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    Categories: 2019

Another Armenian Institution Vandalized in France

One of the reportedly 24 classrooms that were vandalized at the Samuel Mourad school in Sevres on Tuesday

The Samuel Mourad Armenian School in France was vandalized on Tuesday, days after the editorial office of Nouvelles d’Arménie’s magazine was broken into and ransacked, creating concern among the French-Armenian community about being targets of attacks.

Vandals broke into three central buildings of the school and smashed doors and windows of 24 rooms of the building with metal rods and stones.

This is not the first attack on this secondary Armenian Catholic school located in the storied town of Sevres, about six miles outside of Paris. The school was attacked in January. is a secondary Armenian Catholic school and was

“We are seriously concerned about repeated acts of vandalism against the Samuel Moorat Armenian College of Sevres. These acts should not go unpunished,” said Armenia’s Ambassador to France Hasmik Tolmajian in a Facebook post.

Armenia’s High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs also condemned the attack, in a statement posted on the office’s Facebook page. He also said that he met with the director of the school, Father Harutiun Bzdigian and discussed the fate of the school, which remains closed since the January attack. Sinanyan added that after meeting with Bzdigian he was thinking about ways to reopen the school, “and today I found out about the second attack.”

“I was saddened to learn that the Samuel-Mouradian School in the north of Paris was again attacked. Vandalism—it is impossible to describe what happened in other words,” said Sinanyan.

“I cannot ignore the brutal attack on the office of the Nouvelles d’Arménie magazine three days ago, which was simply a violation of free speech and democratic values,” said Sinanyan. “I strongly condemn such actions against these two Armenian institutions in France, which has become a second homeland for thousands of our compatriots.”

Sinanyan expressed his solidarity with the Samuel-Mouradian School and Nouvelles d’Arménie, adding that he spoke to Father Bzdigian upon hearing the news of the vandalism and offered his office’s support.

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS