Newton HRC Letter to ADL

Dear Board Members of ADL New England,

We the Newton Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a No Place For Hate (NPFH) community since its inception, write to strongly support the recent actions taken by the current Board of ADL New England and former Director Andrew Tarsy in recognizing the Armenian Genocide and having the courage to present this to the national ADL.

We have been closely monitoring the recent developments and were very distressed by the firing of Andrew Tarsy. While we welcomed today’s lukewarm announcement by national ADL Director Foxman that they finally recognize the Armenian Genocide, we were disappointed by his stance about the Congressional resolution.

Tonight we held a special meeting of NHRC with Mayor David Cohen. It was attended by an overflow crowd of more than fifty people from Newton and surrounding communities. At this meeting, the NHRC agreed that the following must happen:
• National ADL must follow ADL New England, and fully and unequivocally recognize the Armenian Genocide
• National ADL must actively support Congressional resolution HR106
• National ADL must immediately reinstate Andrew Tarsy as Director of ADL New England


While the NPFH program parallels the ideals and values of our community, and while we have been involved from the beginning, we shall reassess our participation with ADL and this program based on what actions, or lack of actions, are taken by the national ADL. Mayor Cohen has espoused the same beliefs in his recent letters and he supports our decisions as well.

We understand you are meeting tomorrow, August 22, and we write to strongly urge you to maintain the principled position you have stated in ADL New England’s support of the Armenian Genocide and in support of the Congressional resolution.

We know it is a difficult time for you but please know that citizens everywhere are depending on your strong resolve. Please keep us posted and also let us know if there is some way we can be of assistance.


In peace,


Marianne Ferguson, NHRC Chair
Beverly Droz, NHRC Staff Director
Human Rights Commissioners: Jane Brown, Peter Brown, Muriel Esdale, Brenda Krasnow, Sheila Mondshein, Sona Petrossian, Susan Thomas