Human rights for all, not just some
This letter is in response to Sherman Grossman’s letter to the editor of Nov. 22, in which he allegedly accuses Armenian-Americans of anti-Semitism. I can assure you this is about exposing hypocrisy of a human rights organization, the Anti-Defamation League, and seeking truth on an issue. It is about fair treatment.
Many Jewish genocide scholars and individuals have supported Armenian-Americans on this issue; therefore, this is not an issue of anti-Semitism. A human rights organization should strive for human rights for all, not just those they choose. You are being bullied and threatened by the Turkish government if you believe they will injure Jews in Turkey. Remember, Turkey is trying to gain entrance to the European Union, and I’m positive they would not want to hurt their world image by tangling with Israel or Jews in Turkey.
Since Needham’s Human Rights Committee sent a letter of inquiry to the ADL, they should have responded in writing to the Human Rights Committee. We now have nothing written. Verbally, anything can be said.
This is about genocide denial, and other labels should not be attached.
Dorothy Esperian
Great Plain Avenue
Break ties with genocide-deniers
Although no one called the slaughter of Armenians as genocide because the word was not coined until 20 years later, the word “holocaust” has been widely used since the 17th century. Before World War II, the word “holocaust” was used by Winston Churchill and others to describe the Armenian Genocide.
Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent, created the word “genocide” to describe what had happened to the Armenians. Lemkin explained that the Turks committed genocide with intent to annihilate.
The Anti-Defamation League’s recent alleged acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide, describing it as “consequence” of WWI, and “tantamount to genocide,” imply that Turkey did not intend to kill Armenians. The ADL knowingly contravened the UN’s official 1948 definition of genocide, which uses the word “intent” not “consequence.”
The world doesn’t take seriously what American Jewish leaders have to say about the 6 million, not when it sees that same Jewish leaders lobby the U.S. Congress against genocide affirmation, and quiet everyone over the murders of 1.5 million other innocents.
Rabbi Hillel said it best: “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
Is the town of Needham Human Rights Committee remain associated with the genocide-denier ADL? If so, it is time to suspend ties and send a strong message that hate crimes are not tolerated.
Berge Jololian
Cambridge
Needham Times: Letters to the Editor Published on December 5
