ISRAEL AND THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
by The Stiletto
Blogger News Network
Oct 31 2007
Even as American Jewish groups were championing the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, lobbyists from Turkey and Israel relentlessly pressured
members of the U.S. House of Representatives to squelch the symbolic
bill, which was tabled late last week by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Israel’s state policy of Armenian Genocide denial, and its fevered
efforts to coerce Pelosi to back off bringing HR 106 to a floor vote,
prompted many of Israel’s Armenian citizens – roughly 5,000 Christians
and 20,000 Jews – to take to the streets in protest (second item).
Unlike Turkey, which prosecutes its citizens for writing about or
otherwise acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as settled history,
Israel’s media practiced self-censorship, reports The Christian Science
Monitor:With Israel’s strategic relationship with Turkey in mind,
the Armenian question has become an untouchable topic. The protest
went virtually uncovered by most of the local media and got noticed
by foreign papers only.
And Israel’s government took a page from the Ahmadinejad Handbook Of
Holocaust Denial:
[Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, Namik] Tan says there is no proof
to support the genocide claims and reiterated what he says is a
longstanding offer to bring Turkish and Armenian historians together
to study the issue.
That, says George Hintlian, historian of the Armenian community of
Jerusalem, is not an option.
"For us," he says, "it’s like sitting with David Irving," a self-styled
British historian famous for questioning facts surrounding the
Holocaust. "Do you sit with deniers?" …"I think the totality
of the Israeli public and the press sympathizes with us, but this
double-standard is so embarrassing for Israeli intellectuals that it’s
hard for anyone here to speak about it. We have a psychological burden
for the next generation. The American-Jewish community is saying that
this stain should be taken away from the people of the Holocaust,
but Israel is acting pragmatically."
Ironically, as Israel curries favor with the Turks it risks losing the
once-unquestioned support of the American Jewish community, some of
whom are worrying whether they are losing their souls by sacrificing
their principles on the alter of pragmatism. The Forward interviewed
a member of Anti-Defamation League’s national executive committee who
was concerned that the ADL could no longer be counted on to "stand up
for what’s right and wrong," and dared to ask: "[A]re our principles
put through some kind of filter that involves Israel’s self-interest?"
Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The
Stiletto Blog.