Billboard Appearing To Deny Armenian Genocide Taken Down Following Uproar
BOSTON (CBS) -- A controversial billboard in Boston, up for a day and then removed, and some are calling it a form of hate speech.
The billboard appears to deny that the Armenian genocide that killed a million and a half people during the World War One era, even happened. And that has a lot of people outraged. But after emails, phone calls and petitions protesting that message, the billboard company took it down.
The billboard was in the North End with a message from an organization called Fact Check Armenia, questioning the reality of the Armenian genocide.
"First reaction was outrage," says Jim Kalustian, the head of the Armenian Heritage Foundation in Massachusetts.
"It was hate speech against historical fact. The UN Human Rights Commission and scholars across the globe have recognized the genocide," he says.
Adding more concern, Boston's Armenian Heritage Park is just a short distance from the billboard. The park honors the one and a half million victims of the genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
"One of the main reasons genocide continues is the fact that it is not acknowledged, and denial is one of the primary reasons why genocide continues today," says Kalustian.
By this afternoon, the controversial sign was gone with a new one in its place with a parenting theme. That was after protests and petitions aimed at Clear Channel, the billboard's owner.
Why did Clear Channel take it down?
All they would tell us is contained in a one sentence statement from Jason King: "The ad was placed there in error and has been removed."
The company wouldn't clarify the meaning of that.
"We don't know what that means and we intend to pursue this and get clarification on that so it doesn't happen again," says Kalustian.
"People have a right to opinion, but there's a historical fact that this billboard is denying, and by Clear Channel posting the billboard, they're supporting a denialist," he adds.
We reached out to the organization that placed the message through email and Twitter, but no one responded. This Sunday The Walk Against Genocide starts at the Holocaust Memorial in Boston and ends at the Armenian Heritage Park.
