Massachusetts Lawmakers to Take Up Genocide Education Act

Massachusetts State House (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Hsin Ju Hsu)

BOSTON, Mass.—The Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Eastern Massachusetts has announced that the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education will be discussing a bill related to genocide education next week.

The public hearing for H.566 and S. 327—“An Act concerning genocide education”—will be held on Monday October 7, 2019 at the Massachusetts State House.

There will be testimony from scholars, teachers, students and community activists in support of the bill that mandates the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to include the instruction of the Holocaust and the genocide “to address the notion that national, ethnic, racial or religious hatred can overtake any nation or society, leading to calamitous consequences.”

The language of the bill continues, “To reinforce that lesson, such curriculum unit shall include the Nazi atrocities of 1933 to 1945 known as the Holocaust, and other genocides including, but not limited to, the Armenian Genocide, the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine known as Holodomor, the Pontian Greek Genocide, and more recent atrocities in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Sudan.”

Monday’s hearing will feature testimony from scholars, teachers, students, and community activists in support of the bill. 

In 1998, the state legislature passed a bill that required genocide education in the state social studies curriculum framework; but this bill would mandate that all students learn about cases of genocide. It will provide young people more opportunities to explore how stereotypes, prejudice and religious and ethnic hatred can escalate to tragedy. 

Currently 12 states mandate the teaching of genocide. Most recently in 2016, the ANC of Michigan took a leading role in the successful effort to pass a genocide mandate for Michigan public school students. 

The ANC of Eastern Mass., the Anti Defamation League of New England and the Jewish Community Relations Council are leading a coalition of 25 organizations and religious institutions that are advocating for passage of the Genocide Education Act. 

The public is encouraged to attend so that legislators can witness the community’s broad support for genocide education in Massachusetts public schools. 

2 Comments

  1. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) long denied and diminished the Armenian Genocide. The ADL worked with Turkey to defeat Armenian Genocide resolutions.
    This is well-known and is why over a dozen Mass. cities and the Mass. Municipal Association cut ties with the ADL in 2007-2008.

    That the ADL made a move towards making up for these sins against Armenians a few years ago is irrelevant and came far, far too late.

    The ADL has been involved in a lot of other malfeasance over the decades. This proves that it is not a true human rights group. So cooperation with it in any way is wrong.

    Here are some facts:

    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-09-mn-20991-story.html

    https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/24/us/anti-defamation-league-accused-of-spying.html

    https://psmag.com/news/kings-garbage-76228

    https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fbi-files-reveal-adls-long-history-spying-on-peace-pro-palestinian-and-arab-diplomat-groups-207706361.html

    Please look for the word “Armenian” in this list of organizations the ADL spied on:
    https://www.foodnotbombs.net/adllist.html

    The ADL was associated with mobsters and gave an award to one (Moe Dalitz):
    https://logosclubblog.com/2017/08/14/defamation-factory-part-3-chapter-iv-the-adl-mafia-connection-excerpt/

    The list is endless.

  2. I don’t see the point for Armenian organizations to work with the notorious ADL. For years that organization stabbed us in the back and worked with Turkish propagandists to successfully defeat the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress. Now suddenly, the ADL wants to co-operate with us. The reason is obvious: Since Turkey and Israel are not friendly these days, the ADL is sending a message to Ankara that its interests in the U.S. can be damaged if it continues its hostile policy towards Israel. Yes, among other jobs, the ADL acts as an arm of Israel’s foreign policy. The ADL would abandon us at the drop of hat. Their orders regarding the Armenian Genocide come from Israel.

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