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The most vivid examples are the recent developments in New England, which resulted in one of the most influential Jewish advocacy organizations the Anti-Defamation League’s cautious recognition of the historical fact.

“We have never negated but have always described the painful events of 1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians as massacres and atrocities. On reflection, we have come to share the view of Henry Morgenthau, Sr. that the consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide,” said the statement by Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League issued on August 21st, 2007 in New York.

Typical for many Jewish organizations in the US and internationally, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL www.adl.org) has the policy of denying the Armenian Genocide or not even acknowledging it and the statement by this organization followed unprecedented developments inside the Jewish community.

“Recently with the ADL there has been enough upsurge in New England, as New England director [of the organization] decided: ‘No, this is going to stop and we must recognize the Armenian Genocide, because this is a historical fact.’ And he stood up and recognized it especially as they [the ADL] now have a program called ‘No Place for Hate’,” Arpi Vartanian, Armenian Assembly of America (AAA www.aaainc.org) country director for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh told ArmeniaNow.

In response to this recognition and the statement made by the local ADL director the latter was fired from his position. “The upsurge that followed by the American Armenian activists and American Armenian community members, Jewish American activists and others was phenomenal. It has resulted in hundreds of articles being printed in local and national and even international press and resulted in numerous town meetings and large-scale actopms on the part of American Armenian organizations, such as the AAA, Jewish American organizations and prominent American Armenians and Jewish Americans. The conclusion is that the Armenian Genocide should be recognized,” Vartanian said.

However, the Jewish organization still falls short of supporting House Resolution 106 with an explanation that the resolution will hinder the further development of relationships between the United States and Turkey, which, AAA country director says “is comical.”

The statistics citing US State Department of Commerce source in an information sheet prepared by the Armenian Assembly of America say the concerns over the possible tensions in Turkey’s relations with the US are ungrounded. “Trade has not suffered, but rather has expanded” with the US states who have formally acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. Neither have the concerns been the case in Turkey’s relations with other countries who have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide,” the AAA statement says.

“We are working actively with prominent Jewish organizations and prominent Jewish figures to make sure that this remains at the forefront and the ADL takes that final step that will commit it to see that the Genocide resolution is passed in the US Congress this year,” Vartanian says.

Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of Armenian National Committee of America (www.anca.org) has been quoted by AZG Daily on August 23 saying: “The ANCA welcomes the Anti-Defamation League’s decision to finally end longstanding complicity in Turkey’s international denial campaign by properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide. We remain deeply troubled, however, that elements of its national leadership seek to prevent the United States from taking this very same principled step by adopting the Armenian Genocide Resolution currently before Congress.”

“Much work remains, both in bringing the ADL fully to the right side of this issue and the broader challenge of achieving proper US recognition of the Armenian Genocide. But we are, today, gratified by this step forward, and want to offer out thanks to all the many Armenians and Jews who cooperated together on this issue on the basis of our shared values of tolerance, truth and justice,” Hamparian went on to say.

As of September 21 H. Res. 106 has garnered bi-partisan support of 227 representatives (166 Democrats and 61 Republicans), a majority of the House of Representatives. The Senate version, S. Res. 106, currently has the support of 32 Senators (23 Democrats, 8 Republicans and 1 Independent).

Beyond this, the resolution also enjoys broad support from more than 50 US institutes, think-tanks and various organizations, including American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, American Jewish World Service, Center for Holocaust and Genocide, University of Minnesota, International Association of Genocide Scholars, and many others.