The California
Courier Online, August 17, 2023

 

1-         Righteous
Jews Appeal to Israel

            To Help
Open the Lachin Corridor

            By Harut
Sassounian

            Publisher,
The California
Courier

            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

2-         Artsakh
Protesters block 134 Freeway in Glendale;

            Hold
Overnight Rally at Azeri Consulate

3-         Armenian
Government Allocates Money for Snoop Dogg Concert in Yerevan

4-         Nareg
Keshishian Appointed Principal of Armenian
Mesrobian School

 

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1-         Righteous
Jews Appeal to Israel

            To Help
Open the Lachin Corridor

            By Harut
Sassounian

            Publisher,
The California
Courier

            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

           

There are pro and anti-Armenian individuals in every
nationality. Jews are no exception. There are Jews who support us and those who
oppose us. We should not generalize and paint everyone with the same brush.
Armenians should not treat every Jew as an opponent just because the Israeli
government denies the Armenian Genocide and sells billions of dollars of arms
to Azerbaijan.

Armenians have the right to criticize the Israeli government
and Jews who are anti-Armenian. I severely condemned Israel’s
denial of the Armenian Genocide in my 2015 lecture at an Israeli University.
After the lecture, I met with the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and told
him that the government of Israel,
whose own people were victims of genocide, should have been the first country
to recognize the Armenian Genocide, not the last. Pres. Rivlin told me that he
recognized the Armenian Genocide and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
for denying it.

I just received copies of two letters sent by a group of
righteous Israelis to their country’s top officials, requesting that they
intervene with Azerbaijan
to unblock the Lachin Corridor.

The first letter was sent to Israel’s
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on January 15, 2023, asking for his assistance to
prevent “a grave humanitarian crisis and loss of life” due to Azerbaijan’s
blockade of the Lachin Corridor. The 17 prominent Jewish signers of the letter,
including Rabbis, journalists and scholars, wrote: “We believe that you, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, through your ties with your counterparts
in Azerbaijan and Russia, can
help to avoid this grave humanitarian crisis. Therefore we ask that you
approach them urgently to work for the lifting of the blockade of the Lachin
Corridor.”

The second letter was sent on August 11, 2023, to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog who had recently
visited Azerbaijan.
The letter-writers requested him “to make a personal appeal to your
counterparts in Azerbaijan
and demand their immediate removal of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.” The
35 prominent Jewish signers of the letter, including Rabbis, scholars,
journalists, a former Cabinet Minister and Member of Knesset, architects and
scientists, wrote: “The State of Israel enjoys close ties with Azerbaijan, the
state which is responsible for this crisis, and has the ability to resolve it.
These ties obligate the State of Israel to take a clear stand, and not to stand
idly by…. The aid that we [Israel]
provided [to Azerbaijan]
means that we have a special responsibility not to be a bystander, and also
gives us an important opportunity to have a positive impact. We cannot remain
silent, especially in light of our historic and multilayered connection with
the Armenian people.”

Beyond these letters, hundreds of Jews and Armenians in Israel held
several protests during and after the 2020 Artsakh War. One of the protests was
in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, criticizing the sale of
Israeli arms to Azerbaijan.
Some of the protesters held models of drones with blood stains painted on them
with the words ‘Made in Israel.’

Avidan Freedman, one of the founders of Yanshoof, an
organization dedicated to stopping Israeli arms sales to human rights
violators, published an article in The Times of Israel on ,
titled: “The Artsakh humanitarian crisis is our responsibility. Here’s why.” He
wrote: “Israel provided Azerbaijan with
69% of its arms in the period between 2016 and 2020. During the 2020 Artsakh
War, a senior Israeli military source asserted that ‘Azerbaijan would not have been able
to continue its operation at this level without our support.’” Freedman
concluded: “the current humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh was enabled by
Israeli support…. The emerging humanitarian crisis, Israel’s
military support of Azerbaijan,
and the Jewish people’s historic and moral connection to the Armenian people
combine to create a clear moral responsibility. Israel
must take a moral stance and call on Azerbaijan to immediately lift its
blockade of the Lachin Corridor.”

To illustrate the depth of pro-Armenian sympathies among
some Jews, I would like to quote Dr. Israel Charny, one of the signers of the
above mentioned two letters. He is the Executive Director of the
Jerusalem-based Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide and author of “Israel’s Failed
Response to the Armenian Genocide.” In 2009, Charny and I were invited to speak
at the UK Parliament. Since he could not attend due to illness, he submitted
his speech in writing. Here is an excerpt: “No less than the arch fighter for
peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Shimon Peres, now President of
Israel, then serving as Israel’s
Foreign Minister, twice went notably out of his way to insult the history and
memory of the Armenian Genocide.”

In 2001, Charny sent a scathing letter to Peres: “You have
gone beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass….
As a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now
entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian Genocide, comparable to
denials of the Holocaust.”

In response to an “especially insulting” denial by Peres in
2002, Dr. Charny sent him one of my editorials in The California Courier, with
the following note: “I am enclosing with great concern for your attention an
editorial in a leading US-Armenian newspaper calling on Armenia to
expel the Israeli Ambassador [Rivka Cohen, after she denied the Armenian
Genocide]. For your further information, the author of this editorial, who is
the head of the United Armenian Fund in the US
— comparable to our United Jewish Appeal — was for many years a delegate to
the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.”

Armenians should support their friends and criticize their
opponents regardless of their nationality.

 

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2-         Artsakh Protesters block 134
Freeway in Glendale;

            Hold
Overnight Rally at Azeri Consulate

LOS ANGELES (KABC)—Several hundred protesters blocked all
the eastbound lanes on the 134 Freeway at its interchange with the 5 Freeway on
Wednesday, August 10, aiming to bring awareness to humanitarian conflicts in Armenia, and to
call attention to the crisis in Artsakh.

Using a big rig, they blocked off the eastbound side of the
freeway at Central and Brand avenues. Protesters then gathered on freeway lanes
and unfurled signs calling for support from Rep. Adam Schiff.

Protesters have also been showing up at Schiff’s local
office in recent days, calling on the Democratic congressman to do more to support
their cause.

Schiff has expressed support for ending the blockade, but
some Armenian protesters feel he has not done enough for the cause.

One sign unfurled on lanes read “Adam Schiff don’t ignore
us” and another pleaded “Open the road of life.”

In the past, Schiff has issued statements condemning the
blockade and calling for the Biden Administration to take action. He also has
authored a House resolution calling for recognition of Artsakh’s sovereignty
and condemning Azerbaijan’s
aggression.

On Wednesday, August 9, Schiff issued a new statement which
read:

“I stand with the people of Armenia, Artsakh, and the
Armenian-American community —not only my constituents but those around the
world. I hear and see your pain over the inhumane situation your brothers and
sisters are facing.

From condemning ceasefire violations, to advocating for the
release of Armenian prisoners of war, to calling for sanctions and
accountability for Azerbaijan,
I’ve always been, and will continue to be, steadfast in my commitment to
ensuring the protection of fundamental rights for the people of Artsakh.”

I am in communication with the Biden Administration, the
State Department, and my Congressional colleagues and am advocating for using
all tools at our disposal, including pushing for U.S.
humanitarian aid to Artsakh, cutting off military and other assistance to Azerbaijan, and
imposing sanctions on those responsible for this crisis.

I will be with you every step of the way and will always
stand with the people of Armenia
and Artsakh.”

The mayor of Burbank, Konstantine Anthony, met with the
Armenian Americans who are protesting against the ongoing blockade.

The mayor said that he is also concerned about Artsakh and
is concerned and disappointed that US
President Joe Biden is still sending military aid to Azerbaijan.

On Sunday, August 14, the Armenian community cordoned off
the building of the Consulate of Azerbaijan—where consulates of five other
countries, including Israel
and Bulgaria
also operate. The protesters blocked the Wilshire Boulevard leading to the
consulate building. They spent the night there, and in the morning they did not
let Azeri consular officials enter the building. According to the Alpha News correspondent
in Los Angeles, the police tried to unblock the road, but the Armenian
activists convinced them to continue the rally.

The protesters raised the flag of Artsakh and banners that
say “With Artsakh, in the name of Artsakh”, “Armenians face genocide under
Azeri rule” and “Stop the second Armenian Genocide” at the entrance to the
building.

 

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3-         Armenian Government Allocates
Money for Snoop Dogg Concert in Yerevan

By Marine Khachatrian

 

The Armenian government has allocated more than $5 million
for the organization of a concert of American rapper Snoop Dogg in Yerevan.

The concert is scheduled to be held at the Hrazdan Stadium
in the Armenian capital on September 23.

Up to 25,000 people are expected to attend the event that is
also anticipated to generate tourism to the country.

 The first
announcement of a possible Snoop Dogg concert in Yerevan was made by chief of the prime
minister’s office Arayik Harutiunian in late July. A document appeared online
shortly thereafter according to which more than $23 million would be allocated
from the state budget for three concerts.

The kind of state funding sparked a public debate in Armenia, with
many challenging the wisdom of such government spending.

“One person—at least one person—rebel against this decision.
We will spend six million dollars. Allocate instead those six million to the
treatment of children with cancer,” wrote Edik Baghdasaryan on his Facebook
page on August 11. Baghdasaryan is a prominent investigative journalist known
for his stories exposing government corruption in Armenia. He is the head of the
Armenian Association of Investigative Journalists and editor of Armenia’s only
investigative journalism newspaper, Hetq.

“On September 23, four days before the anniversary of the
44-day war, the government is organizing a big concert. Deputy Prime Ministers
and Ministers sat humbly at the Cabinet meeting today. And although some of
them were against that decision, they remained silent. Everyone is silent and
obedient. There is no food or medicine in Artsakh, we don’t know what could
happen every minute there, on the borders. Against this background, why are you
organizing this celebration? Cancel that gig. And in general, what does the
government have to do with organizing a concert?” questioned Baghdasaryan.

The Armenian government initially denied these reports. In a
statement released on July 29, the Prime Minister’s Office said the media
reports were “totally untrue” while adding that the Cabinet would soon adopt a
decision in relation to the concert—and all the details, including its possible
economic impact, would be made public.

Observers note that concerts and visits to Armenia in recent
years by such world stars and celebrities as American rapper 50 Cent, Armenian
American musician Serj Tankian, Armenian American reality TV star Kim
Kardashian and her former spouse, rapper Kanye West have helped raise the
country’s international visibility and attract a greater number of tourists
both immediately as well as in the longer run.

Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., a 51-year-old rapper and actor
professionally known as Snoop Dogg, has sold 35 million albums worldwide since
1992, and remains one of the world’s most popular performers.

 

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4-         Nareg Keshishian
Appointed Principal of Armenian
Mesrobian School

 

The Board of Regents of the Prelacy Armenian Schools
announced the appointment of Nareg Keshishian as the new principal of Armenian Mesrobian School.

Nareg Keshishian is a graduate of Armenian
Mesrobian School,
class of 1981, and his educational background includes a degree in History from
University of California
at Los Angeles
(UCLA), and teaching credential from Teachers College Columbia University.
Keshishian has received numerous awards including Revson Foundation/NY Times 50
most inspirational teachers in NY City and the Hoover Hero award.

With a background in education, which includes teaching,
mentoring, and administration, Keshishian has designed and implemented an
enrichment program for Kindergarten, 4th, 5th and 9th grades at The Renaissance
School, Queens NY and has served as a teacher and mentoring program coordinator
at Paul Robeson HS, Brooklyn
NY. After his time in New York,
Keshishian has served as a teacher, student body advisor and chair of the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) school culture group at
Hoover HS in Glendale, Calif.; and as a teacher, Director of APEX credit
recovery program, and chapter advisor for Junior State of America and Armenian
club at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, CA.

 

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