ADL: WE CANNOT IGNORE WHAT HAPPENED TO ARMENIANS
Gokce Gunduc

BÝA, Turkey
Aug 29 2007

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a foundation committed to fighting
anti-Semitism, had previously called the events of 1915 "persecution"
and had dismissed its New England regional representative Andrew
Tarsy when he had spoken of a "genocide". He has been reinstated.

ADL national director Foxman said that he had spoken to Tarsy and
realised that they agreed: "I have decided to reinstate him and
am happy."

No retraction

Foxman said that Prime Minister Erdogan’s interpretation of a
retraction by ADL had been caused by a "letter of apology to the
Turkish people", which was published a day after an article in which
he emphasised that the organisation "recognised a genocide and would
not hesitate to define it as such."

The article, which was published in The Jewish Advocate of the Boston
area and also on the ADL website, reiterated the organisation’s
opposition to a draft law related to the "genocide", but said that
it recognised the events of 1915 as such.

Congress decision unhelpful

Foxman said that he believed that Congress decisions on such issues
would be harmful and not help the rapprochement of Turks and Armenians.

Armenian tragedy cannot be ignored

"As a foundation defending the rights of Jews, we had a dilemma. As
an institution which has committed itself to fighting not only
anti-Semitism, but also to educating people about the dangers of any
kind of hate, we could not have neglected the terrible tragedy that
befell the Armenians."

The Boston Globe said that, in an interview with the newspaper on 21
August, "Foxman said that for some time he has privately believed that
the mass killings constituted a genocide, but thought that describing
them as atrocities or massacres was enough. Yesterday, he said, he
realized this description was dividing the Jewish community and the
ADL changed its position."

–Boundary_(ID_jK+aJ6wxVRSPcIpF8P 5ZBg)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress