HUMAN RIGHTS SUPPORTERS CONDEMN CONGRESSWOMAN HARMAN FOR GENOCIDE DENIAL AT UCLA EVENT

armradio.am
13.11.2007 10:04

Over one hundred and fifty human right supporters, led by the Armenian
Student Association and the Armenian Graduate Student Association
at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) organized a
demonstration on Saturday, November 10, 2007 on their campus to
highlight the genocide denial being practiced by Los Angeles area
Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA-36).

Last month it was revealed that Harman had secretly issued a letter
in opposition to the Armenian Genocide resolution (H. Res. 106),
while publicly being listed as a supporter of the measure.

Expressing solidarity with the demonstrators were representatives of
the Darfur Action Committee and Members of both the UCLA Undergraduate
and Graduate Student Governments. A number of media outlets covered
the protest, which included a broad cross-section of human rights
supporters, young and old, who were united in their belief that
Harman’s deceitful actions on the genocide bill fall far beneath even
the most basic ethical standards that her constituents have a right
to expect.

Harman was at UCLA to be honored by the Dashew Center for International
Students and Scholars. Sources indicate that Congresswoman Harman
and the Dashews have a decades old relationship, as evidenced by
Congressional remarks on September 10, 1996 and involved participation
in Dashew Center events in 1998 and 2001. At the event, Harman was
awarded the Jacoby International Award, though it was not made clear
why she was being granted this little known honor. As onlookers
watched, a number of Turkish students attended the Dashew event to
express their solidarity with the Congresswoman.

"Jane Harman should be ashamed of herself," commented UCLA AGSA
Executive Officer Raffi Kassabian. "As the daughter of a Holocaust
survivor, for her to argue that the ‘time is not right to recognize
the Armenian Genocide’ is outrageous. Clearly, Jane believes it is
better for Congress to remain silent in the face of Turkish denials
and threats. Her failure to speak truth to power is immoral and,
quite frankly, an embarrassment," he added.

Last month, Harman was the focus of a demonstration that shut down a
political event in Lakewood, California. The Lakewood event brought
together over one hundred activists from the Armenian Youth Federation
who hail from in and around the 36th Congressional District represented
by Harman. Human rights champions in the Los Angeles area have vowed
to highlight Harman’s immoral position on the Armenian Genocide at
all public events she attends in California and elsewhere. To date,
thousands of emails have been sent to her legislative aides to convey
their disgust with the Congresswoman’s denial of the Armenian Genocide
and opposition to H. Res. 106.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress