US JEWISH GROUP FIRES OFFICIAL OVER ‘GENOCIDE’ OF ARMENIANS STANCE
European Jewish Press
Aug 20 2007
Belgium
NEW YORK (EJP)—A US Jewish group has fired a regional director after
he publicly supported Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire and demanded that the organization endorse the charges,
the US media reported.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is dedicated to fighting
anti-Semitism in the world, fired Andrew Tarsy last Friday, the Boston
Globe reported.
The firing has prompted a backlash among local Jewish leaders against
the Anti Defamation League’s leadership and its national director.
Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide.
Glen Lewy, ADL’s national chairman, said the organization has
acknowledged "the massacres of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire and called on Turkey to do more to confront its past and
reconcile with Armenia."
But he added that the organization also must "protect the interests
of the Jewish community in Turkey and combat extremism."
The ADL also stressed its desire to protect the interests of Israel,
which considers Turkey a strategic ally in a hostile region.
Tarsy told the press that the organization’s stance is "morally
indefensible."
He said he had been in conflict with the ADL leadership for several
weeks, although he added: "I regret at this point any characterization
of the genocide that I made publicly other than to call it a genocide."
Steve Grossman, a businessman and a former ADL regional board member,
said he predicted the firing of Tarsy "will precipitate wholesale
resignations from the regional board, a meaningful reduction in the
ADL’s regional fund-raising and will further exacerbate the ADL’s
relationship with the non-Jewish community coming out of this crisis
around the Armenian genocide."
Photo: Andrew Tarsy told the press that the organization’s stance is
"morally indefensible."
Photo: Glen Lewy, ADL’s national chairman: "The organization also
must protect the interests of the Jewish community in Turkey and
combat extremism."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
