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Heritage Florida Jewish News
Aug 23 2007
Genocide controversy rages in Boston
Andrew Tarsy was fired as head of the ADL's Boston office after
publicly challenging the organization's position on the Armenian
genocide.
By Ben Harris
NEW YORK (JTA) - A fierce feud has erupted between the Anti-Defamation
League and Boston-area donors over the organization's firing of its
regional director and refusal to call the World War I massacres of
Armenians a genocide.
The ADL last week fired Andrew Tarsy, the head of its New England
office, after he publicly called the organization's stance on the
Armenian massacres `morally indefensible.' In subsequent days, Tarsy
has drawn support from members of the ADL's New England regional
board and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.
In addition, several prominent Jewish communal figures in
Boston - including a former AIPAC chairman, the chairman of Americans
for Peace Now and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz - have either
voiced support for Tarsy's side or directly criticized the ADL.
The ADL has been under fire since the Armenian community in
Watertown, Mass., one of the country's largest, began agitating to
have the town rescind its participation in a popular anti-bigotry
program the ADL sponsors, `No Place for Hate.' On Aug. 14, the Town
Council unanimously voted to end its relationship with the program,
and other Massachusetts communities are reported to be considering
similar moves. Watertown's Armenian community was piqued by the ADL's
longtime refusal to support legislation pending in Congress that
would recognize the massacres as genocide. The ADL's regional board
is reported to be supporting the resolution, but the organization's
national director, Abraham Foxman, has refused to support the
measure, which is vigorously opposed by Turkey, Israel's closest
Muslim ally.
Foxman and Glen Lewy, the ADL's national chair, responded to the
controversy in a 3-page letter in which they rejected the regional
board's call to retain Tarsy as `impossible to honor.' While ADL
employees are not required to abandon their personal beliefs, the
letter said, they should resign if they are unable to carry forth the
organization's policies. Boston's regional board was due to meet
Wednesday to discuss further measures, according to its chairman,
James Rudolph.
Foxman has said that the genocide question should be resolved by
historians, and in a statement to be published as an advertisement in
regional newspapers this week, the ADL called the legislation
`counterproductive.' While he has previously acknowledged that
concern for the safety of Turkey's Jewish community is a factor in
his thinking, the letter to the Boston board provides the clearest
glimpse yet of the difficulties inherent in balancing the ADL's
universal commitment to human rights and the particular needs of the
Jewish community.
We recognize that `we are a Jewish agency whose mission is to work
for the community while paying attention to the more universal goals
we share with others,' the letter states. `And when those two
elements of our mission come into direct conflict, we do not abandon
the Jewish community.' For some, that position reflects a narrow,
short-term perspective.
`National ADL has adopted a policy which is consistent with what it
has done on other issues, which simply disregards morality believing
that the highest interest is what it conceives as the short-term
interest of Israel,' said Franklin Fisher, a Bostonian and the
national chair of Americans for Peace Now, who stressed that he was
speaking on behalf of himself, and not his organization.
`I think that's a disgraceful way to behave, and I think it's
extremely short-sighted in terms of the long-term interests of the
Jewish People and the long-term interests of Israel,' Fisher said.
`We must not take the position that we will take the side of anybody
who does anything if they are willing to have a decent position as
regards Israel. In the long run that makes us terribly unpopular.'
The ADL' s policy and the firing have sparked widespread outrage in
Boston, where the Jewish and Armenian communities have good
relations.
The Boston Globe reported Monday that two members of the ADL's
regional board have resigned. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz
co-wrote an op-ed in Saturday's Globe describing the ADL's regional
board as `courageous and correct' to affirm the genocide. Steven
Grossman, a former chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee and a former member of ADL's regional board, reportedly
called the firing `a vindictive, intolerant, and destructive act'
that would harm the organization's fundraising. The Boston Jewish
Community Relations Council, of which ADL is a member, issued a
statement affirming its position on the genocide and expressing
support for Tarsy and the ADL's regional board.
Aug 23 2007
Genocide controversy rages in Boston
Andrew Tarsy was fired as head of the ADL's Boston office after
publicly challenging the organization's position on the Armenian
genocide.
By Ben Harris
NEW YORK (JTA) - A fierce feud has erupted between the Anti-Defamation
League and Boston-area donors over the organization's firing of its
regional director and refusal to call the World War I massacres of
Armenians a genocide.
The ADL last week fired Andrew Tarsy, the head of its New England
office, after he publicly called the organization's stance on the
Armenian massacres `morally indefensible.' In subsequent days, Tarsy
has drawn support from members of the ADL's New England regional
board and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.
In addition, several prominent Jewish communal figures in
Boston - including a former AIPAC chairman, the chairman of Americans
for Peace Now and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz - have either
voiced support for Tarsy's side or directly criticized the ADL.
The ADL has been under fire since the Armenian community in
Watertown, Mass., one of the country's largest, began agitating to
have the town rescind its participation in a popular anti-bigotry
program the ADL sponsors, `No Place for Hate.' On Aug. 14, the Town
Council unanimously voted to end its relationship with the program,
and other Massachusetts communities are reported to be considering
similar moves. Watertown's Armenian community was piqued by the ADL's
longtime refusal to support legislation pending in Congress that
would recognize the massacres as genocide. The ADL's regional board
is reported to be supporting the resolution, but the organization's
national director, Abraham Foxman, has refused to support the
measure, which is vigorously opposed by Turkey, Israel's closest
Muslim ally.
Foxman and Glen Lewy, the ADL's national chair, responded to the
controversy in a 3-page letter in which they rejected the regional
board's call to retain Tarsy as `impossible to honor.' While ADL
employees are not required to abandon their personal beliefs, the
letter said, they should resign if they are unable to carry forth the
organization's policies. Boston's regional board was due to meet
Wednesday to discuss further measures, according to its chairman,
James Rudolph.
Foxman has said that the genocide question should be resolved by
historians, and in a statement to be published as an advertisement in
regional newspapers this week, the ADL called the legislation
`counterproductive.' While he has previously acknowledged that
concern for the safety of Turkey's Jewish community is a factor in
his thinking, the letter to the Boston board provides the clearest
glimpse yet of the difficulties inherent in balancing the ADL's
universal commitment to human rights and the particular needs of the
Jewish community.
We recognize that `we are a Jewish agency whose mission is to work
for the community while paying attention to the more universal goals
we share with others,' the letter states. `And when those two
elements of our mission come into direct conflict, we do not abandon
the Jewish community.' For some, that position reflects a narrow,
short-term perspective.
`National ADL has adopted a policy which is consistent with what it
has done on other issues, which simply disregards morality believing
that the highest interest is what it conceives as the short-term
interest of Israel,' said Franklin Fisher, a Bostonian and the
national chair of Americans for Peace Now, who stressed that he was
speaking on behalf of himself, and not his organization.
`I think that's a disgraceful way to behave, and I think it's
extremely short-sighted in terms of the long-term interests of the
Jewish People and the long-term interests of Israel,' Fisher said.
`We must not take the position that we will take the side of anybody
who does anything if they are willing to have a decent position as
regards Israel. In the long run that makes us terribly unpopular.'
The ADL' s policy and the firing have sparked widespread outrage in
Boston, where the Jewish and Armenian communities have good
relations.
The Boston Globe reported Monday that two members of the ADL's
regional board have resigned. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz
co-wrote an op-ed in Saturday's Globe describing the ADL's regional
board as `courageous and correct' to affirm the genocide. Steven
Grossman, a former chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee and a former member of ADL's regional board, reportedly
called the firing `a vindictive, intolerant, and destructive act'
that would harm the organization's fundraising. The Boston Jewish
Community Relations Council, of which ADL is a member, issued a
statement affirming its position on the genocide and expressing
support for Tarsy and the ADL's regional board.