Foxman: No One Can Dictate to Us What Word to Use

"The Armenian Weekly", Volume 74, No. 15, April 19, 2007

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.