Tolerance.ca, Canada
Aug 23 2007

Jews Face the Armenian Genocide
(Version anglaise seulement)

(Agrandir)

By Dr. Stephen Scheinberg

Dr. Scheinberg is emeritus professor of history, Concordia
University, and co-chair of Canadian Friends of Peace Now. His
editorials can be heard on Montreal’s Radio Shalom 1650AM on Monday
at 7:15A.M. and Wednesday at 6:14P.M..

There is a controversy raging among American Jews which may get even
hotter in the coming days. The issue arises because the U.S. Congress
will once again be asked to vote for a bill recognizing the Armenian
genocide of 1915. One might think that this would not be a difficult
issue for the Jewish community but unfortunately several of the major
Jewish organizations in the United States have seen fit to intervene
against the bill.

First, let me explain to those of you who are not well acquainted
with the events of 1915 that an overwhelming number of historians
recognize that the Turkish government of the day engaged in the
pre-meditated murder of between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians. Jewish
holocaust scholars including Raul Hilberg, Elie Wiesel , Yehuda
Bauer, Daniel Goldhagen and Deborah Lipstadt have all signed ads
urging the Congress to pass the resolution. The scholarship is
overwhelming; including even some Turkish writers, but the Turkish
government persists in its refusal to acknowledge responsibility.
Armenian genocide denial is close kin to holocaust denial and as
morally reprehensible.

The current bill in the Congress was introduced in January 2007 by
Representative Adam Schiff of California and has wide Jewish support
in both the House and Senate, from Democrats and Republicans.
However, it is not clear if or when the bill will come to a vote. The
Turkish government has been active in supporting opposition to the
bill, hiring prominent lobbyists and meeting with Jewish leaders.
This leadership was obviously reminded, at a meeting with the Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdula Gul, of Turkey’s good relations with Israel
as well as with the United States, her support for her own Jewish
community numbering approximately 40,000, and her record as a
sanctuary for Jewish refugees over the centuries. It is difficult to
say whether it was Turkish lobbying, their own sentiments, or
possibly direct intervention from Israel which led the
Anti-Defamation League, B’nai Brith International, the American
Jewish Committee and the Jewish Institute of National Security
Affairs to pass along to members of Congress a letter from Turkish
Jews opposing the resolution, thus implicitly taking the side of
Turkey.

It was the ADL’s Abraham Foxman who was the most outspoken of the
Jewish leaders, declaring that `this is an issue that needs to be
resolved by the parties, not by us. We are neither historians nor
arbiters.’ One has never heard Foxman, a child survivor of the
holocaust, make such a cavalier reference to the death of six million
Jews. He has given further fuel to his critics by firing the ADL’s
New England regional director who had urged that the organization
recognize the genocide. A former ADL regional board member condemned
the firing as `a vindictive, intolerant, and destructive act’ by an
organization and leader whose `fundamental mission – is to promote
tolerance.’ Foxman has subsequently, following much criticism and a
conversation with Elie Wiesel, recognized that the events of 1915
constituted genocide but continues to oppose the bill as
counterproductive.

For her part, Israel has not made any public reference to the
Armenian genocide and has carefully deleted such references from text
books and even withdrawn support from international conferences at
which the genocide would have been a subject for discussion. Before a
trip to Turkey then-foreign minister Shimon Peres said of the
genocide, that it was `a matter for historians to decide.’ There are
many prominent Israelis who deplore their government’s failure to act
on a significant moral issue. However, in the case of a nation state,
realpolitik often triumphs over morality. Israel obviously considers
that her relations with Turkey are too important to be possibly
undermined by taking the moral road, though Israelis from across the
political spectrum have disagreed on the consequences of such
actions.

Nevertheless, the American Jewish leadership is not and should not be
tied to Israeli realpolitik. Individual morality cannot be waived in
the interest of Israel, the United States or Canada. Perhaps if the
Armenian genocide resolution is again defeated these same community
leaders will be at pains to deny the influence of the Jewish lobby.
Neither Israel nor the American Jewish community will be well served
by a community leadership that abandons elementary standards of
behavior for a misguided assessment of the needs of Israel or Turkish
Jewry. Perhaps they should recall the infamous words attributed to
Adolph Hitler, calling on his troops to pursue their destructive
work, he stated: `Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?’ As Jews, we are obliged to speak, and our voices must
be heard on the side of justice and morality.

* Credit : Wikipedia – The Armenian Genocide Memorial in the
Marcelin-Wilson Park in Montreal.