WATERTOWN

Devaney presses peer on ADL

Genocide stance is called too weak

By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent | September 23, 2007

Watertown Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney, who has pressed
neighboring towns to drop out of the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place
for Hate program, is turning up the heat on a fellow councilor she
says has not been tough enough with the ADL for its stance on the
Armenian genocide.

Devaney is calling out fellow town Councilor Jonathan Hecht for his
role in the Mass. Municipal Association’s decision to remain
associated with No Place for Hate, rather than sever ties with the
program, as Belmont, Newton, and Watertown have done.

"Coming from Watertown, it’s a shame he didn’t push to withdraw" from
the No Place for Hate program, she said. "The whole goal of this is to
get the communities to withdraw."

Hecht, who represents District B on the Town Council and sits on
Watertown’s No Place for Hate committee, also serves on the MMA’s
executive committee and 35-member board of directors, and is vice
president of the Mass. Municipal Councillors’ Association, a panel
under the umbrella of the MMA that is a co-sponsor with the ADL of No
Place for Hate.

Hecht is also a researcher and manager of an international law program
on human rights in China at Yale Law School .

The MMA executive committee recently drafted a statement that was
voted by the board on Sept. 11, calling for the ADL’s national
leadership to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians between
1915 and 1923 as genocide, and to support a resolution before Congress
that officially acknowledges the slaughter as genocide.

The board stopped short, however, from ending its involvement with No
Place for Hate. Instead, the board said it would "review and monitor"
and "reevaluate" its sponsorship of the program in light of the
actions the league takes in the coming months.

"It sends a very strong message what the MMA is expecting of the ADL,"
said Hecht, who acknowledged that some communities have taken a more
aggressive stance in recent weeks, a decision he attributes to a
difference in strategy.

"We’re on the same side and we’re all pushing for the same thing," he said.

Hecht said if the ADL has not "unequivocally" recognized the genocide
and supported the congressional resolution after its national board
meeting on Nov. 1, he will ask the board to consider ending its
partnership altogether. " ‘Tantamount to genocide’ is not going to cut
the mustard," Hecht said, quoting a characterization of the genocide
made last month by ADL national head Abraham Foxman. Critics have
called Foxman’s statement inadequate.

"It’s weak, it says nothing, and if you talk to the Armenian
organizations, they are outraged," said Devaney, who tried twice to
get the MMA board to sever ties completely and who believes Hecht
"spearheaded" the MMA’s statement. "This recommendation is not
consistent" with what Hecht’s fellow councilors and what other towns
have done, she said.

Hecht denied taking any lead role in crafting the MMA statement.

He was out of town on Aug. 15 when the Watertown council voted to
sever ties with the No Place for Hate program, but said he fully
supports the town’s actions and would have voted with his colleagues.
"Watertown did the right thing," he said.

Hecht said the controversy has brought more attention to the No Place
for Hate program and its benefits, and he hopes the town will find a
way to continue the activities, even if under a different banner.
"This is an opportunity to do it even better than before," he said.

The program isn’t just some "feel-good, everyone sitting around
singing ‘Kumbaya’ " affair, said Hecht, but an important part of
community policing. "For me, that’s what No Place for Hate is. It’s
real function is to improve public safety, to prevent violence and
property damage," and to build communication between groups, he said.
"It’s very practical and that’s why the MMA has been supportive."

Hecht said he doesn’t deserve any special recognition for his part in
what is a complicated dispute, adding, "This is an issue everyone
should be coming forward and working to settle."

Christina Pazzanese can be reached at cpazzanese@globe.com.

(c) Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Source: icles/2007/09/23/devaney_presses_peer_on_adl/