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THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND THE ADL
The Boston Globe, MA
June 2 2014
By Laura Boghosian
When Suffolk University Law School announced this spring that
Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman would deliver
its commencement address and receive an honorary degree, it became
enmeshed in a controversy that has roiled the Boston area for the
past seven years.
Because ADL had long denied the Armenian Genocide and, more critically,
actively lobbied on behalf of the perpetrator, Turkey, against
its recognition by Congress, 14 Massachusetts communities and the
Massachusetts Municipal Association withdrew from ADL's "No Place
for Hate" program in 2007-2008.
Continue reading below
Under pressure from myriad sources, including Suffolk students,
faculty, and alumni, the National Lawyers Guild, the Armenian
community, and others, Foxman finally acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide in his remarks. It was an encouraging development given
that ADL's only formal statement on the genocide is worded in such
a way as to actually circumvent the intent required for a finding of
genocide by the UN Genocide Convention.
That statement, issued in 2007, said that the "consequences" of the
Turkish massacres of Armenians were "tantamount" to genocide, implying
it was not a planned extermination. This statement was widely censured,
but calls for an unambiguous confirmation were rebuffed by ADL.
The issue re-emerged last fall when a Massachusetts judgeship candidate
was rejected, in part, for his ADL membership. At that time and since,
ADL leadership has claimed it clearly acknowledged the genocide in
August 2008, via a statement that was issued in response to appeals
for Blue Cross Blue Shield to drop its corporate sponsorship of
"No Place for Hate. "
That statement says only that ADL had "referred to those massacres and
atrocities as genocide." Note the past tense. Since the only previous
ADL communication on the Armenian Genocide was its objectionable
2007 release, it is false for ADL to suggest that this pronouncement
represented a new position. It is deeply troubling so many have been
misled by this allegation.
The significance of Foxman's verbal acknowledgement at Suffolk,
however, is that it can be viewed as an important first step toward
a true organizational change in position, a step that could serve as
the impetus for ADL to, at long last, post on its website a formal
statement unequivocally recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Continue reading below
ADL should also publicly support the resolution recognizing the
Armenian Genocide currently before Congress, in order to atone for
helping to defeat previous resolutions. It is unacceptable that a
group presenting itself as a human/civil rights organization should
continue to oppose affirmation of this or any other genocide.
One might wonder why a group whose stated purpose is "to secure
justice and fair treatment to all" would advocate for Turkey, a major
human rights violator. Foxman has been remarkably candid about ADL's
motives. In a spring 2007 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he
defended ADL's lobbying by stating, "Our focus is Israel. If helping
Turkey helps Israel, then that's what we're in the business of doing."
He added, "Was it genocide? It was wartime. Things get messy."
Many in the Jewish community were appalled by this cynical policy and
publicly challenged ADL, understanding that genocide denial is the
highest form of hate speech and the final stage of genocide. In 2008,
the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian Genocide was established to
foster communication between the Jewish and Armenian communities and to
advocate for official affirmation of the genocide by the United States
government. Lectures on the Armenian Genocide have been incorporated
into services in Boston-area temples, and the coalition's online
petition calling on Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide has
gathered over 21,000 signatures to date.
Suffolk Law School attempted to justify its honoring Foxman by arguing
that his "body of work is well deserving of recognition." Because
he has a decades-long history of denying the Armenian Genocide
and opposing acknowledgement of this crime against humanity, it
should matter little what else he has done. As French philosopher
Bernard-Henri Levy declared, "Deniers are not merely expressing an
opinion; they are perpetrating a crime." Would Suffolk bestow such
accolades upon a Holocaust denier?
Each time ADL has addressed the Armenian Genocide, it has been in
response to pressure, both external and internal. Those who for the
past seven years have demanded that ADL stand on the right side of
history can view with satisfaction Foxman's public utterance of the
phrase "Armenian Genocide." Words matter.
Much more, however, needs to be done. The Armenian community and its
supporters await an official written statement from the Anti-Defamation
League that decisively affirms the Armenian Genocide and that endorses
formal US recognition in time for the genocide's 100th anniversary
in April 2015.
Only then should ADL be readmitted to our communities or regarded
as a model for tolerance. ADL has made a beginning by publicly
acknowledging that the Turkish massacres of the Armenian people
constituted genocide; perhaps the time has finally arrived for a bold
new policy. Let all those who wish to uphold universal human rights
help move this process forward.
Laura Boghosian is a member of the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian
Genocide.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/06/02/podium-armenia/10nOuK8s3KzgxiOgl6QRhO/story.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
The Boston Globe, MA
June 2 2014
By Laura Boghosian
When Suffolk University Law School announced this spring that
Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman would deliver
its commencement address and receive an honorary degree, it became
enmeshed in a controversy that has roiled the Boston area for the
past seven years.
Because ADL had long denied the Armenian Genocide and, more critically,
actively lobbied on behalf of the perpetrator, Turkey, against
its recognition by Congress, 14 Massachusetts communities and the
Massachusetts Municipal Association withdrew from ADL's "No Place
for Hate" program in 2007-2008.
Continue reading below
Under pressure from myriad sources, including Suffolk students,
faculty, and alumni, the National Lawyers Guild, the Armenian
community, and others, Foxman finally acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide in his remarks. It was an encouraging development given
that ADL's only formal statement on the genocide is worded in such
a way as to actually circumvent the intent required for a finding of
genocide by the UN Genocide Convention.
That statement, issued in 2007, said that the "consequences" of the
Turkish massacres of Armenians were "tantamount" to genocide, implying
it was not a planned extermination. This statement was widely censured,
but calls for an unambiguous confirmation were rebuffed by ADL.
The issue re-emerged last fall when a Massachusetts judgeship candidate
was rejected, in part, for his ADL membership. At that time and since,
ADL leadership has claimed it clearly acknowledged the genocide in
August 2008, via a statement that was issued in response to appeals
for Blue Cross Blue Shield to drop its corporate sponsorship of
"No Place for Hate. "
That statement says only that ADL had "referred to those massacres and
atrocities as genocide." Note the past tense. Since the only previous
ADL communication on the Armenian Genocide was its objectionable
2007 release, it is false for ADL to suggest that this pronouncement
represented a new position. It is deeply troubling so many have been
misled by this allegation.
The significance of Foxman's verbal acknowledgement at Suffolk,
however, is that it can be viewed as an important first step toward
a true organizational change in position, a step that could serve as
the impetus for ADL to, at long last, post on its website a formal
statement unequivocally recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Continue reading below
ADL should also publicly support the resolution recognizing the
Armenian Genocide currently before Congress, in order to atone for
helping to defeat previous resolutions. It is unacceptable that a
group presenting itself as a human/civil rights organization should
continue to oppose affirmation of this or any other genocide.
One might wonder why a group whose stated purpose is "to secure
justice and fair treatment to all" would advocate for Turkey, a major
human rights violator. Foxman has been remarkably candid about ADL's
motives. In a spring 2007 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he
defended ADL's lobbying by stating, "Our focus is Israel. If helping
Turkey helps Israel, then that's what we're in the business of doing."
He added, "Was it genocide? It was wartime. Things get messy."
Many in the Jewish community were appalled by this cynical policy and
publicly challenged ADL, understanding that genocide denial is the
highest form of hate speech and the final stage of genocide. In 2008,
the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian Genocide was established to
foster communication between the Jewish and Armenian communities and to
advocate for official affirmation of the genocide by the United States
government. Lectures on the Armenian Genocide have been incorporated
into services in Boston-area temples, and the coalition's online
petition calling on Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide has
gathered over 21,000 signatures to date.
Suffolk Law School attempted to justify its honoring Foxman by arguing
that his "body of work is well deserving of recognition." Because
he has a decades-long history of denying the Armenian Genocide
and opposing acknowledgement of this crime against humanity, it
should matter little what else he has done. As French philosopher
Bernard-Henri Levy declared, "Deniers are not merely expressing an
opinion; they are perpetrating a crime." Would Suffolk bestow such
accolades upon a Holocaust denier?
Each time ADL has addressed the Armenian Genocide, it has been in
response to pressure, both external and internal. Those who for the
past seven years have demanded that ADL stand on the right side of
history can view with satisfaction Foxman's public utterance of the
phrase "Armenian Genocide." Words matter.
Much more, however, needs to be done. The Armenian community and its
supporters await an official written statement from the Anti-Defamation
League that decisively affirms the Armenian Genocide and that endorses
formal US recognition in time for the genocide's 100th anniversary
in April 2015.
Only then should ADL be readmitted to our communities or regarded
as a model for tolerance. ADL has made a beginning by publicly
acknowledging that the Turkish massacres of the Armenian people
constituted genocide; perhaps the time has finally arrived for a bold
new policy. Let all those who wish to uphold universal human rights
help move this process forward.
Laura Boghosian is a member of the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian
Genocide.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/06/02/podium-armenia/10nOuK8s3KzgxiOgl6QRhO/story.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress