Submitted: August 1, 2007
To the editor:
Abraham Foxman's contention that his Anti-Defamation League (ADL) should not be the arbiter of history" by acknowledging the historicity of the Armenian genocide ("Anti-bias effort stirs anger in Watertown," Wednesday, Aug. 1) is at best disingenuous, at worst craven self-interest. The ADL has not remained neutral on the issue of the Armenian genocide, as Foxman implies, it has, in fact, lobbied determinedly to keep the U.S. Congress and international bodies from labeling Turkey's acts what they were. If the ADL was true to its original mission and Turkey was not of political importance to Israel's leaders it would surely be at the head of the line in denouncing genocide wherever it exists or existed. Further, if anyone were to side-step the issue of whether the Holocaust really happened by refusing to be "the arbiter of history," Foxman and the ADL would (appropriately) be apoplectic. Watertown and all other cities and towns with "No Place for Hate" programs should sever all ties with the ADL at least until its New England Region assertively denounces its national director's hateful positions.
Martin R. Federman
Co-chair, Jewish Voice for Peace, Boston
2007.08.01 -- Jewish Voice for Peace Letter to the Boston Globe
