by Janelle Randazza
PEABODY – It may seem like a little word, but Peabody thinks it’s big enough to suspend its affiliation with the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) No Place for Hate Program.
The ADL acknowledged in August that the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 to 1923 massacres of 1.5 million Armenians was “tantamount to genocide.” But in using the word “tantamount” many municipalities feel the organization has taken an ambiguous stance.
Peabody and other critics are now asking the ADL to use sharper language – dropping “tantamount to” – and pushing for Congress to openly acknowledge the genocide.
“I personally believe it’s a great way to protest this discrimination. This organization has been playing politics; there’s no politics in humanity,” said Apo Torosyan, an Armenian from Turkey who has lived in Peabody since the 1960s. Torosyan lost family members to the massacre and has long been a champion of the move to push Congress to acknowledge the killings as genocide. He has created a film documenting the memories of survivors.
“Israel has financial gains with Turkey. Are we talking about our pocketbooks or history?
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