ADL’s Boston director rehired after dispute

Michal Lando , THE JERUSALEM POST
Aug. 29, 2007

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reinstated Andrew Tarsy as its New
England regional director late Monday.

Tarsy was fired on August 17 after publicly voicing opposition to the
organization’s refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Abraham Foxman later reversed the organization’s position by
recognizing the World War I massacre of Armenians as "tantamount to
genocide."

"I am delighted to be back on the job as the New England regional
director," Tarsy said in a statement released Tuesday. "I am proud
that ADL has made a very significant change confronting a moral issue
and acknowledging the Armenian genocide for what it was. This was an
act of leadership by Mr. Foxman and ADL."

While, Tarsy’s rehiring has pleased members of both the Jewish and
Armenian communities, both seem to recognize that this issue has not
yet been laid to rest.

"I don’t think it’s the end of the story, but rather the end of a
chapter in an ongoing story," said Nancy Kaufman, executive director
of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. "It’s a
terrific ending, which speaks to the importance of speaking our mind
when we have a moral issue we feel strongly about."

Kaufman applauded the ADL’s recognition of the genocide last week,
reversing a long-standing refusal to do so, but at the same time
acknowledged the road ahead. In the coming weeks, Jewish organizations
will need to decide whether to support the congressional resolution
that calls on the administration to formally recognize the genocide.

"This is a very complicated issue and hopefully Turkey will be able to
look at this chapter in history," said Kaufman. "With international
pressure, maybe that will happen."

Though pleased with the ADL’s recognition of the genocide and with
Tarsy’s reinstatement, the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) pointed to what they see as an inconsistency in the national
ADL’s position. While recognizing the genocide, Abraham Foxman has
continued to stand by his opposition to the congressional bill,
calling it a "diversion."

"There is a glaring inconsistency in ADL’s position, which says, on
the one hand, it was genocide, but Congress shouldn’t recognize it,"
said Amram Hamparian, executive director of ANCA. "Once we recognize
the crime, at the very least we should act on it [this recognition].
Once you cross the line and say it’s genocide, certain things follow,
and that’s apparent to everybody."

The bill, which thus far has 224 cosponsors in Congress, is largely
expected to pass.

David Cohen, mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, which has one of the
largest Jewish populations in the state, said the city is supporting
the position of the New England chapter of the ADL, which last week
voted to reinstate Tarsy and to bring the congressional bill to the
table at the ADL’s annual meeting in November.

"I think the New England chapter of ADL and its executive director
have really stood tall on this issue and it is my firm hope that the
national ADL will adopt the position of the New England branch, which
is the most just position there is," said Cohen.

"I think the ultimate goal is to make sure that the ADL position on
the Armenian genocide is consistent in word, deed and spirit, as it is
on all other important causes for world justice which the organization
has embraced," said Cohen.

Some Armenian and Jewish activists have taken a more critical
approach, saying Foxman has already "backtracked" from his recognition
of the genocide, or that his recognition did not go far enough to
begin with.

The day after ADL called the massacre of Armenians "tantamount to
genocide," Foxman wrote a letter of apology to Turkish prime minister
expressing "regret for any pain we have caused you and the Turkish
people in these past few days."

This has angered Armenian activists who believe the apology should be
directed at them.

In his letter Foxman said, "We have utmost respect for you, your
government and the people of Turkey. It was certainly not our intent
to hurt or embarrass the Turkish people and their leaders."

Activist Sevag Arzoumanian, a member of the Watertown, Mass.-based
group that is running the activist Web site
and an activist with the local Armenian National Committee of Eastern
Massachussetts, said Foxman owes the Armenian community an apology for
his continued denial of the Armenian genocide.

"To this day, I don’t think a single Armenian leader or organization
has received a letter of apology from him, or even a phone call," said
Arzoumanian. "That half-hearted acknowledgment of the genocide by
Foxman was a step forward, but it didn’t go far enough. An
organization like ADL should stand with the Armenian people to demand
congressional affirmation, anything short of that is blatant
hypocrisy."

"ADL comes into our town trying to teach our kids and citizens how to
combat bias and hate speech, when the worst hate crime is genocide,"
said Arzoumanian. "The leaders of the organization were engaged in
helping Turkey to cover up the genocide, which is a profound
contradiction, and the worst kind of hate speech is genocide denial."

In the coming weeks, Armenian activists will be pushing for cities in
Massachusetts to withdraw from the ADL anti-bias program ‘No Place for
Hate,’ until the national leadership of ADL commits to a stronger
statement about the genocide.

Arzoumanian is equally angry at Israel for what he calls "bartering
with the Armenian genocide" as part of its agreement with Turkey,
cemented in the 1990s.

"Israel should have made it clear from the beginning that they would
not act as agents of denial for the Turkish state. They should have
said, ‘Yes, we will help you advocate in DC to get more funding, to
get more arm shipments and for stronger ties with US establishments.’
But they also should have said, ‘We are not willing to bargain with
another people’s right to its history.’"

In a New York Sun op-ed published on Tuesday, Hillel Halkin echoed
this criticism of Israel’s position on the Armenian genocide, "For a
Jewish state to abet the denial of genocide because it deems this
necessary for the defense of Jewish interests is to make a mockery of
the campaign against Holocaust denial."

"Worse yet, it is to make a mockery of Jewish accusations against the
world for standing by and doing nothing while six million Jews were
killed by the Nazis," Halkin said.

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