The Jewish Lobby & Armenian Genocide Bill

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

Peres to Turks: ADL has own policy on Armenian issue

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Editorial

Israel has not changed its position on the killing of 1.5 million Armenians in World War I, President Shimon Peres assured the Turkish prime minister last week.

On Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League announced that it considered the massacres to be genocide. It apologized for putting the Turkish people in a "difficult position" in a letter this weekend, the Turkish media reported.

In

his conversation with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Peres reiterated the Israeli position that Turkey and Armenia should resolve the dispute on the nature of the killings through dialogue. Jerusalem is careful not to refer to the killings as a genocide.

Following the ADL's statement, Turkey was feeling "disappointed with its friends," Erdogan said. President Peres told the Turkish prime minister that Israel does not control U.S. Jewish organizations, which pursue their own agendas.

Foreign Ministry sources told Haaretz that they believe that Peres' efforts and the calming actions of the Israeli embassy in Ankara have helped ease tensions over the ADL's statement.

The Turkish media reported over the weekend that ADL President Abraham Foxman sent Erdogan a letter stating the ADL has "utmost respect for the Turkish people."

"We had no intention to put the Turkish people or its leaders in a difficult position. I am writing this letter to you to express our sorrow over what we have caused for the leadership and people of Turkey in the past few days," Foxman's letter reportedly read.

Dave · August 26, 2007

Nice list of articles, thanks.

I'm glad that the Jewish leadership got our message and is finally changing its stance...

Edited August 26, 2007 by Dave

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

US Jewish group retracts stance on Armenian 'genocide'

European Jewish Press

August 24, 2007

http://www.ejpress.org/article/19495

ANKARA -- A prominent US Jewish advocacy group has retracted its decision to call the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a genocide, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.

"The ADL [Anti-Defamation League] has sent us a statement sharing our sensitivity on this issue," Erdogan was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying. "With this statement, they have retracted their previous erroneous step."

The ADL unleashed anger in Turkey when it said in a written statement Tuesday that it had changed its position on the Armenian massacres after consultations with experts.

But in a separate statement on Thursday the group was more circumspect on the World War I events.

"Although independent scholars may have reached a consensus about the genocide, in an effort to help accomplish the reconciliation [between Turkey and Armenia], there is room for further dispassionate scholarly examination of the details of those dark and terrible days," the second statement read.

The ADL move sparked concerns, here, that Ankara may be losing the support of the powerful Jewish lobby in the United States, against efforts, there, to have the killings recognized as genocide, and pass a resolution to that effect from the Congress.

Israel, Turkey's main regional ally, was quick to respond to prevent a fallout in bilateral ties.

Israeli President Shimon Peres phoned Erdogan Thursday to assure him of Israel's desire to maintain close bilateral ties.

On Wednesday, the Israeli embassy, here, said the Jewish state acknowledges the "horrible events" and the "terrible suffering" the Armenians endured, but urged Jews not to take sides.

The Turkish press said Turkey had asked Israel to convince the Jewish lobby in the United States to support Turkey in its efforts to block congressional moves to recognize the killings as genocide.

Turkey categorically rejects Armenian claims that 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in systematic deportations and killings during 1915 to 1918, as the Ottoman Empire was breaking up.

Edited August 26, 2007 by Aratta-Kingdom

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

The Arlington Advocate: Commentary: Call genocide what it is

By Arlington No Place for Hate Steering Committee

GateHouse News Service

Wed Aug 22, 2007, 06:48 PM EDT

Arlington, Mass. - Over the past months, Arlington has pursued

certificatio= n as a No Place for Hate community under the auspices of

the New England Regional Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

and the Massachusetts Municipal Association. This week, the Arlington

No Place for Hate Steering Committee resolved to suspend our

involvement in the program.

We take this measure to protest the refusal of ADL's national

leadership to acknowledge as genocide the killing of 1.5 million

Armenians between 1915 and 1918 by the Ottoman Empire and to support

the efforts of the New Englan= d Regional Board and Andrew Tarsy,

former director of the New England Region of the ADL.

Arlington chose the No Place for Hate program as a vehicle for

bringing our community together, celebrating diversity, and addressing

issues of hate an= d intolerance as they arise. While we agree with

the program's goals, we feel that recent statements and actions of the

national leadership have undermined its integrity and ability to be

effective.

We believe that the ADL national leadership's refusal to acknowledge

what b= y any standard is genocide - and its subsequent firing of

employees who disagree with their position - is both indefensible

and at complete odds with a basic tenet of No Place for Hate:

acknowledging and accepting the history and experience of our

community members, even when this may be uncomfortable or inconvenient

for us. It tarnishes the good work of so many communities, and serves

as a sad repudiation of the ADL's mission, "to secure justice and fair

treatment to all."

We applaud Andrew Tarsy and the New England Regional Chapter of the

ADL for their courage in standing up to the national organization's

position. We support them in their efforts to resolve this matter so

that the Armenian genocide is rightfully acknowledged and the

integrity of the No Place for Hate program can be restored.

We would also like to express our support for the members of the

Armenian community, who have been so profoundly hurt by the position

taken by the national ADL leadership on the Armenian genocide.

The Arlington No Place for Hate Steering Committee includes chairman

Cindy Friedman, Theresa Aceto-Black, Bettie Connors, Joseph A. Curro,

Jr., Sean Garballey, Sharon Grossman, Kenneth Hughes, Annie LaCourt,

Mary Megson , Patricia O'Donoghue, Marlene Schultz, and Brian

Sullivan.

http://www.townonline.com/arlington/opinions/x2110146246

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

Paul Solomon of Belmont is going back to school to learn about hypocrisy and crimes committed against humanity

Belmont Citizen-Herald: Belmont still 'No Place for Hate'

By Cassie Norton

Belmont Citizen-Herald

Thu Aug 23, 2007, 02:04 PM EDT

Belmont, Mass. -

Watertown's unanimous decision to leave the Anti-Defamation League's "No

Place for Hate" program over non-profit's position on the death of hundreds

of thousands of Armenian citizens in the early 1900s may have a national

impact.

Closer to home, Belmont's leaders are discussing the repercussions of their

neighbor's stance.

"At this point [our position] is something to discuss," selectman Paul

Solomon said. "I am not ready say 'Let's tear down the signs.'"

Solomon said he "deplores" the ADL's position on the Armenian genocide.

"A terrible thing occurred in the early 20th century in Armenia, whether you

call it a genocide or not, and the Turkish government has never agreed that

they were responsible," he said. "It's not clear that the ADL's [refusal to

label it a genocide] makes a lot of sense."

The controversy began last month when the ADL's national director, Abraham

Foxman, issued a letter stating that Congress should play no role in

recognizing the Armenian Genocide as it debates House Resolution 106.

The resolution calls for the President to "ensure that the foreign policy of

the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity

concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing and the genocide

documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide."

In an open letter to the New England Community on the ADL's Web site, it

states that it has "never denied the massacres of hundreds of thousands of

Armenians - and by some accounts more than one million - at the hands of the

Ottoman Empire in 1915-1918."

It also states that "we believe that legislative efforts outside of Turkey

are counterproductive to the goal of having Turkey itself come to grips with

its past. We take no position on what action Congress should take on House

Resolution 106."

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Foxman said he has come to the

view that "the consequences of the actions [of the Ottoman Empire] were

indeed tantamount to genocide."

"If the word 'genocide' had existed then, they would have called it

genocide," he said.

But he reiterated that the he "continues to firmly believe that a

Congressional resolution on such matters is a counterproductive diversion

and will not foster reconciliation between Turks and Armenians."

Rep. Edward Markey, D-MA, is co-sponsoring House Resolution 106 and

encouraged the ADL to "reconsider its position and recognize the Armenian

Genocide."

*"The Armenian Genocide is not a historic dispute or a rhetorical argument

over semantics," he wrote in a statement. "A true reckoning of history is

essential, which is why I have long supported the annual commemoration of

the Armenian Genocide."*He said he *commends the New England region "for its

principled decision on this important issue."*

Watertown's eight-member Town Council voted unanimously to leave the "No

Place for Hate" program last week based on the ADL's position on the

Armenian Genocide. Watertown, Belmont and surrounding towns have a thriving

Armenian-American population that turned out 100-strong to support the

town's decision.

New England Regional Director Andrew Tarsy spoke in support of the ADL at

that meeting, but in subsequent weeks struggled with his actions. On Aug. 16

he told Foxman he found the national organization's position "morally

indefensible," according to the Boston Globe. Tarsy was fired on Aug. 18.

Now it's time for Belmont to examine where the regional branch's stance and

the "No Place for Hate program fit in the national organization's rhetoric,

said Rep. Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont.

"The town needs to sort out how No Place for Hate program relates to the

national organization's position and take appropriate action," he said.

And the town intends to do just that. The Human Rights Commission, who

originally proposed that Belmont join "No Place for Hate" more than two

years ago, will discuss the issue at their Sept. 6 meeting.

"We have no official stance as a group until after we've had a chance to

discuss it in a public meeting and with the residents," said Human Right

Commission chairman Laurie Graham. The HRC may hold a meeting before

September, so the residents "can at least express their concerns."

Pine Street resident Lenna Garibidian is one of those concerned residents.

She is drafting a letter to the HRC with support from about 15

Armenian-American Belmont families who support withdrawing from the "No

Place for Hate" program.

"The ADL position is hypocritical while they are preaching tolerance," she

said. "That sends the wrong message to the participants of the 'No Place for

Hate' program."

Graham said the program is "great for promoting tolerance of diversity in

local communities," and having to separate Belmont from the program would be

"a tragedy." Local groups would "make sure the intent of the program stays

the same," she said.

Angelo Firenze, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the situation will

be included on the board's agenda when the HRC reaches a resolution.

"When we voted to join 'No Place for Hate,' we wanted people to know that

racism and hatred are not welcome in Belmont, and that position still

stands," he said.

Firenze said he didn't want to say that either the ADL or the Armenian

population was right or wrong.

"There's clearly a lot of emotion on both sides of the issue," he said.

Brownsberger disagreed, saying that he supports House Resolution 106 and

that "the ADL is wrong."

"It's important for everyone to honestly face all the tragedies of the last

century, including the Armenian Genocide," he said. "It's important to send

a strong message that the town is concerned about all of the genocides"

which have and might occur.

"No Place for Hate" aims to be a community-based campaign established by the

ADL and geared to bring awareness to and fight against anti-Semitism, racism

and all other forms of bigotry. Nearly 50 cities throughout the state are

termed "No Place for Hate" zones, and participation is growing throughout

the United States.

In its letter, the ADL calls for continued unity and mutual support in the

face of what may be an unpopular position.

"In our almost seven decades in New England, we are proud of the community

partnerships we have built and the results we have achieved working with

thousands of organizations, elected officials and individuals committed to

making this regions No Place for Hate," it writes. "We cannot let one

disagreement on how to proceed on one issue undermine all our joint good

work."

Source: http://www.townonline.com/belmont/news/x676315824

Edited August 26, 2007 by Aratta-Kingdom

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

European Jewish Press, Belgium

Aug 24 2007

Israeli president reassures Turkish PM over ties

AFP and EJP Updated: 24/Aug/2007 11:06

Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996 when the two

signed a military cooperation deal, much to the anger of Arab

countries and Iran.

ANKARA (AFP-EJP)---Israeli President Shimon Peres phoned Turkish

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday to assure him of

Israel's desire to maintain close ties with its Muslim ally, an aide

to Erdogan said.

The call followed a decision on Tuesday by a prominent US Jewish

organization, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), to term as genocide

the mass killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, a label

Ankara fiercely rejects.

During the phone conversation, Erdogan expressed concern over the

ADL's move. He stressed the "futility" of the organization's decision

and Peres responded saying that Israel's well known position on the

issue of genocide claims `has not changed.'

(In 2001, Shimon Peres, then Israel’s foreign minister said, “We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred. What the Armenians went through is a tragedy, but not genocide.”)

The Israeli president also said Israel attached great importance to

relations with Turkey and promised to "advocate Turkey's position on

the issue in the US." Related stories

Jewish group chief reverses position, calls Armenian massacre a

genocide

Turkey's Jews disavow US Jewish organization over Armenian genocide

move

Ankara to foster strategy to counter ADL position on genocide of

Armenians

"Peres emphasized the importance Israel places on relations with

Turkey," Erdogan's aide told AFP. "It was a very fruitful

discussion."

Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül voiced Ankara's

uneasiness and disappointment with the ADL move during a meeting with

Israel's outgoing ambassador to Turkey, Pinhas Aviv, who paid a visit

to the minister at his office in Ankara on Thursday.

Turkish diplomats have warned that the ADL statement might have

negative impacts on Turkish-Israeli as well as on Turkey-US

relations.

On Wednesday, the Israeli embassy here said the Jewish state

acknowledges the "horrible events" and the "terrible suffering" the

Armenians endured, but urged Jews not to take sides.

"Over the years the subject, undesirably, has become a loaded

political issue between the Armenians and the Turks.

"Israel, therefore, asks that neither one side nor the other be taken

and that no definitions be made of what happened. We hope that both

sides will enter into an open dialogue which will enable them to heal

the wounds," it said.

According to the Israeli press, Turkey's ambassador Namýk Tan cutted

short his holiday to return to Israel and express Turkey's concerns

over the ADL decision to Israeli officials.

Foreign Ministry officials denied the reports, saying Tan was due to

return to work since his vacation ended.

Main regional ally

Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996 when the two

signed a military cooperation deal, much to the anger of Arab

countries and Iran.

But the US-led war in Iraq and Israel's relations with the

Palestinians have led to a rise in anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment

in the Turkish public opinion.

Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government also angered Israel in 2006 when

it hosted Hamas officials in Ankara in what it defended as a bid to

convince the radical Islamist group to renounce violence.

Erdogan's AKP party won a landslide victory in the July 22 parliament

election.

http://www.ejpress.org/article/news/19464

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

European Jewish Press, Belgium

Aug 23 2007

Ankara to foster strategy to counter ADL position on genocide of

Armenians

EJP Updated: 23/Aug/2007 18:01

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might try to engage in

phone diplomacy "to convince the Jewish lobby in the US."

ANKARA (EJP)---The recognition of the World War I-era killings of

Armenians as genocide by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League

(ADL) has shocked Turkey, which is now trying to overcome this by

taking compensatory measures, the Turkish Daily News writes Thursday.

The ADL is an advocacy group aiming to stop the defamation of the

Jewish people.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has told Israeli Ambassador Pinhas

Avivi that Turkey is "disappointed" over ADL's remarks.

"We see this statement as an unfortunate one that is unjust to the

Holocaust, which has no precedent, and to its victims. And we expect

it to be corrected,' the foreign ministry said.

The Israeli embassy has released a statement in which it said that

there is "no change" in the Israeli government's stance regarding the

issue.

Experts and advisors to the Turkish government held a meeting with

diplomats at the foreign ministry in Ankara on Wednesday to determine

a strategy "that will win back the hearts of Jewish Americans,"

Turkey's English daily said.

According to diplomatic sources, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan might try to engage in phone diplomacy to convince the Jewish

lobby.

`The strategy is to convince the ADL first, and if we cannot do that

then Turkey will try to counter the Jewish lobby in the U.S. This

cannot be a blank acceptance for Turkey,' said a Turkish diplomat.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ADL's director Abraham Foxman

said that the killings of Armenians by the Turks "were indeed

tantamount to genocide,' days after the organisation fired a regional

director for taking the same stance.

`We were not expecting such a decision. Last week, they fired the

director who used [the term `genocide']. What I understood is that

after the director was fired, a discussion started in the ADL. We

were in contact with the ADL two days ago,` said an expert on

American-Turkish relations quoted by The Turkish Daily News.

The decision might negatively influence Jewish votes in the US

Congress since there are more than 100 Jewish Americans in the House

of Representatives, the expert said.

`If they insist on defining the period as genocide, then Turkey will

take necessary steps against that. Of course we will not identify the

Turkish Jewish community with the American Jewish one. We will also

get in contact with Israel to understand the reasons behind the

decision,' the source added.

Since the Jewish lobby is seen as an important political tool for

Turkey's policies in Washington, Ankara avoids making non-diplomatic

statements in reference to the Jews.

Ankara fears that the US will recognize the events of 1915-1919 as

genocide, and is also concerned about its impact on bilateral

relations.

Arpa · August 26, 2007

Let me be the first to nominate Abe Foxman of ADL and Yusuf Qaqajoglu http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=16...mp;#entry210476

to the editorial board of Hryastory/Schmistorology and the (furkish)Society of "history" respectively. That qaqajoglu may not know that we call that pseudo-science Siktrology.

In all fairness, just as Foxman has placed his stinky foot in his equally smelly mouth, so has that other clown Yusuf , who having run out of other gobbledigook comes up with this "hidden-kurdish Armenians".

The turkey qaqa has hit the fan. The bird has lost its fethers/composure. Don't stop them. Let them drown in that "turkey droppings".

Yeah, yeah! We know turks and hryas have been such "lovers" for the past half millenium. Then, would Mr Fox-man be so kind to tell us why during a 500 years of ottoman hegemony a state of Israel was not only not created but vehemently opposed until the French and the British got a hold of Palestine, and allowed those so called hebrews who did not even know a word of hebrew immigrate and massacre, almost "genocide" the (philistine, the co-religionists of the ottomans) natives of 2000 years to close to extinction ?

And, now that Ape Fox-man tells us that "jews in Turkey will be subject to persecution". Is that not a terroristic statement? That the "jews in turkey" will be subjected to "state terror"? How does that ape forget that his kin in TelAviv have been using the word "deghogh/terror" for the past 50 years, yet he invokes the "deghgoh/terror" that turkey may perpetrate on his kin. Does he know that onw man's "freedom fighter" is another's "terrorist", and visa versa?

If anyone would subject to "state terror in turkey" it would the Armenians, who, whether they be residenst of Istanbul or Glendale, have been crtitcizing Ankara for over a hundred years. Come one Mr. Fox-tail-ass. Tell us another lie of biblical proportions.

Why do I use such sarcastic language?

I am not an "historian".

Show me another way.

Do any of the above cemedians deserve anything but RIDICULE.

Please don't force me to show that "welcome gesture" I showed Delala.

You think this is an invitation for Ankara Telaviv Axis to bomb Yerevan?

Would you like to see Ankara reduced to this grazing land of the Angora goat?;

http://hoglezoo.org/animal.photos/angora.goat.jpg

Edited August 26, 2007 by Arpa

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

European Jewish Press, Belgium

Aug 23 2007

Turkey's Jews disavow US Jewish organization over Armenian genocide

move

EJP Updated: 23/Aug/2007 13:34

A synagogue in Istanbul, a city where around 24,500 Jews live.

ISTANBUL (EJP)---The Jewish Community in Turkey has expressed regret

over the position adopted by a US Jewish group on the issue of the

genocide of Armenians.

In a statement published in the Turkish press, the Jewish community

stressed Thursday that it endorses Turkey's position that this

question should be debated at academic level with full access to the

archives of all concerned parties, and that parliaments are not the

appropriate platforms for finding the truth about historical events.

Ankara categorically rejects the genocide label, saying that both

Armenians and Turks died in civil strife during World War I when the

Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided

with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a major Jewish

organizations in the US, on Tuesday reversed its longtime policy by

calling the killing of Armenians a genocide, days after it fired a

regional director for taking the same position.

ADL's national director Abraham Foxman said in a statement that the

killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Muslim Turks `were indeed

tantamount to genocide.'

The change in ADL's position came after weeks of controversy in which

critics questioned whether an organization dedicated to fighting

anti-Semitism in the world and remembering Holocaust victims could

remain credible without acknowledging the Armenian killings as

genocide. Related story

Jewish group chief reverses position, calls Armenian massacre a

genocide

Another major organization, the American Jewish Committee, took a

similar step and the Conference of Presidents of Major American

Jewish Organizations reportedly was considering discussing the

matter.

In its statement, Silvio Ovadio, head of the Jewish community in

Turkey, said: `We have difficulty in understanding this immediate

change of view among some Jewish organizations in the US.'

The statement added: `We would like to stress that the news reports

that begin with the term `Jews' in local websites may mislead the

public, whereas this change in position reflects only the views of

some American Jewish organizations.'

`Our state institutions are well aware of our long time efforts to

defend Turkey's interests and theses, and our efforts will continue.'

In a letter to Abraham Foxman, a prominent Turkish Jewish

businessman, Jak Kamhi, said: `By accepting this false comparison

between the uniquely indisputable genocide for which the term was

coined -- the Holocaust, and the events of 1915, the ADL has

committed an act of the most inexplicable injustice against the

memory of the victims of the Holocaust, as well as against the

sensitivities and pride of the Turkish people, who deserve your

praise for their centuries-long tradition of compassion and their

culture of humanity and cohabitation that remains an example to the

world.'

Around 27,000 Jews live in Turkey, of which 24,500 in Istanbul.

Two separate resolutions are pending in the US Senate and House of

Representatives, urging the administration to recognize the killings

of Armenians as genocide. The Turkish foreign ministry called the ADL

statement"unfortunate"and said Turkey expected the statement would be

"corrected."

Turkey has warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress

would seriously harm relations with Washington and impair cooperation

in Iraq and Afghanistan.

No change in Israel's stance

The Israeli embassy in Turkey has stressed that there has been `no

change' in Israel's official stance on the issue.

`As Jews and as Israelis we are especially sensitive and morally

obligated to remember human tragedies, which include the killings

that took place among the Armenian population during the latter part

of the First World War, in the years 1915-1916, during the last years

of the Ottoman Empire.'

`The State of Israel has never denied these horrible events; on the

contrary, we understand the intensity of the emotion connected with

this matter on both sides, considering the high number of victims and

terrible suffering which the Armenian people endured,' the embassy

said.

`Yet, notwithstanding this, over the years, the subject, undesirably,

has become a loaded political issue between the Armenians and the

Turks, and each side has been trying to prove the justice of its

claims.'

`The State of Israel, therefore, asks that neither one side nor the

other be taken and that no definitions be made of what happened. We

hope that both sides will enter into an open dialogue which will

enable them to heal the open wounds that have remained for many

decades,' the statement concluded.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Turkish ambassador is set to

return to Israel earlier from his vacation to express concerns about

the ADL's position.

Turkish Prime Minister recept Tayyip Erdogan was expected to call his

Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert in the coming days to discuss the

matter.

http://www.ejpress.org/article/news/eastern_europe/19427

Aratta-Kingdom · August 26, 2007

Tolerance.ca, Canada

Aug 23 2007

Jews Face the Armenian Genocide

By Dr. Stephen Scheinberg

Dr. Scheinberg is emeritus professor of history, Concordia

University, and co-chair of Canadian Friends of Peace Now. His

editorials can be heard on Montreal's Radio Shalom 1650AM on Monday

at 7:15A.M. and Wednesday at 6:14P.M..

There is a controversy raging among American Jews which may get even

hotter in the coming days. The issue arises because the U.S. Congress

will once again be asked to vote for a bill recognizing the Armenian

genocide of 1915. One might think that this would not be a difficult

issue for the Jewish community but unfortunately several of the major

Jewish organizations in the United States have seen fit to intervene

against the bill.

First, let me explain to those of you who are not well acquainted

with the events of 1915 that an overwhelming number of historians

recognize that the Turkish government of the day engaged in the

pre-meditated murder of between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians. Jewish

holocaust scholars including Raul Hilberg, Elie Wiesel , Yehuda

Bauer, Daniel Goldhagen and Deborah Lipstadt have all signed ads

urging the Congress to pass the resolution. The scholarship is

overwhelming; including even some Turkish writers, but the Turkish

government persists in its refusal to acknowledge responsibility.

Armenian genocide denial is close kin to holocaust denial and as

morally reprehensible.

The current bill in the Congress was introduced in January 2007 by

Representative Adam Schiff of California and has wide Jewish support

in both the House and Senate, from Democrats and Republicans.

However, it is not clear if or when the bill will come to a vote. The

Turkish government has been active in supporting opposition to the

bill, hiring prominent lobbyists and meeting with Jewish leaders.

This leadership was obviously reminded, at a meeting with the Turkish

Foreign Minister Abdula Gul, of Turkey's good relations with Israel

as well as with the United States, her support for her own Jewish

community numbering approximately 40,000, and her record as a

sanctuary for Jewish refugees over the centuries. It is difficult to

say whether it was Turkish lobbying, their own sentiments, or

possibly direct intervention from Israel which led the

Anti-Defamation League, B'nai Brith International, the American

Jewish Committee and the Jewish Institute of National Security

Affairs to pass along to members of Congress a letter from Turkish

Jews opposing the resolution, thus implicitly taking the side of

Turkey.

It was the ADL's Abraham Foxman who was the most outspoken of the

Jewish leaders, declaring that `this is an issue that needs to be

resolved by the parties, not by us. We are neither historians nor

arbiters.' One has never heard Foxman, a child survivor of the

holocaust, make such a cavalier reference to the death of six million

Jews. He has given further fuel to his critics by firing the ADL's

New England regional director who had urged that the organization

recognize the genocide. A former ADL regional board member condemned

the firing as `a vindictive, intolerant, and destructive act' by an

organization and leader whose `fundamental mission - is to promote

tolerance.' Foxman has subsequently, following much criticism and a

conversation with Elie Wiesel, recognized that the events of 1915

constituted genocide but continues to oppose the bill as

counterproductive.

For her part, Israel has not made any public reference to the

Armenian genocide and has carefully deleted such references from text

books and even withdrawn support from international conferences at

which the genocide would have been a subject for discussion. Before a

trip to Turkey then-foreign minister Shimon Peres said of the

genocide, that it was `a matter for historians to decide.' There are

many prominent Israelis who deplore their government's failure to act

on a significant moral issue. However, in the case of a nation state,

realpolitik often triumphs over morality. Israel obviously considers

that her relations with Turkey are too important to be possibly

undermined by taking the moral road, though Israelis from across the

political spectrum have disagreed on the consequences of such

actions.

Nevertheless, the American Jewish leadership is not and should not be

tied to Israeli realpolitik. Individual morality cannot be waived in

the interest of Israel, the United States or Canada. Perhaps if the

Armenian genocide resolution is again defeated these same community

leaders will be at pains to deny the influence of the Jewish lobby.

Neither Israel nor the American Jewish community will be well served

by a community leadership that abandons elementary standards of

behavior for a misguided assessment of the needs of Israel or Turkish

Jewry. Perhaps they should recall the infamous words attributed to

Adolph Hitler, calling on his troops to pursue their destructive

work, he stated: `Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of

the Armenians?' As Jews, we are obliged to speak, and our voices must

be heard on the side of justice and morality.

Aratta-Kingdom · August 27, 2007

The Jerusalem Post

August 27, 2007

Israel must get US Jews to back down, Turkey's envoy tells 'Post'

Turkey expects Israel to "deliver" American Jewish organizations and ensure that the US Congress does not pass a resolution characterizing as genocide the massacre of Armenians during World War I, Turkish Ambassador to Israel Namik Tan told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.

Tan cut short a vacation and rushed back to Israel Thursday to deal with the Anti-Defamation League's reversal last week of its long-standing position on the issue.

Tan said he understood that Israel's position had not changed, but "Israel should not let the [uS] Jewish community change its position. This is our expectation and this is highly important, highly important."

Turkey's concern is that last week's decision by ADL national director Abe Foxman would open the dikes and enable the passage in Congress of a nonbinding resolution calling Ottoman Turkey's actions against the Armenians "genocide."

"If you want to touch and hurt the hearts of the people in Turkey, this is the issue," Tan said. "This is the No. 1 issue. You cannot easily explain to them any change in this."

He said he had requested urgent meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, to impress upon them the importance of this issue to Turkey.

Tan's request for these meetings came after President Shimon Peres spoke last week with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and explained that Israel had no intention of changing its policy on this issue, which is that Turkey and Armenia should resolve their differences over the matter through dialogue.

In the eyes of the Turkish people, Tan said, his country's strategic relationship with Israel was not with Israel alone, but with the whole Jewish world. "They [the Turkish people] cannot make that differentiation," he said.

Tan said he understood that the American Jewish organizations were just that - American Jewish organizations. But "we all know how they work in coordinating their efforts [with Israel]," he added.

Tan opted for an anecdote to illustrate his point, saying former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger once said he was first an American, then the secretary of state, and then a Jew. Golda Meir "told Kissinger: 'You know, Mr. Secretary, we read things from right to left.' This tells a lot about my case," Tan said.

The Turkish people "are waiting for this effort on the part of Israel to straighten out, to put this issue in perspective," he said.

While senior Israeli government officials said Sunday that Israel was trying to explain to Turkey that it did not control the American Jewish organizations, Tan did not accept that argument.

"On some issues there is no such thing as 'Israel cannot deliver‚'" he said, adding that this was one of those issues.

Tan, who served two terms in Washington in the 1990s and worked closely with American Jewish organizations on this issue, said Israel had proven its ability to deliver the organizations on this matter in the past.

While voicing no threats as to what would happen if Congress passed a resolution on this matter, Tan said Turkey - since the development of a close strategic relationship with Israel in the 1990s - had never "played with the basics of this whole relationship, with the basic fundamentals of this relationship." A reversal by the American Jewish community of its position on this matter, leading to the passage of the resolution in Congress, would be tantamount to playing with one of the fundamentals of this strategic relationship, he said.

Meanwhile, visiting Rep. Gary Ackerman (D.-New York) told the Post that were the resolution to come to the Congress today, "it would pass, I guess. There is lots of heavy lobbying on both sides. Some things are better left in the fuzzy area. Some think that not addressing this for the moment is the better deal, considering the consequences."

Nevertheless, Ackerman, a staunch supporter of Israel, said he had "been signed up on the bill for a long time."

"Those of us who have condemned genocide and ethnic cleansing and insisted on people accepting responsibility and learning from the lessons of the Holocaust... well, the Armenian Genocide is something we've said must be owned up to," he said.

The "complication is in the justice and timing," Ackerman said. "Turkey is a very important player, juxtaposed in many complicated issues now. Their government's cooperation is essential in a number of areas."

He said he had been lobbied by Turkish Jews on the matter, who had asked that the issue be resolved "in a different arena," not in Congress.

On the wider issue of the weight of Congressional resolutions, Ackerman said: "We're constantly shocked by the weight [attached to] the resolution. We don't take them [such resolutions] one-tenth as seriously as other people do. They don't have the force of law. If the Turkish parliament passed a resolution saying, 'Shame on you for stealing Manhattan'... we'd laugh it off. But then, of course, it doesn't rock our political boat."

Tan said that while he understood Congressional resolutions on this would have no real "teeth," the psychological importance was enormous. Accepting the resolution, he said, "means you deny the past, it means you say that my ancestors have done something inconceivable. And the people who will be encouraged by this will use it to set up a campaign against Turkey and the Turkish people."

Edited August 27, 2007 by Aratta-Kingdom

Aratta-Kingdom · August 27, 2007

Will The Jewish Run U.S. Congress Put End To Hypocrisy & Recognize The Armenian Genocide?

Aratta-Kingdom · August 28, 2007

American Chronicle, CA

Aug 26 2007

Will Watertown, MA Uproar Bring Abe Foxman Down?

William Hughes

August 26, 2007

`Man is the only animal that blushes--or needs to.' -- Mark Twain

What would we do without him? I'm talking about Abe Foxman, National

Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Although, he mostly

pretends to be one of the guys, he actually does have some super

abilities. Working 24/7, he functions like a One-Man Censor Board to

protect Americans from any ideas that might cause them to question

what the Israel Firsters, like himself, are really up to. He also can

perform as an attack dog, a real pit bull. Foxman recently

transformed himself into a First Amendment-basher, when he heard that

Professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt intended to

publish a book based on their critical study of `The Israel Lobby.'

(1)

Like `The Incredible Hulk,' it seems that when Foxman gets irritated,

(or panics), he turns himself into this bigger-than-life alter ego.

Also, if he is counterattacked, he appears to get even stronger. Go

figure! When the duo of Mearsheimer/Walt were scheduled to discuss

their newest literary effort at a Chicago venue, he sprang

immediately into action. Faster than you can say--'Ehud

Olmert'--their appearance was canceled! Score another one for

Wiseacre Foxman. (2)

Mearsheimer/Walt drew Foxman's ire for suggesting that the Israel

Lobby was not operating in our `national interest,' helped push the

country into the Iraqi War, and was looking to get the Bush-Cheney

Gang to attack Iran. (1) They also pointed out how the powerful

`Special Interest' had extracted over $140 billion from our national

treasury since 1948, while Israel was making countless enemies for

America in the Islamic World. For all of that, the Professors were

accused of promoting a `sinister thesis' by our pint-sized Hot Air

Blaster. ADL's web site charged that their analysis reeked of a

`classical conspiratorial' anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, Foxman had just got done ripping into the former President

of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He labeled him `a bigot' for

publishing his insightful tome: `Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.'

Some people think that Foxman's vicious assault on President Carter's

good name may have done his cause more harm than good. (3) Many

Americans, instead of jumping on Foxman's band wagon, saw him as an

arrogant schoolyard bully. Americans don't like bullies. They mostly

didn't appreciate the Mouthy One smearing Jimmy Carter, who had

served the nation honorably as a U.S. Naval Officer, as a Governor of

the great state of Georgia and as President. They knew, too, that

ex-President Carter had worked hard while in office to secure a just

and lasting peace in the Middle East. Also, since leaving the White

House, his conduct, like participating with `Habitat for Humanity,'

has been exemplary. Foxman, oblivious to the deep resentment he had

created after doing his Hatchet Job on President Carter, simply moved

onto to his next target--His Holiness Pope Benjamin XVI.

There are 64.4 million Roman Catholics in the U.S. But, you wouldn't

know it by the way Foxman has ripped into Pope Benjamin. He's jumped

him on a number of issues since he's taken office, including the fact

that His Holiness recently gave his approval of a return to use of

the Latin Mass by the faithful. At press time, it looks like Foxman

has prevailed again. The Vatican is backing off. It indicated that it

might change the wording of a prayer in the Latin Mass that the

self-appointed Policeman for Catholics has found `offensive.' (4) I

think it's amazing how Foxman knows everything that is going on

inside Vatican City, yet he failed to notice how his favorite

country, Israel, stands accused of `War Crimes' in Occupied Gaza and

Lebanon, in 2006, by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

(5) I suppose it's a case of selective amnesia. Even Know-It-Alls

have flaws. By the way, when is Foxman going to speak out about the

Israeli Occupation Forces' (IOF) killing, via a 9-ton bulldozer, of

Rachel Corrie, a justice activist from Olympia, WA (6), and their

slaughter, on June 8, 1967, of 34 Americans on the USS Liberty? (7)

Talking about flaws, I think it's fair to point out that Foxman can

push a lot of folks around with impunity, but he is not much of a

prophet. He predicted that Mel Gibson's film `The Passion of the

Christ,' was going to be a recruitment poster for anti-Semites. He

charged that it would `fuel anti-Semitism...and fan the flames of

hatred.' (8) Wrong! It turned out to be a pretty good movie

recreating the Bible story about the crucifixion of Christ. Period! I

thought it was done well. If anyone came off as a bad guy in the

flick, it was probably that compulsive hand-washer--Pontius Pilate.

There was also another incident, a few years back, that didn't help

Foxman's Holier-Than-Thou persona either. Dare I mention it? Okay, it

was the sleazy Marc Rich Fugitive-from-Justice-Pardon Affair. Foxman

was involved in that scandal right from the beginning. It was so

sordid that pundit Bill Safire was embarrassed enough to publicly

criticized the Super One. (9) The Marc Rich mess wasn't President

`Bubba Bill' Clinton's finest moment either. He's been able to

console himself, however, with the $10 million a year that he has

been taking in on the speakers' circuit. I wonder: Who would pay

megabucks to hear `Bubba Bill' rant? There were cries for Foxman to

resign over the scandal, but he declined.

Talking about Foxman's resignation, it has come up again! A brouhaha

recently surfaced over the refusal of the ADL to support a Town

Council Resolution in Watertown, MA. The measure called on the U.S.

Congress to use the word `Genocide' in pending legislation to

describe the killing of 1.5 million Armenians, between 1915-23, under

the reign of the Ottoman Turks. (10) A local ADL official, after

pangs of conscience, did, finally, come out in support of the

Resolution and Foxman quickly fired him. Supposedly, the ADL didn't

want to use the word `Genocide,' since it might offend Turkey, which

is a close ally of Ehud Olmert's Israel. Since Israel has to come

before the truth, Foxman wouldn't back the Resolution. Some labeled

his position, `morally indefensible,' and denounced him, too, as a

(gasp)-- `Genocide Denier!' At press time, Foxman, under intense

pressure, relented and acknowledged the `Armenian Genocide.' He

failed to indicate, however, whether the ADL would support the

pending Congressional Resolution. (11)

Watertown, MA also rejected, on Aug. 14, 2007, a program sponsored by

Foxman's group. It's entitled, `No Place for Hate.' This incident of

resistance by Watertown to the ADL, and to Foxman, is rare in an

America dominated by a half demented Bush-Cheney Gang, a complicit

corporate-controlled Mass Media, and a mostly cowardly U.S. Congress.

I think that it also does have some significant symbolic meaning.

Watertown is located just down the road from two places which are

steeped in the history of the American Republic and sacred to the

cause of Liberty--Concord and Lexington! The Revolution against

British rule began at those sites, on April 19,1775. That kind of

symbolism, naturally, will go right over Foxman's head, since his

first and only love is--Israel!

Finally, will feisty Watertown, MA go down in memory as the locale

which led to the fall of Mr. Smarty Pants--Foxman? Stay tune!

Notes:

1.

http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpap...06_011_walt.pdf

2. http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000914

3. `Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?' by James

Traub, NYT, Jan. 14, 2007.

4. http://www.adl.org/PresRele/VaticanJewish_96/5103_96.htm

5. http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/di...13767/index.php

6. http://www.rachelcorrie.org/

7. http://www.ussliberty.org/

8. http://www.webshells.com/adlwatch/news24.htm

9. http://www.adl.org/Interfaith/gibson_qa.asp

10.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/18/...bate-Firing.php

11. `ADL Chief Bows to Critics,' 08/22/07, Boston Globe.

William Hughes is a video and print journalist. His videos can be

found at: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2.

Email Contact: liamhughes@comcast.net.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/...articleID=36092

Aratta-Kingdom · August 28, 2007

Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)

August 21, 2007 Tuesday

Genocide denial 'reprehensible'

By David Perry, dperry@lowellsun.com

In an offshoot of the deep rift that has alienated regional

Anti-Defamation League officials from the national governing body,

local Armenians are moving to ask Lowell's City Council to renounce

its ties with the ADL's "No Place for Hate" campaign.

Pearl Teague of Lowell and the Merrimack Valley chapter of the

Armenian National Committee of America, said yesterday that a move is

under way to approach councilors to make them aware of the depth of

feeling within the local Armenian community.

The city adopted the ADL's campaign June 26, 2003, with a

proclamation by then-mayor Rita Mercier.

"No Place for Hate" was designed to by the ADL as a community

outreach program to promote tolerance and prevent hate crimes. The

program was adopted in Lowell with the Massachusetts Municipal

Association and the Indian-American Forum for Political Education. It

followed by six months a hate crime against three Indian students who

were assaulted and called "sons of Osama bin Laden."

But in the wake of the ADL's refusal to label as genocide the

massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I, local

Armenian-Americans are wondering how the ADL can promote tolerance

while not calling what happened in Armenia genocide.

"For a group such as the ADL to work on behalf of tolerance and

against hate, and to deny the genocide and the recognition of it, is

unkind," said Teague of the genocide. "Reprehensible. No one denies

the Jewish Holocaust, or what the British did to the Irish, or what

is happening in Darfur. 'No Place for Hate' should be a place where

you can stand up for justice. It shouldn't be tainted."

There is agreement that Armenians were massacred during World War I.

Historians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by

Ottoman Turks.

But the term genocide has caused a deep chasm between regional and

national branches of the Anti-Defamation League and angered

Armenian-Americans.

The ADL's New England regional director, Andrew Tarsy, publicly

disagreed with the national body last Thursday, calling the national

organization's stance "morally indefensible." He was fired Friday.

Two other members of the regional group have since resigned in

protest of Tarsy's firing and of the national organization's refusal

to recognize the Armenian genocide.

A week ago, Watertown's Town Council voted unanimously to rescind its

ties to "No Place for Hate," and other communities are considering

similar moves.

"I think Lowell is next," said Ara Jeknavorian of Chelmsford. "There

is a very active group of Armenian-Americans in the Merrimack

Valley."

Jeknavorian, a deacon at St. Vartanantz Armenian Church in

Chelmsford, said the genocide was "a horrific act" deeply ingrained

in the history and spirit of the Armenian people.

He estimated there are "about 2,500 to 3,000 people in the Merrimack

Valley who would identify themselves as Armenian-Americans."

The ADL, best-known for combating anti-Semitism, said in a written

statement that the group acknowledges "the massacres of Armenians at

the hands of the Ottoman Empire and called on Turkey to do more to

confront its past and reconcile with Armenia." It also said the ADL

must "protect the interest of the Jewish community in Turkey, work

for Israel's safety and security and combat extremism."

Turkey, a Muslim nation, has been a military ally to Israel, a rare

friend to Israel in the Arab world.

While historians and others have recognized the killings between 1915

and 1923 as genocide, Turkey has refused to characterize them as

such.

"What happened is fact, in black and white," said Jeknavorian. "It is

difficult to play politics with that. No one wants to be portrayed as

being capable of such a horrific event, but national pride should not

hide such an act."

Mercier, who remains a councilor, said yesterday that "this is the

first I'm learning of this and I'm not sure what to think."

Each April 24, a solemn ceremony at City Hall marks the Armenian

genocide. The city's Armenian organizations include The Armenian

Relief Society, which has raised money to aid those in the homeland

with education and earthquake relief.

Aratta-Kingdom · August 28, 2007

The Bostone Globe

August 27, 2007

Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director

By Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff

The national Anti-Defamation League rehired its New England regional director today, barely a week after firing him for publicly breaking with the national leadership and acknowledging the Armenian genocide that began in 1915.

The move to rehire Andrew H. Tarsy as regional director marked the second time in a week that the human rights organization has reversed course under pressure from the Jewish and Armenian-American communities. But Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL's national director, said he did not rehire Tarsy simply to appease critics.

What mattered, Foxman said in an interview with the Globe today, was that the two men "see eye to eye." Tarsy was rehired, effective immediately, after conversations held over the last week. Both men said they are now moving forward together, rather than apart, and were happy to put their public rift behind them.

Aratta-Kingdom · August 29, 2007

http://counterpunch.com/walsh08272007.html

CounterPunch

August 27 2007

Abe Foxman's Genocide Denial Roadshow, Part 2

ADL's Foxman's Forges Impossible Alliance of Armenians, Turks and

Boston-Area Jews

By JOHN V. WALSH

Last week CounterPunch was the only national outlet, to the best of

our knowledge, to report the disturbances caused in the Boston suburb

of Watertown over denial of the Armenian genocide by the national

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and its director, Abe Foxman. The

brouhaha was set off by an investigation into Watertown's

participation in "No Place for Hate," an "anti-bigotry" program of

uncertain origin. Mirabile dictu, the program turned out to be

sponsored by the national ADL which denies that the massacre of 1.5

million Armenians at the hands of the Turks from 1915 to 1923 amounted

to a genocide. This was quite disconcerting to the town mothers and

fathers since Watertown boasts an Armenian-American population in

excess of 8000. The town council met to consider the program and the

local director of ADL, one Andrew Tarsey, showed up to implore them

not to withdraw from the program. Met with boos and hisses by the duly

assembled Watertown citizenry, Tarsey beat a hasty retreat from the

Council chambers. The Watertown mothers and fathers then unanimously

voted to drop the ADL program.

The next day Tarsey, now in full rout, reversed his position, labeling

the killing of 1.5 million Armenians a genocide after all. Problem is

that this local ADL position contradicts the position of national ADL

headed by Abe Foxman, which persists in denying the Armenian genocide.

Foxman's solution - fire local ADL leader Tarsey. And for good

measure, he labeled the Watertown position as "bigoted," thus playing

the "race card." Obviously the Watertownians must be anti-Semites, a

charge Foxman cannot resist, if they will not sponsor an ADL program.

However, in a challenge to Foxman, the local ADL and Jewish

establishment, seeing their credibility slip sliding away here in the

Athens of America, decided to affirm the Armenian genocide.

But the House of Reps. in US Congress has a resolution pending with

227 co-sponsors (a clear majority) recognizing the Armenian genocide,

much to the consternation of Turkey, an ally of Israel's and also an

avid buyer of Israeli arms and an ally of the U.S. So what was Foxman

to do? Like Solomon, Foxman opted for a split decision, but unlike

Solomon, Foxman has tried to execute it. He said in Boston that he has

reversed his decision and the ADL now considers the Armenian massacre

"tantamount to genocide." ("Tantamount"?) But in Washington national

ADL will continue to oppose the Congressional resolution, recognizing

the Armenian genocide. So in Boston the massacre of Armenians is

genocide but in Washington it is not. What the status will be in NYC

or Baltimore, Foxman has yet to decide.

The Armenians, both locally and nationally, will have none of this.

They want the ADL to support the Congressional resolution recognizing

the Armenian genocide or else stand accused as genocide deniers. So

now both the Armenians and the local Boston ADL are at odds with

Foxman and national ADL.

Enter the Turks. They too have denounced Foxman for admitting genocide

in Boston even if he has not done so in Washington. And they are angry

about it. Foxman laid his original genocide denial at the feet of the

Turks, saying he feared for the safety of Jewish Turks if he crossed

the Turks. Friday the Turkish Foreign Ministry responded, "The Jewish

community in Turkey is part of our society, and its members do not

have any reason to worry." Clearly the Turks do not like Foxman's

accusations of anti-Semitism, any more than the Watertownians did. The

Turks then one-upped Foxman, claiming that his Boston recognition of

the Armenian genocide denies the special nature of the Holocaust. "We

consider the statement of the ADL as an injustice to the unique

character of the Holocaust, as well as to the memories of its

victims," the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Washington said in a

statement. "We expect it to be rectified." There you have it, Abe

Foxman, Holocaust denier! So Foxman now has accomplished what has

eluded diplomats for nearly a century, bringing Armenians and Turks

together - in this case in opposition to national ADL. And he has even

brought down a Turkish charge against his own proper respect for the

Holocaust!

Foxman of course is little more than an intellectual bully, sliming

with charges of anti-Semitism whomever dares challenge the policies of

Isreal. But his defamatory, anti-defamation league is in trouble.

Foxman's actions now put the fabled and hitherto invincible Isreali

Lobby on the line. The Turks certainly must have thought that the

Lobby could "deliver" Congress on genocide denial, and Foxman's ADL is

a key component of that Lobby. The Turks have already complained to

Israel about the ADL's Boston-Washington split decision. This is very

important to them, having hired both Dick Gephardt, former House

Majority Leader and Bob Livingston (Remember him?) former Speaker of

the House at considerable cost to get Congress on their side. So the

battle lines are drawn. CounterPunch will keep you posted.

John V. Walsh can be reached at John.Endwar@gmail.com.

Aratta-Kingdom · August 29, 2007

Holocausts vs Holocausts

The Independent

London

August 5, 2000, Saturday

by Robert Fisk

In the spring of 1993, with my car keys, I slowly unearthed a set of skulls

from the clay wall of a hill in northern Syria. I had been looking for the

evidence of a mass murder - the world's first genocide - for the previous

two days but it took a 101-year-old Armenian woman to locate the river bed

where her family were murdered in the First World War. The more I dug into

the hillside next to the Habur river, the more skulls slid from the earth,

bright white at first then, gradually, collapsing into paste as the cold,

wet air reached the calcium for the first time since their mass murder. The

teeth were unblemished - these were mostly young people - and the bones I

later found stretched behind them were strong. Backbones, femurs, joints, a

few of them laced with the remains of some kind of cord. There were dozens

of skeletons here. The more I dug away with my car keys, the more eye

sockets peered at me out of the clay. It was a place of horror.

In 1915, the world reacted with equal horror as news emerged from the dying

Ottoman Empire of the deliberate destruction of at least a million and a

half Christian Armenians. Their fate - the ethnic cleansing of this ancient

race from the lands of Turkey, the razing of their towns and churches, the

mass slaughter of their menfolk, the massacre of their women and children -

was denounced in Paris, London and Washington as a war crime. Tens of

thousands of Armenian women - often after mass rape by their Turkish guards

- were left to die of starvation with their children along the banks of the

Habur river near Deir ez-Zour, in what is today northern Syria. The few men

who survived were tied together and thrown into the river. Turkish

gendarmes would fire a bullet into one of them and his body would drag the

rest to their deaths. Their skulls - a few of them - were among the bones I

unearthed on that terrible afternoon seven years ago.

The deliberate nature of this slaughter was admitted by the then Turkish

leader, Enver *****, in a conversation with Henry Morgenthau, the US

ambassador in Constantinople, a Jewish-American diplomat whose vivid

reports to Washington in 1915 form an indictment of the greatest war crime

the modern world had ever known. Enver denounced the Armenians for siding

with Russia in its war with the Turks. But even the Germans, Ottoman

Turkey's ally in the First World War, condemned the atrocities; for it was

the Armenian civilian population which was cut down by the Turks. The

historian Arnold Toynbee, who worked for the Foreign Office during the war,

was to record the "atmosphere of horror" which lay over the abandoned

Armenian lands in the aftermath of the savagery. Men had been lined up on

bridges to have their throats cut and be thrown into rivers; in orchards

and fields, women and children had been knifed. Armenians had been shot by

the thousand, sometimes beaten to death with clubs. Earlier Turkish pogroms

against the Armenians of Asia Minor had been denounced by Lord Gladstone.

In the aftermath of the 1914-18 war, Winston Churchill was the most

eloquent in reminding the world of the Armenian Holocaust.

"In 1915 the Turkish Government began and ruthlessly carried out the

infamous general massacre and deportation of Armenians in Asia Minor,"

Churchill wrote in his magisterial volume four of The Great War. "... the

clearance of the race from Asia Minor was about as complete as such an act,

on a scale so great, could well be ... There is no reasonable doubt that

this crime was planned and executed for political reasons." Churchill

referred to the Turks as "war criminals" and wrote of their "massacring

uncounted thousands of helpless Armenians - men, women and children

together; whole districts blotted out in one administrative holocaust -

these were beyond human redress."

So Churchill himself, writing 80 years ago, used the word "holocaust" about

the Armenian massacres. I am not surprised. A few miles north of the site

where I had dug up those skulls, I found a complex of underground caves

beneath the Syrian desert. Thousands of Armenians had been driven into this

subterranean world in 1915 and Turkish gendarmes lit bonfires at the mouths

of the caves. The smoke was blown into the caves and the men were

asphyxiated. The caves were the world's first gas chambers. No wonder,

then, that Hitler is recorded as asking his generals - as he planned his

own numerically far more terrible holocaust - "Who does now remember the

Armenians?"

Could such a crime be denied? Could such an act of mass wickedness be

covered up? Or could it, as Hitler suggested, be forgotten? Could the

world's first holocaust - a painful irony, this - be half-acknowledged but

downgraded in the list of human bestiality as the dreadful 20th century

produced further acts of mass barbarity?

Alas, all this has come to pass. When I wrote about the Armenian massacres

in The Independent in 1993, the Turks denounced my article - as they have

countless books and investigations before and since - as a lie. Turkish

readers wrote to the editor to demand my dismissal from the paper. If

Armenian civilians had been killed, they wrote, this was a result of the

anarchy that existed in Ottoman Turkey in the First World War, civil chaos

in which countless Turks had died and in which Armenian paramilitaries had

deliberately taken the side of Tsarist Russia. The evidence of European

commissions into the massacres, the eye-witness accounts of Western

journalists at the later slaughter of Armenians at Smyrna - the present-day

holiday resort of Izmir where British sunbathers today have no idea of the

bloodbath that took place around their beaches - the denunciations of

Morgenthau and Churchill, are all dismissed as propaganda.

When a Holocaust conference was to be held in Israel, the Turkish

government objected to the inclusion of material on the Armenian slaughter.

Incredibly, Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel withdrew from the conference

after the Israeli foreign ministry said that it might damage

Israeli-Turkish relations. The conference went ahead, but only in miniature

form. In the United States, Turkey's powerful lobby groups attack

journalists or academics who suggest the Armenian genocide was fact.

Turkish ambassadors regularly write letters - which have appeared in all

British newspapers, even in the Israeli press - denying the truth of the

Armenian Holocaust. No one - save the Armenians - objects to this denial.

Scarcely a whimper comes from those who would, rightly, condemn any denial

of the Jewish Holocaust.

For Turkey - no longer the "sick man of Europe" - is courted by the Western

powers which so angrily condemned its cruelty in the last century. It is a

valued member of the Nato alliance - our ally in bombing Serbia last year -

the closest regional ally of Israel and a major buyer of US and French

weaponry. Just as we remained largely silent at the persecution of the

Kurds, so we prefer to ignore the world's first holocaust. While Britain's

massive contribution to the proposed Euphrates dam project in south-eastern

Turkey was in the balance, Tony Blair was not going to mention the Armenian

atrocities. Indeed, when this year he announced that Britain was to honour

an annual Holocaust Day, he made no mention of the Armenians. Holocaust

Day, it seems, was to be a Jewish-only affair. And it was to take a capital

"H" when it applied to the Jews.

I've always agreed with this. Mass ethnic slaughter on such a scale -

Hitler's murder of six million Jews - deserves a capital "H". But I also

believe that the genocide of other races merits a capital "H". Millions of

Jews - despite Wiesel's gutlessness and the shameful reaction of the

Israeli government - have shown common cause with the Armenians in their

suffering, acknowledging the 1915 massacres as the precursor of the "Shoah"

or Jewish Holocaust. Norman Finkelstein in his angry new book on the

"Holocaust industry" makes a similar point, adding that the Jewish

experience - both his parents were extermination camp survivors - should

not be allowed to diminish the genocide committed against other ethnic

groups in modern history. Indeed, the very word "genocide" was invented for

the Armenians in 1944 - by a Polish-born Jew, Raphael Lemkin.

Nor can I myself forget the Armenian Holocaust. The very last survivors of

that genocide are still - just - alive, and several of them live in Beirut

where I am based as Middle East correspondent of The Independent. I have

read extensively about and, occasionally, researched the Jewish Holocaust -

my own book about the Lebanese war, Pity the Nation, begins in Auschwitz,

where I found frozen lakes filled with the powdered bones of the dead from

the ashpits of Birkenau. But the Armenian Holocaust has been "my" story

because it is part of the Middle East's history as well as the world's.

Only this year, I interviewed Hartun, a 101-year-old blind Armenian in an

old people's home in East Beirut who remembered how, in the Syrian desert

in 1915, his mother pleaded with Turks not to rape her 18-year-old daughter

- Hartun's sister. "As she begged them not to take my sister, they beat her

to death," Hartun recalled. "I remember her dying, shouting 'Hartun,

Hartun, Hartun' over and over. When she was dead, they took my sister away

on a horse. I never saw her again." Hartun - after years of bitterness and

longing for revenge - was overcome with what he called "my Christian

belief" and decided to abandon the notion of vengeance. "When the Turkish

earthquake killed so many people last year," he told me, "I prayed for the

poor Turkish people."

It was a deeply moving example of compassion from a man whose suffering

those Turks will not admit and whose Holocaust we prefer to ignore. Stirred

partly by Hartun's story, I wrote an article for The Independent in January

of this year on the "sublimation" of the Armenian genocide, its wilful

denial by US academics who hold American university professorships funded

by the Turkish government, and the absence of any reference to the

Armenians in the British Government's announcement of Holocaust Day. And,

yes, I referred to the Armenian Holocaust - as I did to the Jewish

Holocaust - with a capital "H". Chatting to an Armenian acquaintance, I

mentioned that I had given the Armenian genocide the same capital "H" which

I believe should be attached to all acts of genocide.

Little could I have guessed how quickly the dead would rise from their

graves. When the article appeared in The Independent - a paper which has

never failed to dig into human wickedness visited upon every race and creed

- my references to the Jewish Holocaust remained with a capital "H". But

the Armenian Holocaust had been downgraded to a lower case "h". "Tell me,

Robert," my Armenian friend asked me in suppressed fury, "how do we

Armenians qualify for a capital 'H'? Didn't the Turks kill enough of us? Or

is it because we're not Jewish?"

There are no conspiracies on The Independent's subs desk; just a tough, no

-nonsense rule that our articles follow a grammatical "house style" and

conform to what is called "common usage". And the Jewish Holocaust, through

common usage, takes a capital "H". Other holocausts don't. No one is quite

sure why - the same practice is followed in newspapers and books all over

the world, although it has been the subject of debate in the United States,

not least by Finkelstein. Harvard turned down a professorial "Chair of

Holocaust and Cognate Studies" because academics objected to the genocide

of other groups (including the Armenians) being lumped together as

"cognate". But none of this answered the questions of my Armenian friend.

To have told him his people didn't qualify for a capital "H" would have

been shameful and insulting.

A debate then opened within The Independent. I wrote in a memo that the

word "holocaust" could be cheapened by over-use and exaggeration - take the

agency report last year which referred to the "holocaust" of wildlife after

an oil -spill on the French coast. But I said that I still had no answer

worthy of the question posed by my Armenian friend.

One of the paper's top wordsmiths was asked to comment - a grammatical

expert who regularly teases out the horrors of definition in an imperfect

and savage world. He cited Chambers Dictionary, which stated that the

Jewish Holocaust was "usually" capitalised. And, said our expert on the

paper, "It is in the nature of a proper noun to apply to only one thing."

Thus there may be many crusades but only one Crusade (the Middle Ages one).

There may be many cities but the City is London. Similarly the Renaissance.

"There can be only one Holocaust," he wrote. "Is the Holocaust really

unique? Yes. It was perpetrated by modern Europeans. Its purported

justification was a perversion of Darwin, one of the great thinkers of

modern Europe. Above all, in the gas chambers and crematoria it

manufactured death by modern industrial methods. The Holocaust says to

modern Western man that his technological mastery will not save him from

sin, but rather magnify the results of his sins. There have been acts of

genocide throughout history and some of them have killed more people than

the Nazis did, but we call the Nazi holocaust 'the Holocaust' because it is

our holocaust."

Must we, our grammarian asked, "commit grammatical faux pas and overturn an

accepted usage for which there is ample justification? Finally, where does

it end? Are, for instance, the crimes of Stalin against minority

nationalities in the Soviet Union not just as bad as the Armenian

slaughters? What of the Khmer Rouge? Rwanda? The Roman destruction of

Carthage? Are these also to be 'Holocausts'? If not, why not?"

Powerful arguments, but ones with which I disagreed. The Jewish Holocaust,

I wrote back, should be capitalised not because its victims were European

Jews, or those of any other race, but because its victims were human

beings. Human values, the right to life, the struggle against evil, are

universal - "not confined to Europeans or one ethnic or religious group, or

involving those who distorted Darwin's theories of biological evolution".

It was, after all, The Independent's editorial policy that the world must

fight against all atrocities - a belief which underlay our demand for

humanitarian action in East Timor and Kosovo. This did not mean that I

regarded Timor and Kosovo as holocausts, but that we should never accept

the idea that one group of victims had special status over others. I spend

hours telling Arabs that they must accept and acknowledge the facts of the

Jewish Holocaust, but if we are now to regard this as a specifically

European crime, as "our" crime, I have few arguments left. The Arabs can

say it is none of their business.

As for the question, "Where does it end?" Yes, what about Armenia? And

Rwanda? If Armenians are disqualified from a capital "H" because they only

lost one and a half million, what is Rwanda's sin of exclusion? Religion?

Race? Colour? When Armenians in Israel speak of their people's suffering,

they use the Hebrew word Shoah - which means Holocaust.

The Independent's editor suggested that we should debate these questions in

an article in the paper - this is the article - but the issues, of course,

remain unresolved. "Common usage" is a bane to all us journalists but it is

not sacred. It doesn't have to stand still. My father fought in what he

called the Great War - common usage which was later amended, after 1945, to

the First World War. Similarly, I believe, the Holocaust. In the aftermath

of my January remarks on the Armenian genocide, The Independent published a

denial of that same genocide by a Turkish Cypriot academic, in which we

printed the word Holocaust with a capital "H". The world did not end. The

Turks did not complain. Nor did any members of the Jewish community.

Indeed, only last year, a prominent academic at the Hebrew University's

Armenian studies programme in Israel talked of the Armenians and Jews

having "suffered holocaust".

In the meantime, Holocaust - or holocaust - denial continues. President

Chirac has declined to endorse the French parliament's acknowledgement of

the Armenian genocide and forthcoming Holocaust conferences have not

invited Armenians to participate. Mr Blair doesn't mention the destruction

of the Armenians. They don't count, literally. Common usage - and our

concern for Turkish sensitivities - has seen to that, even though genocide

is anything but normal. Germany dutifully acknowledges its historical guilt

for the wickedness of the Jewish Holocaust. Not so the Turks. Armenians

accept that a few Turks - courageous, outstanding men - risked their lives

in 1915 to shelter their Armenian friends and neighbours, just as

"righteous gentiles" did for the Jews of Europe. But Turkey cannot honour

these brave men. Since the Armenian Holocaust supposedly did not exist, nor

did they. A holocaust rather than a Holocaust helps to diminish the

suffering of the Armenians. What's in a name? What's in a capital letter?

How many other skulls lie beneath the sands of northern Syria? Did the

Turks not kill enough Armenians?

DominO123 · August 30, 2007

No amount of backpeddling will undo that this organization has no credibility remaining.

The Bostone Globe
August 27, 2007
Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director
By Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff

The national Anti-Defamation League rehired its New England regional director today, barely a week after firing him for publicly breaking with the national leadership and acknowledging the Armenian genocide that began in 1915.

The move to rehire Andrew H. Tarsy as regional director marked the second time in a week that the human rights organization has reversed course under pressure from the Jewish and Armenian-American communities. But Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL's national director, said he did not rehire Tarsy simply to appease critics.

What mattered, Foxman said in an interview with the Globe today, was that the two men "see eye to eye." Tarsy was rehired, effective immediately, after conversations held over the last week. Both men said they are now moving forward together, rather than apart, and were happy to put their public rift behind them.

Aratta-Kingdom · September 1, 2007

http://www.hairenik.com/armenianweekly/com09010704.htm

Turkey: the ‘Pinocchio’ of Anatolia (with apologies to the memory of Carlo Collodi)

The Armenian Weekly

By Michael G. Mensoian

Turkey and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) seem to be relying on the same tactic from their respective playbooks. The play is called “parsing” the truth. Unfortunately, parsing the truth to accommodate spurious ends can never be a winning play. Turkey has been doing just that ever since the Ottoman Turkish government began what was to be the “Final Solution of the Armenian Question” on April 24, 1915.

During the past several weeks, the ADL has been caught in the crossfire between acknowledging the truth and parsing the truth. They have gone from not recognizing the Armenian genocide to almost, but not quite recognizing the Armenian genocide, to the here and now when they may have to come out “four-square” and fully recognize the Armenian genocide. Their vacillation has been a public relations fiasco. Their action is remindful of the Yiddish proverb that “a half truth is a whole lie.” Only under pressure from responsible leaders in the Jewish community did the national ADL change its position. But even with their qualified recognition of the Armenian genocide, the ADL immediately sought to placate Turkey by assuring Ankara that it viewed the proposed House and Senate Resolutions recognizing the Armenian genocide as “counterproductive.”

The ADL’s almost, but not quite recognition of the Armenian genocide was more than sufficient to have the Turkish Foreign Ministry immediately condemn the ADL for attempting to rewrite history. The Ministry stated that “…there is no consensus among the historians on how to qualify the events…” Based on that contrived assumption, which has been refuted by eminent independent scholars throughout the world, the Turkish government maintains that the planned systematic killing of over 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children by the Ottoman-Turkish government cannot be called genocide because it is “…historically and legally baseless.”

In light of Turkey’s position, which their Foreign Ministry maintains is a “…very clear” expression of Turkey’s position, how can the ADL actually believe that its “…efforts to bring together Turkey and Armenia to resolve differences over their shared history” is a realistic proposal? It is ridiculous on its face. How naive must the leadership of the ADL be to expect Turkey to reconcile the overwhelming evidence that the genocide occurred with the lies and obfuscatory statements that its government has propagated since that fateful day on April 24, 1915? How can Turkish leaders admit to their citizens and to the world that Turkey has lived a lie for all of these years? Turkey is in a catch 22 situation. Name a country that would want to acknowledge perpetrating such a horrendous crime against humanity.

To further illustrate the dilemma the ADL faces in trying to serve two masters, they acknowledge that while “…independent scholars may have reached a consensus about the genocide, in an effort to help accomplish the reconciliation, there is room for further dispassionate scholarly examination…” If independent scholars have reached consensus on the genocide, who are the historians that the Turkish Foreign Ministry maintains have not reached consensus?

Answer: those historians on the Turkish government’s payroll. The ineptitude of its leadership has seriously eroded the ADL’s relevance and credibility.

In a further indication of its desperation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has taken up a new tack in hopes of influencing Israel and the Jewish diaspora. In an appeal to the human emotion, the Foreign Ministry suggests that recognition of the Armenian genocide by the ADL would do “…an injustice to the unique character of the Holocaust as well as to the memories of its victims [and] we expect it to be rectified.” Is Turkey implying that recognition of the Armenian genocide would overshadow the Holocaust? In any event, the ADL has only almost, but not quite recognized the Armenian genocide. One would hope that this Turkish appeal does not tap a valid concern for the ADL.

Then to allay any fears that the ADL or the Jewish nation worldwide might have for their compatriots in Turkey, the Foreign Ministry sought to preempt any such worries. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, “[t]he Jewish community in Turkey is part of our society and there is no reason for them to worry.” This seems to beg the question: Why should the Jewish minority have any reason to be concerned about their well-being? Could this concern be related to the dismal record Turkey has in the area of human rights? In remarks to the Jerusalem Post, the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, Namik Tan, said that Turkey’s relationship is not with Israel alone, but with the whole Jewish world. The Turkish people “…cannot make that differentiation.” How does that square with the Foreign Ministry’s assertion that there is no reason for the Jewish minority to worry?

For the ADL or Israel or any other organization or government to advance the simplistic notion that Armenia and Turkey should reconcile their differences surely misunderstands what these differences are. As long as Turkey maintains its intransigent stance, its government must expect that its credibility will be challenged and exposed in every venue available for as long as it may take. The passage of time has not diminished the Armenian demand for justice. Unfortunately for Turkey, the Armenian Cause lives and only strengthens in its intensity as it passes from generation to generation.

Reconciliation can only occur when Turkey realizes that the ever-increasing weight of global opinion will no longer tolerate its refusal to accept the evidence stored in government archives in London, Paris, Germany, Washington and Ankara itself that provides incontrovertible proof that the Armenian genocide was planned and carried out by the Ottoman-Turkish government from 1915 to 1918.

Numerous eye-witness accounts add further evidence to support the Armenian position as well as an ever increasing number of independent scholars who continue to shed more light on this dark and tragic period in modern history.

Every page, every hideous photograph, every first-hand account and every document supporting the Ottoman-Turkish government’s plan to effectively and efficiently carry out the “Final Solution to the Armenian Question” is well known to the Turkish government and its paid “revisionists.” It is unfortunate that this same information is as well known to those governments that are pliant accomplices to a Turkish government that has long been morally bankrupt.

Let us pray that the members of Congress who support House Resolution 106 and Senate Resolution 106 will continue to let truth to be their only guide as they work to pass these nonbinding resolutions recognizing the Armenian genocide. Their passage will represent a symbolic affirmation by the United States Congress in recognizing the Armenian genocide that will create seismic reverberations within the Turkish government. It is time for the United States to realize that Turkey is not the keystone to a world order as perceived in Washington. Passage of these resolutions would be one more step toward achieving the justice that will allow the martyrs of the Armenian genocide to finally rest in peace.

Aratta-Kingdom · September 7, 2007

In 2001, Shimon Peres, then Israel’s foreign minister said, “We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred. What the Armenians went through is a tragedy, but not genocide.”

In 2007 the same denialist peres says:

Armenian Genocide: Israeli leader calls to examine past but look ahead

06.09.2007

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “The past is historians’ business. No bill can change it,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said a meeting with Turkish, Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs when commenting on the Armenian issue and possible passage of the H. Res. 106 by the U.S. Congress.

In response to Ankara-forum chairman’s protest against the Anti-Defamation League’s decision on the Armenian Genocide, Mr Peres said, “No bill can change the past. History can be studied by historians only.”

“The work of politicians will be targeted at the future. To understand the value of the future one should properly examine the past,” he said, Anadoglu news agency reports.

I wonder what he would say to those who would advice him and all the jews around the world that...

"The past is historians' business. No bill can change it. No bill can change the past. History can be studied by historians only. The work of politicians will be targeted at the future. To understand the value of the future one should properly examine the past"

Aratta-Kingdom · September 8, 2007

Armenian group urges No Place For Hate action

By Patrick Ball

Bedford Minuteman

Thu Sep 06, 2007, 11:34 AM EDT

Bedford, Mass. -

By Patrick Ball

Staff Writer

The present state of Anti-Defamation League affairs, regarding the

organization's national stance on the Armenian genocide, has some

residents pushing for Bedford to revoke its ADL-sponsored No Place For

Hate designation to become no place for denial.

A group of area Armenian-American advocates at-large Tuesday urged the

Violence Prevention Coalition, which also serves at the No Place For

Hate advisory committee, to server ties with the Anti-Defamation

League until the organization unambiguously acknowledges the massacre

of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during WWI was a genocide and supports

Congressional affirmation of the genocide as such.

The committee No Place For Hate "should not wait for the ADL" to

reevaluate their stance at their Nov. 1 meeting, because "waiting is

showing tolerance toward hate," said Berge Jololian, a Cambridge

resident who's followed this issue since July.

The Violence Prevention Coalition is a local advisory committee and No

Place For Hate is one of the programs it advises on. Therefore, it is

not within the committee's purview to withdraw from No Place For Hate,

said Committee Chairwoman Sue Baldauf. Any decisions regarding No

Place For Hate would have to be made by the selectmen and Town

Manager.

Baldauf, who is also the director of Bedford Youth and Family

Services, informed the advocates she has been talking with the ADL

about the issue, and that she would "love to have a local program to

educate the community about the Armenian genocide."

After discussion the Armenian appeal, the VPC voted to recommend

selectmen to reconsider Bedford's status as a No Place For Hate

community because of the ADL's ambiguous stance on the Armenian

genocide.

"This is an emotional issue, and there is no precedent for a local

group like this to take a stand on an international issue that I know

of," Baldauf said.

The No Place For Hate program's stance relative to the ADL puts it in

a precarious position, said Baldauf, emphasizing that the committee's

decision is "not a statement against the No Place For Hate program at

all."

A group of Bedford residents first came together after finding out the

Armenian genocide issue would be discussed and "got the ball rolling

based on the events in surrounding communities," said Stephen

Dulgarian, of Bedford.

The group is circulating a petition requesting that the No Place For

Hate leadership "issues a public statement opposing Turkey's

state-sponsored campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide and call on its

sponsor, the Anti-Defamation League, through its National Director Mr.

Foxman, to openly and unequivocally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide

and support congressional affirmation of this crime against humanity."

Dulgarian said he is "pretty sure" the group plans to get on the

selectmen's Aug. 17 agenda.

>From 1915 to 1923, Ottoman Turks massacred as many as 1.5 million

Armenians. The Turkish government rebuffs the genocide label

Armenians, historians, and some European nations use to characterize

the killings.

This issue was brought to light by a July 6 letter in the Watertown

Tab. Just over a month later, the Watertown Town Council decided to

pull out of the No Place For Hate program in protest of the ADL's

refusal to recognize the massacre as genocide.

Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director, has flip-flopped on the

issue in recent months. First, he refused to recognize the massacre as

genocide and fired Andrew Tarsy, ADL's New England regional director,

for publicly opposing the organization's national stance. Then, less

than two weeks later, he acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and

rehired Tarsy. Still, Foxman adamantly opposes a Congressional

resolution. In an Aug. 21 press release, he said such a resolution

would be a "counterproductive diversion" that could put both the

"Turkish Jewish community and the important multilateral relationship

between Turkey, Israel and the United States" at risk.

Aratta-Kingdom · September 8, 2007

BREAKING: Commission advises Selectmen to pull out of No Place for Hate Program

By Cassie Norton

Belmont Citizen-Herald

Fri Sep 07, 2007, 01:22 PM EDT

Belmont, Mass. -

The Human Rights Commission voted unanimously to recommend to the

Board of Selectmen that Belmont withdraw from the No Place for Hate

Program and sever all ties with the Anti-Defamation League.

The committee cited the ADL's failure to unambiguously recognize the

Armenian Genocide and its continued opposition to Congressional

resolutions recognizing the genocide of hundreds of thousands

Armenians in the early 20th century.

"We very much like the No Place for Hate campaign," HRC chairwoman

Laurie Graham said in an interview. "It's a viable curriculum and

program. But the connection to the ADL makes it imperative that we

part with it."

She said the group's "sticking point" was the ADL's refusal to support

HR 106, a congressional bill which calls for the recognition of the

Armenian genocide in U.S. foreign policy.

Graham said if the selectmen vote to withdraw from the program, the

HRC and Belmont Against Racism are ready to create a new diversity and

tolerance education program.

Selectmen Paul Solomon and Dan Leclerc attended Thursday's meeting.

Leclerc said he wasn't ready to publicly state his views on the issue,

saying he wanted to hear the HRC's presentation without prejudice.

"You could say I'm in the process of processing it," Leclerc said.

Solomon said he was in total support of the HRC's position.

"This is in advance of the [selectmen's discussion]," he said, "but I

will support their stand."

Graham has already informed the Office of the Board of Selectmen and

the local branch of the ADL of the HRC's recommendation, and will be

drafting a letter explaining its position.

Town Administrator Tom Younger said the HRC will be on the agenda for

the Sept. 17 selectmen's meeting, unless the board decides otherwise.

The ADL has scheduled a meeting in November to discuss the No Place

for Hate program and the withdrawal of towns across the country in

support of Armenian-Americans and HR 106.

"We don't know what will happen at that meeting," Graham said, "but we

didn't want to wait that long to make our decision."

Around 100 residents of Belmont and a few neighboring towns attended

Thursday's meeting, which was held at the Town Hall Auditorium.

Several Belmont Armenian-Americans gave voice to their frustrations.

Pine Street resident Lenna Garibian spoke about her grandmother, who

was 5-years-old when Turkish soldiers came to her house and told her

to start walking. She did, with her mother and 3-year-old brother,

across the Syrian Desert.

Garibian's great-grandmother died on that long journey. Just before

she did, she told her daughter to take care of her little brother. She

tried, Garibian recounted, but somewhere along the way, her brother's

hand slipped from hers. The guilt haunted her until the end of her

days.

In her remarks to the HRC, she said no Armenian "should sit with a

revisionist Turkish historian... to discuss whether the genocide

happened or not. The world knows. Turkey knows. [ADL director] Abe

Foxman knows. This was a genocide."

"As Armenians, we are aware of our past, taught about our past," she

said in an interview. "I think [the HRC's decision] sets a good tone

moving forward, that Belmont will not tolerate an equivocation of the

truth, of justice."

She said she was pleased by the decision and by the support the

Armenian-Americans have received from the HRC and BAR.

"We'll take the good things from No Place for Hate, and there are a

lot of good things," she said, "and move forward with our own plan to

combat hatred."

She added that she was "optimistic that the selectmen will do the right thing."

Aratta-Kingdom · September 8, 2007

Blogger News Network

Spetember 7th, 2007

ADL's Abe Foxman Picketed At the 92nd Street Y

New York: September 6, 2007- Abe Foxman's limo circled the 92nd Street Y warily a couple of times

to give him a chance to survey the sene across the street. A group of 40 to 50 young Armenians and

Jews were protesting the Anti-Defarmation League's continued lobbying to have HR/SR 106 (a symbolic

Congressional resolution that recognizes the Armenian Genocide) die without a floor vote, at the behest

of Turkey.

Finally, Foxman ducked into the building to participate in a panel discussion on "anti-Semitism in the

modern world and its implications." Ironically, the discussion was moderated by Fordham Law Professor

Thane Rosenbaum, author of "The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What's

Right." The event had been sold out for days, so The Stiletto does not know whether Rosenbaum asked

Foxman why he failed to do the right thing in rocognizing the Armenian Genocide until several

communities in MA refused to accept the ADL's tolerance promotion program, "No Place For Hate" in

their schools.

Some protestors were holding handmade signs demanding that the ADL fire Foxman over his Armenian

Genocide denial, others were holding signs demanding that Foxman support HR/SR 106. Among the

slogans they chanted non-stop for more than an hour:

"Fox's bargain is a shame!

No more denial in our name."

"Gars, Auschwits, Rwanda Sudan.

Many a muder, when will it end?"

"What did Hitler say?

Who remembers the Armenians?

We do. We do. We do."

"ADL must support Resolution 106"

And ever popular:

"What do we want? Justice.

When do we want it? Now."

The stiletto caught up with a woman who gave her age as "60ish," just as she was about to enter the Y

to hear Foxman. She was interested in what Foxman had to say about "contemporary anti-Semitism."

Asked what she thought about the crowd protesting the ADL's Armenian Genocide denial, she mused,

"Does 'never again' mean for everyone for just for Jews?" She answered her own question: "It is

important for Jews to recognized the Genocide. We are conscious of other people's oppression. not just our

own."

As it was nearly 8:15 pm and the rest of the ticket-holders were scurrying inside so they could take their

seats before the evening's program got under way, The Stiletto crossed the street to meet some of the

protesters and find out why they opposed Foxman's positons on the Armenian Genocide and on HR/SR

106.

Aratta-Kingdom · September 10, 2007

Belmont Mass

No Place For Hypocrisy

Aratta-Kingdom · September 11, 2007

TURKISH BUSINESSMEN, ISRAELI PRESIDENT DISCUSS ARMENIAN QUESTION

European Armenian Federation, Belgium

source: Anadolu Ajansi

Anatolia News Agency

Brussels, 9 September 2007

JERUSALEM (A.A) -A group of Turkish businessmen, who are currently

in Jerusalem to attend the sixth meeting of "Ankara Forum", were

received on Wednesday by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Turkish businessmen, led by the Union of Chambers & Commodity Exchanges

of Turkey (TOBB) and Ankara Forum Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu,

voiced their complaints about the American Jewish organization

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) regarding its approach towards Armenian

question and incidents of 1915.

Abraham Foxman, the National Director of ADL, said earlier in a

statement that his organization had come to share the view that the

incidents of 1915 "were indeed tantamount to genocide," but added

that the organization maintained its opposition against bringing the

issue to Congressional floor.

Hisarciklioglu told Peres that domestic politics in USA grows in a way

that would harm relations between Turkey and the United States. He

said if the Armenian bill is adopted by the US Congress, relations

among some other countries would also come to harm.

"None of the laws can change history. History is for the

record. History can only be examined by historians," Peres replied.

Peres said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's

proposal is appropriate and that he supports this offer. Erdogan

earlier proposed to conduct a research by independent historians in

Ottoman archives on the incidents of 1915.

Hisarciklioglu also gave brief information to Peres about issues

discussed at Ankara Forum and their future projects in West Bank,

asking Peres to support their projects.

The sixth meeting of the "Ankara Forum", which brought together

representatives of Turkish, Israeli and Palestinian business world,

discussed Gaza industrial zone project and investments to be made in

West Bank.

Last meeting of the forum took place in Washington D.C. five months

ago.

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