Watertown TAB, Sept. 21, 2007
Letter
I welcome the September 11, 2007 statement of the Massachusetts Municipal Association which “calls on the national ADL to support the Congressional Resolution” on the Armenian genocide. The MMA had “partnered” with ADL in “founding” the state’s No Place for Hate program.
But the MMA should have cut ties to ADL immediately rather than giving it at least until November to comply.
Moreover, contrary to MMA’s statement, ADL’s alleged recognition last month of the Armenian genocide was clearly designed to contravene the UN’s official definition of genocide.
Jewish American grassroots have been our biggest supporters. But may I be frank?
Suppose NPFH’s sponsor denied or diminished the Holocaust – not the Armenian genocide - and opposed the many Congressional resolutions on it. MMA would, on its own initiative, have denounced and dumped such a sponsor months or years ago.
Thus, MMA, whose statement also claims that its NPFH programs fight “ethnic and religious discrimination,” apparently considers Armenians and their genocide to be second rate. Discrimination is against the law and actionable.
ADL claims it cannot decide on Congress’s Armenian resolutions until after its national meeting in November. But ADL’s original anti-Armenian policies couldn’t have been formulated publicly at such a national meeting, otherwise ADL rank and file would have known of, and loudly protested, them years ago. No, top national ADL leaders concocted those anti-Armenian policies. Therefore, they can just as easily reverse them tomorrow.
I won’t discuss whether the funding and other goodies that ADL provides to NPFH and other Massachusetts programs played a role in MMA’s flawed statement.
Sincerely,
David Boyajian
Newton, MA
MMA Should Have Cut Ties to ADL Immediately
