(NAME-MCE) Coloroso

Thu Jun 5 11:24:31 EDT 2008

Thank you, Sheryl, for your remarks about Barbara Coloroso's  expertise.

I thought you and NAME-MCE subscribers would like to see the latest update  
on this matter:

Toronto District School Board Reaffirms  the Teaching of the Armenian Genocide

____________________________________

Armenian National Committee of Canada
 Comité National Arménien du Canada
 130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
 Ottawa, ON
 KIP 5G4
 Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622       Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
 E-mail/courriel: _national.office at anc-canada.com_ 
(mailto:national.office at anc-canada.com)  
 www.anccanada.org

 PRESS RELEASE

 June 3, 2008
 Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian

 Toronto District School Board Reaffirms the Teaching of the Armenian Genocide

 Toronto--At a special meeting on June 2 the Program and School
 Services Committee (PSSC) of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
 unanimously approved the recommendation of its Review Committee (RC)
 and its Director to include the Armenian Genocide in its Grade 11
 genocide curriculum. Turkish groups have, in the past six months,
 lobbied against the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the Grade 11
 curriculum. The PSSC recommendation now goes to the board's June 25th
 meeting for final adoption.

 At the beginning of the meeting, the committee provided 20 minutes
 each for the Turkish and Ukrainian community representatives to make
 an oral deputation in regard to their concerns about the curriculum.

 The Council of Turkish Canadians (CTC) objected to the inclusion of
 the Armenian Genocide in the curriculum and called for its
 removal. Furthermore, CTC threatened to take legal measures to halt
 the introduction of the curriculum if the board did not consent to the
 CTC demand.

 A representative of the Muslim Canadian Congress, Farzana Hassan,
 turned the curriculum teaching issue to a religious crusade. She
 accused the board and the Western world of religious bias. She made
 similar accusations against Canadian media, specially the Globe and
 Mail and the Toronto Star newspapers. Two Turkish parents also made
 presentations.

 Ukrainian community representatives commended the board for
 introducing the "worthy program", but they objected to the omission of
 the Ukrainian famine/genocide from the curriculum. They urged the PSSC
 to reconsider the exclusion of the Ukrainian case.

 In responding to a question from trustee Gerri Gershon, David Rowan,
 associate director of TDSB, reassured the Ukrainian community that the
 Ukrainian famine /genocide, even though it is not in the curriculum as
 a separate unit on its own, it will be discussed and taught in many
 forms during the curriculum teaching.

 After the presentations, the committee unanimously voted to adopt the
 recommendations without any changes.

 Based on yesterday's meeting and the approval of the recommendations,
 the Armenian Genocide will be part of the Grade 11 genocide curriculum
 and it will be taught as one of the three case studies along with the
 Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide and as a separate unit.

 In regard to Barbara Coloroso's book, Extraordinary Evil: A Brief
 History of Genocide, even though it will not be required reading, it
 will be included in the curriculum as resource material.

 Representatives of the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC),
 the Greek and Cypriot communities, Zoryan Institute, the Armenian
 Certified Teachers Association, the Armenian Community Centre of
 Toronto, Armen Karo Student Association, the Armenian National
 Committee of Toronto, and many other supporters of the curriculum
 turned out in large numbers to attend the meeting.

 ANCC President, Dr. Girair Basmadjian, commended the TDSB for
 upholding its moral and ethical principles and for not wavering in the
 face of unprecedented revisionist campaign to falsify and rewrite the
 history of the Armenian Genocide. -By approving the recommendations,
 TDSB proved that the Turkish government interference and manipulation
 of academic institutions and its attempt to suppress freedom of
 expression is a failed policy. We are confident the curriculum will
 create better understanding between Turkish and Armenian students and
 will help them rationalize their common history,- stated
 Dr. Basmadjian

 Aris Babikian, executive director of ANCC, criticized the Turkish
 representatives who tried to use an educational forum to promote
 unsubstantiated accusation against the Armenian community by
 insinuating that Armenians are teaching hatred against Turks in their
 churches, schools and community centres. -Once again, we would like to
 emphasize that we do not have any conflict with the Canadian-Turkish
 community. At issue is the Turkish government's denial policy. A
 policy which Turkish ultranationalist are using to whip hysteria and
 animosity between the two people. A policy which simply does not fit
 with the school boards view of history, nor that of Canadians
 generally,- said Babikian.

 ***********

 The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
 grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
 network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
 affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
 the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of
 issues.

 ------

In a message dated 6/5/2008 6:24:38 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
name-mce-request at nameorg.org writes:

Message:  1
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:00:31 -0400
From:  <ssacharoff at cfl.rr.com>
Subject: (NAME-MCE) Comment on Genocide Book  Pulled: Coloroso's
Publisher    Weighs In
To:  name-mce at nameorg.org
Message-ID:
<7169324.317121212591631497.JavaMail.root at cdptpa-web20-z02>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=utf-8

As a person who has heard Barbara Coloroso  speak on parenting issues as well 
as a reader of her books, I am appalled that  her book on genocide would be 
pulled from a curriculum. Ms. Coloroso is a huge  advocate of children's rights 
as well as a major disseminator of research that  makes a difference in the 
ability of educators to teach the future of our  world important knowledge that 
is needed if genocide is to stop. The quote by  Haim Ginott in the inside 
cover of Extraordinary Evil: A Short Walk to  Genocide fully explains the 
importance of this book in our school  systems.
Respectfully,
Sheryl Sacharoff

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