Commentary: Town must break from the Anti-Defamation League

By Eric Eid-Reiner
GateHouse News Service
New! Thu Sep 27, 2007, 05:02 AM EDT

Lexington –

Regarding the issue of the No Place For Hate committee’s ties with the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in light of the national ADL’s refusal to
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as a genocide, I have come to
conclude that disassociation from the ADL’s No Place For Hate program
is the right choice for our town to make.

As a Jew and citizen who values the ideals of the No Place For Hate
program as well as the Lexington No Place For Hate committee’s work,
and as someone who like the vast majority of genocide scholars and
historians acknowledges the Armenian genocide as precisely that – a
genocide – I have carefully considered both sides of this important
and complex issue.

Some may feel that it is unnecessary to withdraw from this program
simply because we disagree with the ADL’s position on the issue of the
Armenian Genocide and want them to change it. But this is about more
than that.

The way I see it, this is also a matter of choosing whether our town
should have a connection to an organization that is advancing an
inaccurate stand on the Armenian Genocide – a stand that hurts many of
our friends and neighbors, and does a disservice to the general
public, which ought to know the truth of this matter. Why would we
want to maintain this connection?

It is fully possible for a committee in town to exist under a
different name and do the same great work that the current No Place
For Hate committee does. I hope that this will be the action that the
town decides to take, given the valuable role that the committee has
played in Lexington since its inception, consistently working to
combat bias and prejudice through education and action in our schools
and greater community.

In not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, the ADL has not done
justice to our Armenian friends and neighbors or to our town’s core
values – nor for that matter have they really been consistent with the
missions of the No Place For Hate program and No Place For Hate
committee in Lexington when it comes to this issue.

Certainly, as individuals and as members of various communities and
organizations, we do not always agree with all that organizations we
are a part of do or say. However, combating genocide denial is so
central to the mission of the ADL that its stance on the Armenian
Genocide is inexcusable and disturbingly hypocritical. Genocide denial
by a prominent organization lends credibility to a damaging and false
position.

As a Jew who is largely supportive of Israel and what the ADL does to
aid it, disassociation – and the potentially negative publicity for
the organization that it would inevitably garner – is a particularly
troubling idea.

However, I keep thinking, "If an anti-prejudice group in town were
affiliated with an organization that denied that the Holocaust was a
genocide – an organization that argued that the Holocaust was not an
effort to wipe out Jews and many other groups – could I support that
group’s work?" For me, it would be extremely difficult to do so. And
it would pain me deeply that my town would be willing to stay with
this group despite their damaging view on the Holocaust, even if that
group had done many wonderful things in the past in its overall
anti-prejudice mission.

I think that if we want what to do what is right for all the citizens
of Lexington, we should not hold our breath waiting for the ADL to
change its viewpoint. We can and should take a stand immediately.

I urge you to join in taking the position that the citizens of
Lexington strongly support the work of the No Place For Hate committee
and will continue to do so, but we believe that the committee can
successfully continue its anti-prejudice and related work without ties
to an organization that denies that the Armenian Genocide was truly a
genocide. I have complete confidence in the abilities of our town
leaders, committee members, and community members to make such a
transition. I feel that making this change and being active on this
issue is in the best interests of the citizens of Lexington, and that
while it may be tough, it really is the right thing to do.

Eric Eid-Reiner is a resident of Russell Road. He is in his first year
at Wheaton College.

Source: 67763