DEDICATION OF THE FIRST MONUMENT IN LONDON IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE 1.5 MILLION VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

An Apricot Tree (Prunus Armenica) was dedicated as the first public
monument in England in memory of the 1.5 Million Victims of the
Armenian Genocide which took place in Ottoman Turkey between 1915
and 1923. The dedication took place in the London Borough of Ealing
on Saturday 17th of April, 2010. The plot of land and the tree were
made available by the Council of the London Borough of Ealing which
has the largest concentration of Armenians in London, numbering
about 10,000. The tree is in a prominent position in a green along
the Ealing High Street.

The Dedication Ceremony was conducted by the Primate of the Armenian
Church in the United Kingdom, the Very Rev. Vahan Hovhanessian and
a message was delivered on behalf of the British Armenian community
by Mr Ara H Palamoudian, Chairman of the Armenian Community & Church
Council of Great Britain. Also present was a member of the Armenian
Embassy representing the Ambassador, Dr Vahe Gabrielyan.

In his speech, Mr Palamoudian thanked the Council of the London
Borough of Ealing for their honourable gesture and for their courage in
resisting immense pressures against the planting of the commemorative
monument.

Speech given by Mr A. H. Palamoudian, Chairman of the Armenian
Community & Church Council of Great Britain, at the dedication ceremony
of an Apricot Tree as a Monument in memory of the 1.5 Million Victims
of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey:

Today is a momentous day for British Armenians.

Today we have taken another step in the journey towards securing
recognition by the British Government of the Armenian Genocide.

On behalf of the Armenian Community and Church Council of Great
Britain I, together with the 10,000 or so Armenians living in Ealing,
would like to thank the Council of the London Borough of Ealing and to
commend and congratulate them for their courage in resisting against
the racist bullying of Genocide deniers and for their honourable
decision to dedicate this piece of land and this tree to the memory
of the One and a Half Million Victims of the Armenian Genocide.

We hear noises and protestations of denial today, as we have heard for
the past 95 years. But the truth and the reality of the Genocide is
well known even to those who deny the truth for their own political
expediency.

Denial of the Genocide is racist and causes distress and humiliation
to the Armenian people and it is a violation of our dignity.

We and our children and our children’s children refuse, and will
continue to refuse, to be humiliated any longer, and we reject the
deniers.

Jesus said on the Cross, " forgive them Lord for they know not what
they do".

We now say to all those who are intent on denying the Armenian
Genocide: go and discover the truth !

Acknowledge the Holocaust that was perpetrated upon our parents and
our grandparents, and forgiveness is there to be had – for it is
divine to forgive.

However, GENOCIDE can never be forgotten.

This tree is a monument against Genocide, so that Genocide is never
forgotten and therefore never happens again. No matter against whom
perpetrated – be they Jews, Tootsies, Ruandans or Armenians.

This Monument will grow and will bear fruit and as it grows it will
even more forcefully remind the World that Genocide and the Victims
of Genocide can not be forgotten and that Genocide must never happen
again.

We are not here for a confrontation;

We are here to create a better world, a fairer world and a world where
Crimes against Humanity are condemned and purged, so that nations
are thus able to live together in harmony and neighbourly respect.

We, British Armenians, demand that our Government ceases
procrastinating and recognises the Armenian Genocide. And we invite the
deniers to open their eyes, to discover the truth and to admit that
truth; and I hope that next year they will be standing alongside us,
here, to honour the Victims of the Armenian Genocide and to voice
their condemnation of the racist crimes of the Ottoman Government,
and to pray with us for Genocide never to happen again.