Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts
47 Nichols Avenue
Watertown MA 02472
617-926-1918
ancem@hotmail.com
For Immediate Release
September 24, 2008
Contact: 617-347-2833
WATERTOWN TOWN COUNCIL CALLS ON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TO DISSASSOCIATE WITH CONTROVERSIAL ADL PROGRAM
Unanimously votes to call on the National ADL to End its Opposition to Armenian Genocide Reaffirmation
WATERTOWN, MA—The Watertown Town Council unanimously voted last night in support of a resolution calling on Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Massachusetts to ends its endorsement of the Anti Defamation League's (ADL) controversial No Place for Hate (NPFH) program, citing the ADL's opposition to Armenian Genocide affirmation efforts, reported the Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts (ANCM).The resolution, introduced by Councilors Marilyn Petitto Devaney, Stephen Corbett, and Mark Sideris, was taken up during a regular Town Council session, which was moved in advance to the Watertown Middle School to accommodate the growing interest in this scandal.
The vote on the resolution was prefaced by the reading of a brief statement by Jay Curley, BCBS’s Senior Vice President for Public, Government and Regulatory Affairs, who was present at the Council’s request. Following Mr. Curley’s statement, all nine Town Council members asked detailed questions regarding the BCBS position.
BCBS’s Curley said that Blue Cross “firmly believes there can be no ambiguity about the genocide” and that it should not be hidden under confusing language. Curley, however, announced that BCBS intended to continue its partnership with the ADL “based on assurances” [that the ADL has recognized the Armenian genocide.] He followed that by stating that if BCBS finds out that is not the case, “we will withdraw support."
When asked by Councilor Corbett if this assurance was written or verbal, Curley said that they were verbal, noting that the assurances came from the New England ADL and that they were followed up by a letter from Foxman, which was "perfectly clear and unambiguous to us." Curley noted, however that BCBS was “disappointed” with the tone and tenor of the communication from Foxman.
The communication in question is the August 22, 2008, ADL letter that was buried on its web page and signed solely by its national director, Abraham Foxman, stating, “ADL has never denied the tragic and painful events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians, and we have referred to those massacres and atrocities as genocide.” This letter goes on to falsely accuse those who are working to end genocide denial of “demonizing” opponents of Armenian Genocide reaffirmation.
Councilor Devaney noted that BCBS’s “continued affiliation with ADL means not only complicity in genocide denial but also is clear discrimination.”
In addition, Councilor Vincent Piccirilli told Curley that citizens “of Watertown are somewhat dismayed with the talking around the issue and the failure to come clean.”
When asked by Councilor Sideris if BCBS would help get an unequivocal statement from the ADL on the Armenian Genocide, Curly responded, that getting involved in national politics “is not something we do.”
Councilor Jonathan Hecht answered by stating that by continuing to play these games, BCBS was undermining the effort to prevent future genocides.”
“The Watertown Town Council has taken a principled stand in calling for corporations to adhere to basic human rights principles,” stated ANCM chairperson Sharistan Melkonian. “It is unfortunate that Blue Cross Blue Shield finds the ADL’s disingenuous August 2008 statement as satisfactory when in fact it clearly indicates that the ADL is unwilling to come out with a simple, clear, unambiguous statement acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. We thank the Council and in particular Councilors Corbett, Sideris, and Devaney for their leadership and for sending a strong message to Blue Cross that human rights are absolute.”
Yesterday, twenty-five Armenian organizations and churches sent an open letter to BCBS Chairman Cleve Killingsworth calling on BCBS to end its endorsement of the ADL’s NPFH program.
“The ADL simply cannot portray itself as a universal human rights organization while it engages in genocide denial,” the letter read. “The ADL has an existential contradiction between its two missions as a human rights organization and as an ethnic advocacy group. Whenever these two purposes conflict, the ADL prioritizes its advocacy interests – not human rights. Acknowledging this contradiction, Mr. Foxman admitted, ‘there are two moral issues, but one trumps the other.’”
The Watertown Town Council passed a second resolution last night calling for a representative of the National ADL to appear before the Council at a future date.
Background
The ADL has for many years refused to acknowledge that the systematic massacre of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 was genocide. To make matters worse, the ADL has actively engaged in efforts to oppose Congressional affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.
Only after intense pressure which started in Watertown, Massachusetts during the summer of 2007, did the national ADL issue its “Statement on the Armenian Genocide” referred to above. In addition, the ADL remains on the record opposing Armenian Genocide legislation (including the pending H.Res.106 / S.Res.106), arguing that short term geopolitical considerations related to Turkey-Israel-US relations should take precedence over the moral imperative of condemning genocide whenever and wherever it occurs.
The ADL convened its national meeting in New York City in early November 2007 at which time the issue of the Armenian Genocide was discussed. Upon conclusion, a one sentence press statement was issued that “The National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today, at its annual meeting, decided to take no further action on the issue of the Armenian genocide.”
The controversy first came to light on July 6 when the Watertown Tab published a letter that spotlighted ADL national director Abe Foxman's statements opposing Congressional Armenian Genocide legislation. The letter asked the local "No Place For Hate" chapter to disassociate itself from the ADL. NPFH is a national trademark of the national ADL.
The situation intensified in an explosive August 1 front page Boston Globe article in which the Armenian National Committee condemned Foxman's genocide denial and stated that the ANC would "call for the Watertown 'No Place for Hate' program to sever its ties with the ADL unless it denounces Foxman's position and acknowledges the genocide."
Later a community petition called on the Watertown No Place for Hate committee "in keeping with its principles" to urge the ADL to unambiguously acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and support Congressional affirmation.
Watertown then became the first town to end its relationship with the No Place for Hate Program by a unanimous vote of the Town Council, which set the stage for numerous other public meetings in communities throughout Massachusetts, where this issue was brought to the attention of human rights commissions and town and city councils.
Watertown was followed by twelve other Massachusetts municipalities including Belmont, Newton, Arlington, Northampton, Bedford, Lexington, Westwood, Medford, Needham, Newburyport, Somerville, and Peabody.
For complete information about the ADL controversy surrounding the Armenian Genocide visit www.noplacefordenial.com
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