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Armenian Genocide: Boston Guitarist Alex Baboian on Family’s Horror

July 2, 2016 By administrator

Pope visit 333By Claudio Lavanga,

YEREVAN, Armenia — It took only one word to turn the life of American jazz musician Alex Baboian upside down: genocide.

The 28-year-old was born and learned to play guitar in Boston — and it was also there that he found out about his ancestors’ painful past.

Historians agree around 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Armenians are still fighting to get this event universally recognized, however, with Turkey maintaining the deaths happened in the fog of the war amid the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire.

This controversy was highlighted last month after Pope Francis used the word “genocide” for the second time in as many years while on a visit to the former Soviet republic.

“My great-grandparents were from Armenia, but I was too young when they died and knew very little about them,” Baboian told NBC News during the pontiff”s visit. “So I asked my grandmother. That’s when the word ‘genocide’ hit home.”

Baboian had never heard about his own family’s suffering. His grandmother told him a story that her own mother had only spoken of once, before never mentioning it again.

“Armenians are proud people,” he said. “It’s not part of our character to sit around and talk about the fact that our great-grandparents were murdered and raped and tortured, and the people who escaped, took their stories to their graves.”

Baboian was among the 480,000 people with Armenian ancestry living in America, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2011.

Many of these are descended from families who fled the massacre.

The story Baboian’s grandmother told him spurred a move back to the home of his ancestors two years ago. He still spends time there but now lives mainly in Berlin, Germany, where he makes a living as a musician.

The story began in 1915, around the time Ottoman Turkish troops started rounding up and deport ethnic Armenians. Soldiers stormed Baboian’s great-grandmother’s town, killing her parents in front of her and telling her and her siblings they would be relocated.

Instead, they were sent on one of the many “death marches,” in which Armenians were forced out into the desert or into the mountains and left to die. In the space of few years, up to 1.5 million people died of hunger, thirst or exhaustion, or were murdered along the way.

But Baboian’s great-grandmother survived, managing to walk 1,500 miles to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. On the way, however, her little sister was kidnapped and she never saw or heard from her again.

Today, Armenia is still suffering widespread social issues. Despite some economic reforms since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it has an unemployment rate of almost 18 percent — compared with 5.5 percent in the U.S..

Its population of nearly 3 million is still slightly shrinking, but the 1990s mass exodus in the years following the separation from Moscow has slowed.

Groups such as Birthright Armenia, a non-profit organization that has offices in Yerevan and Pennsylvania, are encouraging the country’s diaspora to reconnect with their roots.

But the worldwide struggle to get universal recognition for the term “genocide” is still a source of anger for many of those inside the country and abroad.

A growing list of nations, including Canada, France, Russia and most recently Germany, have said they recognize the killings as a genocide. Barack Obama used the term as a presidential candidate in 2008 but he and his administration have since drawn criticism for using more ambiguous language.

The Armenian National Committee of America says Washington is “fearful of offending Turkey,” which is one of Washington’s key NATO allies.

Kim Kardashian, perhaps Armenia’s most famous daughter, visited her ancestral homeland just weeks before the 100th anniversary of the killings last year. She made no mention of the event but campaigners hoped it would draw attention to their plight.

The Vatican is among those who recognize the genocide and Pope Francis used the term during the 100-year commemorations last year. His said it again after landing in the capital Yerevan on June 24.

But for Baboian words are not enough.

“I don’t care if the pope or other leaders recognize it was genocide. I know, we all know it was genocide, I don’t need other to tell us,” Baboian said. “I want justice, some kind of action being taken. For instance, the boycott of Turkey until they finally accept that what they did was ethnic cleansing.”

Only a few hundred yards away, at the end of his address in Yerevan’s main square the pope urged Armenia and Turkey to seek reconciliation and to shun “the illusory power of vengeance.”

Source:nbcnews.com

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Alex, armenian genocide, Baboian, BOSTON, Guitarist

USA Boston: The Cardinal O’Malley honors the victims of the Armenian Genocide

April 24, 2016 By administrator

arton125322-480x320The soft sound of the duduk, the national instrument of Armenia, enveloped the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at the start of a prayer service was held on the eve of the 101th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley led the ecumenical service which marks the first time the recognition by the Archdiocese of Boston genocide that killed 1.5 million people.

“It is so important that we do not allow the events of the genocide to slip into oblivion,” said Cardinal O’Malley, addressing nearly 800 people seated on benches.

“The one million and a half of life are not forgotten. . . . One of the fruits of their martyrdom is the accumulation of the love that unites us, “he added.

Sunday, April 24, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: armenian genocide, BOSTON, honors, The Cardinal O'Malley, victims

Boston Protest at Turkish Consulate in on April 24, 2016

April 17, 2016 By administrator

PROTEST-2Armenian Genocide Commemoration at Armenian Heritage Park 

On April 24, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) “Sardarabad” Gomideh and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter will hold a protest at the Turkish Consulate in Boston to demand reparations for the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman-Turkish government in 1915-23. Although the main theme of the demonstration is the demand for recognition and reparations for the genocide, the protesters will also address the recent attacks by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), which violated a 20-year-long ceasefire established in 1994. Turkey, which “stands with Azerbaijan to the end,” as stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, clearly supports the recent Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh that began overnight on April 1-2.

Protesters will arrive in front of the Turkish Consulate—located at 31 St. James Ave., in Boston—by bus at 1:30 p.m., where they will deliver a letter stating their demands. The demonstration will last about an hour and will be followed by a procession from the consulate to the Armenian Heritage Park, where protesters will join the 101st commemoration of the Armenian Genocide starting at 3 p.m.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) “Sardarabad” Gomideh and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter urge the local Armenian community to join them in this rally to demand justice for the 1.5 million lives lost at the hands of the Turkish government, and for the reparations owed to the Armenian people who were forcibly driven from their homeland.

Buses will depart from the St. Stephens and St. James churches in Watertown at 12:15 p.m. immediately following church services, and will return from Boston at the conclusion of the vigil at the Armenian Heritage Park.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: aprile-24, BOSTON, Protest, Turkish Consulate

How a tweet brought down a Boston billboard denying the #ArmenianGenocide in a day

April 10, 2016 By administrator

Jeremy Koo snapped this picture of an ad that appeared in the North End. When a Somerville resident tweeted it, outrage spread.

Jeremy Koo snapped this picture of an ad that appeared in the North End. When a Somerville resident tweeted it, outrage spread.

April 7 The outrage machine could have started anywhere, but it started with a tweet.

After outrage quickly spread online, a billboard in Boston from a group denying the Armenian genocide had a remarkably short run this week.

It appeared in the North End Tuesday night. By mid-morning Thursday the billboard’s owner Clear Channel Outdoor peeled it away and replaced it with an Ad Council spot promoting adoption.

It featured the words “Truth = Peace” and a link to the site FactCheckArmenia.com and the statement: “Proudly paid for by the Turkic platform, Istanbul.”

Clear Channel spokesman Jason King later said the ad had been “placed there in error.”

RELATED: Boston’s newest holiday tradition: Labyrinth peace walk at Armenian Heritage Park

A Twitter firestorm about the ad could have started anywhere, but it started with Somerville’s Elizabeth Weinbloom.

Horrific billboard in Boston's North End, denying the Armenian Genocide. @marty_walsh, do something. @universalhub pic.twitter.com/oi3old3SD8

— Liz Weinb (@LizWeinbl) April 6, 2016

“Horrific billboard in Boston’s North End, denying the Armenian Genocide. @marty_walsh, do something,” she tweeted around 1p.m. Wednesday.

Her tweets about the ad were retweeted more than 100 times and spurred many others to pepper Mayor Marty Walsh, MassDOT and Clear Channel with calls to action. There was also a widely circulated petition.

Weinbloom, a onetime candidate for Board of Aldermen, said in an interview she couldn’t believe how quickly it all happened.

“I guess I’ve never had the privilege to experience social media being so incredibly effective at correcting an injustice,” she said. “Once they got 200 tweets at them, they backtracked” – referring to the billboard-owning company.

She said she never saw the billboard in person. The picture she shared came from the Facebook page of a friend, North End resident Jeremy Koo. Most of the extensive barrage of tweets that followed happened from her seat on a bus bound for New York, Weinbloom said.

“I was almost concerned that maybe it had never been there,” she said. “I said, ‘You definitely saw that billboard yourself last night, right?’”

RELATED: MBTA bans political issue ads

Koo said in an email that he spotted the ad on his way home via Government Center. From a distance, he said, he assumed it was some kind of call for global unity. Realizing it wasn’t was “infuriating,” he said. So he snapped a picture.

Weinbloom was especially sensitive to the issue, she said, and especially tuned into the ad’s coded messaging – or “dog whistles” as she called them. As it happens, she spent time last year traveling in Turkey and studying the Turkish government’s opposition to the genocide designation.

“That is a billboard that is 100 percent meant to be seen and understood by Armenians and Turks exclusively,” she said.

The U.S. is among many countries that do not recognize the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the early 20th Century as genocide – although 43 states, including Massachusetts, do.

RELATED: Eastie skeleton protest spooks neighbors

The ad was not far from Boston’s Armenian Heritage Park and Holocaust Memorial. And its placement came just after a visit from Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and before an annual Walk Against Genocide in the area.

This being Twitter, when Weinbloom’s message caught on, she braced for hate-filled responses. There were some, but not many. Some read her last name and fired off anti-Semitic comments or confronted her about Israeli policy. Most sent encouraging words.

Among them, she got this message from a friend: “Only use your powers for good.”

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: armenian genocide, billboard, BOSTON, denying, tweet

The deceptive Turkish Billboard Denying Armenian Genocide Removed in Boston

April 7, 2016 By administrator

By Rupen Janbazian

BOSTON, Mass. (A.W.)—A billboard paid for by the “Turkic Platform, Istanbul,” located a few blocks from the Armenian Heritage Park in Boston’s North End, has been removed by Clear Channel Outdoors—the owners of the billboard structure. The billboard, which listed the address for a website called “Fact Check Armenia,” featured pictures of a hand making a peace sign with the Turkish flag on it; two other hands with crossed fingers draped in the colors of the Armenian and Russian flags; and the words “Truth=Peace” running across it.

A spokesperson for Clear Channel Outdoor told various news outlets early Thursday that the billboard was placed “in error” and was going to be removed. Pictures on social media later confirmed that the billboard was in fact removed by Thursday morning.

Similar billboards reportedly have been spotted in various spots across the Eastern United States. The Armenian Weekly contacted Clear Channel Outdoors’ corporate office asking for comments regarding the billboard, including whether there were similar billboards in other locations. “The ad was placed there in error and was removed today,” wrote back Jason D. King, vice president of Corporate Communications at Clear Channel Outdoors.

Public outcry about the billboard and its message encouraging Armenian Genocide denial flooded social media outlets on Wednesday. Several photographs of the billboard—including one by Elizabeth Weinbloom—were tweeted, as community members and the public at large were encouraged to direct their complaints to the company in charge. “@MassBillboards – You’re running a billboard denying the Armenian Genocide over Armenia Heritage Park? Shame on you,” read Weinbloom’s tweet.

The Armenian Students Associations (ASA) of the Greater Boston Area organized a phone campaign to have the billboard removed on early Thursday morning. “We were all pretty upset with the billboard and figured it had to be brought down, so we thought a phone campaign would be the most effective way,” Lori Yogurtian, member of the Armenian Students Association at Suffolk University, told the Armenian Weekly. Yogurtian and her fellow executive members reached out to other ASAs in the Greater Boston Area and invited more than 2,000 people to take part in the campaign. “People started calling the [Clear Channel Outdoor] offices at 8 a.m. to voice their concern with the billboard. Only a few people actually got through—most just left voice messages—but they got the message,” she said.

“What was most encouraging was the huge outpour of support by the non-Armenian community downtown,” said James Kalustian of the Armenian Heritage Park Foundation. Speaking to the Armenian Weekly, Kalustian said that the North End community and residents were very helpful in letting Clear Channel know that the billboard did not belong there. “This [Thursday] morning, when I got up, there was already a petition started by some North End residents on Change.org—by non-Armenians—demanding that the billboard be taken down,” he said.

“Clear Channel’s statement says that the billboard was put ‘in error.’ We’re not sure what that error was, but we’re certainly going to pursue it,” Kalustian said.

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston Area, released a statement condemning the billboard and its message shortly following its removal. “The JCRC of Greater Boston is appalled by the billboard recently posted in Boston’s North End that denies the existence of the Armenian Genocide. This is a disturbing affront to the Armenian community and to all decent people in Boston. As one neighborhood resident rightly says in today’s Boston’s Globe, this billboard, placed across from the Armenian Heritage Park, is ‘like putting a Holocaust denial ad right above a Holocaust memorial.’ We are pleased that Clear Channel Outdoors, owners of the billboard, has indicated that the message was put up in error and has removed it,” read the statement.

Kalustian said that the JCRC’s statement—as well as the support from other communities—has been “amazing.” “Especially with Sunday’s walk against genocide, where all the communities will be united to speak about against atrocities against mankind, it was very reassuring to see that it wasn’t just our community that was speaking out, but also many other residents and community members who were offended by not only the billboard itself, but also its proximity to the Armenian Heritage Park.”

The Third Annual Walk Against Genocide will take place in Boston on April 10 at 1:30 p.m. featuring speakers on genocides and mass killings of the 20th and 21st centuries. It will start with a gathering at the New England Holocaust Memorial followed by a walk to the Armenian Heritage Park on the Greenway for a closing program.

Araz Chiloyan, a member of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF-YOARF), said that she went to see the billboard after seeing various social media posts about it on Wednesday.  “I was very disappointed to see the billboard put up by Clear Channel Outdoors at an intersection only a couple of blocks down from the [Armenian Heritage] Park,” she told the Armenian Weekly. “Luckily, community members were quick to react and shared their disgust with the company—the same company which removed billboards commemorating the Armenian Genocide, since the message on it was ‘too political,’ back in 2014,” Chiloyan said.

About one week before the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in April 2014, Peace of Art, Inc. was notified by Clear Channel Outdoor that the Armenian Genocide commemorative billboard, at Lechmere Station in Cambridge, Mass., had to be removed. The message “Recognize the Crime of the Century, the Armenian Genocide” was considered to be of a political nature by certain groups who complained to Clear Channel. A year earlier, in April 2013, billboards with the message “Honoring the memory of 1.5 million lives lost, Armenian Genocide. Recognition and condemnation,” were paid for by Peace of Art, Inc. and displayed in the same location and without incident.

According to Fact Check Armenia’s website, the group is “dedicated to providing accurate and reliable information to the world about the events that led up to and during 1915. It provides historical data on the Armenian uprisings that gave way to the Ottoman Turks actions and counters Armenian misinformation.”

“It is alarming to see the ease with which a foreign lobbying group can post a billboard that in addition to being deceptive, is deeply offensive to Boston’s Armenian and Russian populations,” said Armenian Weekly contributor and president of the Boston Chapter of The Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) Katie Vanadzin, who was early to raise awareness about the billboard on social media on Wednesday. “The fact that it [the billboard] was approved to be posted near the Armenian Heritage Park to coincide with an annual day of mourning and remembrance makes me wonder what wouldn’t be approved by Clear Channel,” she added.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: armenian genocide, billboard, BOSTON, denying, removed

Boston to host 3rd annual Walk against Genocide Apr 10

March 26, 2016 By administrator

208992To mark Genocide Prevention Month in April, the Third Annual Walk Against Genocide will take place in Boston on April 10. The program will feature speakers on genocides and mass killings of the 20th and 21st centuries. It will start with a gathering at the New England Holocaust Memorial followed by a walk to the Armenian Heritage Park on the Greenway for a closing program, the Armenian Weekly reports.

Expected speakers are Marie Carine Boggis (Rwanda); Laura Boghosian (Armenia); Roger Brooks (Facing History and Ourselves); Eric Cohen (Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur); Massachusetts State Representative Jon Hecht; Jim Kalustian (Armenia); Anthony Kasongo (Congo); Mohamed Khalifa (Sudan); Fred Manasse (Holocaust); Dina Meran (Yezidis and Kurds); Christina Mukankaka (Rwanda); Alexa/Alisa Raniuk (Ukrainian Holodomor); Michael Ross (Holocaust); Edina Skaljic (Bosnia); and Sophy Theam (Cambodia).

The event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston, Armenian Heritage Foundation, Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts, Congolese Genocide Awareness, Facing History and Ourselves, Free Yezidi Foundation, Friends of Rwandan Genocide Survivors (FORGES), Greater Boston Holodomor Remembrance Committee, and New England Friends of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Read also:Boston Archdiocese to hold first-ever Armenian Genocide commemoration

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: BOSTON, Genocide, walk

BOSTON: Another New Billboards Commemorate Genocide Centennial

February 18, 2015 By administrator

BY ROSARIO TEIXEIRA

One of the billboards commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Massachusetts

One of the billboards commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Massachusetts

BOSTON—On Feb. 14, Peace of Art, Inc. added three new billboards in commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in the Boston area. The new digital billboards are different from the others in design but similar with concept. All the billboards commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to the victims. Two digital billboards are located in Foxboro, and the third one is located in Peabody, Mass.

Against a black background, one billboard reads “1915-2015 the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letters “O” and “C” in the word “Genocide” are combined to form a red heart with a bite. The heart symbolizes the heart of a nation, and the bite symbolizes 1.5 million innocent lives carved off a nation, whose wounds are still bleeding through generations.

The other digital billboard reads “I Remember and I Demand 1915-2015 the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “O” in the word “Genocide” is a purple forget-me-not, the official Armenian Genocide centennial symbol. The flower has five petals which represent the five continents where genocide survivors settled and rebuilt their lives. Also represents the pain shared by Armenians around the world united with their demands for recognition and justice.

“Since January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc., has displayed ten billboards in the United States. Chicago, Seattle, Peabody, Sharon and Foxboro, and will continue to display electronic billboards throughout the United States during the year 2015,” said Peace of Art founding president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: billboard, BOSTON, Genocide

Boston, Billboards Commemorate #armeniangenocide Centennial

February 12, 2015 By administrator

By Rosario Teixeira

billboards were displayed in Foxboro, Mass., on Route 1 South, about a quarter mile from Gillette Stadium.

billboards were displayed in Foxboro, Mass., on Route 1 South, about a quarter mile from Gillette Stadium.

BOSTON, Mass.—In January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc., began to display digital billboards that commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to all victims of genocides over the past 100 years. This project will continue through the end of the 2015, with electronic billboards displayed throughout the United States.

The first billboards were displayed in Foxboro, on Route 1 South, about a quarter mile from Gillette Stadium. Another digital billboard measuring 14’x48′ is located in Peabody, on I-95/128 facing south, approximately one mile from Market St. in Lynnfield. In Seattle, Wash., a large digital billboard is located in Bothel, on Highway 527 facing north. More locations and images will follow.

In reference to the first billboards, the president of Peace of Art, Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, said, “We are sending a message of peace to the world, to condemn the past crimes of genocide and resolve that no other nation be the next target of genocide. With the electronic billboards, Peace of Art’s message is that genocide continues to be a threat to humanity. It urges viewers to condemn the crime of genocide, to be alert…and put an end to this crime against humanity once and for all.”

The first of the billboards reads, “Condemn the Past, Don’t Be the Next Victim. Remember 1915 the Armenian Genocide.” Within the word “genocide,” the letter “o” is a target. The second of the electronic billboards reads, “In Remembrance of All Genocide Victims 1915-2015. The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “o” in “genocide” includes the flags of those countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide, as well as a dove symbolizing peace.

The next billboard will read, “1915-2015 the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “o” will have a heart (representing the heart of a nation) with a bite (representing the loss of 1.5 million people).

Since 1996, Hejinian, an artist, has been displaying large billboards in Massachusetts to inform the community at large to the reality of the Armenian Genocide. In 2003, Hejinian founded Peace of Art, a nonprofit organization that uses art as an educational tool to bring awareness to the universal human condition, and promote peaceful solutions to conflict. The organization is not associated with political or religious organizations, and its focus is on the global human condition.

Since the Armenian Genocide took place, millions of people have been the target of genocide, torture, rape, dispossession, and murder. These are only some of the genocides and mass atrocities that followed the Armenian Genocide of 1915: the Holocaust (1933-1945); Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979); ethnic cleansing in Bosnia (1992-1995); Rwandan Genocide (1994); and
Darfur Genocide (2003). Refugee camps are just a footnote to this ongoing tragedy. The general indifference of the international community is dangerous, allowing the crimes to be repeated without impunity.

A century ago in the Ottoman Empire, genocide was carried out against the Armenians, while reporters and foreign dignitaries, ambassadors and consuls, alerted the leadership of their respective countries. Henry Morgenthau Sr., the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent several appeals and protests to Ottoman officials as well as to the State Department. In 1915, the New York Times published 150 articles, one just about every other day, reporting on the ongoing atrocities. Governments remained indifferent, and proceeded with non-action according to their political interests. “Our only goal is to keep Turkey by our side until the end of the war, regardless of whether Armenians perish in the process or not,” the German imperial adviser Bethmann Hollweg said.

One hundred years have passed but many nations continue to ignore the crime of genocide taking place around the world. The international community has the power to put an end to these atrocities, and it should begin by recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide.

For more information on Peace of Art, Inc., visit www.PeaceofArt.org.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: armenian genocide, billboards, BOSTON, centennial, commemorate

PRESS RELEASE: From The Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights

May 19, 2014 By administrator

May 18, 2014

“The Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights 

addresses the Suffolk/ Foxman/ Armenian Issue”

At the May 17, 2014 Suffolk Law School commencement at the Wang Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, the Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights distributed 1000 flyers (please see the attached document) to the graduates and their families and guests.

The flyer protested Suffolk University President James McCarthy’s invitation to Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, to be its keynote speaker and receive an honorary law degree.

The main reasons cited by the flyer were Mr. Foxman’s and the ADL’s long-standing collusion with Turkey, a major human rights violator, in refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide of 1915 – 1923, making misleading statements on it, and in working to defeat U.S. Congressional resolutions on that genocide.

The protest against Mr. Foxman’s appearance was initiated in early April by Suffolk’s student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.  The chapter cited, among several reasons, Mr. Foxman’s stance against Armenian Americans (see over 1000 signatures at Change.org, “Remove ADL Director Abe Foxman as Suffolk Law’s 2014 Commencement Speaker”).

The law school’s invitation to Mr. Foxman came just one month after the Massachusetts Governor’s Council’s widely publicized rejection of attorney and ADL National Commissioner Joseph Berman to be a Superior Court judge.

We understand that Mr. Foxman’s commencement speech mentioned the Armenian “genocide.”   We must reject his remarks as disingenuous and a clumsy attempt to mislead his audience.  The ADL’s only formal and definitive statement on the Armenian issue was issued on August 21, 2007.  As explained in the flyer and in NoPlaceForDenial.com’s Q & A, the ADL statement was deliberately and deceptively worded so as to sidestep applicable international law, namely the United Nations 1948 Convention on Genocide.  As a result, from 2007 – 2008 the Massachusetts Municipal Association and over a dozen Massachusetts cities and towns severed their ties with the ADL’s “No Place for Hate” program.

The ADL’s infamous 2007 statement has never been withdrawn, nor have Mr. Foxman and his ADL ever apologized to Armenians.

Moreover, the ADL’s continued lobbying against an Armenian genocide resolution is hypocritical and disgraceful, particularly given that the organization claims to uphold the human rights of all ethnic groups and has successfully lobbied for numerous Holocaust resolutions in the U.S. and at the United Nations (see ADL Press Release, “ADL to Uncommitted U.N. Ambassadors: Support Holocaust Denial Resolution,” January 23, 2007).

Armenian Americans await the ADL’s full withdrawal of its deceitful August 21, 2007 statement; its unequivocal and unambiguous acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide; and, to begin to make amends for the injuries it has inflicted in lobbying against the recognition of the Genocide, the ADL must actively and sincerely lobby for the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution. If the ADL is truly composed of advocates for universal human rights and genocide prevention, it will do these things.

The Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights takes special notice that some media continue to omit or misrepresent the above facts and the Armenian American position.

————————————————————————————————————————————-

Congratulations to Suffolk Law School’s    2014 Graduates & Their Families

The Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights joins in protesting Suffolk Law’s invitation to Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s National Director since 1987, to be its keynote speaker and receive an honorary law degree. The National Lawyers Guild’s Suffolk chapter initiated the protest, and over 1000 people have signed its Change.org petition protesting Foxman. Hundreds have written to Suffolk President James McCarthy and commencement invitee US Senator Edward Markey.

Q: Why are Foxman and the ADL not deserving of being honored by Suffolk Law School?

A: A major example: Foxman and his ADL have for many years worked with Turkey, a major human rights violator, to prevent formal US recognition of the genocide committed by Turkey against 1.5 million Christian Armenians from 1915–23. This is hypocritical and contrary to the ADL’s stated mission of upholding the human rights of all people. Foxman has also tried to sidestep international law and diminish the Armenian genocide in his disingenuous, legalistically worded statement of August 21, 2007.

Q: How did Foxman’s statement sidestep international law?

A: To be genocide, the 1948 “United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” requires “intent” by the perpetrator. Foxman wrote, in part: “… the consequences of those actions [by Turkey] were indeed tantamount to genocide.” The word “consequences” is, in effect, the very opposite of the “intent” required by the Genocide Convention. And note that “tantamount to genocide” is not the same as genocide. Foxman has never withdrawn that statement or apologized.

Q: What had brought about Foxman’s statement?

A: In the summer of 2007, major protests arose in Massachusetts and the nation over the ADL’s long-time cooperation with Turkey to defeat Congressional resolutions on the Armenian genocide & the ADL’s refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. It made international news: NoPlaceForDenial.com.

Q: Was Foxman’s August 21, 2007 statement rejected by human rights activists and others?

A: Yes. From 2007 to 2008, the human rights commissions and city councils of Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington, Medford, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Peabody, Somerville, Watertown, and Westwood stopped sponsoring the ADL’s alleged anti-bias program “No Place for Hate.” The Massachusetts Municipal Association, representing all cities and towns, also dropped “No Place for Hate.” They realized that the ADL – one of whose major concerns is the Holocaust – was acting immorally and hypocritically. They knew that Foxman’s August 21 statement skirted international law. Human rights advocates and media excoriated Foxman and the ADL.

Q: Has Foxman ever punished anyone in the ADL for acknowledging the Armenian genocide?

A: Yes. When local New England ADL Director Andrew Tarsy suddenly acknowledged the Armenian genocide in 2007, Foxman immediately fired him. Jewish Americans condemned the firing. Foxman was forced to rehire Tarsy under terms never made public. Soon after, however, Tarsy resigned. He was later replaced by Derek Shulman, a political director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which had similarly helped Turkey to cover up the Armenian genocide.

Q: Was the Armenian Genocide truly a genocide?

A: Yes. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer, coined the word “genocide” in 1944 and authored much of the 1948 Genocide Convention. In a 1949 CBS-TV interview (see YouTube), Lemkin said he became interested in genocide because “it happened to the Armenians.” A 1951 World Court (ICJ) filing by the US cited the Armenian “genocide.”   Nearly 20 countries, including Canada, France, Sweden, and Argentina, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the European Union Parliament, the Parliament of the Council of Europe, a U.N. subcommittee, Massachusetts, and many others recognize the Armenian “genocide.” An Armenian genocide resolution is pending in the Senate. Senator Edward Markey, speaking today, is co-sponsoring it. Foxman and his ADL oppose the resolution.

Q: Why are Foxman and his ADL so against recognition of the Armenian genocide?

A: Jewish and Israeli analysts and media confirm that an agreement was initiated long ago among Turkey, Israel, and the ADL (and other organizations such as AIPAC, AJC, and JINSA). Turkey wanted Jewish American groups to lobby for Turkish interests. Though Turkish – Israeli relations have become strained, the agreement remains in force. See documentation in “A History of Lobbying against Genocide Recognition” at NoPlaceforDenial.com.

Q: Who has favored the US Congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide?

A: Scores of organizations of diverse orientations including American Values, National Council of Churches, NAACP, National Organization of Women, Sons of Italy, American Jewish World Service, and Jewish War Veterans of the USA. 126 Holocaust scholars signed a petition appearing in the New York Times (June 9, 2000) urging acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide.

Q: In view of all this, why would Suffolk University still honor Foxman and the ADL?

A: It’s inexplicable. President McCarthy claims that Foxman is being honored for his “body of work.”   Such as the ADL’s sidestepping the Genocide Convention? Or the ADL’s efforts to stop recognition of the Armenian genocide while demanding commemoration and legislation on the Holocaust?   Would a true human rights organization conspire with a human rights violator such as Turkey to cover up the murder of 1.5 million human beings? In 1993, authorities in San Francisco raided ADL headquarters. They discovered “evidence of a nationwide intelligence network accused of keeping files on more than 950 political groups, newspapers, and labor unions and as many as 12,000 people” (L.A. Times, April 9, 1993). The ADL paid an out-of-court settlement. In 2007, the police chief of Arlington, MA said his department could get information from the ADL that it could not legally acquire on its own.   So is the ADL an organization that truly upholds civil & human rights and follows the law?

The Suffolk leadership’s divisive actions have not honored its graduates, their families, and the law.

The Ad Hoc Greater Boston Committee for Human Rights wishes graduates long and successful careers.

 

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: ADL, BOSTON, Foxman, Human rights, Suffolk

BOSTON: Protest Against Suffolk Law School Commencement Speaker Foxman

May 17, 2014 By administrator

BOSTON, Mass.–A protest has been announced online against Abraham Foxman, long-time Director of the Anti-Defamation League, who is planned to speak at Suffolk University Law School’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, May Foxman17th. The protest, organized by activists within the Boston Armenian community, aims to bring attention to Foxman’s decades-long effort to thwart official US government recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Suffolk University President James McCarthy has come under fire for the choice of Foxman as speaker, as well as Suffolk University Law School’s decision to award Foxman an honorary law degree. In spite of a petition circulated by the National Lawyers Guild at Suffolk Law advocating for Foxman’s invitation to be revoked that garnered over 1,000 signatures and broad opposition in the community at large, the school has shown no intention of reversing its decision. Suffolk’s administration issued a defensive statement instead, quoted in The Boston Globe: “Mr. Foxman’s body of work is well deserving of recognition. . . .It is our hope that Mr. Foxman’s personal story as a Holocaust survivor and attorney who has dedicated his life to public service will inspire our graduates as they embark on their professional careers.”

When pressed in a 2007 interview with JTA if he had “done anything wrong” by engaging in a concerted effort against the recognition of a genocide, Foxman said, “It was also very clear to me that after the United States, the most important ally Israel has is Turkey. It’s a country that not only has promised to provide Israel with water until moshiach comes, but it’s a country that permits Israel’s pilots to do maneuvers over its land. And so, to me, it was very clear that there are two moral issues, but one trumps the other.”

Later in the same interview, Foxman offered his explanation for the criticism that the ADL received for opposing recognition of the Armenian Genocide from within the Jewish community. “That comes out of a changed demography, sociology. When we talk about assimilation, when we talk about intermarriage–you know what, that’s what it is.”

Meanwhile, outrage over Suffolk’s choice of commencement speaker has spread beyond the Armenian community. Foxman’s vocal support of the racial profiling of Muslims has drawn additional condemnation from students and the community, as has his stance on the Park 51 mosque controversy, during which he argued that the mosque should not be allowed to be built in the vicinity of Ground Zero. He was quoted in a 2010 article in Newsweek, explaining, “Their [the families of 9/11 victims] anguish entitles them to positions that others would categorize as irrational or bigoted.”

The protest will be held beginning at noon on Saturday, May 17th, outside Boston’s Wang Theatre where the commencement is scheduled to take place.

Source: The Armenian Weekly

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: armenian genocide, BOSTON, Foxman, Protest

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