Daily commentary on the ADL/Armenian Genocide uproar

HA'ARETZ OP-ED CALLS FOR FOXMAN'S RESIGNATION: Today Ha’aretz published "The Politics of Hypocrisy," an op-ed by Friend of Jewcy Evan Goldstein in which Evan calls for Abraham Foxman’s resignation.

Evan laments Foxman’s decline from an “ardent champion of civil rights” to a “morally obtuse and ethically challenged” embarrassment. He's also exasperated by Foxman’s explanation that his “reversal” on the Armenian Genocide issue was motivated by his "concern for the unity of the Jewish community.” Asks Evan, “What does the unity or disunity of the Jewish people have to do with distinguishing between historical fact and malicious fabrication?”

"Morally obtuse" is a pitch-perfect description of the following Foxman comments: “This is not a time for Jews to be attacking each other over an issue that is really not central.” “Now, they’ve insisted on the g-word. Fine.” “I still don’t think it’s our issue, but so many people believe it is our issue… I said okay.”

Unbelievable. But okay, so Foxman didn’t quite summon the moral fervor of the Jewish prophets when he made these comments to reporters. Let’s put aside the moral issues for a moment. I'm also blown away by the jaw-dropping political incompetence here.

There was an uproar over Foxman’s denial of genocide because people consider this a morally salient issue, and one that should transcend politics. Foxman's underlings at the national ADL must be mortified that Foxman would tell every reporter within earshot that he only revisited it because he didn’t want Jews wasting their energy arguing about something this unimportant. How can a man who spent four decades engaged in public debate on sensitive issues be so profoundly tone-deaf to sensibilities about genocide? It gobsmacks.

So when one member of the ADL frets to the Boston Globe over the question, “Are we an organization of principle?” Um… how about, “no.” Not so long as the guy responsible for the above comments is calling the shots.

WILL THE ADL LOBBY AGAINST THE CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTIONS?: When Foxman issued his statement declaring that that “the consequences of [Turkish] actions were indeed tantamount to genocide,” this was, as I’ve said previously, not at all a recognition of the genocide but rather a restatement of a typical trope of the denialists: No one tried to obliterate the Armenian people, and whatever happened was simply an ugly and unplanned outcome of war.

However, most Armenian-Americans seem willing to accept that the ADL has reversed its position, because they want to move on to the more important issue: the Congressional resolutions on the genocide. Before Foxman issued his statement, David Boyajian, the Armenian-American from Newton, Massachusetts who did so much to get events in his home state rolling, sent me this comment in e-mail:

Joey, something is up: damage control. They want the issue to die, with ADL making some half-baked acknowledgment and then promptly continuing to lobby against us as before. It's a very sneaky game.

And that’s exactly what seems to have come to pass. Ultimately, most Armenian-Americans don’t just want the recognition of the ADL, they want the ADL and other Jewish organizations to stop lobbying against the congressional resolutions recognizing the genocide. And that, now, is the big question before those of us who care about the Armenian Genocide and/or the moral integrity of “justice-seeking” Jewish organizations such as the ADL.

Thomas Lifson of American Thinker put it this way:

A genocide is still a genocide, whether or not it is politically convenient to speak the truth. I always thought the ADL was supposed to be in the moral truth-telling business. After all, if it expects to be taken seriously as a moral force, it needs to be.

So I believe the organization needs to clarify why it now believes the Armenian genocide was a genocide, and why it doesn't want Congress calling it that.

* Check our always up-to-date list of Jewcy's posts on the ADL/Armenian Genocide issue