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Foxman: No One Can Dictate to Us
What Word to Use
 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Responding to a question about the
Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) reluctance to unequivocally
recognize the Armenian Genocide, Abraham Foxman, the
national director of the ADL, said, “No one can dictate to
you to use the word that you want us to use. We will use the
words that we feel comfortable with.”
Foxman’s statement was part of a somewhat rambling answer to
a question posed at the conclusion of a speech in San
Francisco related to his book, Deadliest Lies: The Israel
Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control. The speech took place
at the Jewish Community Center on Mon., April 7. Foxman
spoke about international anti-Semitism directed towards
Jews and Israel. He repeatedly condemned and called for an
end to the use of racist, anti-Jewish euphemisms.
Foxman was first asked why he has chosen to use euphemisms
when describing the Armenian Genocide. Foxman prefaced his
response by informing the audience that some people are not
happy with the Anti-Defamation League’s position on the
Armenian Genocide, and went on to state that the issue
should be resolved between Turks and Armenians.
The national ADL’s position on the Armenian Genocide runs
counter to the position of a wide range of Jewish
organizations in the Bay Area. In November 2007, the San
Francisco Bay Area’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
reiterated its support for official recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. As the Jewish community’s public affairs
arm, the JCRC represents more than 80 Jewish organizations
across the Bay Area. The organization, which includes the
membership of the San Francisco chapter of the ADL,
overwhelmingly approved a policy statement reissuing a 1989
letter to Armenian community leader Bishop Aris Shirvanian,
expressing support for the Armenian Genocide resolution
pending in the U.S. Senate at that time. Senate Joint
Resolution 212 sought to designate April 24th as a national
day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
Foxman’s full answer to the question about his position on
the Armenian Genocide follows: “The question is, this is a
public issue, a public debate. There are people out there
who are not happy with the Anti-Defamation League’s position
on the issue of the Armenian Genocide. To reply to your
question, the Anti-Defamation League, has for as many years
as I know, and I’ve been involved for 43 years in the league
and [been] its director for 21 years, has always described
the events of 1915-18 between Turkey and/in the Ottoman
Empire and the Armenian people as a massacre, as a terrible
tragedy and an issue that should be resolved between the
Turkish people and the Armenian people.
“We never denied it… We never challenged or questioned… We
didn’t use the words that you use… And it’s not a moral
question of, to use your words. We could use your words.
Usually a certain word becomes a political issue. And it
would be as if we, the Jewish people, would say to you or
everybody else, ‘Unless you use the word [Shoah] and
Holocaust to describe the events of 1933-45, unless you use
our words, you are a Holocaust denier.’ That’s nonsense. We
have used the word. We have used it in the context of what
we believe in applying it. But we have never, never, in
terms of an organization and a people denied the tragedy of
the massacre. But we haven’t used the word that you want to
use. And you use this, and this is for all you here now, not
only to accuse us, but to point to the Anti-Defamation
league, to prevent us from teaching diversity. I think
that’s wrong. But we’ve all, you know, wanted to share the
pain. But no one can dictate to you to use the word that you
want us to use. We will use the words that we feel
comfortable with. And we’ve used the word genocide… And so
now it’s, ‘Not only do you have to use the word, but you
have to support legislation in Congress,’ which we don’t,
and [because] we don’t we’re “immoral,” etc. And we have
articulated our position. I’ve used the word genocide… Some
people don’t like exactly how we’ve formulated it, but
that’s what makes this country a democracy. And we have
never denied it, we don’t deny it, but again you don’t have
a right to dictate to us how the word should be formed, in
what manner, and what shape…”
Security guards destroyed the flyers that were handed out in
front of the Jewish Community Center that detailed the ADL’s
position on the Armenian Genocide.
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