Anti-Defamation League praised for chance of stance on Armenian genocide

Local rabbis and Jewish community leaders applauded the national Anti-Defamation League's acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide of 1915 yesterday, but said the reversal raises as many questions as it answers.

The hope by many is that the acknowledgment, released yesterday afternoon on the ADL's Web site, will defuse a brewing controversy that led to the firing of ADL New England director Andrew Tarsy and the resignation of several local board members.

``I think that's very good news,'' said Patty Jacobson, vice president of marketing at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, of the organization's statement. ``I think language matters and is very important, and I'm very glad to see it happen.''

The controversy which spurred the ADL change its position began last week, when Watertown officials voted to pull out of the ADL's ``No Place for Hate'' education program, citing the organization's refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Watertown's Armenian population is estimated at about 8,000.

Following the vote, Tarsy called the 1915 incident, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by Ottoman Turks, a genocide. His break with the national ADL leaders led to his firing, which prompted at least two New England board members to resign in protest.

But while the national organization's reversal on the genocide seems to lay one issue to rest, the question of Tarsy's future with the ADL remains.

It's a question many local Jewish leaders found tough to answer.

``I have the utmost in respect for our regional officers of the ADL and for Andy personally,'' said Rabbi David Widzer of Franklin's Temple Etz Chaim. ``I don't know that I really have a comment on what happens next. The national ADL and the regional ADL and Andy have some potential difficult conversations to have or processes to work through.''

Harold Kushner, rabbi laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, yesterday said he always supported recognizing the Armenian genocide, and believes the ADL should welcome Tarsy back to the fold.

``If I were them, I would take him back,'' he said. ``How one does this and saves face, I don't know, but I would take him back.

``When you are an organization that stands for a moral cause, it is never a mistake to do the morally right thing.''

For area Armenians, the hope is that finally acknowledging the genocide can

lead to healing.

``It did happen, and it unfortunately has festered and remained unrecognized for these 90 years,'' said Martin Deranian, a Worcester dentist. ``I believe the time has come for society to bring this to attention. From a moral, historical point of view, it's highly appropriate'' to recognize it.

Following the firing of Tarsy, Jacobson hopes the ADL's reversal will bring some healing to the organization.

``Obviously, all of us here feel that the change in the position...is the right decision for the national ADL to take,'' she said. ``There's lots of work to do and as a community we need to focus on how best to do that work and how best to move forward.

``I think this whole situation is a real blow to the regional ADL,'' she added. ``I think, regardless of who leads the regional ADL going forward, there's going to be some serious fence mending that needs to take place.''

As troubling as the controversy has been, though, Widzer takes some comfort in the time of year.

``Whatever the ultimate resolution that comes, I am mindful that in this season of the year on the Jewish calendar is the time of teshuvah,'' he said. ``The fancy, five-dollar word for that is repentance. But it's more the season of the year where we can look back on what, in the past year, hasn't gone the way we wanted it to and what are the steps we can take to correct it.

``I can't speak to what any of the interested parties would do, but that's the season of the year we find ourselves in. I would hope some sort of reconciliation or being able to move forward amicably would happen.''

Peter Reuell of The MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, Mass.) can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.