ADL HIRES REPLACEMENT FOR FORMER LEADER WHO BROKE RANKS
Boston Globe
Aug 19 2008
MA
The Anti-Defamation League announced today that it hired a New England
regional director to fill the position vacated by Andrew H. Tarsy,
who broke ranks with the organization’s national leadership last year
over the acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide.
Derrek L. Shulman, the former chief of staff for the Massachusetts
Executive Office of Elder Affairs, will begin serving as ADL regional
director in early October, according to a statement. The post had
been filled by an interim person since December, when Tarsy resigned.
"We conducted an exhaustive search and are fortunate to have found a
leader of Derrek’s caliber," said James L. Rudolph, chairman of the
ADL’s New England Regional Board, in a statement. "This is an exciting
time for ADL New England, and Derrek has all the qualifications,
contacts and leadership skills to ensure our organization performs
its crucial mission of fighting anti-semitism and hate."
Tarsy was fired in August 2007 after he spoke out against the national
ADL’s refusal to acknowledge that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide
when they slaughtered as many as 1.5 million Armenians from 1915
to 1923. It became an issue when Watertown, which has a sizeable
Armenian-American community, pulled out of the ADL’s No Place For
Hate Program in protest.
Tarsy spoke publicly against the national ADL’s position and was
fired. Under pressure, the National ADL changed course and said
the massacre was "tantamount to genocide." Tarsy was rehired two
weeks later but resigned in December. In an interview at the time,
Tarsy did not share why he was leaving but said it was "professional
judgment based on knowing when it’s your time."
The hiring of Shulman will strengthen the ADL in New England as it
moves forward, the organization said in the statement.
"We are entering a growth period at ADL, and Derrek is the perfect
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
