Obama Avoids Calling Armenian Killings 'Genocide'

Why were people really expecting him to be different?
April 25, 2009

Article first published here.

JERUSALEM -- As Armenians around the world gathered Friday to remember their tragic shared heritage, President Barack Obama called the 1915 massacres of 1.5 million Armenians by Turks a “great atrocity,” but failed to label it genocide as he’d promised during his campaign.

The president’s position disappointed many Armenians, who feel the U.S. is once again downplaying the mass murders.

“At least when someone promises, as a presidential candidate, something of this significance, we expect him to be true to his promises,” said Sarkis Mesrobian, an Armenian pilgrim to Jerusalem from Los Angeles.

In a speech on Friday, Obama called the killings “one of the great atrocities of the 20th century,” but fell short of campaign promises, as have many of his predecessors, to label it a genocide.

In many ceremonies and protests around the world, the mood of the day revolved around expectations over Obama’s promises and strong record on the genocide. Armenian groups were confident that Obama and the U.S. Congress would officially recognize the genocide despite jeopardizing relations with Turkey.

On his website, Obama even writes that, “the Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides.”

In a written statement today, Obama said his “view of history has not changed.”

Nevertheless, in a ceremony in Jerusalem on Thursday, a priest in the Armenian monastery, Father Pakrad, called Obama’s previous statement a “pledge gone with the wind.”

“We are fully aware that the Armenian Genocide issues has become a political stand for the U.S. government instead of its becoming a pure moral issue,” he said in a speech. “Obama believes that each country must work through its past and hold out the promise of a new day. One thing he is not aware of is that ever since the Armenian Genocide our history has been halted because the genocide issue is unresolved.”

The United States and Israel, both with significant Armenian populations, are among the countries who have yet to officially recognize the genocide. Ankara denies that a genocide occurred and says the death toll has been inflated and was a result of civil war.

Even if Obama was on course to recognize the genocide, his intentions could have been derailed with an announcement this week by Turkish and Armenian officials that they are negotiating to ease a 16-year economic blockade Turkey has placed on Armenia since its war with Azerbaijan.

Obama praised the two countries’ efforts to overcome their differences and said he was “not interested in the U.S. tilting these negotiations one way or another while they are having a useful discussion.”

As they did in cities around the world, Jerusalem Armenians held a mournful memorial mass today then staged a protest at the Turkish consulate. Congregants packed into Saint James Armenian church for a two-hour long service in memory of relatives killed in death marches, massacres, starvation and disease. Outside the Armenian monastery in the Old City, posters in three languages called for genocide recognition.

Just days after the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, Armenians in Jerusalem pled with Israeli passersby in Jerusalem’s Old City to recognize their own plight. A scattered few Israelis who did join the memorial in Jerusalem said they felt shame that their government wouldn’t officially recognize the genocide.

Lehi Shachar, a student from Haifa, came to Jerusalem to stand in solidarity with Israel’s Armenian community.

“I wanted to come, especially on this day, to identify with the people because of our history,” she said referring to the Holocaust against the Jews in Nazi Germany. “It is absurd that the Israeli government doesn’t recognize this day.”

A Turkish reporter covering the Jerusalem protest said he admits there were killings, but he “cannot call it an ethnic cleansing.”

“The diaspora Armenians want first that they recognize it as a genocide, but the Armenians in Armenia want dialogue,” said Osman Sert, Jerusalem bureau chief of TRT. “This (genocide recognition) is blocking everything. “In Armenia, they have economic problems and they want normalization.”

Armenian Genocide Day - For Justice

Reminder: Tomorrow is the little thought-about genocide commemoration of 1.5 million Armenian people

April 23, 2009

I'm going to be marching with and writing about the Armenian Genocide memorial day tomorrow in Jerusalem. For those not familiar with this Holocaust, I have compiled some information. The Turks have rewritten history, have raised a generation believing a lie and, some countries, like the US and Israel, have let them get away with it in the name of strategic relations. The Armenian people cannot begin to heal unless their pain has been acknowledged.

Info from this site.

One and a half million Armenians were killed in the Armenian Genocide, carried out by the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916. Armenians commemorate this on April 24, because it was on that day in 1915 when 300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were rounded up, deported and killed. On that same day, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were butchered in the streets and in their homes. 

The genocide was systematic: Armenians in the army were disarmed, placed into labor battalions, and then killed. Then the Armenian political and intellectual leaders were killed. Finally, Armenians were told they were being relocated so they embarked upon what became known as "death marches." Many died in this way - either starving to death or succumbing to the brutal conditions of the desert. On the Black Sea coast, Turks loaded Armenians on barges and sank them out at sea.

The Turkish government denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only removed from the eastern "war zone."

The Armenian Genocide, however, occurred all over Anatolia [present-day Turkey], and not just in the so-called "war zone." Deportations and killings occurred in the west, in and around Ismid (Izmit) and Broussa (Bursa); in the center, in and around Angora (Ankara); in the south-west, in and around Konia (Konya) and Adana (which is near the Mediterranean Sea); in the central portion of Anatolia, in and around Diyarbekir (Diyarbakir), Harpout (Harput), Marash, Sivas (Sepastia), Shabin Kara-Hissar (þebin Karahisar), and Ourfa (Urfa); and on the Black Sea coast, in and around Trebizond (Trabzon), all of which are not part of a war zone. Only Erzeroum, Bitlis, and Van in the east were in the war zone.

The American people, via local Protestant missionaries, did the most to save the wretched remnants of the death marches, the orphaned children. The New York Times published some 150 articles on the slaughters in 1915. (from a documentary on the Genocide by Two Cats Productions.)

Despite Turkish denial, there is no doubt about the Armenian Genocide. For example, German ambassador Count von Wolff-Metternich, Turkey's ally in World War I, wrote his government in 1916 saying: "The Committee [of Union and Progress] demands the annihilation of the last remnants of the Armenians and the [Ottoman] government must bow to its demands."

Much documentation exists from foreign consuls and businessmen, not to mention genocide survivors. Henry Morgenthau Sr., the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent a cable to the U.S. State Department in 1915: "Deportation of and excesses against peaceful Armenians is increasing and from harrowing reports of eye witnesses [sic] it appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion."

Morgenthau's successor as Ambassador to Turkey, Abram Elkus, cabled the U.S. State Department in 1916 that the Young Turks were continuing an ". . . unchecked policy of extermination through starvation, exhaustion, and brutality of treatment hardly surpassed even in Turkish history."

One Turkish government, that of Damad Ferit Pasha, has recognized the Armenian genocide. In fact, that government held war crimes trials and condemned to death the major leaders responsible.

The Earth Day farce

April 23, 2009

I decided to skip the Earth Day event at the Old City walls this evening, for what I believe is good reason. By not watching the farce, I spared myself copious amounts of eye rolling and a lethal dose of sarcasm. 

Jerusalem decided to copy the US and turn out the lights on the Old City walls for a nice energy-saving hour. But on my way to the Old City today, I saw increased cop patrols (completely necessary considering the president and mayor would both be there) creating a lot more pollution. I saw trucks carting in electrically powered decorative orb-like objects. Friends told me that they saw a children's model project of a windmill powered by wind, was powered by the wind of a fan, electric naturally.

Sound systems were carted in and speeches were made. More energy and hot air. Then the lights went out. I wonder what the net gain would be for that hour, especially after the previous 12 in setting up the event.

It isn't a bad idea to conserve energy, but to expend more to make your conservation more dramatic? Don't make me sneer. I want to be happy. Really.

"Preparing the way" for the Pope

And yes, I ran too :)

April 23, 2009

BETHLEHEM - From Manger Square, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, about a dozen Palestinians from Beit Sahour, Beit Jalla and Bethlehem geared up to run to Jerusalem in the sixth annual peace marathon. But the runners weren’t sure whether they could complete the race.

“We’ll see if they let me (into Jerusalem). I have a pass, but I don’t know if they’ll let me,” said Imad, 23. Imad’s temporary pass, organized by an Italian organization that sponsored the run, didn’t guarantee entry, but would help.

The logistics of the run reflect the situation. Palestinian runners started from behind the concrete barrier that keeps them from Israel and had to obtain permits to cross the checkpoint, logistics that must be worked out in advance. The Israeli runners, many of whom visited Bethlehem before the first Intifada (uprising), are no longer able to enter according to Israeli law, which prevents its citizens from entering Palestinian territories.

Instead, the Israeli delegation met the runners at the checkpoint where the Palestinian contingent’s entry into Israel would be decided.

These locals and Italian pilgrims “prepared the way” for Pope Benedict XVI, just three weeks before his arrival in Israel, with the sixth annual Pope John Paul II Pilgrimage Peace Marathon on Thursday morning. Some 50 Italians and about a dozen Palestinians and Israelis took part in the “marathon,” actually just six miles, but replete with a border crossing from Palestinian territory to Israel’s capital, an attempt to promote peace in the Holy Land. 

Centro Sportivo Italiano, the Italian Sports Association, brings pilgrims from Italy and “aims to continue the legacy of Pope John Paul II for peace, brotherhood and inter-religious cooperation” through sports, the organization said in a statement. 

Retired AC Milan soccer star Demetrio Albertini, now Deputy President of the Italian Football Association, provided star power for the run. Italian volleyball world champion Andrea Zorzi  also joined the marathon. The first stop for the Italian delegation was Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on Wednesday.

Albertini said the race, because of its mission, was an emotional event for him. 

“It’s the sixth, but it’s a new day for a very long run in the future for peace,” he said. “In sports you don’t see that wall between the Palestinians and Israelis. This is the strength of sports, you don’t see your differences. That is why we run, why we are here, to bring this message to the young people to live without these differences.”

The race itself took place in true Italian fashion, relaxed and entertaining. It took two hours for the group to span the route, stopping for photo opportunities and extravagant greetings along the way. The Italian delegates passed out olive branches to Palestinians on one side of the wall and to Israelis on the other. 

In the end, all the Palestinian runners crossed the border without a hitch and finished the race at Notre Dame church across from the Old City. 

Would the race bring peace? Maybe not, but Murad Manoureh, a Palestinian from Beit Sahour, believes it can help.

 

“Sports is the language for everybody in the world,” he said. “It is a good language and we play by the rules. We run for peace and we run for some sport.”

“We want peace with Israel and we want to visit Jerusalem. We haven’t been here for a long time and it is nice to see it after a long time,” he said. 

Yaron Rohin, a Jerusalem runner, has participated in this run for five years. 

“It is beautiful to see that the Palestinians crossed the border with relative ease,” he said. “They met us together with the Italians. Now we just need to see some results. If the politicians will also understand this, then we will see peace.”

Sirens sound for Holocaust Memorial Day

Somber memorial coincides with Hilter's birthday and anti-Israel racism conference

April 21, 2009

Originally published here.

In a chilling coincidence, this year’s solemn Holocaust commemoration in Israel landed on Adolf Hitler’s birthday as well as on the first day of a United Nations racism conference the Jewish state says is taking a marked anti-Israel stance.

Several Israeli organizations have sent delegates to Geneva to protest the conference. One organization, Israel Empowerment Fund, rallied Christian Zionists from around Europe to take part in the pro-Israel protests.

“The conference is only an excuse to blame Israel for all the problems in the world and be anti-Semitic, which is ironic because the whole theme of the event is supposed to be against racism,” Michael Decker of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice tells Newsmax.

The organization created a coalition of Jews and Christians called “The Israel Empowerment Fund” and called upon European Christians to join them in Geneva for a week of protest events. Demonstrations for and against Israel are set to take place every day of the conference.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Israel of being the "most cruel and racist regime," sparking a walkout Monday by angry Western diplomats at a U.N. racism conference.

Several nations including the United States have boycotted the United Nations’ conference in Geneva due to its statement’s harsh wording against Israel. On Monday, Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, Ilan Elgar, in protest against the Geneva conference and a meeting between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.

“I feel deeply hurt and ashamed that on such a day, there is the opening of a racist conference in Geneva, and the main speaker is who? (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Israel’s President Simon Peres said in a statement. “A man that calls to wipe Israel off of the map. A man who denies the Holocaust.”

Around the nation, Jewish-owned businesses shut down at dusk on Monday and ceremonies took place at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the nations who boycotted the conference, but condemned it and “its guest-of-honor” who he called “a racist Holocaust-denier who does not hide his intentions to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.“

“The unfortunate fact is that while we are marking the events of the Holocaust here at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, there are those who chose to participate in a spectacle of hatred of Israel, conducted at this very hour in the heart of Europe,” Netanyahu said at a memorial service Monday night. “From here I turn to you, President of Switzerland, and I ask you: how can you, as a head of an enlightened state, meet with those who deny the Holocaust and strive for another one?“

Indeed, several delegates walked out of Ahmadinejad’s vitriolic speech on Monday when he called Israel a "paragon of racism.

The United Nation’s Durban Review Conference is a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa.

Thousands Celebrate 'Holy Fire' in Jerusalem

Easter in Jerusalem

April 20, 2009

Originally published here.

JERUSALEM - The quiet of the Sabbath was pierced Saturday morning by the drums and bagpipes of marching bands that led the patriarchs of various churches in the Old City toward the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony the day before the Orthodox Easter.

In a nation where headlines regarding Israelis and Palestinians dominate the news, the few Christians here cling to Easter as the one day a year when they parade their identity despite being a 2 percent minority among Jews and Muslims.

The indigenous Christian community is bolstered at this time each year by thousands of international pilgrims who pack into the Old City for a chance to attend the Holy Fire ceremony at the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the tomb of Jesus by Orthodox and Catholic Christians. Some pilgrims sleep outside the church the night before in order to be first inside the church. Greek Orthodox, Armenians and other Eastern rite Christians follow a different calendar than Catholics and Protestants, celebrating Easter on Sunday, April 19.

About 10,000 worshippers were allowed into the church on Saturday, including Steve Toumayan, 32, a Jerusalem native who now lives in Toronto. Toumayan said he took his vacation during Easter so he could return to Jerusalem and attend the Holy Fire service again after 10 years.

“This is the place to be. Everything happened here,” he said referring to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The ritual of the holy fire dates back at least 1,200 years and the origin of the flame, which is said to leap from the tomb, is considered a miracle by the faithful.

But the Holy Fire, or Sabbath of Light ceremony, has been marred in the past by fights between Christians vying for coveted turf in the historic church. One year the Greek Patriarch and an Armenian priest came to blows in the tomb of Jesus, leading to a fight that spilled out between followers of the denominations.

Since then, young Christian men don a priest robe for the day ready for a fight; hundreds of Jewish Israeli police, border guard units and riot police block sections of the Old City to control entry to the church; and Muslim families, who hold the church keys, seal the tomb of Jesus with wax when the priests go inside to pray.

This year no inter-Christian fights were reported although many scuffles erupted at police checkpoints when pilgrims pushed to get through police barricades. Otherwise, the ceremony was peaceful and touching to the faithful who awaited the flame. Congregants from the Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Greece and Armenian, among others, held bundles of candles as they waited for the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Theofilos III to enter the tomb. After the flame appeared it was passed from the tomb and relayed to all the candles in the church. One is even flown to Greece.

Before the flame was passed from within the tomb, Nectar Derian, 65, from New York, on her first visit to Israel, thanked God for the opportunity to be at the ceremony.

“This light comes from heaven and I’m anxious to light my candle,” she said.

Since the Orthodox Palm Sunday last week, the Christian and Armenian quarters of the Old City have been packed with visitors, revelers and proud bearers of jewelry or tattoos of crosses. Naro Kalaydian, owner of Bulgourji Armenian Restaurant, said the business had seen an endless run of tourists from around the world and local Christians on holiday the entire week, a significant boost from last year.

The Holy Sepulchre was dedicated by Constantine in the 4th century. The present church was built in 1810. Today about 14 denominations claim some degree of rights in the church, with six that have rights to hold daily services in the church including Armenian Orthodox, Coptic, Ethiopian, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Syrian Orthodox. All denominations abide by a decision that allows a Muslim family in the Old City to hold the keys to the church.