Abe Foxman: the Armenian massacre was ‘tantamount to genocide’
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By Israel Insider staff
August 22, 2007
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a statement on Tuesday
saying that the Turkish massacre of Armenians between 1915 and 1918 was
"tantamount to genocide," not just an atrocity, the *Jerusalem
Post*< atellite?cid=1187502438160&pagename=JPost%2FJP Article%2FShowFull>reported.
The organization reformed its original position at the risk of
damaging Turkish-Israeli relations, which Turkish sources said was a
possibility.
Oddly enough, the ADL fired its New England regional director just days
before for calling the organization’s original stance "morally indefensible"
for refusing to use the word genocide.
Foxman responded to the director’s condemnation saying he had consulted with
"my friend and mentor" Elie Wiesel and other respected historians, "who
acknowledge this consensus. I hope that Turkey will understand that it is
Turkey’s friends who urge that nation to confront its past and work to
reconcile with Armenians over this dark chapter in history."
The statement read: "We have never negated, but have always described the
painful events of 1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the
Armenians as massacres and atrocities. On reflection, we have come to share
the view of Henry Morgenthau, Sr. [the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
during World War I], that the consequences of those actions were indeed
tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would
have called it genocide."
The ADL’s policy until now was to refrain from offending Turkey in order to
”protect the interests of the Jewish community in Turkey, work for Israel’s
safety and security, and combat extremism,” as Abe Foxman, the ADL’s
director, and Glen Lewy, who is national chairman of the ADL, stated.
There is speculation that the ADL caved under pressure from the American
Jewish community to change its official view.
In an effort to reassure Turkey, Foxman stressed that the ADL does not
advocate a congressional resolution on the matter. Foxman also insisted that
the Jewish lobby would not shift its favor from Turkey to Armenia.
Turkish authorities have said frankly that one of the reasons for Turkey’s
close ties with Israel is the Jewish lobby in Washington and the help
various Jewish organizations have provided Ankara in defeating potentially
detrimental legislation over the years.
Source: 909.htm