August 16, 2007
Watertown Pulls Out of No Place for Hate Program
Watertown has been the site of an intense debate over whether or not to halt its participation in the "No Place for Hate" program. The Anti-Defamation League is a sponsor of the program, which helps communities fight hate crimes. The "No Place for Hate" program sounds like a good thing – who doesn't want to stop hate crimes?
Unfortunately, to many Watertown residents, the Anti-Defamation League is indeed a place for hate. Many Armenian Americans live in Watertown, and the Armenian Library and Museum of America is right on Main Street. The fact that the Anti-Defamation League will not acknowledge the Armenian genocide, when Ottoman Turks slaughtered up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915, was not going to go over well in Watertown.
The Watertown city council, including the infamous Marilyn Devaney, voted unanimously last night to get out of the No Place for Hate program. However, the town wants to keep fighting hate crimes – without the help of the Anti-Defamation League.
According to Chris Helms at the Watertown TAB, the city council meeting was "packed" with people. Andy Tarsy, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, tried to defend the group's position and met with "hisses and boos and cat calls."
The TAB notes that the "No Place for Hate" sign outside Town Hall has already been taken down. Some residents of other towns participating in the No Place for Hate program, like Arlington, want to follow in Watertown's footsteps.
As H20Town points out, the ADL's refusal to recognize the genocide is a "bizarre and disappointing stance for an organization formed to protect the rights of Jewish people from bigotry." The ADL clearly has a lot to work out, only they won't be doing it in Watertown.
Image of the Watertown flag from mass.gov.
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Can you please delete the disgusting comment the guest made above? It is crude and hateful.
Guest 1: Instead of actually addressing your "points", let me instead quote Billy Madison.
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
Guest #1's comment has been removed from this posting. It's only the second non-spam comment we've felt compelled to remove in Bostonist's history.
Now is a good time to remind everyone about our comment policy. While we don't engage in censorship, we also don't allow "bad" comments to live on the site. If you're going to leave disgusting statements about tangentially relevant issues on a post please grow some balls and register for an account. It takes literally three seconds.
Thanks.
jon petitt, editor.