Tarsy Fired From ADL

The New England Region Director of the ADL, Andrew Tarsy, was fired yesterday after breaking with the national organization on recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Tarsy and the ADL New England Region broke with the national organization after controversy developed in Watertown, Massachusetts about No Place For Hate, a program sponsored by ADL that combats bias and promotes respect for diversity. Watertown is home to 8,000 Armenian-Americans out of a population of 33,000. Members of that community and others objected to Watertown's participation in a program sponsored by an organization that did not recognize the mass deportations and killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) as a genocide.

As TER has noted previously, ADL and other Jewish organizations have taken a "neutral" position on the genocide question out of concerns regarding the relationship between Israel and Turkey. In February, Turkish Foreign Minister - and Presidential candidate - Abdullah Gul met in Washington with the heads of several American Jewish organizations to discuss this question.

The firing of Tarsy is bound to become very controversial within the American Jewish community. As this observer has stated previously, mainstream Jewish opinion favors standing with the Armenian community on recognition of the genocide. Additional evidence of this is an op-ed piece in this morning's Boston Globe co-authored by state Rep. Rachel Kaprielian (D - Watertown) and Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz.

This controversy has not yet run its course - as can be seen from this update.

UPDATE, August 27: The ADL has now reinstated Andrew Tarsy as Director of its New England Region.

Comments

[WillCaller]

The national ADL’s position on the Armenian genocide is morally indefensible. The open letter published today by the ADL is almost breathtaking in its contempt for the importance of truth and the meaning of history. It is Orwellian logic indeed when we are told that stating the truth about history is “counterproductive” to coming terms with that history. To allow half-truths to serve, to withhold the acknowledgment of historical reality, to plead a “neutral” position in the face of a holocaust, is to make a joke of the expression “never again.”

Whether it was due to mission fatigue or creeping senility atop the ADL, no other act could so undermine the ADL’s credibility. The simple fact is that the ADL has disgraced its own cause and the common cause, and much atonement and asking of forgiveness is in order.

[Kathleen Conley Norbut]

As a Selectman in Monson, I have had the pleasure and privilege to Chair our No Place For Hate® campaign sponsored by ADL®, MMA and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It is an exemplary program fighting prejudice of every form, promoting understanding and tolerance of differences. We have had lecture series, theatrical, musical and artistic performances and presentations. In July, I stepped down as Chair of the No Place For Hate® committee due to other commitments. I also regretfully had to decline an offer from the New England Chapter of ADL to be a member of the No Place For Hate® Steering Committee. One of the regrets that I had when I made the decision was the loss of being able to work with incredibly bright, knowledgeable and articulate individuals in the New England Chapter of ADL, like Mr. Andrew Tarsy. It is a shame to see his commitment to the ideals of the No Place For Hate® program, be a threat to the national leadership's hypocrisy with denial of the Armenian genocide. Mt. Tarsy should be commended for his leadership and integrity. I urge the New England Chapter to think carefully about the course and direction that they will take following these events. ADL® has been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights for over nine decades. Their efforts need to continue and rise to the height of their mission to eliminate hate, bigotry and prejudice in all forms, now perhaps more than ever.