Boyajian Speaks to St. James Men’s
Club about Genocide Denials
by the Anti-Defamation League
press release written by the St. James Men’s Club
David Boyajian, who initiated the drive against the Armenian genocide denials of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), spoke before a capacity crowd of some 200 people at the St. James Armenian Church Men’s Club dinner in Watertown, Massachusetts on April 13.
After thanking Boston area activists and the Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts for their efforts in the campaign, Boyajian declared that the human rights battle “has been a spectacular success which took the ADL and Turkey by surprise and shook them to their roots.”
A freelance writer and political activist, Boyajian described how in July of 2007 he came to write a letter to the Watertown Tab in which he objected to the town’s sponsorship of No Place for Hate (NPFH), an anti-bias program created by the ADL.
On Turkey’s behalf, the ADL has for years lobbied the U.S. Congress to oppose passage of a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide. The ADL has also refused to forthrightly
acknowledge the Armenian genocide and has used language that casts doubt on whether the mass killings were genocide.
On August 14, 2007, Watertown became the first Massachusetts city to rebuke the ADL and drop the NPFH program. Had Armenian Americans not appeared before the town council in sufficient numbers on that date, according to Boyajian, it might not have severed ties with NPFH.
Since then, 13 Massachusetts cities, most recently Easton, have officially terminated their NPFH program in what Boyajian termed one of the “finest Armenian grassroots efforts
ever.”
Among the positive results of the campaign, Boyajian cited the “thousands of news reports, editorials, commentaries, letters, and radio interviews in the non-Armenian media.” While he criticized the American Jewish Committee’s national office and B’nai B’rith for having stances against Armenian similar to the ADL’s, Boyajian also praised the many Jewish people who have supported the Armenian campaign and the Congressional resolution.
He said that the ADL and similar groups support Turkey “on virtually every issue, such as military aid to Azerbaijan and Turkey.” Therefore, by its having “weakened the credibility
of these organizations,” the campaign against the ADL’s genocide denials has reduced these groups’ overall ability to inflict damage on Armenian American interests.
Despite the campaign’s ongoing success, Boyajian lamented that “Armenian leaders in politics, academia, business, journalism, law, the church, and in community organizations have done
little to help this campaign” in Massachusetts.
The national ADL is a “political,” not a “general human rights,” organization, said Boyajian. The ultimate purpose of its “civil and human rights programs” is to “influence and buy people, getting them dependent on ADL money, and seeing things the ADL way.” As evidence that the ADL is not dedicated to human rights, he cited a 1990’s California case in which an ADL agent conducted illegal surveillance of minority groups such as the NAACP and Latinos.
Boyajian also explained that wellknown Boston figure Peter Meade, an official of the New England ADL, has been the “main opponent” of the Armenian Heritage Park on Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway. Meade is the chairman of The Greenway Conservancy.
Contrary to assertions made by the Boston Globe and Meade, the Armenian park isn’t the only ethnic or memorial project slated for the Greenway, according to Boyajian.
There are many such projects, including a Jewish affiliated museum, the Memorial Rail, and the Mother’s Memorial Walk.
Boyajian had informed the Boston Globe that it is a “conflict of interest” for an ADL official to judge an Armenian project that included mention of the genocide. The newspaper “refused”
to report it, he said.
Boyajian urged audience members to become more politically active and ask “tough questions” of their leaders.
Armenian American elected officials, in particular, “are not in office to be adored by us.”
Boyajian urged people to spend 5 minutes each month engaging in Armenian American political activism, saying, “Armenian political organizations can’t get the job done without you.”
The program was hosted by Dick Janjigian, president of the St. James Men’s Club, which organizes a dinner with a guest speaker, usually on the first Monday of each month, except
during the summer.