In a July 31, Letter to the editor, "Half Baked" for Gaza, the writer complains of no Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for children in Jerusalem (such a problem).
So, this is an opportunity to point out and complain of Israel’s support for dictatorial countries Azerbaijan, an oil-rich country that receives U.S. military aid and dollars that emboldens them, and Turkey. Both pose major threats to peace and security with their Armenian neighbors with Israel’s arms sales to Azerbaijan. Imagine the outcry should anyone make such a challenge to Israel’s sovereignty.
Armenians are facing ethnic cleansing/genocide and cultural erasure in Artsakh by Azerbaijan, where among other things the Azeris have destroyed a three-thousand-years-old cemetery, that Israel may be unwittingly supporting. In its victory over Artsakh, Azerbaijanis are seen waving both their flag and Israel’s.
According to The Jerusalem Post (2020), Azerbaijan gets access to weapons of a quality that it is unable to buy in the west. It also gets access through Jewish groups in Washington, to Congress and the U.S. administration.
While Armenians have a strong lobby in Washington, Israel has a stronger one for which the Azeris have turned to Jewish groups in Washington for assistance.
What is critically more important, human lives or ice cream?
Martin Demoorjian
Marlboro