MY WIFE HELEN EPSTEIN IS OUT OF TOWN TONIGHT BUT THIS ISSUE IS SO
IMPORTANT TO HER THAT SHE ASKED ME TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT FOR HER:
It may be politically expedient to deny the Armenian genocide but it's morally wrong.
As a writer, HELEN supports novelist Orhan Pamuk and other courageous Turkish artists and writers who have told the truth about the Armenian genocide and paid dearly for it.
As the daughter of Czech Jews whose families were murdered during the Holocaust, she understands not only the facts of destruction of life, culture and community but the long-term psychological ramifications of genocide and the healing power of validation.
When natural disasters like earthquakes or floods occur, our sympathy goes naturally to their victims. But when human beings perpetrate disaster, we are more reluctant.. " It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator," writes Judith Lewis Herman. The perpetrator asks nothing of us but to be silent. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain, The victim demands action, engagement and remembering.
The head of the ADL has chosen not to do this. As a Jew who understands what this means, HELEN urges that No Place for Hate sever ties with the ADL.
AS A JEW WHOSE PARENTS SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST IN RUMANIA, I, TOO, ASK THAT NO PLACE FOR HATE SEVER TIES WITH THE ADL.
October 15, 2007
Lexington, MA
Statement by Helen Epstein & Patrick Mehr at Lexington Board of Selectmen Meeting: October 15, 2007
