The California
Courier Online, March 9, 2023
1- Israel’s
Massive Supply of
Sophisticated
Weapons to Azerbaijan
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Irvine City
Council unanimously approves
Armenian
Genocide Memorial at Great
Park
3- Family Moves
to Pasadena for Armenian
Academy at Blair High School
4- ‘Princess of
December’: George Kirazian Releases
New Fantasy
Novel for Young Adults
************************************************************************************************************************************************
1- Israel’s
Massive Supply of
Sophisticated
Weapons to Azerbaijan
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper published on March 5, an astounding
article titled: “92 Flights from Israeli Base Reveal Arms Exports to Azerbaijan.”
The article reported that on March 2, Azerbaijan’s Silk Way Airlines’ cargo plane
landed in Israel’s Ovda
military airport, and two hours later returned to Baku
via Turkey and the Georgian Republic. In the last seven years, this
is the 92nd cargo flight from Baku to Ovda, the
only airfield in Israel
that is allowed to export explosives. These military shipments increased
substantially during Azerbaijan’s
attacks on Armenia/Artsakh in 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Pres. Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has described Israel’s covert relations with Azerbaijan as
being like an iceberg, nine-tenths of it is below the surface.
Israel
supplies almost 70% of Azerbaijan’s
weapons and in return receives about half of its imported oil. Haaretz quoted
foreign media sources disclosing that: “Azerbaijan has allowed the Mossad
[Israel’s intelligence agency] to set up a forward branch [in Azerbaijan] to
monitor what is happening in Iran, Azerbaijan’s neighbor to the south, and has
even prepared an airfield intended to aid Israel in case it decides to attack
Iranian nuclear sites. Reports from two years ago stated that the Mossad agents
who stole the Iranian nuclear archive smuggled it to Israel
via Azerbaijan.
According to official reports from Azerbaijan,
over the years Israel
has sold it the most advanced weapons systems, including ballistic missiles,
air defense and electronic warfare systems, kamikaze drones and more.”
Haaretz revealed that Azerbaijan’s
Silk Way Airlines “operates three weekly flights between Baku
and [Israel’s] Ben-Gurion International Airport
with Boeing 747 cargo freighters.” In addition, some Eastern European countries
circumvent the ban on the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan
by shipping them via Israel.
The restriction of the sale of weapons by Europe and the United States to Armenia
and Azerbaijan created an
opportunity for Israel to
earn billions of dollars in weapons’ sales to Azerbaijan.
Haaretz reported that “Israel has exported a very wide range
of weapons to the country [Azerbaijan]—starting with Tavor assault rifles all
the way to the most sophisticated systems such as radar, air defense, antitank
missiles, ballistic missiles, ships and a wide range of drones, both for
intelligence and attack purposes. Israeli companies have also supplied advanced
spy tech, such as communications monitoring systems from Verint and the Pegasus
spyware from the NSO Group—tools that were used against journalists, the LGBT
community and human rights activists in Azerbaijan, too.”
The Stockholm International Peace Institute wrote: “Israel’s defense exports to Azerbaijan
began in 2005 with the sale of the Lynx multiple launch rocket systems by
Israel Military Industries (IMI Systems), which has a range of 150 kilometers
(92 miles). IMI, which was acquired by Elbit Systems in 2018, also supplied
LAR-160 light artillery rockets with a range of 45 kilometers, which, according
to a report from Human Rights Watch, were used by Azerbaijan to fire banned
cluster munitions at residential areas in Nagorno-Karabakh,” even though Israel
and 123 other countries have banned the use of cluster bombs.
Haaretz reported that “In 2007, Azerbaijan signed a contract to buy
four intelligence-gathering drones from Aeronautics Defense Systems. It was the
first deal of many. In 2008 it purchased 10 Hermes 450 drones from Elbit
Systems and 100 Spike antitank missiles produced by Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems and in 2010 it bought another 10 intelligence-gathering drones. Soltam
Systems, owned by Elbit, sold it ATMOS self-propelled guns and 120-millimeter
Cardom mortars, and in 2017 Azerbaijan’s
arsenal was supplemented with the more advanced Hanit mortars. According to the
telegram leaked in Wikileaks, a sale of advanced communications equipment from
Tadiran was also signed in 2008.”
According to Haaretz, “Israel
and Azerbaijan
took their relationship up a level in 2011 with a huge $1.6 billion deal that
included a battery of Barak missiles for intercepting aircraft and missiles, as
well as Searcher and Heron drones from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It
was reported that near the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, a
Barak battery shot down an Iskander ballistic missile launched by Armenia.
Aeronautics Defense Systems also began cooperating with the local arms industry
in Azerbaijan, where some of the 100 Orbiter kamikaze (loitering munitions)
drones were produced—drones that Azerbaijan’s defense minister called ‘a
nightmare for the Armenian army.’”
In 2021, “an indictment was filed against [Israel’s]
Aeronautics Defense Systems for violating the law regulating defense exports in
its dealing with one of its most prominent clients. A court-imposed gag order
prevents the publication of further details. A project to modernize the
Azerbaijani army’s tanks began in the early 2010s. Elbit Systems upgraded and
equipped the old Soviet T-72 models with new protective gear to enhance the
tanks’ and their crews’ survivability, as well as fast and precise target acquisition
and fire control systems. The upgraded tanks, known as Aslan (Lion), starred in
the 2013 military parade. Azerbaijan’s navy was reinforced in 2013 with six
patrol ships based on the Israel Navy’s Sa’ar 4.5-class missile boats, produced
by Israel Shipyards and carrying the naval version of the Spike missiles, along
with six Shaldag MK V patrol boats with Rafael’s Typhoon gun mounts and Spike
missile systems. Azerbaijan’s
navy also bought 100 Lahat antitank guided missiles.”
In 2014, “Azerbaijan
ordered the first 100 Harop kamikaze drones from IAI, which were a critical
tool in later rounds of fighting. Azerbaijan also purchased two
advanced radar systems for aerial warning and defense from IAI subsidiary Elta
that same year…. Two years later, Azerbaijan bought another 250
SkyStriker kamikaze drones from Elbit Systems. Many videos from the areas of
fighting showed Israeli drones attacking Armenian forces…. In 2016, during
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Baku, Aliyev revealed that contracts had
already been signed between the two countries for the purchase of some $5
billion in ‘defensive equipment.’ In 2017, Azerbaijan purchased advanced
Hermes 900 drones from Elbit Systems and LORA ballistic missiles from IAI, with
a range 430 kilometers. In 2018, Aliyev inaugurated the base where the LORA
missiles are deployed, at a distance of about 430 kilometers from Yerevan, Armenia’s
capital. During the war in 2020, at least one LORA missile was launched, and
according to reports it hit a bridge that Armenia used to supply arms and
equipment to its forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. More advanced Spike missiles were
sent in 2019 and 2020.”
It is appalling that the descendants of the Holocaust are
supplying such massive lethal weapons to Azerbaijan to kill the descendants
of the Armenian Genocide.
************************************************************************************************************************************************
2- Irvine City Council unanimously
approves
Armenian
Genocide Memorial at Great
Park
YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The
Irvine City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, February 28 to proceed with
dedicating an Armenian Genocide Memorial at the Great
Park in Irvine
(Orange County, California).
Kev Abazajian, a professor at UC Irvine, gave testimony in
support of the initiative during the City Council meeting, as an Irvine resident and as a
descendant of Genocide survivors.
************************************************************************************************************************************************
3- Family Moves to Pasadena for Armenian
Academy at Blair High School
By Scott Phelps
(ColoradoBoulevard.net)—Sousse
and Mike Hanhan from Fontana
wanted their daughter, Solange, to be immersed in the Armenian culture. They’d
sought an Armenian school for many years, but distance and cost were an
obstacle. One day, Sousse (who is Armenian from Lebanon) saw an ad on Facebook for the Armenian Academy
at Blair High
School, and brought it up to Mike, who is Palestinian from Jordan.
She contacted Maro Yacoubian, Founder of the Armenian Academy and Chair of the AA Advisory
Board, who explained the program in detail. Sousse’s excitement grew and she arranged an
orientation with Yacoubian and teacher Norayr Daduryan.
The Hanhans were granted an interdistrict permit, and
Solange transferred from the Etiwanda
School District to
Pasadena Unified.
For the 2021-2022 school year when Solange was in 7th grade,
Solange would wake up by 5:30 a.m. to make the 2-hour commute from Fontana to Pasadena
with her mother. She would often sleep on the way to school and on the way
home. It was a challenging year, because she was involved in extracurricular
activities such as Armenian dance and choir, and also played on the water polo
team. Despite the long commute, she would study when she got home and earned
straight A’s in her honors classes. Sousse
and Mike admired their daughter’s tenacity.
She excelled especially in math, which has been her favorite
subject. The family credits Mr. Glenn for his patience and ability to make math
enjoyable. Solange made it; she passed her tests and did her projects. Mr.
Glenn’s lessons were also supplemented by the school’s tutoring program called
Paper, which is provided by PUSD.
Solange also enjoyed Armenian language because it was a
challenge for her to read and write it, in addition to mastering conversation.
“When I came to Blair, my mind opened up. The International Baccalaureate School
has given me a high bar to reach, and I appreciate that opportunity,” said
Solange.
Sousse
and Mike wanted to ensure that Solange could remain at Blair throughout high
school, so they sold their home and moved closer to Pasadena. Her counselor asked her what she
wanted to do in the summer. She said she wanted to eventually go into business
like her Dad and real estate like her cousin. So the counselor put her in a PCC
summer class at John Muir, Business 101, and she got an A+.
Sousse
can’t say enough about how her daughter has developed and evolved, in one year.
Right before school started this past August, the Armenian Academy
had a “meet and greet” in the park. The Academy had been a new environment, and
her daughter had been scared, as she didn’t speak much Armenian. But Solange
blossomed and wanted to be in every club or educational opportunity the school
offered.
Solange is now in 8th grade, taking Math, Science, History
Honors, English Honors, Armenian 2 and PE. She is looking forward to taking
another PCC class this coming summer. She may try an art class, too, in
addition to business.
She has solidified her friendships from Armenian dance and
choir. She’s also made friends in the mainstream part of Blair High School,
who she keeps in touch with by phone. “I highly recommend this program to all
my friends, and any student who wants to broaden their cultural experience and
get a great education,” said Solange.
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
4- ‘Princess of December’: George
Kirazian Releases
New Fantasy
Novel for Young Adults
Author, teacher and composer George Kirazian’s new book,
“The Princess of December,” has been released by Laurel Publications and is
available on Amazon.com in print and Kindle formats.
A fantasy adventure for young readers aged 8-13, "The
Princess of December" follows the adventures of the young protagonist
Yvette, who helps Lyanna, the titular protagonist The Princess of December,
against evil forces of The Ice Shadow.
Kirazian completed undergraduate and graduate studies at New York University,
and for over 30 years taught Writing, Literature, and Music Appreciation
courses at Grossmont College and San Diego State
University. In addition
to his novella, “A Time for Fathers,” Kirazian has written and published
extensively in poetry and fiction. He also wrote the children’s books, “The
Sleeping Violet,” “Perry the Peacock,” “Beyond the Koala Kingdom,” “Leo and the
Mulberry Flute,” and “The Princess of December.” He also published “Easy
Writing,” a book on writing improvement for adults.
Kirazian’s work as a composer have been performed by choral
groups in the San Diego area and includes various art songs, hymns, and a new
version of Armenian Apostolic Church Divine Liturgy. His latest composition,
“The Book of Ruth: A Ballet,” is premiering in a production with Mojalet Dance
Collective in San Diego
in April.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
************************************************************************************************************************************************
California Courier Online provides readers of the Armenian News News Service with a
few of the articles in this week's issue of The California Courier. Letters to
the editor are encouraged through our e-mail address, .
Letters are published with the author’s name and location; authors are required
to disclose their identity to the editorial staff (name, address, and/or
telephone numbers for verification purposes).
California Courier subscribers can change or modify mailing addresses by
emailing .