ISRAEL ‘MORALLY UNDERMINES ITS OWN CREDIBILITY BY DENYING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’

Tert.am
21.04.10

In a recent article the Publisher of The California Courier Harut
Sassounian refers to an international symposium on "Armenia-Turkey:
How to Normalize Relations,’ that was held in Paris on April 14.

"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," writes Sassounian.

In his words 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’,"
writes Sassounian.

"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. 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!"

Sassounian writes further that 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 of
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," Sassounian quotes Prof Auron as saying.

Further Sassounian recalls that the Armenian Genocide has been
almost universally acknowledged by dozens of countries, international
organizations and prominent scholars, and that 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!," concludes Sassounian.