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Protest of ADL’s “Humanitarian Awards Dinner” Tonight

By Joey Kurtzman / December 1, 2007

UPDATE: Read how the protest went, here.

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Think it's just no good for a Jewish civil rights organization to support a campaign of genocide denial? Then come out with Jewcy tonight in Los Angeles as we join with the Armenian Youth Federation and survivors of the Armenian Genocide to protest the Anti-Defamation League's "2007 Los Angeles Celebration." Press release:

NEWS ADVISORY – December 1, 2007 – NEWS ADVISORY

Los Angeles calls on Abe Foxman to stop undermining the universal humanitarian principles of the ADL

WHAT: Jewcy Media and the Armenian Youth Federation, joined by victims of the Armenian Genocide, will protest outside the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Saturday, December 1st, when the Anti-Defamation League holds a celebration at the hotel. The protest is being organized in response to efforts by ADL National Director Abe Foxman to use the ADL as a vehicle for genocide denial—starkly violating the universal human rights principles which the ADL claims to revere.

WHO: Ghazaros Kademian, survivor – Armenian Genocide

Joey Kurtzman, Executive Editor – Jewcy

Arek Santikian, Representative – Armenian Youth Federation

WHEN: Saturday, December 1, 2007 @ 6:00 p.m. PT

WHERE: On Wilshire Boulevard in front of the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

Address is 9500 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. GoogleMap.

BACKGROUND ON ABE FOXMAN and the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: For many years, the ADL, working on behalf of the Turkish government, has refused to acknowledge that the massacres of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 was a genocide. Worse, they have lobbied for Turkey to prevent passage of a resolution by the United States Congress affirming this genocide.

This year, under pressure from the New England community, the ADL issued a highly ambiguous statement regarding the Armenian genocide. It stated that the “consequences” of events in Turkey were “tantamount to genocide.” This duplicitous statement sidestepped the legal definition of genocide by avoiding any language that would imply intent, a critical part of the 1948 UN Genocide treaty.

In the same statement, the ADL reiterated its opposition to the Congressional resolution recognizing the genocide, calling it “a counterproductive diversion.” The ADL then apologized to the Prime Minister of Turkey for having put his government “in a difficult position,” expressing its “sorrow over what we have caused for the leadership and people of Turkey.” No apology has been offered to date to Armenian Genocide survivors and their heirs.

On August 23, echoing Turkey’s call for an “impartial study,” the ADL suggested “further dispassionate scholarly examination” of the genocide. The International Association of Genocide Scholars has labeled such proposals as propaganda, not scholarship. By the ADL’s own standards, casting doubt on the historical truth of genocide constitutes genocide denial. And asking Armenians to sit down with denialist historians on the payroll of the Turkish state is exceptionally offensive. Considering the ADL’s unceasing – and just – efforts to combat Holocaust denial, their actions are remarkably hypocritical.

Perceiving its Armenian Genocide denial and subsequent missteps as simply a public relations dilemma – not a moral issue – the ADL hired the most prominent public relations firm in Boston, Regan Communications, to clean up its image.

For immediate commentary on this news story, please call JEWCY at (323) 600-3243 or the AYF-WR at (818) 507-1933.

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  • Joey Kurtzman
    By Joey Kurtzman 12/3/07 at 1:41 p.m. UTC

    Anoosh, I'm glad we were able to put something together Saturday night, but no thanks are necessary. We'll see where all this goes…

  • By Anoosh 12/3/07 at 12:19 p.m. UTC

    Joey:

    You are the best. 

    Thank you.

  • Joey Kurtzman
    By Joey Kurtzman 12/3/07 at 10:38 a.m. UTC

    A rep from the Armenian National Committee's East Coast branch asked how Saturday's demonstration went. Here's what I told him:

    It was an extremely chilly night by LA standards, but about 25 of us
    convened in front of the Beverly Wilshire hotel where we were visible
    to many of the people arriving for the Anti-Defamation
    League's awards dinner. Demonstrators were asked to dress nicely so as
    to discourage the Beverly Hills police from getting too aggressive with
    us (for that reason we also had to keep the number of demonstrators under 30), and I am pleased to report that we were indeed the best-dressed
    group of demonstrators I've ever seen. We could have gone toe-to-toe on
    a catwalk with the people attending the ADL gala itself.

    We held up placards that said "Shame on Foxman" and got shouts and questions and supportive comments from people passing by in
    cars and on foot.

    Ghazaros Kademian, a 100 year-old survivor who
    was a small boy when his father was murdered protecting his family
    during the Genocide, was out there in the cold with the rest of us, and
    his statement was delivered in English by his visibly emotional son,
    who said that Mr. Kademian hopes he will live to see this country
    acknowledge the murder of his father, the suffering of his family, and
    the destruction of his community for what they were.

    I spoke about how the ADL's effort to deny survivors such as
    Mr. Kademian even a simple acknowledgment from the U.S. government may
    be the most morally pathetic thing a Jewish-American organization has
    ever done, considering that the federal government has helped us
    preserve the memory of our own community's genocide with a
    federally-funded Holocaust Museum, annual commemorations in the
    Capitol, and so forth.

    Arek Santikian from the Armenian Youth Federation spoke about the founding principles of the ADL, and how
    he hoped that Abraham Foxman would choose to live out those principles
    rather than making himself a model for future generation of
    genocide-deniers.

    Horizon Television filmed the three speeches. CBS and NBS, who said they were coming, didn't make it. That's pretty unusual, if they say they're coming, they usually do.

    We all then tried to march through the area where the ADL event was
    being held, but we were stopped by hotel security who then called the
    police. The police arrived, asked us a number of questions, and told us
    to stay off the hotel's property. We then went back to holding up our
    signs outside the hotel, then after a short time the police left. We
    disbanded around eight o'clock, about two hours after I first got
    there.

  • By Alamity 12/2/07 at 3:27 p.m. UTC

    If I were the organizer of ADL's Humanitarian Awards Dinner event, at least, I would have done it right.

    What better way than having Mr. Ghazaros Kademian, the Armenian Genocide survivor, be called in from the outside of Regent Beverly
    Wilshire Hotel    , to personally do the honors of bestowing upon Mr. Foxman, the highest "Conditional upholding the universal humanitarian principles" award. Afterall, I do not think Mr. Kademian, at this ripe old age of his, will be able to frequent these events much longer. So, why not give this man a chance.

    If the ADL wants to stay in this "business", then perhaps they should treat the Armenian Genocide issue with the same degree of gravitas as they did with the Jewish Holocaust and other genocides.

    Give! this man a scintilla of respect and dignity for the love of God while he is still breathing. Isn't 92 years of genocide denial long enough? Go ahead! tell that to Mr. Kademian, I'm sure he'll understand.

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