ISRAELI SCHOLAR ASSAILS ISRAEL’S DENIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Harut Sassounian
The California Courier
20/04/2010
An important international symposium on "Armenia-Turkey: How to
Normalize Relations," was held in Paris on April 14. It was organized
by the French Bureau of the Armenian Cause and the Armenian National
Committee of France.
The participants were: Dr. Yair Auron, Professor of History at
Open University, Israel; Dr. Israel Charny, Executive Director,
Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem; Ali Ertem, Turkish
historian and President of the Association to Combat Genocide, Germany;
Dogan Ozguden, Turkish journalist and President of the Foundation
"Info-Turk," Belgium; Dr. Alfred de Zayas, Prof. of International Law,
Geneva; Dr. Yves Ternon, historian, Paris (by video); Frederic Encel,
Political Scientist, Lecturer, Institute of Political Studies of Paris;
Giro Manoyan, spokesman of the Armenian Cause office of the ARF Bureau,
Armenia; and Harut Sassounian, Publisher of The California Courier,
Los Angeles.
Given the recent heated exchanges between Israeli and Turkish officials
and the upcoming discussion on the Armenian Genocide in the Knesset
on April 28, the audience paid particular attention to Prof.
Auron’s bold and candid remarks. He has been, for many years, a
staunch supporter of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and a
strong critic of its denial by the Israeli government.
Prof. Auron started his presentation by quoting from an article written
in 1918 by Shmuel Talkowsky, the secretary of Chaim Weitzmann, who
later became the first president of Israel. Talkowsky deplored the
"martyrdom" of Armenians and suggested that "a free and happy Armenia,
a free and happy Arabia, and a free and happy Jewish Palestine are
the three pillars on which will rest the future peace and welfare of
the Middle East." Dr. Auron expressed his regret that the policy of
the State of Israel today is far from the principles enunciated by
Talkowsky in 1918.
Criticizing Israel’s opposition to the acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide, Prof. Auron listed the following specific anti-Armenian
actions: "In 1978, a film on the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem was
banned from being screened. In 1982, the Israeli Government intervened
in an international Congress on the subject of the Shoah and Genocide,
pressing the organizers to eliminate lectures on the Armenian
Genocide. In 1989, Israel was involved in preventing mention of the
Armenian Genocide in an American calendar. In one way or another,
Israel and Jews were involved in the debate in the United States also
in 1985, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2007, and 2010. In 1990, the showing of
‘Armenian Journey,’ a TV film produced in the U.S., was banned."
Prof. Auron further related that on April 24, 2000, when Yossi
Sarid, Israel’s Minister of Education, suggested the inclusion of
the Armenian Genocide in high school curricula, Israel’s government
rejected the idea.
A year later, on April 10, 2001, the then Foreign Minister (now
President) of Israel Shimon Peres was quoted as stating: "We regret
attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and the Armenian
allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred. It is a
tragedy, but not a genocide." Reminding his audience that Israel’s
Ambassador to Armenia Rivka Cohen made similar denialist remarks in
February 2002, Prof. Auron considered these statements "as Israel’s
escalation from passive to active denial, from moderate denial to
hard-line denial." He said that an Armenian friend "rightly" told him:
"I do not know of any enlightened politician in a democratic state that
has ever made remarks such as these; you, the Jews, of all people!"
Prof. Auron also spoke about discussions held in the Israeli Parliament
on the Armenian Genocide in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Each time, the
Israeli government opposed this issue. He expected a similar rejection
later this month when the issue is raised in Knesset once again.
Prof. Auron specifically pointed out the double-standard practiced by
Israel: "The State of Israel continues to struggle against Holocaust
denial on one hand, but participates in the denial of another genocide
on the other. This most likely will damage the struggle against
Holocaust denial in the future. One might view this attitude as a
moral failure. We have to remember that moral claims can have influence
only if they are consistent…. Everyone would agree that Israel has
no right to bargain with the memory of the Holocaust. But, even more,
it has no right – by no means, in any circumstance, and much less so
than any other country – to bargain with the memory f another victim
group. And yet Israel did just that with the Armenian Genocide. Israel
is contributing to the process of genocide denial and by doing so,
it also betrays the memory and the legacy of the Holocaust."
The Armenian Genocide has been almost universally acknowledged
by dozens of countries, international organizations and prominent
scholars. Armenians do not need to beg Israel to recognize it. By
denying the Armenian Genocide, Israel morally undermines its own
credibility and standing in the world!