LOCAL LEADER: CITY COULD HAVE IMPACT ON GENOCIDE CONTROVERSY
By Dan Atkinson , Staff Writer
The Daily News of Newburyport, MA
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Aug 27 2007
NEWBURYPORT – The Commission for Diversity and Tolerance will take a
closer look this week at the city’s involvement in No Place For Hate,
a tolerance-promoting program that has come under fire because its
sponsor, the Anti-Defamation League, has refused to acknowledge the
Armenian genocide.
And while the program is useful, according to a local Armenian leader,
the commission should consider withdrawing.
"They should rattle their swords," said the Rev. Aram Marashlian,
a member of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of the
Merrimack Valley. "They should keep making noise."
Commission member Beth Horne said No Place For Hate is a "fabulous"
program, but she said anyone with concerns about it should come to
the meeting.
"It’s certainly an item on our agenda," Horne said.
The commission, formed by city ordinance in 2005, reports to the
City Council and the mayor. Its goals include raising awareness of
diversity, providing anti-bias education and promoting a welcoming
community.
The controversy began several weeks ago in Watertown, which is home to
more than 8,000 Armenians, when a letter to the local paper criticized
the ADL for not acknowledging the 1915 genocide, in which Ottoman
Turks killed more than 1.5 million Armenians. The city council voted
to stop participating in the program; Arlington followed suit.
When the director of the local ADL chapter agreed that the organization
should recognize the genocide, he was fired.
Last week, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said the slaughter
of Armenians was "tantamount to genocide," but would not support a
Congressional resolution to label it as such and never expressly stated
it was genocide. And the Turkish ambassador to Israel cut short his
vacation, returning to Israel to try to "correct" the ADL’s statement,
according to reports.
Pearl Teague, co-chairwoman of the Armenian National Committee’s
Merrimack Valley chapter, said both Armenian and Jewish leaders in
the area are upset that the ADL is not supporting the resolution. She
said the national committee would continue to push for the ADL and
Congress to fully recognize the genocide.
"This is not acceptable for a mid-stance, to say ‘Yes, it’s a fact but
no, we won’t further recognize it,’" Teague said. "It’s appeasement
for political reasons, when these organizations should be making a
stand on the moral high ground."
Teague said many Armenians came to the Merrimack Valley when fleeing
the genocide and stayed to work in the mills and factories. She
estimated that at least 5,000 Armenians still live in the region.
Marashlian said Armenians and Jews have a connection because they
have faced similar persecutions, but he could understand that the ADL
has political reasons to deny the genocide. Turkey is one of the few
Mideast countries to recognize Israel, and Marashlian said the ADL
probably does not want to strain relations between the countries,
or possibly make life difficult for thousands of Turkish Jews.
"Foxman is one of those Jews for Jews only – I can’t fault him for
that," Marashlian said.
But Marashlian still thinks cities and towns should pressure the ADL
into fully acknowledging the genocide. If cities stop participating in
No Place for Hate, the ADL would lose many potential donors, he said.
"Money is what talks," Marashlian said. "If you can hurt their
pocketbook, they might consider it."
The Commission for Diversity and Tolerance meets tomorrow at 3:30
p.m. in the police station.