The shameless “hate”-hustling racketeers have really stuck their foot in it this time, and since the article at Inside Higher Education is kind of convoluted, this summary might be helpful:
- In 2008, the SPLC published an article by David Holthouse about those who have attempted to cast doubt on the historical fact of Turkey’s 1915-16 genocide of Armenians. More than 1 million Armenians are believed to have died as a result of this brutal repression under the Ottoman Empire during World War I. This issue has become a political and diplomatic hot potato in recent years.
- One of the genocide-deniers featured in Holthouse’s article was University of Massachusetts professor Guenter Lewy, whose work the SPLC alleged was “financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the government of Turkey.” This statement was false and clearly defamatory.
- Lewy sued the SPLC, a tax-exempt non-profit with an endowment of more than $150 million.
- The SPLC settled out of court, issuing a retraction and apology. In its retraction, however, the SPLC made statements that lent credibility to Lewy’s research claims — and thereby abetted the genocide-deniers, critics say.
This issue is timely because a resolution condemning the Armenian genocide is one of the measures Democrats are trying to ram through the lame-duck session. Opponents of the resolution point out that (a) it would offend Turkey, an important ally in the war on terror, and (b) it is merely a symbolic gesture, which would do nothing at all to help Armenians.
The hidden political explanation: Armenian-Americans have historically been a Republican constituency, especially in California. By pushing this meaningless symbolic resolution, Democrats are attempting to undermine the Armenian community’s GOP allegiance, while depicting Republicans as indifferent to genocide.
(Via Instapundit.)
