PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National Committee
Eastern Massachusetts
47 Nichols Avenue
Watertown, MA 02472
Contact: Sharistan Ardhaldjian
Tel: 917 428 1918
Fax: 718 651 3637
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
COURT DATE SET FOR MASSACHUSETTS LAWSUIT
SEEKING TO BLOCK TEACHING OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BOSTON, MA – A hearing date on whether or not to consider an Assembly of
Turkish American Associations (ATAA) backed lawsuit to compel the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts to include denialist material in their
Armenian Genocide curriculum resource materials has been set for September
18th, reported the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts.
U.S. District Chief Judge Mark Wolf scheduled a hearing for oral arguments
on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts motion to dismiss the lawsuit, filed by
the ATAA, two teachers and a student.
"We welcome the scheduling of a hearing date and look forward to the court
taking this opportunity to dismiss this clearly unfounded and deeply flawed
lawsuit," said ANC of Eastern Massachusetts Chair Sharistan Ardaljian. "The
authors of this suit – in acting as effective surrogates for Armenian
Genocide deniers in Ankara – have committed a grave disservice to the truth,
to the cause of tolerance, and the growing worldwide movement to prevent
genocide."
The ATAA lawsuit calls for the inclusion of their website in a list of
educational sources for teachers, as part of a teacher’s guide on genocide
education provided by the State. The ATAA lawsuit also calls for the
addition of other websites, including that of the Embassy of the Republic of
Turkey, which the ATAA had lobbied to include in the guide, but were
disqualified because they denied the Armenian Genocide, in direct
contravention of the Massachusetts statute requiring the teaching of the
Armenian Genocide.
Soon after the lawsuit was introduced, the Massachusetts District Attorney’s
office had filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Armenian Bar Association
joined with the Armenian National Committee of America, Jewish Alliance for
Law and Social Action, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), and Irish Immigration Center, in filing a friend of
the court brief in March 2006, in support of the dismissal, arguing that
inclusion of Genocide denial materials in the curriculum would fly in the
face of repeated Massachusetts proclamations and State Resolutions properly
characterizing the Armenian Genocide as ‘genocide.’ The collective brief
may be read at: ae.pdf
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