Kudos to mayor and Human Rights Commission
As an Armenian-American and a public servant in Massachusetts, I would like to express my deep gratitude and humble thanks to the city of Newton's Human Rights Commission and Mayor David Cohen for demonstrating leadership while weighing the merits of the city's continued involvement in the Anti-Defamation League's "No Place for Hate" Program.
Both the mayor and the commission members allowed for an open and inclusive process during their deliberations, exercising an incredible amount of respect, tolerance and patience toward the many citizens who asked to have their voices heard on this issue.
I applaud their hard work, compassion and commitment to the truth.
Peter J. Koutoujian
State Representative
10th Middlesex District
Thanks to Cohen and the Human Rights Commission
Thank you to Newton's Human Rights Commission and to Mayor David Cohen for having the integrity and courage to end the city's relationship with the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate program (Newton TAB, Sept. 19, 2007). While the program has clearly been beneficial to the city in the past, Cohen is correct when he says, "People of conscience need to stand up and acknowledge the historic fact of genocide." National ADL is playing games with words and what happened to Armenians; this is cynical, dishonest and hypocritical. We all must be more aware of what our words and actions do to others throughout the world.
So thank you, Commission members and Mayor Cohen, for helping to keep
Newton and ADL more honest and aware.
Angela Nielsen
Wood End Road
Uncompromising litmus test for ADL is a mistake
Mayor David Cohen and the Human Rights Commission for the city made a terrible decision when they decided to end Newton's involvement with ADL's No Place for Hate program. The ADL's No Place for Hate program encourages participants to learn to respect the differences among members of society, a message that the mayor and the commission have clearly failed to learn.
To start with, the ADL has always condemned the treatment of Armenians by the Turks during the World War I era despite TAB writer Chrissie Long's statement that the ADL was an organization that "rejected one of the greatest hate crimes in history." It is unfortunate that a professional writer would make such a false statement.
Further, after the ADL's position on the Armenian tragedy was criticized this summer, the ADL agreed to change its official statement on the issue. The ADL changed its position to state that Turkey's treatment of the Armenians was "tantamount to genocide."
The ADL's new statement might not be exactly what the mayor or the commission might like, but the mayor and the commission have taken a statement by the ADL that acknowledges genocide and instead has treated the ADL as if it rejected the term genocide.
It is sad to see the mayor and the commission establish an uncompromising litmus test for the ADL. Clearly the mayor and the commission's actions fail to demonstrate the respect and understanding of differences among members of society that a Human Rights Commission is supposed to embrace.
Neither the mayor nor the commission have brought any honor to the city of Newton through their actions. I am sure I am not the only one who will not forget the mayor's actions when the next election comes around.
Arthur Jackson
West Newton
Teaching diversity is only way to stop hate
I have recently been informed of and researched myself the Armenian Genocide, the Anti-Defamation League, and the No Place for Hate program, and I truly believe you need to rethink separating from NPFH organization for many reasons.
Firstly, I would like to say as a Jew that I am very informed about the horrors of the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide. I am able to understand the severity of 1.5 million people, and I truly believe that an attempted extermination of any peoples should never be overlooked. But in the horrors of today's world I believe that teaching children about anti-hate is far more important.
I am a sophomore at Newton North High School, and from personal experience, teaching children about diversity is the only way to stop hate. Every person, no matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status or any other trait that sets themselves apart from the views our society and government send us, has the same value in the world as the next person, and trying to get everyone to realize this at a young age is one of the most important things in the world. To advance as a civilization all types of people must work together, and to work together hate cannot be an issue in our
community.
"Who remembers the Armenians" by Chrissie Long is an article well worth reading. What I got out of it was that Peter Bilezikian, an Armenian Genocide survivor, wants to stop concentrating on the past and start looking towards the future. I believe that he acknowledges the genocide of his people, but dwelling in the past is no way to live in the future. We must look forward and stop the hate that shapes our society poorly today.
We as a community need to learn about caring for one another to create a better society, but what we must do most of all is prove that the tens of millions of people killed for being different have not died in vain.
Philip Kirschner
Newton North sophomore
Source: Newton Tab
Newton Tab Letters to the Editor: Published October 2 2007
