Genocide case still stuck in court
By Jillian Fennimore/ Staff Writer

Community News Company
Friday, September 22, 2006

Oral arguments were heard for the first time on the motion to dismiss
the case of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and its
lawsuit against the Massachusetts’s Department of Education’s
curriculum guide concerning the teaching of the Armenian genocide.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf presided over the
courtroom on Monday, and has yet to make a ruling regarding
procedural issues and merits within the case.

As a result of last year’s lawsuit, involving a Lincoln-Sudbury
High School history teacher and high school senior, along with
another teacher and ATAA, the Armenian Assembly of America filed an
amicus curiae – friend of the court – brief in support of defending
the rights to teach the genocide history in the schools.

According to a press release, the ATAA lawsuit asserts that a
decision to remove materials of genocide denial in the school
curriculum amounts to "censoring" and therefore would be a violation
of the First Amendment.

The Lincoln-Sudbury High School teacher, Bill Schecter, and
senior Ted Griswold argue that the Turkish perspective in the
teaching of 1915 slayings of approximately 1.5 million Armenians
during their deportation from Turkey were deleted from curriculum
guidelines.

Their perspective is that the Armenian Genocide never occurred,
even though genocidal historians fully acknowledge that it did occur.

Harvey Silvergate, an attorney representing the ATAA, said he is
hopeful of the outcome because the judge was very precise in hearing
all the facts.

"It’s unusual to have a judge hear a motion like this for so
long," he said about the 2 1/2-hour session. "He has a very serious
consideration for this."

Silvergate estimates that a ruling will be made within weeks.

But voices from the other side say the lawsuit is an act of
rewriting history and is just wrong.

"The state’s curriculum ensures that the lessons of the
Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, Irish Famine and other crimes against
humanity are not forgotten and thus taught in classrooms," said Scott
Ferson, spokesman for the Armenian Assembly of America.

Arnold Rosenfeld, an attorney representing the Armenian Assembly
of America, said there are three basic procedural issues the judge
could rule on, regarding whether or not the lawsuit meets the statute
of limitations, is qualified as discrimination, or has standing,
"They really did not show that they had been harmed," Rosenfeld
said about the plaintiff’s case.

Anthony Barsamian, Armenian Assembly Board of Directors chairman,
labeled the lawsuit as "disingenuous" and without clout, only moving
forward to create controversy.

"We will just keep muddying this thing up," he said. "I just
think that is unfortunate."

He said he has been pleased by the response of community members
and the interest in joining the coalition to seek a positive outcome.

Depending on the judge’s ruling, the case could be dismissed,
appealed or continued into a discovery hearing.

Jillian Fennimore can be reached at jfennimo@cnc.com.