter and many other attendees strongly reject this perspective.
The group hosted right-wing intellectual Tomislav Sunic
Tomislav Sunic
Tomislav Sunić is a Croatian-American writer, translator, professor and a former diplomat. He is best known for his books and writings critical of egalitarianism, biblical monotheism, and liberal political discourse. He serves as one of the , a political party considered to be favorable to...
, former Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n diplomat and author of Homo Americanus: Child Of The Post-Modern Age as a speaker in June 2008. David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
was also a featured speaker during the same month, speaking on his imprisonment in Austria for Holocaust denial.
In November 2007, Mark Weber of the Institute for Historical Review
Institute for Historical Review
The Institute for Historical Review , founded in 1978, is an American organization that describes itself as a "public-interest educational, research and publishing center dedicated to promoting greater public awareness of history." Critics have accused it of being an antisemitic "pseudo-scholarly...
, appeared at an event organized by the Pacifica Forum. Weber was billed by the group as "America's most prominent revisionist historian". The Weber event was promoted using a flyer that depicts a snake curled in the shape of a Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
and the headline: "Free Speech versus Zionist power". The meeting was attended by an estimated 60 people.
Orval Etter attended both the Irving and Weber talks, and states that both men are legitimate historians. The SPLC claims he stated "I admit that there were some bad things done to Jews during World War II, but I don't believe that everything they claim is truthful." Etter and other regular attendees say the same of the SPLC, and gave a series of talks during 2009, based on the research of John Tanton
John Tanton
John H. Tanton, M.D., is a retired ophthalmologist from Petoskey, Michigan, and an influential activist in efforts aimed at reducing immigration levels in the United States. He was organizer and first chairman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform , a non-profit educational group that...
, who criticizes the organization for innacuracy.
The former president of the UO, David B. Frohnmayer
David B. Frohnmayer
Dave Frohnmayer was the 15th President of the University of Oregon. He was appointed president on July 1, 1994. His last day as president was June 30, 2009. His tenure as president is the second-longest after John Wesley Johnson. He is the first native of the U.S. state of Oregon to run the...
, criticized the Pacifica Forum and stated that its views do not represent those of the university. The forum is the only group Frohnmayer has singled out in this way. It has also drawn criticism from the University of Oregon Hillel
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...
, a Jewish student group. The forum has access to campus facilities, despite attempts by local anti-hate campaigners to evict it, due to a university policy allowing retired professors to host meetings on campus.
In December 2009, speaker Jimmy Marr gave a presentation entitled: "National Socialist Movement: An Insider's View of America's Radical Right." During the presentation, Marr invited all those in attendance to join him in giving the Sieg Heil salute. Marr also showed video footage from a National Socialist Movement
National Socialist Movement (United States)
The National Socialist Movement is a neo-Nazi party operating in the United States. The group was founded in 1974 by Robert Brannen, former member of the American Nazi Party before its decline. The group claims to be the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the United States. Its...
demonstration in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. According to a report in the Eugene Weekly
Eugene Weekly
The Eugene Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon. The paper, published every Thursday, has a circulation of 39,850. It publishes an annual "Best of Eugene" list, a restaurant guide , and special sections on festivals, music, wine, health, and travel....
, the video shows one of the speakers pointing at a protester and shouting: "YOU are a Jew! A traitor Jew!".
On January 8, 2010, Pacifica Forum held a meeting entitled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Pacifica Forum but Were Afraid to Ask". Of the seventy-five people in attendance, about half were protesting the forum. The protest was organized in reaction to Marr's December speech. The forum's supporters responded that the group champions free speech and has nothing to do with Neo-Nazism. One angry and tearful UO student spoke to Valdas Anelauskas, saying that statements he had made in the past had made her feel unsafe. At that point ASUO student body president Emma Kallaway asked the Pacifica Forum members to leave the building.
In early 2010, a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
was found spray-painted into the carpet of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Queer Alliance, in the basement of the Erb Memorial Union. A computer was also vandalized with black paint. It was speculated to be related to a recent discussion by the Pacifica Forum held about the meaning of the swastika.
Response
According to the SPLC, Orval Etter responded to accusations of antisemitism by stating: "If you rub a substantial number of Jews the wrong way, you're anti-Semitic... In that sense, I have to admit that the Forum and I, in particular, are anti-Semitic." Etter and the forum's regular attendees contest this and most of what the SPLC has written about them, arguing that the forum is not pro- or anti- anyone, but an open discussion group that holds no positions. A report in the Oregon Daily EmeraldOregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is an independent daily newspaper published at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The paper, which has been published for more than 100 years, has trained many now-prominent writers and journalists and has made important contributions to journalism...
states that Etter does not consider himself antisemitic.