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Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

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  • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

    ANC-ER pipes up and requests Watertown Town Council to clarify recent remarks about ADL and that of Clyde Younger, the Council's President, that "he now feels comfortable with assurances from the Anti-Defamation League's national leader, Abraham H. Foxman, that the organization recognizes the Armenian genocide."



    ANC-EM Requests Watertown Council Pres to Clarify Remarks Re ADL
    From: Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts <[email protected]>
    Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:55:15 -0700 (PDT)

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts
    47 Nichols Avenue
    Watertown MA 02472
    617-926-1918
    [email protected]

    Press Release
    October 20, 2008

    Contact: 617-347-2833

    ANC Responds to Watertown Town Councilor's Remarks in Boston Globe After
    Council President says he is comfortable with ADL assurances

    Watertown, MA -The Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts has
    asked Watertown Town Council President Clyde Younger to clarify his
    remarks in the Boston Globe suggesting that he is `comfortable with
    assurances from the Anti-Defamation League's national leader, Abraham
    H. Foxman, that the organization recognizes the Armenian genocide."

    In a Sunday, October 19, 2008 article, entitled, `ADL fight appears
    over,' the Boston Globe reported that Younger has had a `change of
    heart' after receiving an October 3 letter from national ADL director
    Abraham Foxman.

    The ANC letter to Mr. Younger is below.

    ####

    Dear Chairman Younger:

    We were shocked to discover in today's Boston Globe that you now feel
    "comfortable with assurances from the Anti-Defamation League's
    national leader, Abraham H. Foxman, that the organization recognizes
    the Armenian genocide." And imagine our surprise when we read that
    the `ADL fight appears over!' It was particularly disappointing that
    this was the way by which the Armenian community first learned of the
    letter you received from Mr. Foxman addressing an alleged change in
    the ADL's policy regarding the Armenian
    Genocide. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/re...atement_o.html

    Would you please share this letter with us, as we have not found any
    evidence of a new ADL position anywhere in the public arena?

    As you agreed at the September 23, 2008 Watertown Town Council
    meeting, the ADL's August 2008 statement, as well as its August 2007
    statement, do not qualify as an unambiguous acknowledgement of the
    Armenian Genocide.

    A careful reading of the ADL's insincere August 22, 2008 letter, which
    was buried deeply on its web site and has since been removed, reveals
    that the ADL states only that is has `referred' to genocide, it is
    by no means an unequivocal acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide.
    Rather, it reads, `ADL has never denied the tragic and painful events
    perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians, and we have
    referred to those massacres and atrocities as genocide.' Moreover,
    this letter provocatively accuses those who are working to end
    genocide denial of `demonization.'

    This letter apparently refers to the only other public - and now
    infamous - ADL statement of August 21, 2007, which read, `the
    consequences' of the Turkish massacres and atrocities were `tantamount
    to genocide.' That statement was clearly not an acknowledgment of the
    Armenian Genocide.

    As you know, the ADL carefully crafted its August 2007 statement to
    contravene the international legal definition of genocide. The
    phrasing circumvents the `intent' required by the 1948 United Nations
    Genocide Convention by suggesting that Armenians died simply as a
    `consequence' of World War I conditions and not from a planned program
    of extermination - which just happens to be Turkey's position.

    Judging the August 21, 2007 statement inadequate, Massachusetts cities
    and towns, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, human rights
    commissions, the xxxish community, and the Armenian community called
    on the ADL to issue an unambiguous affirmation of the Armenian
    Genocide at its national meeting in early November 2007. The ADL
    refused to do so, releasing instead a dismissive one-sentence
    statement reaffirming the ADL's national policy that read, `The
    National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today, at its
    annual meeting, decided to take no further action on the issue of the
    Armenian genocide.'

    As you also know, The Massachusetts Municipal Association and 12 of
    the 13 Massachusetts communities that dissociated from the ADL's No
    Place for Hate program did so after the ADL's August 2008 statement,
    judging it unacceptable.

    The ADL not only has refused to explicitly acknowledge the Armenian
    Genocide, but has for several years actively lobbied on behalf of the
    Turkish government to deny the Armenian Genocide and to prevent
    passage of a Congressional resolution formally recognizing the
    Armenian Genocide. It continues to publicly voice opposition to a
    Congressional resolution.

    Although nation-states have national security and realpolitik
    considerations when formulating policy, a human rights organization
    simply cannot put politics above universal rights. Yet this is
    exactly what the ADL does whenever a human rights issue conflicts with
    the perceived interests of the state of Israel.

    Mr. Foxman has admitted as much. In an interview with the New Jersey
    xxxish Standard, published October 26, 2007, he explained his
    reasoning regarding the Armenian Genocide:

    `It was also very clear to me that after the United States the most
    important ally Israel has is Turkey. It's a country that not only has
    promised to provide Israel with water until moshiach comes, but it's a
    country that permits Israel's pilots to do maneuvers over its land.
    And, so, to me, it was very clear that there are two moral issues, but
    one trumps the other. And it was clear to me that I cannot save one
    Armenian human being, not one. But if I do what the Armenians want me
    to do, I will put in jeopardy the lives of Turkish xxxs and Israeli
    xxxs.'

    The ADL continues to engage in other forms of genocide denial as well.
    It has, for instance, repeatedly endorsed Turkey's proposal for a
    joint commission of Turkish and Armenian scholars `to investigate what
    happened in the past.'

    In June 2008, the internationally respected anti-hate group Southern
    Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued an extensive intelligence report
    documenting Turkey's campaign of genocide denial
    (http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intel...le.jsp?aid=935),
    and condemned such calls for a `historian's commission.' The SPLC
    pointed out that `a lie isn't the other side of any story. It's just a
    lie.' The report quoted Torben Jorgensen of the Danish Center for
    Holocaust and Genocide Studies as saying, `When it comes to the
    historical reality of the Armenian genocide, there is no `Armenian' or
    `Turkish' side of the question, any more than there is a `xxxish' or
    `German' side of the historical reality of the Holocaust. There is a
    scientific side and an unscientific side - acknowledgement or denial.'

    Human rights are universal and they must be respected and protected
    for all people. Discrimination against any person or group on the
    basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or
    disability must never be tolerated. And historical truths must be
    upheld.

    We would welcome a sincere, unambiguous acknowledgment of the Armenian
    Genocide by the Anti-Defamation League. Rather, what we have observed
    is an organization engaged in a double game: issuing disingenuous
    statements that do not actually recognize the Armenian Genocide but
    are crafted in such a way as to mislead the public, while continuing
    to engage in genocide denial by promoting Turkey's agenda with regard
    to a historical commission and Congressional recognition of the
    Armenian Genocide.

    We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with you at your
    earliest convenience.

    Sincerely,
    Sharistan Melkonian
    Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts
    47 Nichols Avenue
    Watertown MA 02472
    Between childhood, boyhood,
    adolescence
    & manhood (maturity) there
    should be sharp lines drawn w/
    Tests, deaths, feats, rites
    stories, songs & judgements

    - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

    Comment


    • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

      Boston Globe reports that Armenian Americans in Watertown are not satisfied with statements of Town Council's president that all is well re: ADL's position on the Armenian Genocide and that they are seeking a genuine, clear admission of the Armenian Genocide. http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...t_flares_anew/
      Between childhood, boyhood,
      adolescence
      & manhood (maturity) there
      should be sharp lines drawn w/
      Tests, deaths, feats, rites
      stories, songs & judgements

      - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

      Comment


      • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

        Worcester Telegram reports that Worcester is still a "No Place For Hate" community. http://www.telegram.com/article/2008...47/0/FRONTPAGE ("Worcester was recognized as a 'No Place for Hate' community in 2006. The designation is through an Anti-Defamation League program, the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield.")

        Activist blasts Barnstably County's Human Rights Commission for violating its own charter and violating civil rights statutes in refusing to sever ties with ADL's No Place for Hate program as it reflects that the commission is biased in favor of the ADL over Armenians while the ADL actively lobbies against U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...NION/812020330

        Cape Cod Times
        Hyannis, Massachusetts

        December 2, 2008

        Human rights panel flouts mandate

        By SHAHKEH Y. SETIAN

        The Barnstable County Human Rights Commission, which has done some
        good work, claims that it takes human rights "very seriously"
        ("Commission supports 'No Place for Hate,'" My View, Oct. 20). The
        facts say otherwise.

        The commission still defends the national Anti-Defamation League and
        its so-called No Place for Hate anti-bias program even though the ADL
        denies the Armenian genocide and shamelessly collaborates with a major
        human rights violator, Turkey, in lobbying against recognition of that
        genocide.

        The national ADL's statement of Aug. 21, 2007, was the very opposite
        of the genocide acknowledgment that human rights advocates had long
        requested.

        It was deceptively worded so that the premeditated murder of 1.5
        million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 would not fit the official
        definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Genocide
        Treaty of 1948. Echoing Turkey's own denials, the ADL implied that the
        Armenian deaths were not intentional but rather merely a "consequence"
        of wartime conditions.

        The national ADL has yet to retract, apologize for or clarify that
        statement, though the ADL and Barnstable County Human Rights
        Commission would have you believe otherwise.

        Since that time, the city governments of Arlington, Bedford, Belmont,
        Lexington, Medford, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton,
        Peabody, Somerville, Westwood and Watertown have shut down their No
        Place for Hate programs in response to the ADL's anti-human rights
        actions against Armenians.

        Those cities and their human rights commissions realized that No Place
        for Hate, which the ADL created, trademarked, sponsored, funded and
        certified, had lost its credibility.

        While Barnstable County's commission has been burying its head in the
        sand, the ADL's assault on Armenians has become an international
        scandal, widely condemned by both xxxish and non-xxxish human rights
        advocates (please visit www.NoPlaceForDenial.com).

        Had No Place for Hate's sponsor denied the xxxish genocide and huddled
        with foreign lobbyists to persuade the U.S. to not recognize that
        genocide, the Barnstable County commission would long ago have
        rejected the program and its sponsor. The commission refuses to show
        similar respect for Armenians and their genocide.

        Frankly, this demonstrates that its seven members, sadly including
        those of xxxish descent who share the Armenian experience of genocide
        and denial, are giving preferential treatment to the ADL while
        discriminating against Armenians. The commission is violating its own
        charter, and the county is violating civil rights statutes.

        Every No Place for Hate chapter must be recertified annually by the
        ADL (local ADLs, by the way, answer to their national office in New
        York City). Meanwhile, the Barnstable County commission ignores the
        obvious: No civil or human rights program should be subject to review
        by a political group that lobbies against genocide recognition.

        Every No Place for Hate program, such as those in Barnstable,
        Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee and Provincetown, must also have been
        formally approved by the municipality's public officials. It's
        inappropriate for those officials to have implicitly endorsed ADL
        policy. Moreover, No Place for Hate often invites ADL instructors
        into public schools. No instructor representing a political group
        that works to suppress genocide recognition should be lecturing public
        school children.

        The Massachusetts Municipal Association represents every municipality
        and its elected officials. It very publicly ended its umbrella
        sponsorship of No Place for Hate earlier this year because of the
        national ADL's unconscionable efforts against Armenians. The
        association recommended that No Place for Hate be replaced by the
        well-regarded Inclusive Communities program of the National League of
        Cities.

        Officials in Cape Cod communities with No Place for Hate programs need
        to seriously reflect on the civil and human rights principles that led
        the Massachusetts Municipal Association to make those decisions and
        that led 13 city governments and their human rights commissions to
        sever ties with the ADL program. The Barnstable County Human Rights
        Commission should do the same.

        If the commission doesn't sever ties with the ADL and rededicate
        itself to its mandate of truth, honor and non-discrimination, the
        commission must remove the "human rights" from its name.
        ***
        Shahkeh Y. Setian of Mashpee has taught the issue of genocide at Cape
        Cod Community College, and has also taught development in minority
        communities at Springfield College. She is currently writing a book
        about Muslims who saved Armenians during the Armenian genocide.


        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        ADL's No Place for Hate co-sponsoring event honoring the Declaration of Human Rights in Quincy today. http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1...hts-on-Tuesday

        No Place for Hate scheduled meeting in Duxbury, MA in late November. http://www.wickedlocal.com/duxbury/n...edules-meeting

        ADL's New England regional director Shulman unveiled at rally in Newton over swastikas scribble on local synagogue. http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/ne...nity-in-Newton


        ADL's No Place for Hate entrenched in 160 schools and communities in Pennsylvania and Delaware.


        ADL awards JWW's Rabbi Shulweis with its Daniel Pearl Award. http://www.j-ewishjournal.com/circui...sova_20081128/

        ADL in Los Angeles in November for luncheon to present daughter of "Mexican Schindler" with its Courage to Care Award posthumously. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,6484681.story


        The Fatman speaketh, claims unofficial title as the U.S. Hate Czar.


        ADL to honor two attorneys at its annual dinner on December 10th, 2008 in Beverly Hills at the Hilton starting at 6:30 p.m. http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/adl112508.htmADL awards JWW's Shulweis with its Daniel Pearl Award. http://www.j-ewishjournal.com/circui...sova_20081128/

        ADL in Los Angeles in November for luncheon to present daughter of "Mexican Schindler" with its Courage to Care Award posthumously. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,6484681.story


        The Fatman speaketh, claims unofficial title as the U.S. Hate Czar.


        ADL to honor two attorneys at its annual dinner on December 10th, 2008 in Beverly Hills at the Hilton starting at 6:30 p.m. http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/adl112508.htm
        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        All I know is that tomorrow night would be a great night for a flash mob at the Beverly Hills Hilton inside the banquet hall.

        Are you thinking what I'm thinking.. I can hear the chants at the rally now: "Hey hey, ho ho, that Fatf*ck Foxman's got to go!"

        However, I doubt that ANC-WR and ANC-ER are coordinated enough on this issue to mobilize accordingly. And, AAA is too busy lunching at some donor's house. Any thoughts or opinions?


        If President Jimmy Carter was at the Beverly Hilton tomorrow night, you betcha there would be some wacked out fanatical heebs rallying against him as an anti-semite, yada, yada, yada.
        Last edited by freakyfreaky; 12-09-2008, 01:21 PM.
        Between childhood, boyhood,
        adolescence
        & manhood (maturity) there
        should be sharp lines drawn w/
        Tests, deaths, feats, rites
        stories, songs & judgements

        - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

        Comment


        • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

          Fatboy Foxman listed as one of the top 50 loathsome New Yorkers. http://www.nypress.com/article-9127-...w-yorkers.html

          ADL's No Place For Hate is heavily entrenched in schools and communities in Houston, TX and surrounding areas. http://www.adl.org/regional/houston/...ate/facts.html
          http://www.kuhf.org/site/News2?page=...s_iv_ctrl=1521 (200 schools)

          Houston middle school joins NPFH. http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/20...news/cook1.txt

          Another Texas high school joins NPFH. http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/co...svc=7&cxcat=10
          Between childhood, boyhood,
          adolescence
          & manhood (maturity) there
          should be sharp lines drawn w/
          Tests, deaths, feats, rites
          stories, songs & judgements

          - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

          Comment


          • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

            Boyajian posits that the ADL hypocrisy is more harmful then swastikas scribbled on synagogue walls. http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/n...-ADL-hypocrisy

            ADL director for Long Beach and Orange County, CA participates in panel discussing Internet bullying. http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_11173353?source=rss

            ADL represents that Youtube has partnered with it to fight hate. http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/2008121...t_against_hate

            Gay and Lesbian Fund of Colorado, citing its No Place For Hate campaign, honors ADL as 'outstanding nonprofit organization'.


            Bethlehem School District (PA) partners with No Place for Hate to assess race relations and address anti-racism. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-...0,518489.story
            Between childhood, boyhood,
            adolescence
            & manhood (maturity) there
            should be sharp lines drawn w/
            Tests, deaths, feats, rites
            stories, songs & judgements

            - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

            Comment


            • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

              NPFH seeps into Ventura County. http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...stop-bullying/
              Between childhood, boyhood,
              adolescence
              & manhood (maturity) there
              should be sharp lines drawn w/
              Tests, deaths, feats, rites
              stories, songs & judgements

              - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

              Comment


              • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

                MA governor's judicial nominee blocked from confirmation by ADL's stance regarding the Armenian Genocide. http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/1...ity-in-denial/
                Between childhood, boyhood,
                adolescence
                & manhood (maturity) there
                should be sharp lines drawn w/
                Tests, deaths, feats, rites
                stories, songs & judgements

                - Morrison, Jim. Wilderness, vol. 1, p. 22

                Comment


                • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

                  THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE'S DECEIT HELPS SINK A JUDGESHIP


                  Thursday, March 27th, 2014

                  The Supreme Court of Massachusetts

                  BY DAVID BOYAJIAN

                  After two fair and lengthy hearings, the eight elected members of
                  the Massachusetts Governor's Council, in a 4-4 tie vote on March 5,
                  refused to confirm attorney Joseph Berman to be a Superior Court
                  judge. It was a defeat for Governor Deval Patrick, who had nominated
                  Mr. Berman. But the Council took its responsibilities seriously and
                  rendered a well-considered judgment.

                  Councilors voiced many concerns about the nominee. Foremost was a
                  lack of truthfulness.

                  Berman, under oath, was asked three times whether he had requested
                  anyone to lobby the Council to advance his nomination. Each time,
                  he replied no.

                  Later, after some stumbling, he admitted to another Councilor that
                  he had phoned State Senator - now Congresswoman - Katherine Clark to
                  lobby Councilors.

                  Mr. Berman's meager criminal trial experience also troubled
                  Councilors. Another concern was Berman's scant knowledge of drug
                  abuse. And some worried that Berman, politically active and a national
                  leader in the heavily political Anti-Defamation League (ADL), would
                  promote those viewpoints as a judge.

                  Several Councilors questioned Berman's $100,000 in campaign
                  contributions, including to Governor Patrick, since being turned
                  down for a judgeship in 2004. They saw this as a possible attempt to
                  advance his judicial ambitions.

                  At his second hearing, Mr. Berman tried to deflect these criticisms.

                  He claimed, for example, to have misunderstood the Councilors'
                  questions about lobbying them. He also said he had been studying up
                  on drug addiction and criminal law.

                  Berman's being a 19-year member, and since 2006 a National
                  Commissioner, of the ADL also caught the attention of some Councilors
                  and media.

                  Recall the ADL scandal that broke out in mid-2007. It exposed that
                  organization's decades-old hypocrisy in denying the Armenian genocide
                  and colluding directly with Turkey, a major human rights violator,
                  to defeat U.S. Congressional resolutions on that genocide.

                  Shocked at the ADL's stance, the Massachusetts Municipal Association,
                  which represents every city and town, then dropped its sponsorship
                  of the ADL's so-called "No Place for Hate" anti-bias program. So did
                  Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington, Medford, Needham, Newburyport,
                  Newton, Northampton, Peabody, Somerville, Watertown, and Westwood. The
                  ADL scandal quickly became national and international news.

                  Naturally, the Governor's Council quizzed Berman about his ADL
                  leadership role. He claimed that after the scandal erupted in 2007 he
                  and some New England ADL members tried to convince the National ADL
                  to change its position on the Armenian genocide. But there is no hard
                  proof of that. And surely Berman knew long before 2007 of the ADL's
                  anti-Armenian stance. Yet he never spoke out publicly or resigned.

                  Even after 2007, Mr. Berman remained publicly silent about the ADL's
                  indefensible assault on Armenian Americans.

                  Alongside the Council's other concerns, Berman's ADL record raised
                  doubts about his worthiness to be a judge.

                  On August 21, 2007, the National ADL tried to squirm out of the scandal
                  with a press release that used deceptive and legalistic wording about
                  the Armenian genocide. It implied that the Armenian genocide was a mere
                  "consequence" of wartime events, which meant it wouldn't qualify as
                  genocide under the United Nation's official definition. The dishonest
                  ADL declaration was widely rejected.

                  Nearly 20 countries, such as Canada, France, and Argentina, the
                  European Union Parliament, the International Association of Genocide
                  Scholars, and the Polish xxxish lawyer who coined the word "genocide"
                  in the 1940s, Raphael Lemkin, have recognized the Armenian genocide
                  of 1915-23 committed by Turkey.

                  Many American human rights, ethnic, and church organizations have
                  supported the Armenian genocide resolution. These include the American
                  xxxish World Service and the xxxish War Veterans of the USA.

                  But not the ADL nor, reports the xxxish media, the American xxxish
                  Committee, AIPAC, and B'nai B'rith. They adhere to a long-standing
                  arrangement among themselves, Turkey, and Israel to deny the Armenian
                  genocide. See "History of Lobbying" at NoPlaceForDenial.com.

                  The ADL professes to defend the human rights of all ethnic groups,
                  not just xxxs. It insists that the American people acknowledge and
                  pass legislation on the Holocaust. Yet the ADL tries to prevent
                  recognition of a Christian genocide. The hypocrisy is astonishing.

                  Meanwhile, a significant precedent has been created: members of
                  the ADL, or similar organizations, who aspire to a higher post,
                  particularly in government, may now be asked what they knew of their
                  organization's genocide hypocrisy, when they knew it, and what they
                  did about it. Such are the bitter fruits of deceit.

                  David Boyajian is a freelance journalist.
                  Hayastan or Bust.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

                    AFTER YEARS OF DENIAL, FOXMAN RECOGNIZES GENOCIDE


                    Friday, May 23rd, 2014

                    The ADL's National Director Abraham Foxman

                    BY LAURA BOGHOSIAN

                    BOSTON--After years of equivocation, Anti-Defamation League National
                    Director Abraham Foxman has publicly acknowledged that the Turkish
                    massacres of the Armenian people constituted genocide.

                    This recognition comes after a seven-year campaign in which the
                    Armenian and xxxish communities, as well as human rights activists and
                    local officials, demanded that the ADL affirm this historical truth.

                    In remarks delivered at Suffolk University Law School's commencement
                    on May 17, Foxman stated, "Had there been people of courage to
                    act in 1915 when the Armenian genocide was taking place, had there
                    been international intervention when massacres in Cambodia, Bosnia,
                    and the genocide in Rwanda were happening, innocent lives in great
                    numbers could have been saved."

                    The announcement that Foxman would deliver the keynote address
                    and receive an honorary degree unleashed widespread criticism that
                    the university planned to honor a man who refused to issue a clear
                    statement on the Armenian Genocide and who actively lobbied against
                    its recognition.

                    Groups including the Suffolk chapter of the National Lawyers Guild,
                    Suffolk student organizations, the Armenian Bar Association, Suffolk
                    alumni, and others called on Suffolk to rescind its invitation. When
                    Suffolk refused, several faculty members carried small Armenian flags
                    in silent protest onto the stage where Foxman spoke.

                    Foxman's Suffolk remarks stand in contrast to the ADL's 2007 statement
                    that the "consequences" of the Turkish government's actions were
                    "tantamount to genocide." The Armenian community and its supporters
                    rejected that statement as its qualifiers circumvented the intent
                    required by the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

                    An ADL statement one year later that alleged it had "referred to
                    those massacres and atrocities as genocide" was likewise rebuffed as
                    it only "referred" to the unacceptable 2007 statement. Recent claims
                    by Foxman and the ADL that this 2008 release clearly and unequivocally
                    acknowledged the Armenian Genocide are false.

                    Since that time, human rights activists have continued to press
                    the ADL for an unequivocal acknowledgement, as well as an end to
                    its lobbying for the Turkish government to prevent passage of a
                    Congressional Resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide.

                    "Abe Foxman's reference to the Armenian massacres as genocide,
                    without any qualifiers, is a welcome change," stated Herman Purutyan,
                    Massachusetts chair of the Armenian Assembly of America. "Even though
                    Foxman continues to assert that he had previously acknowledged
                    the genocide, the basis for his claims are a chain of statements,
                    at the root of which is the 2007 statement full of qualifications,
                    intended to obfuscate the question. We expect that Foxman's statement
                    at Suffolk is not only his personal view, but that it also reflects
                    ADL's official position. ADL should confirm this by publishing an
                    unequivocal statement on its website, and joining in the efforts to
                    have the U. S. Congress recognize the Armenian Genocide by passing
                    the resolution currently before it."

                    Foxman's remarks reflected growing support by xxxish organizations
                    for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In March, ADL New England
                    Regional Director Robert Trestan was quoted stating that the ADL
                    "now fully recognizes the Armenian genocide without reservation."

                    The following month, the American xxxish Committee issued a release
                    that read, "We pause in mournful tribute to the memories of the
                    estimated 1.5 million victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of
                    Armenians, committed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire."

                    Describing the genocide as "an unspeakable crime against humanity,"
                    the AJC called upon the Turkish government to confront the truth. "

                    Finally, the Israeli Knesset discussed recognition of the Armenian
                    Genocide at a plenum on May 13. A motion by the left-wing Meretz
                    party to recognize the genocide before its 100th anniversary next
                    year received support from across the political spectrum, including
                    from the rightist coalition government.

                    "These reversals of position by major xxxish organizations are quite
                    significant for all those committed to recognition of the genocides of
                    the past century," stated Dikran Kaligian, chairman of the Armenian
                    National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts. "No longer will Turkey
                    be able to exploit the differences between the positions of these
                    organizations' leadership and their membership -- the vast majority
                    of whom want nothing to do with Turkey's genocide denial campaign."

                    Locally, the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian Genocide was
                    established in 2008 to foster communication between the Armenian and
                    xxxish communities and to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide
                    within the xxxish community. Its objectives include advocating for
                    official recognition of the genocide by the United States government.

                    Coalition members include representatives from the Armenian National
                    Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly of America.

                    The coalition facilitated contacts between Armenian activists and
                    members of the ADL and created an online petition calling on Congress
                    to recognize the Armenian Genocide that has gathered over 21,000
                    signatures to date.

                    Laura Boghosian is a member of the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian
                    Genocide.
                    Hayastan or Bust.

                    Comment


                    • Re: Watertown Armenians in arow over ADL's anti-genocide stance

                      ADL'S DUBIOUS SURVEY

                      Keghart.com
                      Editorial, June 1, 2014

                      Since its release earlier in May, the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL)
                      preposterously named "The Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism"
                      has drawn ridicule from a variety of sources for being unscientific
                      and thus invalid.

                      The jazzy-sounding "Global 100", which claimed that more than a quarter
                      of the world's population is anti-Semitic, has been found wanting in
                      proper methodology and on political grounds. Among the critics are
                      author Norman Finkelstein (a child of Holocaust survivors) and Amira
                      Haas, a leading columnist of the Israeli "Haaretz" newspaper. It has
                      been also criticized as skewed to portray and to enforce Zionist
                      ideology and agenda. Least of the survey's problem is that by
                      interviewing just over 50,000 adults (102 countries in 96 languages),
                      it claims there are more than one billion anti-Semites among us.

                      The survey says 0.2% (!) of Laotians are anti-Semitic while that
                      country's next-door neighbor (Vietnam) is 6% anti-Semitic. In the
                      land of "Liberte, Fraternite, Egalite" some 37% of Frenchmen are
                      anti-Semitic compared to a mere 21% in Portugal, a country with
                      a long history of anti-Semitism. Haiti and the Dominican Republic
                      share the tiny island of Hispaniola. While 26% of Haiti's population
                      is anti-Semitic, that number amazingly balloons to 41% in next-door
                      Dominican Republic, says the survey. For some mysterious reason,
                      fully 33% of the citizens of Botswana, in the middle of nowhere, are
                      anti-Semitic. Malaysia's percentage is 61%, compared to its neighbor
                      Singapore's 16%. Greece is far more (69%) anti-Semitic than Israel's
                      sworn enemy Iran (56%).

                      In the Caucasus, Armenia gets the gold medal in the anti-Semitism
                      (58%) competition, according to the inane survey. Azerbaijan's and
                      Georgia's numbers are 37% and 32%. Thus Armenia is almost twice as
                      anti-Semitic as Georgia, says Genocide-denying Abe Foxman's ADL.

                      Extrapolated into population figures, there are 1,300,000 (count them)
                      anti-Semites in Armenia. Who knew?

                      In an scathing attack on the ADL, Finkelstein wrote: "Most every
                      sane person has come to take anything the Anti-Defamation League
                      utters with a dozen boulders of salt" adding that the organization
                      is trying to cash in on the "ever-burgeoning anti-Semitism industry
                      and still hopes to immunize Israel by labeling legitimate criticism
                      of its policies as motivated by an irrational animus towards xxxs."

                      Peter Lyukimson's below article, which appeared in "Vestnik Kavkaza"
                      (May 27), attacks the Armenian Cultural Society of Israel for accusing
                      the Israeli government of inability to fight anti-Armenian sentiment
                      in the country. Mr. Lyukinson also takes the ADL survey at face value.

                      Despite residing in Israel, he doesn't seem to know that all Christian
                      minorities of the Holy Land--including Armenians--have a very difficult
                      time under Israeli Occupation.

                      In YNETnews.com (May 30), Palestinian Farid Jubran addressed the
                      difficulties Christians in Israel face. "A minority of a minority ,
                      [it is] exposed to waves of hatred," he said and cited an Israeli
                      member of the Knesset who tore the New Testament in the Knesset while
                      uttering words of incitement. The firing of gunshots inside churches,
                      the setting of fire in monasteries, the spray-painting of malicious
                      graffiti on monastery walls, the slashing of Christians' car tires
                      were other examples of anti-Christian acts in Israel, said Mr. Jubran.

                      He also mentioned religious xxxs spitting on monks, xxxs shattering
                      Christian gravestones, and death threats to bishops and to Christian
                      community leaders. "The government stands by idly and utters a few
                      words of condemnation...restricts the Churches' activities immensely
                      by imposing a strict and discriminating regime of visas for Christian
                      clerics. A priest who wishes to stay in Israel in order to serve in one
                      of the Christians communities will be forced to undergo a humiliating
                      via dolorosa on the part of the authorities until he receives the stay
                      permit, if at all," wrote Mr. Jubran and pointed out that the nature,
                      identity and autonomy of Christian schools are constantly undermined
                      by the Israeli authorities.

                      To neutralize the criticism of the Armenian Cultural Society's
                      accusations against the Israeli authorities, Mr. Lyukimson luxuriates
                      in spreading the anti-Armenian misinformation of the ADL survey. While
                      it's irrational to claim that there's no anti-Semitism in Armenia,
                      what little that exists is surely a result of Israel's execrable
                      policies towards the Armenian people, rather than a racial or religious
                      hostility.

                      For years Israel has been selling sophisticated weapons and electronic
                      gadgetry to Azerbaijan. The latter not only threatens Armenia on a
                      regular basis but it frequently sends soldiers across the border to
                      kill Armenians. Israeli soldiers also train the Azeri military.

                      Israel refuses to recognize the Genocide of Armenians, although it
                      should have been the first state to have recognized the vast tragedy
                      which preceded the Holocaust by 25 year. Israel, through its lobby in
                      the US, regularly throttles the passing of resolutions recognizing
                      the Genocide. Putting politics ahead of morality, a state which was
                      born out of the ashes of the Holocaust, does Turkey's dirty work in
                      Washington with offensive eagerness and alacrity.

                      Despite ADL's assertion that 37% of Azerbaijan is anti-Semitic, a few
                      days ago Arye Gut, board member of the Azerbaijan-Israel International
                      Association, said to the "Baku Post": "Azerbaijan is the most tolerant
                      country in the world and a true model of intercivilizational and
                      interreligious dialogue." And back in November, Gut said: "There has
                      never been anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan." Whew.

                      ADL mouthpiece Mr. Lyukimson should read about Russian xxxs who,
                      for decades, sought sanctuary from Soviet anti-Semitism in tolerant
                      Armenia. He should also read about the frequent intermarriage between
                      Soviet Armenians and Soviet xxxs. The two nations found each other
                      sympathetic. Meanwhile a discredited lobbying organization, with
                      the misnomer that it fights defamation, is trying to sow hostility
                      between the two nations.

                      The ADL and Mr. Lyukimson are barking at the wrong tree.

                      Hayastan or Bust.

                      Comment

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