Activists Protest Foxman in Michigan

"The Armenian Weekly", Volume 74, No. 13, April 5, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Mich.—On March 26, protesters gathered in front of the Birmingham Community House to protest the appearance of Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The peaceful rally, which drew activists from all over Michigan, was led by the local chapters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Organization. For two hours, activists held signs and distributed information about the ADL to those attending the event. It was later discovered that Foxman had unexpectedly canceled his appearance at the event.

“The Armenian community will not be silenced when it comes to speaking out on the truth,” said ANC of MI chairman Armen Derderian. “We will continue to work here in Michigan and throughout the nation to expose Foxman’s complicity of denial on this important human rights issue.”

Prior to the demonstration on March 23, the organizing bodies placed a full-page advertisement in the Observer & Eccentric newspaper. The article, entitled “Shame on You Abraham H. Foxman,” alerted readers to the ongoing controversies of the ADL’s denial .

Since August 2007, the ADL has been under pressure from a series of grassroots protests, led by the ANC along with progressive Jewish figures, to change its policy regarding the Armenian genocide.

Recently, former ADL regional director for the New England Region, Andrew H. Tarsy, who was fired for calling upon Foxman to properly characterize the Armenian genocide, has teamed up with Facing History and Ourselves. This Brookline-based educational organization focuses on preventing prejudice by teaching about the Holocaust and other examples of genocide.