Armenian Reporter: Needham, Mass., a battleground in the ADL-“No Place for Hate” controversy, receives a lesson on understanding the Genocide

April 26, 2008

By Ara Nazarian

Needham, Mass. -- A panel discussion titled “Understanding the Armenian Genocide and its Impact in 2008” took place on the evening of April 7 at Needham High School’s Media Center. More than 60 people came out to the event organized by the Needham Human Rights Committee (HRC) in conjunction with local Armenians, to provide the community-at-large with a better understanding of the events surrounding and following the Armenian Genocide. Needham is one of the Massachusetts towns that severed its ties with the “No Place for Hate” program on the basis of its affiliation with Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the latter’s refusal to unequivocally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and cease its behind-the-scenes lobbying against the recognition of the Genocide on behalf of the Turkish government.

The Needham HRC convened three times over the subject, and was host to some of the more spirited debates on the issue of severing relationships with the “No Place for Hate” program. The April 7 panel discussion was moderated by Ruth Thomasian, director of the Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives. The evening started with a screening of the documentary “The Road to Redemption: Memories of the 1915 Armenian Genocide,” produced by the Genocide Archive Project, which presented the audience with an overview of the Armenian Genocide and featured interviews with a number of Genocide survivors who had settled in Massachusetts. (This documentary was produced as part of the 90th anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in the Greater Boston area.)

Henry Theriault, associate professor of Philosophy at Worcester State College, spoke of his research focusing on genocide and human rights. He specifically addressed the history of genocide through the ages and leading to today, and touched on common themes in all cases. Following Dr. Theriault, Sharistan Melkonian and George Aghjayan of the Armenian National Committee (chairs of the Eastern and Central Massachusetts chapters, respectively) spoke on the need to continue the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and updated the audience on the current status of the House/Senate Resolutions 106.