A missed opportunity
I was extremely disappointed to hear that at its National Meeting, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) decided to take no further action on the issue of the Armenian genocide. This means that the ADL as a whole and not only its national director believe that it is acceptable for a human rights organization to help Turkey’s genocide denial campaign by opposing U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Before this meeting, I was willing to give the ADL the benefit of the doubt, and blame its hypocritical policy on ADL national director Abraham Foxman alone. Sadly, the ADL lost the opportunity to become the human rights organization it claims to be, and is not qualified to sponsor programs like No Place for Hate in our communities.
Jirayr Beugekian
Emerson Gardens Road
ADL agenda confirmed
On Nov. 2, the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced that it had “decided to take no further action on the issue of the Armenian genocide.” On Nov. 3, the Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts ADL representatives were satisfied with the outcome, as they were assured that the group’s earlier statements were “always intended to be an unequivocal acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide.”
No change in the Anti-Defamation League’s stance on the Armenian genocide means no change in the organization’s policy to oppose congressional affirmation of this crime against humanity. In fact, since the latest controversy in Massachusetts, various ADL representatives have met with Turkish government officials to assure them of the organization’s staunch support for their campaign against recognition of the genocide by the U.S. Congress. On Sept. 26, Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s national director, participated in a meeting honoring Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in which the latter openly engaged in denialist rhetoric.
It is no secret that the Anti-Defamation League has long been working on behalf of the Turkish government to undermine efforts to secure congressional affirmation of the Armenian genocide. As such, it has become a human rights organization that offers its services to a foreign government engaging in genocide denial. The ADL National Commission’s latest decision in favor of the status quo comes to confirm that the organization is determined to continue to abet Turkey’s denialist agenda, and it is a shame that its Massachusetts representatives have gone along with this verdict.
The Anti-Defamation League is supposed to be a human rights organization. It has chosen to continue to act as an agent of the Turkish government’s campaign of genocide denial. It follows that it can no longer be trusted to be involved with human rights issues in our towns and cities. Because of these reasons, I thank the Lexington Board of Selectmen for dissociating our town from the ADL.
Lilian Mahrokhian M.D.
Marrett Road
Lexington Minuteman: Letters to the Editor Published on November 22, 2007
