Σε μια στιγμή που η Ελλάδα κινείται προς την κατεύθυνση της ακύρωσης της γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων και των Αρμενίων του Πόντου και της Μικράς Ασίας με το προς ψήφιση “ρατσιστικό” νομοσχέδιο του κ. Αθανασίου, η ισχυρότερη εβραϊκή οργάνωση στον κόσμο, η Anti-Defamation
League, αναγνώρισε τη γενοκτονία των Αρμενίων. Αν αντί να υπονομεύουμε
τον αγώνα, είχαμε δουλέψει σωστά και με στρατηγική κι εμείς οι Έλληνες,
θα ακολουθούσε η αναγνώριση και της γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων του Πόντου
και της Μικράς Ασίας!
After years of denial, Foxman recognizes Armenian Genocide
After years of equivocation, Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman has publicly acknowledged that the Turkish massacres of the Armenian people constituted genocide, Asbarez Newsreports.
After years of equivocation, Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman has publicly acknowledged that the Turkish massacres of the Armenian people constituted genocide, Asbarez Newsreports.
This recognition comes after a seven-year campaign in which the Armenian and Jewish communities, as well as human rights activists and local officials, demanded that the ADL affirm this historical truth.
In remarks delivered at Suffolk University Law School’s
commencement on May 17, Foxman stated, “Had there been people of
courage to act in 1915 when the Armenian genocide was taking place, had
there been international intervention when massacres in Cambodia,
Bosnia, and the genocide in Rwanda were happening, innocent lives in
great numbers could have been saved.”
The announcement that Foxman would deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary degree
unleashed widespread criticism that the university planned to honor a
man who refused to issue a clear statement on the Armenian Genocide and
who actively lobbied against its recognition.
Groups
including the Suffolk chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Suffolk
student organizations, the Armenian Bar Association, Suffolk alumni, and
others called on Suffolk to rescind its invitation. When Suffolk
refused, several faculty members carried small Armenian flags in silent
protest onto the stage where Foxman spoke.
Foxman’s Suffolk remarks stand in contrast to the
ADL’s 2007 statement that the “consequences” of the Turkish
government’s actions were “tantamount to genocide.” The Armenian
community and its supporters rejected that statement as its qualifiers
circumvented the intent required by the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
An ADL
statement one year later that alleged it had “referred to those
massacres and atrocities as genocide” was likewise rebuffed as it only
“referred” to the unacceptable 2007 statement. Recent claims by Foxman and the ADL that this 2008 release clearly and unequivocally acknowledged the Armenian Genocide are false.
Since that time, human rights activists have continued to press the ADL for an unequivocal acknowledgement, as well as an end to its lobbying for the Turkish government to prevent passage of a Congressional Resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide.
“Abe
Foxman’s reference to the Armenian massacres as genocide, without any
qualifiers, is a welcome change,” stated Herman Purutyan, Massachusetts
chair of the Armenian Assembly of America. “Even though Foxman continues
to assert that he had previously acknowledged the genocide, the basis
for his claims are a chain of statements, at the root of which is the
2007 statement full of qualifications, intended to obfuscate the
question. We expect that Foxman’s statement at Suffolk is not only his
personal view, but that it also reflects ADL’s official position. ADL
should confirm this by publishing an unequivocal statement on its
website, and joining in the efforts to have the U. S. Congress recognize the Armenian Genocide by passing the resolution currently before it.”
Foxman’s
remarks reflected growing support by Jewish organizations for
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In March, ADL New England Regional
Director Robert Trestan was quoted stating that the ADL “now fully
recognizes the Armenian genocide without reservation.”
The
following month, the American Jewish Committee issued a release that
read, “We pause in mournful tribute to the memories of the estimated 1.5
million victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of Armenians,
committed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.” Describing the
genocide as “an unspeakable crime against humanity,” the AJC called upon
the Turkish government to confront the truth. ”
Finally,
the Israeli Knesset discussed recognition of the Armenian Genocide at a
plenum on May 13. A motion by the left-wing Meretz party to recognize
the genocide before its 100th anniversary next year received support
from across the political spectrum, including from the rightist
coalition government.
“These
reversals of position by major Jewish organizations are quite
significant for all those committed to recognition of the genocides of
the past century,” stated Dikran Kaligian, chairman of the Armenian
National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts. “No longer will Turkey be
able to exploit the differences between the positions of these
organizations’ leadership and their membership — the vast majority of whom want nothing to do with Turkey’s genocide denial campaign.”
Locally,
the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian Genocide was established in
2008 to foster communication between the Armenian and Jewish communities
and to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide within the Jewish
community. Its objectives include advocating for official recognition of
the genocide by the United States government. Coalition members include
representatives from the Armenian National Committee of America and the
Armenian Assembly of America.
The
coalition facilitated contacts between Armenian activists and members of
the ADL and created an online petition calling on Congress to recognize
the Armenian Genocide that has gathered over 21,000 signatures to date.
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