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

[freakyfreaky]

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."

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg247503.html

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

[freakyfreaky]

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/

[freakyfreaky]

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

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/24/crowd_gathers_to_turn_scrawlings_of_hate_into_messages_of_hope/

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

http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2008/11/13/news/local_news/pr_republican.20081113.a.pg3.pr13youth_s1.2085150_loc.txt

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

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/04/adl_pays_tribute_to_mexican_schindler_for_helping_save_40000/

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

http://www.j-ewishjournal.com/world/article/when_theres_life_theres_hate_qampa_with_adls_abe_foxman_20081106/

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

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/04/adl_pays_tribute_to_mexican_schindler_for_helping_save_40000/

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

http://www.j-ewishjournal.com/world/article/when_theres_life_theres_hate_qampa_with_adls_abe_foxman_20081106/

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.

[freakyfreaky]

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

[freakyfreaky]

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'.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Coloradans-Recognized-Making-State-a/story.aspx?guid=%7B33C745B5-F888-4ACB-92F6-EC95AA23C0B7%7D

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

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1229490341213460.xml&coll=3

[freakyfreaky]

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

NPFH seeps into Ventura County. http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...stop-bullying/

[freakyfreaky]

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/

[Haykakan]

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

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

http://asbarez.com/121193/the-anti-defamation-league%E2%80%99s-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.

[Haykakan]

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

AFTER YEARS OF DENIAL, FOXMAN RECOGNIZES GENOCIDE

http://asbarez.com/123385/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.

[Haykakan]

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.

http://www.keghart.com/Editorial-ADL-Survey