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Head of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman speaking to reporters in Rome last year. (AP)
Last update - 17:47 22/08/2007
ADL says Turkish massacre of Armenians was a 'genocide'
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Foxman, ADL, genocide 

Bowing to a barrage of criticism from Jewish groups and Armenian-Americans, Anti-Defamation League Chairman Abe Foxman "revisited" the organization's stance Tuesday, announcing a new policy recognizing the 1915-1918 Turkish massacre of Armenians as "genocide."

"In light of the heated controversy that has surrounded the Turkish-Armenian issue in recent weeks, and because of our concern for the unity of the Jewish community at a time of increased threats against the Jewish people, ADL has decided to revisit the tragedy that befell the Armenians," said a statement from the group released Tuesday.

The statement went on to say that ADL officials "have come to share the view of Henry Morgenthau, Sr. that the consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide."
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Over the past two weeks, the ADL has faced a tremendous amount of pressure over the issue. Two weeks ago the town of Watertown, a suburb of Boston with a large Armenian community, decided to cut its ties with the ADL sponsored "No Place for Hate" program, after they discovered that the ADL was not planning to support a bill that would force the American government to accept that the massacre was in fact a genocidal act.

The ADL itself was split over the issue; it fired New England regional director Andrew Tarsy for telling The Boston Globe he agreed the killings were genocide and that he "strongly disagrees with the ADL's national position."

Foxman had explained that he did not support the bill in fear that it would hurt both the U.S. and Israel's relations with Turkey while putting the Jewish community in Turkey in danger.

This stance was reiterated in the ADL statement, which said that "we continue to firmly believe that a Congressional resolution on such matters is a counterproductive diversion and will not foster reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and may put at risk the Turkish Jewish community and the important multilateral relationship between Turkey, Israel and the United States."

The Armenian National Committee of America praised the ADL for its new position, but expressed sorrow over the opposition to passing legislation on the issue.

The organization remains "deeply troubled... that elements of its national leadership seek to prevent the United States from taking this very same principled step by adopting the Armenian Genocide Resolution currently before Congress," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
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  1.   How will Olmert explain this 20:44  |  Rab 21/08/07
  2.   Language and Media 21:12  |  Paul 21/08/07
  3.   THIS IS SOMETHING TURKEY MUST FACE UP TO. 21:13  |  SM 21/08/07
  4.   God bless 21:15  |  American-Armenian 21/08/07
  5.   Armenian genocide 21:18  |  Leon Blaustein 21/08/07
  6.   # 1 no need to explain the obvious.... 21:22  |  Misha 21/08/07
  7.   But didn`t they defame Tarsey? 21:23  |  Anti-wrongful-firing 21/08/07
  8.   Armenian genocide 21:35  |  relations w.Turkey 21/08/07
  9.   Politics & History... 21:36  |  Leo 21/08/07
  10.   armenian genocide 21:39  |  KOOLJEW 21/08/07
  11.   How does Haaretz define the Armenian "massacres" 21:40  |  Jirayr 21/08/07
  12.   finally ADL reconizes truth 21:42  |  BENJAMIN YAFET 21/08/07
  13.   Foxman is a jerk 21:46  |  Bill 21/08/07
  14.   Afraid for the Safety of Turkish Jewry? 21:47  |  Efox 21/08/07
  15.   Truth is stronger than political terms 21:50  |  Kris 21/08/07
  16.   adl says 21:51  |  j lewis 21/08/07
  17.   ADL genocide denial 21:57  |  Peter Maranci 21/08/07
  18.   Finally.... 22:00  |  Omar 21/08/07
  19.   Genocide -a myth 22:12  |  Havingfunnyc 21/08/07
  20.   Armenians and their eternal hate 22:19  |  Kaya 21/08/07
  21.   Kol ha Kavod for the Armenians 22:24  |  Ariel Sion 21/08/07
  22.   ADL Hypocracy 22:26  |  B 21/08/07
  23.   Finally, we recognize the truth 22:32  |  Micheal 21/08/07
  24.   irish genocide 22:39  |  bri 21/08/07
  25.   ADL "Todo" list: 22:43  |  Natallie Durson 21/08/07
  26.   Havingfun with Saddam 22:45  |  Omran 21/08/07
  27.   Better Late Than Never 22:49  |  massaraksh 21/08/07
  28.   It was a jihad 22:50  |  against Christians 21/08/07
  29.   Resign, Abe! 23:09  |  massaraksh 21/08/07
  30.   Genocide 23:11  |  P. J. Casey 21/08/07
  31.   GOOD NEWS! 23:22  |  CHGODMK 21/08/07
  32.   The moral level of the ADL 23:27  |  Axel 21/08/07
  33.   The US had to face upto violence against Native Americans 23:51  |  Joe 21/08/07
  34.   The Turks are a great ally of Israel. 23:56  |  Hal 21/08/07
  35.   adl/havingfunnyc/kaya 00:00  |  j lewis 22/08/07
  36.   BENJAMIN YAFET 00:04  |  Ron 22/08/07
  37.   #22 00:08  |  Moshe 22/08/07
  38.   Turkey persists in lies 00:18  |  about Armenia 22/08/07
  39.   # 25 Fatma, there is none.... 00:26  |  Misha 22/08/07
  40.   #40 00:35  |  B 22/08/07
  41.   So What Has Been Accomplished? 00:41  |  Dave Levy 22/08/07
  42.   Rock and a Hard Place 00:46  |  Slibovitz 22/08/07
  43.   Genocide 00:50  |  Ken 22/08/07
  44.   Deniers 01:30  |  American-Armenian 22/08/07
  45.   where israel gets water from 01:41  |  moiz 22/08/07
  46.   It is in our interest to stay out of this 01:55  |  Robin 22/08/07
  47.   Kol ha-kavod to Watertown 02:18  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 22/08/07
  48.   ADL says Turkish massacres of Armenians was a "genocide" 02:28  |  Jack 22/08/07
  49.   Where do we draw the line? 02:31  |  David Israel 22/08/07
  50.   Get rid of loser Foxman, he is a disgrace! 02:39  |  Goldie 22/08/07
  51.   Zionism takes a hit 03:04  |  Kurtis 22/08/07
  52.   Armenian Opinion 03:49  |  Ara 22/08/07
  53.   #22 04:14  |  Ara 22/08/07
  54.   hypocracy 04:15  |  Basat Tayfun (Turkey 22/08/07
  55.   How far shall we go? 05:10  |  David Israel 22/08/07
  56.   Crime to Deny 05:50  |  George 22/08/07
  57.   Armenian Genocide 05:50  |  Vahe Manook 22/08/07
  58.   Kurtis 06:44  |  Brad 22/08/07
  59.   if the US is reviweing its ties, why shouldn`t we ? 07:07  |  Jon 22/08/07
  60.   Misha #39 08:21  |  Maki 22/08/07
  61.   #45 mois 08:26  |  English Resident 22/08/07
  62.   Let`s talk facts.... 08:56  |  havingfunnyc 22/08/07
  63.   Too bad it took "a barrage of criticism" 10:09  |  Yonatan 22/08/07
  64.   IT ONLY ABOUT WORDS AND POLITICS 10:27  |  indrajaya 22/08/07
  65.   INDRAJAYA.The massacre of Chinese Indonesians was not politics 11:05  |  PETER SM 22/08/07
  66.   Neutrality 11:34  |  avi yrushalmA 22/08/07
  67.   Neutrality 11:47  |  Avi Yerushalmi 22/08/07
  68.   ADL says Turkish massacre of Armenians was a `genocide` 16:20  |  Erkan 22/08/07
  69.   Armenian Genocide 16:27  |  Dickran Torossian 22/08/07
  70.   read it.. 17:31  |  volkan 22/08/07
  71.   where is `mehmet`? 18:02  |  frenz 22/08/07
  72.   The ADL PROTECTS TURKS ? WHY ? 20:50  |  Sandino 22/08/07