Armenian and Jewish Communities Demonstrate Solidarity on Beacon Hill
By Andy Turpin
The Armenian Weekly
August 31, 2007
BOSTON, Mass. (A.W.)-On Aug. 30, State Representative Rachel Kaprielian
(Watertown) and Boston City Councilor Michael P. Ross (District 8) hosted a
demonstration of the strengthening solidarity between the Jewish and
Armenian-American communities to underscore the importance of officially
recognizing the Armenian genocide.
The event featured Kaprielian and Ross, as well as Rabbi Ronne Friedman of
Temple Israel Boston; Rev. Gregory V. Haroutunian of the First Armenian
Church of Belmont; Holocaust survivor Israel Arbeiter, president of the
American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston;
Armenian Genocide survivor Asdghig Alemian, 97, of Weymouth; and Nancy
Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of
Greater Boston.
Kaprielian prefaced her remarks by emphasizing in the broader scope, "We are
all here to say that we need to stop what is going on in Darfur."
Councilor Ross stated, "I’m a City Councilor in Boston and I’m a son of a
Holocaust survivor." He put in context the pragmatism of Armenian and Jewish
amity by saying, "It makes sense that we came together as community. Not
just because we’re both small and active communities of Jews and Armenians,
but also because we’re people. We respect our cultures and support each
other, when we need to and when we don’t need to. We need to support each
other and back each other up."
Rabbi Friedman spoke about the genocide and Holocaust in historical memory
and present-day politics, and quoting Maya Angelou, said, "History, despite
its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not
be lived again."
Rev. Haroutunian thanked the Jewish community for its recent efforts in the
No Place for Hate controversy, which saw the dismissal of Andrew Tarsy, the
New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League who spoke in
favor of genocide recognition. "It has brought great light to the heart of
God," Haroutunian said. "We commend Andrew Tarsy for his actions. So many
people in the Jewish community demanded truth, not spin. After all, to deny
the truth, even in innuendo, is dangerous. I commend the Jewish-American
community in Boston. You stood for something, simply because it is right. We
thank God for your community and we really do pray that others will follow
your example."
Holocaust survivor Israel Arbeiter spoke of his experiences with genocide,
recalling, "I was a slave. I spent five years in a concentration camp." He
praised the gathered crowd for their attendance, and said, "I’m very happy
this event took place, but I’m also very disappointed the entire Jewish and
Armenian communities did not show up. Let’s hope from this small gathering
that more will blossom. Let’s join hands and work together so that it will
never ever happen again."
Armenian genocide survivor Asdghig Alemian remembered, "I was five years old
at the time the Turks took me. My mother starved to death on the [death]
march. They called it Der Zor. They were told to take three days of food and
that they would be taken back home. It never happened."
"We must see acknowledgement by our government while there are still
Armenian genocide survivors still alive," Kaprielian said.
Nancy Kaufman said that it is the moral responsibility of Massachusetts
citizens to ensure that the state divests from Sudan and investigates that
taxes do not finance the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
She said of the Armenian genocide and its legacy, "The genocide represents
the failure of the international community to prevent the worst crime in the
world-the destruction of an entire people."
Ross concluded amicably, saying to the Armenians present, "In the Jewish
community, we say you are all mishpucha [family]."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress