TOWN HITS ADL STANCE ON GENOCIDE
By Laura M. Colarusso, Globe Correspondent
Boston Globe
September 20, 2007
United States
NEEDHAM
Needham officials are lashing out at the Anti-Defamation League for
the reluctance of its national leadership to fully recognize the
Armenian genocide, but have stopped short of withdrawing from the
ADL’s No Place for Hate program, as Watertown and Newton have done.
The town’s Human Rights Committee has demanded that the ADL recognize
the deportation and killing of more than 1 million Armenians by the
Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923 as a genocide.
No Place for Hate, a program designed to help towns foster respect
and diversity, has come under intense scrutiny since August, when the
national ADL’s position on the Armenian genocide prompted officials
of Watertown to withdraw from the program.
On Tuesday, Newton Mayor David Cohen said he would accept the
recommendation of his city’s Human Rights Commission and drop out of
No Place for Hate until the national ADL definitively recognizes the
historical events in question as genocide.
ADL Executive Director Abraham Foxman has stated that the atrocities
were "tantamount" to genocide. The ADL’s regional office in New
England has labeled what happened to the Armenians a genocide
Needham officials say the ADL’s inability to accurately describe the
atrocities undermines the goal of the No Place for Hate program.
ADL officials from both the national office in Washington and
the New England office in Boston did not respond to calls seeking
comment. However, a message on the organization’s website states
that the ADL continues to characterize a proposed congressional
resolution on the matter as "a counterproductive diversion [that]
will not foster reconciliation between Turks and Armenians."
Needham’s Human Rights Committee earlier this month sent a letter
to the national ADL offices in Washington, D.C., asking that it
reconsider its position and back legislation labeling as genocide
the mass killings of Armenians.
"The ADL has asked us to detach the ‘No Place for Hate’ program from
the controversy surrounding its positions regarding the Armenian
genocide," the letter states. "We are unable to do so. We cannot
proudly cite our town as ‘No Place for Hate’ when the sponsoring
organization is not doing all in its power to work against hate
and oppression."
The ADL is expected to reexamine the issue at its November meeting,
but Needham’s human rights group is hoping that the issue will be
taken up sooner, said Debbie Watters, committee chairwoman and author
of the letter. Her panel is waiting to hear from the ADL before making
a recommendation to selectmen as to whether they should cut ties with
the No Place for Hate program.
Needham’s Board of Selectmen is waiting to hear from the Human Rights
Committee before it makes a final decision on whether to remain in
the No Place for Hate program, said Gerald Wasserman, chairman of
the board.
Selectman John Bulian also expressed concern with the ADL’s perspective
on the issue, but said Needham needs more information before making
a decision.
"We can always sever ties, but it’s more important that the national
ADL change its position," Bulian argued. "Once you’ve severed ties
with an organization, what’s their incentive to change?"