Chris Helms reports the Massachusetts Municipal Association is no longer a co-sponsor of the ADL's "No Place for Hate" program, which seemed like such an inoffensive thing (hate is, indeed, bad), until the national ADL decided it couldn't officially believe Turks slaughtered more than a million Armenians.

The Tab posts Mayor David Cohen's announcement that he is severing the city's ties with the ADL's "No Place to Hate" program because of the Armenian genocide issue and the ADL's reluctance to call the deaths of more than 1 million people "genocide:"

... The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an important step along the path of freedom and justice, and crucial in combating other genocides now and in the future. ...

The Newton Tab has the details:

... Choosing their words very carefully, members of Newton's Human Rights Commission decided to "cease participation" with the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate program in an unanimous vote tonight. ...

Mayor David Cohen will supposedly make a final decision within a few days.

ADL national honcho Abe Foxman apparently thinks nobody in Watertown would ever read this op-ed piece on the Jerusalem Post Web site, in whch he basically says he only called what happened to Armenians "tantamount to genocide" to get Armenians and some annoying Jews off his back while he deals with more important issues.

Guess what? Armenians in Watertown know how to use Web browsers:

... The delusional ADL leader has basically retreated again on the Armenian Genocide issue in the form of accusing the Watertown/Boston area Armenians of targeting the ADL. Playing the victim card again, the ADL has sunk so low in the eyes of Jewish groups, cities and towns who currently sponsor the "No Place for Hate", and Armenian-Americans that he could not resist taking another shot at the issue. ...

Also see: No Place for Denial.

Via H2Otown.

Seth Gitell breaks the news that Andrew Tarsy, fired as regional ADL director for breaking with the national organization over the Armenian genocide issue, is back.

Chuck wouldn't be surprised to see the whole ADL thing become an issue in the presidential elections, especially as it touches on our relations with Israel.

Earlier:
Watertown causes international incident.

Jerusalem Post: Turkish envoy returns to deal with ADL.

Ooh, is he going to send Abe Foxman to bed without dinner?

Via Greg Reibman.

Chrissie Long reports the Newton Human Rights Commission voted last night to wait a few weeks before deciding whether to withdraw from the ADL's "No Place for Hate" program over the Armenian-genocide issue.

Still won't back a Congressional resolution to that effect, but still. Sco, who lives in Watertown, writes:

... A 94-year old organization referred to the killings of Armenians during World War I as a genocide for the first time today in large part because our town council stood up to them.

Chris Helms notes the exact phrase in ADL honcho Foxman's statement was "tantamount to genocide:"

... I suppose if it is good enough for the Armenian National Committee of America, it should be good enough for a lapsed-Southern Baptist newspaper editor. But I'm still holding out for Abe Foxman to say "the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire were genocide." ...

John DiMascio, also of Watertown, is less sanguine:

Well it seems Foxman is trying to cover his @$$ and have it both ways.

Note they still oppose the Congressional resolution.

And of course in so far as [No Place for Hate] is concerned, given what else we learned about the ADL's activities, its best for the every NPFH committee and each community to sever ties with the ADL. ...

Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston supports Andrew Tarsy, fired by the national ADL for daring to agree Armendians died in a genocide by the Ottoman Empire:

Today we join together with the Armenian community remember the darkest chapter of Armenian history, when, in 1915, the Ottoman Empire initiated a policy of genocide that continued until 1922. More than one and a half million Armenian men, women and children were systematically murdered and the survivors scattered around the world. ...

Via Seth Gitell, who adds:

... I must add that I am deeply concerned about the blow-back from this incident, which goes far beyond the confines of our city.