Belmont and Newton Also Withdraw From the ADL's No Place for Hate

Two towns have joined Watertown in protest against the Anti-Defamation League, which sponsors the "No Place for Hate" anti-hate crime program.

Belmont's Board of Selectmen voted on Monday to withdraw from the program. Yesterday, Newton mayor David Cohen issued a statement saying: "The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an important step along the path of freedom and justice, and crucial in combating other genocides now and in the future."

The Anti-Defamation League is so controversial because of its stance on the Armenian Genocide. Although they have the words "anti-defamation" in their title, they do not support congressional legislation that would formally recognize the Armenian Genocide as a genocide. (For more information on why this matter is so important, visit the BBC's page on the history of the incident.)

It was the legislation part of the ADL debate that stirred up anger in Belmont, even though the selectmen voted unanimously to withdraw. The selectmen also voted 2 to 1 against an additional clause that would tell the ADL to recognize the genocide and start backing the congressional legislation. Selectman Dan Leclerc didn't think it was Belmont's place to do that, and one person accused Leclerc and Angelo Firenze of "treating [Armenians] as second-class citizens." But all three selectmen said that the decision to withdraw from "No Place for Hate" would still stand.

The anger may have spilled over because the ADL's position on the genocide isn't outright denial, but it is still fuzzy. During the fierce debate in Watertown, which resulted in Watertown's withdrawal from the "No Place for Hate" program, the ADL's regional director, Andrew Tarsy, was fired for telling national leader Abraham Foxman to recognize the genocide. Recognizing that anger against the ADL would spread, Foxman said that the Armenian Genocide was "tantamount to genocide," and he reinstated Tarsy. But - and most important of all - Foxman didn't say that it "was genocide" and refused to back legislation saying it was.