Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts
47 Nichols Avenue
Watertown, MA 02472
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
August 20, 2007
Contact: Sevag Arzoumanian
Tel: 617-233-3174
FOXMAN FORCES SHAKEUP IN NEW ENGLAND ADL
— ADL National Leader Fires Regional Director Andrew H. Tarsy; Two
Regional Board Members Resign in Protest
— ANC Calls for ADL National Leadership to End Genocide Denial;
Support Armenian Genocide Legislation (H.Res.106 / S.Res.106)
WATERTOWN, MA Turmoil in the New England Regional Anti-Defamation
League (ADL) continued this weekend with two Board Members
resigning following the firing of Regional Director Andrew H.
Tarsy, for public calls on ADL National Director Abe Foxman to
reverse policy and properly characterize the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts
(ANC-EM).
"We are disappointed and outraged to hear that Mr. Tarsy was
removed from his position simply for speaking openly and honestly
about the Armenian Genocide," stated ANCEM chairperson Sharistan
Melkonian. "Mr. Foxman and the ADL National Leadership are clearly
out of step with their own membership, who have rightly concluded
that genocide denial is morally indefensible and will only serve to
diminish the credibility of this once-respected civil rights
organization."
Reports of Tarsy’s firing and the resignations by Stewart L. Cohen
and Boston City Councilman Mike Ross came just days after the New
England ADL Board voted to call on the ADL National leadership to
reverse their position, properly characterize the Armenian Genocide
as ‘genocide,’ and support Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.106
/ S.Res.106). According to an August 17th Boston Globe article,
Tarsy told reporter Keith O’Brien, "I strongly disagree with ADL’s
national position. It’s my strong hope that we’ll be able to move
forward in a relationship with the Armenian community and the
community in general." Just 48 hours prior, Tarsy had defended the
ADL National’s genocide denial position at the Watertown Town
Council. Tarsy, clearly uncomfortable in his remarks before the
capacity crowd at the Council meeting, was challenged when he
evaded the word ‘genocide’ in describing the murder of over 1.5
million Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government from 1915-1923.
A myriad of Watertown residents urged the Town Council to take
action, including ANC-EM spokesperson Grace Kehetian Kulegian,
who stated "on behalf of Watertown’s Armenian community – and
our century-long history of service and sacrifice for our town – we
call upon the Town Council to dissociate itself from the ADL until
such time that: The Anti-Defamation League, through its National
Director, Mr. Foxman, openly and unequivocally acknowledges
the Armenian Genocide and supports congressional affirmation
of this crime against humanity.
The Watertown Town Council voted unanimously that evening to cut
ties with the ADL, by disassociating with their "No Place for Hate"
program.
Following the New England ADL’s public call for ADL National to
reverse their position, the National ADL posted an "Open Letter to
the New England Community," refraining from characterizing the
events of 1915-1923 as ‘genocide.’ The letter also claimed that the
ADL "takes no position" on Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.106
/ S.Res.106) while stating "We believe that legislative efforts
outside of Turkey are counterproductive to the goal of having
Turkey itself come to grips with its past."
"Mr. Foxman is sadly reading from a page in the Turkish
government’s genocide denial playbook," stated Melkonian. "Instead
of helping Turkey confront this dark page in human history, the ADL
is enabling its continued genocide denial a decision which comes
at the expense of its own reputation." The ADL statement comes as
additional towns in Massachusetts prepare to follow Watertown’s
lead in ending their association with the ADL and Armenian Genocide
denial.
Foxman’s claims of neutrality regarding Armenian Genocide
legislation contradict earlier published statements in the Boston
Globe and Los Angeles Times, where Foxman noted "The Turks and
Armenians need to revisit their past. The Jewish community
shouldn’t be the arbiter of that history. And I don’t think the
U.S. Congress should be the arbiter either." According to press
reports, Foxman joined the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith
and JINSA in forwarding a letter from Turkey’s Jewish Community
citing concerns about Armenian Genocide legislation to Members of
Congress. According to an April 27th Jewish Telegraphic Agency
article by Ron Kampeas, the ADL and JINSA "added their own
statements opposing the bill."
The Watertown – ADL controversy erupted in recent weeks, with
Boston area civil rights advocates, and local Armenian and Jewish
American community members expressing disappointment and outrage at
recent statements by ADL National Director Abe Foxman denying the
Armenian Genocide. Editorials and community letters in the local
Watertown Tab and Boston Globe cast a shadow on the credibility of
the anti-racism program, "No Place for Hate", due to its
affiliation with the ADL.
Reporter Keith O’Brien first reported Tarsy’s firing in a front-
page Boston Globe article on August 18th. The news was accompanied
by a strongly worded Globe editorial, titled "No Synonyms for
Genocide," arguing that the national ADL should not "pick and
choose among genocides," and stating "if the national ADL doesn’t
acknowledge the [Armenian] genocide, it is complicit in a cover-
up." An op/ed coauthored by Massachusetts State Representative
Rachel Kaprielian and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz,
published in the Boston Globe on the same day, noted "For any
organization or official to believe that there are differing sides
to the Armenian Genocide is as much an outrage as it would be for
Germany to say that the work of Jewish scholars, witnesses, and
victim testimonies represented merely the "Jewish side" of the
Holocaust." Kaprielian and Dershowitz went on to praise the New
England Regional ADL for taking a principled stand, noting that the
"regional chapter was courageous and correct in its decision to
affirm its position that the [Armenian] genocide was fact."
For a full listing of the press coverage this issue has received,
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