By Andy Turpin
BELMONT, Mass. (A.W.) —On Oct. 2, Armenian-American activists and concerned citizens gathered at the First Armenian Church in Belmont to recount the recent turn of events involving the Anti Defamation League (ADL), their position on the Armenian genocide and the Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Congress.
Video footage—available on www.noplacefordenial.com—of the town hall meetings in Watertown, Belmont and Newton were shown to the audience. Those towns voted to rescind their ties with the ADL in August and September.
Rev. Gregory Haroutunian of the First Armenian Church gave opening remarks, expressing his near-disbelief—and pride—over the successes made by the Armenian community. “We stand at a truly historic moment as Armenian-Americans,” he said. “If you had said to me two months ago that my own town of Belmont would rather stand with the Armenians than receive funds, I’d have been incredulous.”
Lenna Garibian acted as moderator, and thanked the audience for their active engagement during the past few months in calling on the ADL to recognize the genocide. She noted that on Oct. 10, the House Foreign Relations Committee would convene to discuss pushing forward the H.Res.106 on the floor. “Civic engagement is at the heart of our democracy,” she said. “It may very well be a deciding moment in genocide recognition.”
Henry Theriault, associate professor of philosophy at Worcester State College, thanked the activists who organized the meeting and continue to inform the community and push forward the issues, saying, “I’d like to think I’m standing behind them and not speaking for them.” In a brief talk titled “The Ethical Challenges of Human Rights Advocacy,” he reminded the audience that denial—one of one’s history, of a genocide—is not a normal state of being. “We sometimes forget that denial is fundamentally wrong. It’s sometimes non-Armenians, in their rage, that remind us of that,” he said.
He recapped the debate with the ADL and reminded the audience that genocide denial is a form of hate speech. “It is very much the kind of hate speech that I expected the ADL to be against,” he said. Instead, the ADL has turned into “a crass lobbying machine” over the past few years, and was only recently forced to do “damage control”—which it did, by ambiguously recognizing the genocide. “This is a crisis for them,” he said. “There are good people in the ADL who want to do the right thing and are being prevented by their leadership, we’ve seen them.” Theriault argued that because the ADL has lobbied for so long against the resolution, it now has a moral obligation to reverse the damage it’s done by actively lobbying for its passage.
He addressed the ADL’s running public line that recognition of the genocide by Congress would endanger the Turkish-Jewish community or contribute to further destabilization relations with Israel. “A Turkish government willing to do this to the Armenians is not a good partner for peace or mutual protection,” he said.
Theriault also cited former Ambassador John Evans’ recall from his post after using the “g-word” to describe the Armenian genocide, and argued that the passing of the Genocide Resolution “would protect representatives in our government who just want to speak the truth.”
Jewish academic Dr. Jack Nusan Porter, treasurer of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), spoke next, quipping, “Someone said I looked Armenian. I took that as a compliment.”
He prefaced, “I am a child of survivors. I lost 25 members of my family in the Holocaust.” Porter noted that there is a mountain of evidence proving the Armenian genocide occurred, though he said, “Nobody listens to us as scholars. It’s the politicians who take this to a much higher level.”
Recounting the attempts to pass the Genocide Resolution in Congress in 1999, and the political intrigue involved then and now in Washington, Porter explained in real terms how “Over $4.5 billion of attack helicopters would be in jeopardy if Congress signed the bill. It’s been raised to a much higher level than just the ADL.”
Yet, he said, “Most of the Jewish community is with you. Maybe not the leaders, but the rank and file. God bless you, I think you’ll win.”
Five community activists spoke next, relating their efforts over the past two months to have their towns cease participation in the ADL-sponsored NPFH program. David Boyajian of Newton said, “Perhaps the most important word for today is activism. Each of you is a one-person army. If the cause is a good one, people will join.” He condemned the ADL’s statement, released in August, calling the murders of the Armenians by the Turkish government “tantamount to genocide.” “The ADL has not yet recognized the Genocide by international law,” he explained. “They clearly received expert advice in wording that statement by using the word ‘consequences’ that were ‘tantamount to genocide,’ thus indicating that there may not have been ‘intent’ on the part of the Turkish government.”
“The ADL can no longer be described as a human rights organization,” he chided. “It has done continuous damage to Armenians and genocide awareness.” While the ADL has condemned the genocide in Darfur, apparently, Boyajian said, “the ADL recognizes every genocide, except the Armenian genocide.”
Activist Narini Badalian of Watertown recounted her experiences recently in New York protesting Abe Foxman alongside Jewish groups such as Jewcy. She summarized the victories achieved thus far by the Armenian community against the ADL, and those still to be achieved, when she said, “This was thrown, I repeat thrown, upon our hometowns. I am from Watertown, but I am also from Newton, from Belmont and from Arlington when I stand against injustice. And I hope soon I will be from Bedford and from Brookline.”
Activist Laura Boghosian of Lexington spoke of her town’s recent meeting, when “so many people showed up, the selectman were forced to move the meeting.” She said that a counter-petition to the town’s decision not to sever ties with the ADL was circulating in the high school there. She also referenced a closed-door meeting with ADL New England regional director Andrew Tarsy and ADL representatives. Boghosian stated, “Three of us showed up, much to their surprise. We are looking into whether this was a violation of public meeting laws.” The Lexington NPFH decision appears to be a direct contradiction to the state’s open meeting “sunshine” law defined as "every board, commission, committee or subcommittee of any district, city, region or town, however elected, appointed or otherwise constituted.” The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law makes it clear that "a governmental body cannot circumvent the Law by delegating public business to a subcommittee."
Activist Luder Tavit Sahagian of Needham read a letter drafted by Armenians in Needham, to be submitted to the Needham Times, titled, “Is Needham Complicit in Genocide Denial?”
Sahagian noted, “Sadly, the ADL is still treated with deference and reverence by our town.” Though on a positive note, he said, “Until our community’s efforts, only 5 percent of Needhamites knew about the reality of the Armenian genocide.” Now almost everyone does.
Activist Sevag Arzoumanian said, “Arlington is another battlefield town whose meeting is coming up on Oct. 15. It’s going to be a key meeting and most likely will have a public forum session.”
Massachusetts State Representative Peter Koutoujian spoke about a recent State House meeting convened to discuss a divestment bill from funds that support the genocide in Darfur. Koutoujian had proposed a more aggressive counter bill that would not be specific to Sudan, but rather all genocide high-risk zones in the future. “My piece of legislation kept it relevant,” he said, so that it would always be relevant. I was outraged. I forced a role call vote. It didn’t pass, but I made a statement.”
“This is not only about Armenians,” he concluded. “This is about the Irish and the Great Hunger, it’s about the Sudanese right now. But we can’t win this with only our community.”
Noubar Afeyan of the Armenian Assembly of America Board of Trustees spoke next. He referenced Iran’s past conference on debating the “historical truth of the Holocaust.” He stated, “What’s remarkable is the ADL’s coverage of that conference—a conference of denial. The irony and hypocrisy runs deep in the words and actions of the ADL.”
Chairperson of the ANC of Massachusetts Sharistan Melkonian said, “The ADL has, unfortunately, for years collaborated with a major human rights violator—the government of Turkey—in contradiction to its own charter and mission, to engage in actions which disqualify them from having the right to teach our children about tolerance.”
She added, “Second, the ADL actively opposes the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress. I did not say that the ADL opposes the genocide resolution. No. The ADL actively engages in efforts to defeat the Armenain Genocide Resolution. We are not talking about whether or not the ADL crosses the fine lobbying line set out by the IRS. We are in fact talking about an international human rights organization that engages in efforts to oppose proper recognition of the Armenian Genocide. That is not a tax issue. It is a moral issue.”
Dikran Kaligian, chairman of the ANC Eastern U.S., spoke about the power of the grassroots activism during the past few months. “People are listening,” he said. “Not just the ADL but all the defense contractors, all the ethnic organizations are seeing the consequences of taking the wrong position on the Armenian genocide.”
Forum Retains Anti-Denial Steam for Coming Fights
