Jewish community of Armenia calls on ADL to support Armenian Genocide resolution

PanARMENIAN.Net, Armenia - Sep 10, 2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

Take note below that the Jewish community in Armenia is not held hostage as in Turkey under threat of reprisals against Israel.

Chairman of the Jewish community of Armenia, Rimma Varzhapetian-Feller issued a letter to national director of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham H. Foxman. The letter says in part,

“The Jewish community of Armenia closely watches the recent developments. The ADL has taken a firm stand to publicly recognize the Armenian Genocide. We do welcome your decision. Any genocide committed against a nation must not remain unrecognized or unpunished. However, on behalf of our community I express regret over the fact that the ADL doesn’t endorse the House resolution on the Armenian Genocide. Our community fully supports the legislation calling on the U.S. President to “guarantee understanding and scrupulousness in the U.S. foreign policy.”

We should also speak on behalf of those whose voice is not heard. The ADL’s support of the H. Res. 106 would be of utmost importance; otherwise the ADL stance would provide a cloak for genocide deniers and perpetrators. We are hopeful that the Anti-Defamation League will openly support this bill.

All should understand that the failure of universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide paved way for Hitler’s atrocities against our people. Thus, passage of the H. Res. 106 is one more step towards prevention of genocides.

The humanity cannot tolerate genocide denial any longer. The Jewish community of Armenia joins the supporters of the H. Res. 106 and expresses hope that the Armenian Genocide will be recognized not only but the United States but also by Jewish communities throughout the globe.

The Jewish community of Armenia earnestly requests the Anti-Defamation League to join 220 Congressmen and over 50 human rights protection organizations representing millions of Americans in support to the H. Res. 106. We call on you to cooperate with the Armenian Assembly of America to promote the resolution.”

August 24, the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League recognized the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. ADL national director Abraham Foxman said the decision followed a discussion with historians and Nobel prize winner Elie Wiesel.

“On reflection, we have come to share the assessment of former Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr., that the consequences of the painful events of 1915-1918 were indeed tantamount to genocide,” the ADL statement read.

However, the organization stands against the H. Res.106, passage of which could “damage the Israeli-Turkish relations and jeopardize the Jewish community of Turkey.”

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.