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ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH
Stephen Silver
North Star Writers Group
August 27, 2007
The Anti-Defamation League did its part to right a historical wrong
this week. But was it too little, too late?
The ADL, probably the most influential group representing the Jewish
community in the United States, announced in mid-August that its
position is now to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. This comes as a
reversal of the organization's previous position, which was to take no
position, and to argue that the question is best left to historians,
not to Congress. It's yet another case of events from many decades
ago having a profound effect on the debates of today.
The occasion for the controversy is a resolution, currently pending
in Congress, that would make it the official policy of the U.S. to
recognize the Armenian genocide - a massacre of over a million members
of the Armenian ethnic minority by the Ottoman Turks that took place
during World War I, beginning in 1915. Armenian-Americans have pushed
for years for the U.S. to recognize the genocide, while the Turkish
government, as well as Turkish-American groups, have opposed it,
taking the position that what took place was not genocide, but rather
simply casualties of war.
The position of ADL head Abraham Foxman was opposed by many voices
from within the Jewish community, including the ADL's Boston-area
director, who spoke out and was fired for his trouble. And prior to
the position switch, Foxman's resignation has been called for by the
online magazine Jewcy.com, specifically its wonderfully-written and
even more wonderfully-named blog, The Daily Schvitz.
What's the rationale for opposing the resolution, which the ADL
continues to do? The idea is that Turkey is a rare majority-Muslim ally
of both the U.S. and Israel, and antagonizing them is counterproductive
- especially in regard to events that took place over 90 years ago
and can never be undone.
Much like the U.S. reluctance to move towards an independent Kurdistan,
despite it being probably the best move for both the Kurds and us,
the reluctance to recognize the 1915 genocide is yet another case
of a potential ally being reluctant to put pressure on Turkey. As
one of the few Muslim democracies, Turkey - despite their refusal
to cooperate in regard to the Kurds or the Armenians - is a valuable
ally for the West in the war on terrorism.
Foxman, who has been with the ADL since 1965 and its head since
1987, has often found himself at the center of controversy in recent
years. Foxman, depending on your point of view, is either a gutless
liberal, a cold-hearted conservative or neither. He's been called
"Likud's point man in Washington" by the left-leaning alternative
weekly New York Press, but found himself on the opposite side from
the cultural right during the "Passion of the Christ" controversy,
when Foxman and the ADL argued - correctly, we now know - that both
the film and its creator were anti-Semites.
The answer is simply that Foxman is the leader of an interest group,
and he acts in most cases in what he feels represents the interests of
the group itself and its constituents. These involve coming down on the
left in some situations, and on the right in others. But considering
that these controversies have become more and more common, and more
and more indefensible from Foxman's side - first Foxman's lobbying
for the Marc Rich pardon, and now this - perhaps it's time for some
new blood at the top of the ADL.
What's not right is to prescribe ulterior motives to the ADL and other
Jewish groups who have simply made the wrong call. In a great piece
in the New Republic earlier this month about the various lobbying
maneuvering behind the Armenian genocide, Michael Crowley quoted an
observer as saying that, "Jewish groups don't want to give up their
ownership of the term genocide."
But that's not quite true either. After all, the American-Jewish
community has been among the most vocal in the world in regard to
ending the killing in Darfur. And the Armenian genocide has a unique
connection to the Holocaust itself: Adolf Hitler is said by historians
to have pointed to the ambivalence of most of the world to the killing
of the Armenians, and decided that he could then mount a genocide of
his own.
The genocide of the Armenians did indeed take place, historians find
nearly unanimously, and Turkey needs to come to grips with its past and
apologize for it. And it's time America, and interest groups within
it, push for the resolution to acknowledge this, and put pressure on
Turkey to do so as well.
Stephen Silver
North Star Writers Group
August 27, 2007
The Anti-Defamation League did its part to right a historical wrong
this week. But was it too little, too late?
The ADL, probably the most influential group representing the Jewish
community in the United States, announced in mid-August that its
position is now to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. This comes as a
reversal of the organization's previous position, which was to take no
position, and to argue that the question is best left to historians,
not to Congress. It's yet another case of events from many decades
ago having a profound effect on the debates of today.
The occasion for the controversy is a resolution, currently pending
in Congress, that would make it the official policy of the U.S. to
recognize the Armenian genocide - a massacre of over a million members
of the Armenian ethnic minority by the Ottoman Turks that took place
during World War I, beginning in 1915. Armenian-Americans have pushed
for years for the U.S. to recognize the genocide, while the Turkish
government, as well as Turkish-American groups, have opposed it,
taking the position that what took place was not genocide, but rather
simply casualties of war.
The position of ADL head Abraham Foxman was opposed by many voices
from within the Jewish community, including the ADL's Boston-area
director, who spoke out and was fired for his trouble. And prior to
the position switch, Foxman's resignation has been called for by the
online magazine Jewcy.com, specifically its wonderfully-written and
even more wonderfully-named blog, The Daily Schvitz.
What's the rationale for opposing the resolution, which the ADL
continues to do? The idea is that Turkey is a rare majority-Muslim ally
of both the U.S. and Israel, and antagonizing them is counterproductive
- especially in regard to events that took place over 90 years ago
and can never be undone.
Much like the U.S. reluctance to move towards an independent Kurdistan,
despite it being probably the best move for both the Kurds and us,
the reluctance to recognize the 1915 genocide is yet another case
of a potential ally being reluctant to put pressure on Turkey. As
one of the few Muslim democracies, Turkey - despite their refusal
to cooperate in regard to the Kurds or the Armenians - is a valuable
ally for the West in the war on terrorism.
Foxman, who has been with the ADL since 1965 and its head since
1987, has often found himself at the center of controversy in recent
years. Foxman, depending on your point of view, is either a gutless
liberal, a cold-hearted conservative or neither. He's been called
"Likud's point man in Washington" by the left-leaning alternative
weekly New York Press, but found himself on the opposite side from
the cultural right during the "Passion of the Christ" controversy,
when Foxman and the ADL argued - correctly, we now know - that both
the film and its creator were anti-Semites.
The answer is simply that Foxman is the leader of an interest group,
and he acts in most cases in what he feels represents the interests of
the group itself and its constituents. These involve coming down on the
left in some situations, and on the right in others. But considering
that these controversies have become more and more common, and more
and more indefensible from Foxman's side - first Foxman's lobbying
for the Marc Rich pardon, and now this - perhaps it's time for some
new blood at the top of the ADL.
What's not right is to prescribe ulterior motives to the ADL and other
Jewish groups who have simply made the wrong call. In a great piece
in the New Republic earlier this month about the various lobbying
maneuvering behind the Armenian genocide, Michael Crowley quoted an
observer as saying that, "Jewish groups don't want to give up their
ownership of the term genocide."
But that's not quite true either. After all, the American-Jewish
community has been among the most vocal in the world in regard to
ending the killing in Darfur. And the Armenian genocide has a unique
connection to the Holocaust itself: Adolf Hitler is said by historians
to have pointed to the ambivalence of most of the world to the killing
of the Armenians, and decided that he could then mount a genocide of
his own.
The genocide of the Armenians did indeed take place, historians find
nearly unanimously, and Turkey needs to come to grips with its past and
apologize for it. And it's time America, and interest groups within
it, push for the resolution to acknowledge this, and put pressure on
Turkey to do so as well.