ANOTHER MASS. GROUP CUTS ADL TIES

Jewish Telegraphic Agency
April 9 2008
NY

A Massachusetts advocacy group has cut ties with an embattled
Anti-Defamation League program against bigotry.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Massachusetts Municipal Associated
broke its association with No Place for Hate because of the ADL’s
failure to unequivocally recognize the Armenian genocide.

"The Board believes that unequivocal recognition of the Armenian
Genocide is both a matter of basic justice to its victims as well as
essential to efforts to prevent future genocides," the group said in
a statement.

The MMA recommended that state municipalities seeking an alternative
anti-bigotry program consider the National League of Cities Inclusive
Communities program.

A statement from the ADL’s New England office said it was
"disappointed" in the vote, but noted that the No Place for Hate
program had been expanded into a "community-based network" and that
it was "growing and vital."

At least 12 Massachusetts communities have withdrawn from the No
Place for Hate Program since a controversy arose last summer over
the ADL’s refusal to label the World War I massacres of Armenians a
genocide. Amidst a mounting backlash, including fierce protests from
the ADL’s New England board and the resignation of the Boston office
director, the league issued a carefully worded statement saying the
massacres were "tantamount to genocide."

Activists in the Boston-area, home to a large concentration of
Armenian Americans, said the league was still equivocating. The ADL
denies the charge.