MMA calls on ADL to recognize genocide

By Jillian Fennimore, staff writer
Watertown TAB & Press
New! Thu Sep 13, 2007, 02:19 PM EDT

WATERTOWN, MA –

At-Large Councilor Marilyn Devaney said fellow council member Jonathan
Hecht has "sabotaged" the town’s efforts in sending a "No Place for
Hate" message across the nation.

On Monday, the Massachusetts Municipal Association – a partner with
the New England Region Anti-Defamation League and sponsor of the No
Place for Hate program – came out with a statement "respectfully
calling" on the national ADL to unequivocally recognize the Armenian
Genocide by supporting a Congressional resolution.

But Devaney said that is not enough. She wants the MMA to completely
cut its ADL ties.

Her finger is now pointed at Hecht, a District B councilor who also
serves on the MMA’s board of directors.

"Jonathan [Hecht] recommended the very opposite of what Watertown
voted for," she said. "He helped draft a resolution that completely
sabotaged our proclamation and the message that was sent all over the
nation."

In August, Town Council members unanimously pushed forward a
proclamation – authored by Devaney – that ended the community’s
relationship with the ADL and urged other "No Place for Hate"
communities to follow suit.
The MMA should be doing the same, said Devaney.

"I believe it is important for the MMA to take a position regarding
the ADL," she said in a statement to the MMA Board of Directors. "I am
requesting that the MMA withdraw from the ADL’s No Place for Hate
until the National ADL expresses public support for the resolution
pending in Congress recognizing the genocide."
But Hecht said the MMA’s message alone is strong.

"The key thing is that we are all working for the same purpose here,"
he said. "Individual communities are going to make up their minds
whether to end their No Place for Hate committees or not."

The controversy began after Newton’s David Boyajian wrote a letterto
the TAB & Press in July, bringing light to the ADL’s stance, which
some said amounted to denial of the World War I-era mass murders of
1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.

Instead, National Director Abraham Foxman has called the massacres
only "tantamount to genocide" and continued to oppose congressional
legislation acknowledging it.

Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the MMA, said their statement
speaks for itself in sending a "clear signal" to the national ADL.

In November, Beckwith said he hopes the national ADL will adopt the
position of recognizing the Armenian Genocide like New England
Regional Director Andrew Tarsy and the ADL’s New England Regional
Executive Committee.

Until then, the MMA will "continue to review and monitor this matter"
and subsequently re-evaluate its official sponsorship of the No Place
for Hate program, despite their request to keep the programs running.

"This is a real opportunity to raise [the] level of awareness in
Massachusetts and across the country," said Beckwith.

Source: 919145