Author: David Nargizian

The establishment of a checkpoint by Azerbaijan is against efforts to build trust between the parties. Josep Borrell

David Nargizian

 18:11,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. Baku's installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor runs counter to efforts to build trust between the two sides, ARMENPRESS reports High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said during the discussion on "Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor" in the European Parliament.

During the question-and-answer session, MEP Francois Xavier Bellamy strongly criticized Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which led to a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The Court of Justice has condemned the blockade by Azerbaijan, but this state terrorism has not led to any sanctions by the Council, and the Commission seems unable to properly condemn this very serious violation of the fundamental rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh," the MEP said.

Referring to the MEP’s observations, EU High Representative for for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell emphasized. "Azerbaijan's unilateral decision to install this checkpoint completely contradicts efforts to build trust between the parties."

Borrell emphasized that the Lachin Corridor is outside the geographical area of responsibility of the EU monitoring mission.

"There are territories, border areas with Armenia, from where it can be seen what is happening in the Lachin Corridor, but the corridor itself is outside the jurisdiction of the mission and their area of responsibility. Now we are trying to find a solution for this specific problem," Borrell said.

As for the inactivity mentioned by the MEPs, Borrell emphasized that a very important meeting between the French President, the German Chancellor, the President of the European Council and leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in Moldova recently. In addition, according to Borrell, another meeting with Charles Michel is planned in Brussels in July.

According to Josep Borrell, efforts are being made to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the parties have also expressed readiness to continue negotiations.

Armenpress: The Azerbaijani side prevents the entry of citizens with Armenian registration to Artsakh

David Nargizian

 20:59,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani side deliberately obstructs the entry of the people with Armenian registration to the Republic of Artsakh at the checkpoint illegally installed on the Hakari bridge of the Goris-Stepanakert highway (Lachin Corridor).

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the "Facebook" page of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, according to the data collected by the HRD staff of Artsakh, at least three similar cases have been recorded since the checkpoint was installed: two women and one child were prevented from entering. In all recorded cases, although the citizens had Armenian registration, they always lived in the Republic of Artsakh, and their families also live in Artsakh.

"These persons went to the Republic of Armenia for treatment under the blockade, and now, after solving their health problems, they cannot return to their homes. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijani side allowed their exit from Artsakh, arbitrarily and illegally prohibiting their entry.

As a result of the harassment by Azerbaijan, the rights of these persons were violated not only to move freely, but also to reunite with their families.

The Human Rights Defender emphasizes that the checkpoint illegally installed by Azerbaijan on the Hakari bridge in Lachin Corridor from April 23 and other measures hindering the free movement of people, vehicles and goods on that road violate not only the well-known international norms of human rights, but also the provisions of the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, in particular, point 6, which envisages the safe and uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo through the Lachin Corridor.

Azerbaijan is trying to mislead the international community with various propaganda videos, showing that the corridor is not blocked and the free movement of people is ensured. "The existence of such a checkpoint, the use of passport, cargo and other types of control measures by Azerbaijan already mean obstacles to uninterrupted movement, causing significant risks not only of security, but also bearing the risk for other arbitrary disruptive measures at any time. According to the HRD of Artsakh, the recorded cases once again prove the inability of the Azerbaijani state propaganda and the systematic and consistent policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh.

Monthly non-oil export from Iran to Armenia up 144% yr/yr

David Nargizian
 TEHRAN TIMES 
Iran – June 9 2023
  1. Economy
June 9, 2023 – 13:51

TEHRAN- The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Armenia increased by 144 percent in the first month of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-April 20), as compared to the first month of the past year, the spokesman of Trade Development Committee of the Iranian House of Industry, Mining, and Trade announced.

Ruhollah Latifi said that Iran exported non-oil commodities worth $32 million to Armenia in the first month of this year.

As previously reported, the value of Iran’s non-oil export to Armenia rose by 62.5 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20), from the preceding year.

Iran exported commodities worth $478 million to Armenia in 1401, while the figure was $294 million in 1400.

Liquefied natural gas, iron and steel rods, bitumen, light oils and related products, unalloyed iron and steel products, bituminous mineral oils, floor coverings, liquid cream, linear alkylbenzene, and rebar were Iran’s major products exported to Armenia in the past year.

Iranian Labor and Social Welfare Minister Solat Mortazavi has said Tehran and Yerevan are determined to use all their capacities to expand economic ties.

Mortazavi made the remarks in a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Narek Makratchian in Yerevan in late February.

Referring to the targeting of three billion dollars of annual trade between Iran and Armenia, Mortazavi said the development of all-out ties with Armenia is one of the priorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The minister stated that the main approach of the Iranian government is to advance economic diplomacy with neighboring countries, especially in the Caucasus region, adding: “Iran and Armenia's interactions in the economic, commercial, and investment fields are going to be diversified.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to put all its facilities and capacities in the service of establishing peace and stability in the Caucasus region,” he said.

Makratchian for his part referred to the long-standing and friendly relations between the two countries and noted that the joint cooperation between the ministries of labor of Iran and Armenia in the field of social welfare, employment, well-being, and the development of technical and vocational training complexes will expand with the formation of joint specialized working groups.

“The Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Armenia is fully prepared to develop economic and social cooperation with the Ministry of Labor of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stressed.

Mortazavi, who visited Yerevan on top of a high-ranking delegation, also met with Gnel Sanosyan, Armenia’s minister of territorial administration and infrastructures.

During this meeting, the minister expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with Armenia in all areas.

Iran and Armenia always enjoy very good friendly relations based on mutual respect and good neighborliness, he underlined.

The official emphasized the significance of Armenia for the Iranian foreign policy, saying that Armenia's role in the development of foreign relations and access to the Eurasian Union market is of prime importance for Iran.

He further mentioned some of the areas for mutual cooperation, saying that various projects in the fields of construction, road, tunnel digging, dam construction, urban development, energy infrastructure as well as technical and engineering services are among spheres of cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan.

The Armenian minister, for his part, said that the Armenian government pays special attention to the development of cooperation with the Islamic Republic in its five-year plan.

Iran and Armenia signed an MOU at the end of the two countries’ 17th meeting of the Joint Economic Committee in Yerevan last May.

The MOU, which covers cooperation in areas of transit, transportation, facilitation of exchange of goods, energy, development of environmental cooperation in Aras area and removal of pollution from border rivers, as well as medical tourism, was signed by Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who are the chairmen of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee.

In that meeting, which was attended by a large number of deputy ministers, senior officials, ambassadors, and members of parliament of the two countries, the main issues that play a key role in the development of relations between the two countries were discussed.

According to the officials, the purpose of holding the 17th meeting of the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Committee was the real and tangible development of relations between the two countries.

Among the issues raised at the meeting were transit, transportation, facilitation of trade, and broader cooperation in the field of energy.

MA

Nagorno Karabakh farmer comes under Azerbaijani gunfire

David Nargizian

 10:25, 9 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces have again violated the ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh and again targeted civilians, the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) authorities said Friday.

At 17:35-20:30, on June 8, the Azerbaijani military opened small arms fire in the eastern and northern directions of the line of contact, the Defense Army of Artsakh said in a statement.  Around 18:20, the Azerbaijani military fired at a farmer operating a tractor while carrying out agricultural work in Karvin.

The farmer was unharmed. 

The incident was reported to the Russian peacekeeping command by the Artsakh authorities.

As of 09:00, June 9 the situation in the line of contact was relatively stable, the Defense Army added.

Direct dialogue is key to durable and dignified peace – U.S. State Department on upcoming Armenia-Azerbaijan talks

David Nargizian

 10:26, 8 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. The United States looks forward to hosting another round of talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington next week, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has said.

“We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful future in the South Caucasus region. You’ve heard the Secretary and others speak to this. We continue to believe that direct dialogue is key towards reaching a durable and dignified peace,” Patel said at a press briefing on June 7. 

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov are scheduled to start a new round of talks in the U.S. capital on June 12.

Georgia supports Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks – PM Garibashvili

David Nargizian

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 13:32, 1 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Georgia supports peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on June 1.

He said that the peace talks are in the interests of the entire Transcaucasian region.

“I believe Georgia has played a neutral, unbiased role in strengthening stability and peace in the region. We have excellent relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Georgia played a highly important mediation role in 2021, after the Karabakh war. We support the ongoing peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and we believe it to be in the interest of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the whole region,” TASS news agency quoted the Georgian PM as saying at a press briefing at the 2nd European Political Community Summit in Moldova.

Armenia doesn’t have territorial claims against any neighbor, including Azerbaijan – Vice Speaker

David Nargizian

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 14:03, 24 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has no territorial claims against any of its neighbors, including Azerbaijan, the Vice Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan has said.

“Armenia proceeds from the position that we don’t have any territorial demand from any neighbor, including Azerbaijan, This means that we need to clarify the state borders and the territories which belong to our states. The issue is about the approaches of the logic of the peace treaty, the issue is about clarifying the principles. When we speak about numbers, we speak about exactness,” Arshakyan said. 

He added that in this context the Nagorno Karabakh issue is perceived within these approaches in a way that an international format must be created around the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh and Stepanakert and Baku must launch dialogue.

“When the people of Artsakh [Nagorno Karabakh] speak about their rights and security, it means that they are present around the negotiation table, and our entire negotiation logic in this regard changed when they were absent from the negotiation table. The moment President Robert Kocharyan started negotiating not only on behalf of Armenia but also Artsakh, it indirectly turned out that Armenia has a territorial dispute which Azerbaijan. Now we are saying that we don’t have a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan. Meaning, we reciprocally recognize each other’s territorial integrity, and then international mechanisms are launched, which are responsible for coordinating dialogue between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh,” Arshakyan said.

Six months into blockade, Nagorno-Karabakh faces energy crisis as key reservoir dries up

David Nargizian
Lilit Shahverdyan 

The Sarsang Reservoir in Armenian-administered Nagorno-Karabakh is reaching critically low levels. If it gets much lower, the region will face crisis-level electricity shortages and environmental catastrophe. 

Karabakh has been largely dependent on the reservoir for electricity generation since early January, when cables from Armenia were damaged and could not be repaired amid Azerbaijan's blockade. 

The severe water shortage – sure to worsen as temperatures rise and precipitation reduces in summer – will likely make it impossible for Karabakh authorities to deliver on a deal to provide Sarsang water to nearby Azerbaijani-controlled areas for agricultural purposes. This raises the risk of "military provocation" from Baku, local officials fear. 

Critical levels reached

Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto state minister, Gurgen Nersisyan, reported on May 6 that in the first five months of 2023 almost three times as much water had been released from the Sarsang Reservoir compared to the same period last year. This while water inflow was half as much due to lower precipitation. 

"Currently, Sarsang's water resources have reached a critical limit of about 88 million cubic meters (about 15 percent of the total capacity), approaching the dead (unusable) volume of about 70 million cubic meters," he wrote on Facebook.

His post included a striking pair of satellite images showing how much the water level in Sarsang has fallen between January 1 and April 28.

A few weeks later, on May 25, Karabakh's energy distribution company announced that "unprecedented water scarcity" compelled it to further limit electricity production and introduce a new rolling blackout schedule of three 2-hour outages per day.

The Sarsang hydroelectric power plant is one of six remaining in the region and accounts for 70 percent of its generation capacity. 

Prior to the Armenian defeat in the Second Karabakh War of 2020, there were an additional 30 hydropower plants under the local authorities' control and their loss resulted in a 59 percent decrease in generation capacity.

After the war, cables from Armenia through the Lachin corridor provided the region with about 70 percent of its electricity needs but this line was damaged in January, a few weeks after Azerbaijan began its blockade. 

On January 9, the Nagorno-Karabakh government began implementing rolling blackouts since the region was now entirely dependent on its own generation capacity. 

(During the blockade, which began on December 12 when Azerbaijani government-backed activists staged a sit-in on the Lachin corridor, Karabakh Armenians also dealt with periodic disruptions to internet access and natural gas supply. There has been no gas supply to Karabakh since March 22.)

Artak Beglaryan, an advisor to Karabakh's de facto state minister, says that Sarsang and the region's five other hydropower plants are operating at maximum capacity but will likely not meet the population's needs in the coming weeks and months. 

"If precipitation decreases again, which will undoubtedly happen, soon in June, we will gradually extend the rolling blackouts. We will confront serious energy issues in summer, which will bring about dire humanitarian conditions. If the volume drops to the dead level, an environmental disaster will also fully manifest itself," Beglaryan told Eurasianet.

Irrigation demands unlikely to be met

Davit Babayan, an advisor to the Karabakh president and founder of the water security committee after the First Karabakh War (1991-1994), says that when the Soviet authorities built the reservoir in 1976, it was meant both to generate electricity and to provide irrigation for surrounding farmland through a management system based in Terter, Azerbaijan. 

Between the two wars, the reservoir was used to generate electricity for the local Armenian population in winter. Water was simultaneously released into Azerbaijan-controlled territory, but it was of little use to local farmers because of the season. 

That changed after the second war, and in June 2022, Karabakh officials told Eurasianet that they had informally agreed to allow some of the water from Sarsang to flow into Azerbaijan for irrigation purposes in the summertime. 

But Babayan says since then Azerbaijan has declined numerous proposals for more detailed discussions on the joint use of the reservoir's water. 

"They decided that any deal with Nagorno-Karabakh authorities would mean indirect recognition of the de-facto republic, and they preferred to leave their agricultural issues unresolved over signing agreements with Karabakh," he said.

Aside from a brief experiment with dialogue in March 2023, Baku has been refusing to engage the Karabakh Armenian authorities. The main sticking point in the talks on a comprehensive peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is Yerevan's insistence on guarantees for the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians backed by some kind of international mechanism. Azerbaijan has not obliged despite Armenia's now-explicit readiness to recognize its sovereignty over Karabakh.

Artak Beglaryan, the advisor to Karabakh's state minister, believes Azerbaijan's goal is the "complete de-electrification" of the region as part of its campaign of "psychological terror" aimed at pushing the Armenian population out of Karabakh.

"They are also trying to create a military pretext around this matter. If we do not release enough water in summer, because we will not have water there, they will use this for military provocations," Beglaryan added, noting signs pointing to this in Azerbaijani media. 

Indeed, there have been at least some calls in Baku to take action over Sarsang. Adalat Verdiyev, a military expert, said that the drying of the reservoir could lead to cracks in the dam, which in turn could cause flooding in nearby Azerbaijani-populated areas once precipitation picks up again. "Six districts of Azerbaijan will wind up underwater. We must prevent this catastrophe," he said, as quoted by Nedelia.az on May 22.

Beglaryan sees two solutions to the electricity issues: the restoration of electricity supplies from Armenia or unusually high precipitation – both of which he considers highly unlikely. 

"As an emergency response, we will reduce consumption to minimal levels and extend the power blackouts. We also make attempts to create alternative energy sources, but this is not a quick solution to the issue, and time is of the essence," he added. 

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

Genocide Education for the 21st Century Special Issue

David Nargizian
 Pauline Getzoyan A Word from the Editor 0

The Armenian Weekly April 2023 special issue magazine, now available to download here, is a testament to the work that has been done globally to bring genocide education into school curricula and specifically to include the Armenian Genocide in those studies. Research in genocide studies continues to expand, along with ongoing analysis and improvement of educational materials and pedagogy. Eyewitness accounts from survivors are regularly included in genocide studies, and stories of resistance, both armed and unarmed, have become important additions. Armenian Genocide educational materials have grown in leaps and bounds, and more states have made genocide education a requirement, as our communities’ grassroots efforts spread across the country and beyond.

As Armenia, Artsakh and other countries around the globe are grappling with human rights abuses, racism and oppression, there is a pressing need for genocide education. Armenians bear the scars of the Genocide, including the rupture of our families and displacement from our homeland. Artsakh continues to be under blockade by Azerbaijan. Baku, along with its partner in aggression Turkey, remains intent on depopulating Artsakh of its indigenous Armenian residents. At the same time, Azerbaijan attacks and encroaches on the Republic of Armenia with the stated goal of completely eliminating Armenians from the region. 

Educators present information to students on a variety of subjects. In the case of genocide studies, the teaching tools should engage students through factual materials and civil discourse toward a better understanding of and the ways to confront man’s inhumanity to man. Ultimately, genocide education will shape characters and create future leaders who will actively combat and help eliminate these crimes against humanity. I am the granddaughter of Armenian Genocide survivors – unwavering, determined ancestors upon whose shoulders I stand and present to you a collection of works dedicated to “Genocide Education for the 21st Century.”

Below is the table of contents of the special issue, with links to each article.

Genocide Education Around the Globe

From the Conference of Berlin to Bronx Science
– By Kevork Khrimian

Seventeen Inspiring Years teaching “Genocides of the Twentieth Century” in RI
– By Rob Petrucci

Expanding Armenian Genocide Studies in the UK
– By Andy Lawrence

Sectarianism and the Armenian Genocide: The Politics of the Absence of Genocide Education in Lebanon
– By Yeghia Tashjian

Yerablur, loss and the continuing cycle of genocide
– By Sara Cohan

Photographs are the Last Witnesses: Project SAVE Archives
– By Arto Vaun, Ph.D.

Research and Analysis

“Facts are Stubborn Things”: How Denial Turns Facts Into Opinions and Erodes Truth
– By Marc A. Mamigonian

Pedagogy

Teaching about Resistance to Genocide
– By Khatchig Mouradian, Ph.D.

Genocide and Women: Teaching about the roles women play in genocidal and post-genocidal societies
– By Asya Darbinian, Ph.D.

Genealogy: “Useful in the toolkit of genocide education”
– By George Aghjayan

Fast-tracking Armenian Genocide education in the US
– By Roxanne Makasdjian

The Deadly Gap: Genocide Education and Artsakh’s Right to Survival
– By Henry C. Theriault, Ph.D.

Transformative Education: Genocide education, the Armenian Genocide and reparations
– By Jermaine McCalpin, Ph.D.

On the importance of teaching genocide in high school: A case study from Quebec
– By Lalai Manjikian, Ph.D.

Armenian Genocide Education in Michigan: From Law to Curriculum to Training
– By Ani Boghikian Kasparian and Lara S. Nercessian

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Editor
Pauline Getzoyan is editor of the Armenian Weekly and an active member of the Rhode Island Armenian community. A longtime member of the Providence ARF and ARS, she also is a former member of the ARS Central Executive Board. A longtime advocate for genocide education through her work with the ANC of RI, Pauline is co-chair of the RI branch of The Genocide Education Project. In addition, she has been an adjunct instructor of developmental reading and writing in the English department at the Community College of Rhode Island since 2005.


Seventeen Inspiring Years teaching “Genocides of the Twentieth Century” in RI

David Nargizian
 Rob Petrucci Reflections, Diaspora, Special Reports 0

Special Issue: Genocide Education for the 21st Century
The Armenian Weekly, April 2023

Thinking about the past has always been a passion of mine, and family history is important to certain members of every family. I never fully understood this until I had the great fortune of joining the Halvajian/Ashukian family in the fall of 1993. As an aspiring teacher, I listened to the stories about the Armenian Genocide from my new family members and grew to recognize the impact it had on a generation of Armenians—a generation that deals with the horrific knowledge that lives would never be fully realized or recognized and that families would be forever ruptured with relatives who never came home. Generations of Armenians would not have the opportunity to contribute to this world and leave their legacy. The unimaginable events of World War I are increasingly and globally confirmed as a genocide by more and more countires and leaders every year; President Biden recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021. As a young man, listening to these stories during family dinners, and every November on a larger scale at Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church bazaar in Providence, RI, had a tremendous impact on me.  

In the early 2000s, I attended a conference on the Holocaust at the University of Rhode Island, which led to an awe-inspiring trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. That led to another conference on the Armenian Genocide at Rhode Island College. Initial interest can ignite imagination. Wonder can lead to action. These two specific encounters led to the creation of a history class titled Genocides of the Twentieth Century, which has been in existence since 2006 at East Greenwich High School (EGHS) in RI.  Having the right people around you makes all the difference in the world when you are trying to build something from scratch.  Esther Kalajian and Pauline Getzoyan, along with Tim McPartlin (department head of East Greenwich High School) and Mike Levine (former principal of East Greenwich High School) were just the people needed to help move this course out of the development phase and into the program of studies at EGHS.  

Since 2006, we have offered two to four classes per year.  The classes are often at capacity, and students have visited me to ask to be put on a waiting list to gain admission to a section. The course has become one of the most popular electives in the social studies department, if not in the entire school. Due to the content, the class is restricted to juniors and seniors, which makes its popularity even more impressive. The class is offered at the college preparatory level, making it available to all upperclassmen–with no prerequisite–further expanding its accessibility.  It is a class that has evolved over time and will continue to do so as world affairs dictate discussions and curriculum.  East Greenwich High School is also in compliance with RI state law that requires exposure to and instruction in the Holocaust and genocides by the time students graduate from high school.

A visit to hear Holocaust survivor Alice Eichenbaum speak at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center on April 11, 2019

The course uses primary source documents, films, websites, novels and field trips, among other materials to provide students with a well-rounded experience culminating in a unique final presentation at the end of each semester. It is designed to engage students on a variety of levels that challenge them to dive into important philosophical discussions. Man versus man; good versus evil; why is there suffering in the world; what role does religion play; what causes human brutality; and what are the forces that shape the worst in us are just a few of the many essential questions students are asked to answer throughout the semester. While the class covers the history of events, it’s also philosophical in nature, leaving open the chance to engage in rich class discussions that broaden the minds of young adults and encourage spirited, lively conversation during instruction. The two main anchors of the course are the the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Students have familiarity with World War I and World War II by the time they are eligible for the class, and this makes teaching these events even more important.  While virtually every student has had some exposure to the Holocaust, almost no students recall or know about the Armenian Genocide. In some cases, students are shocked to learn that the Armenian Genocide is WWI’s greatest atrocity, and yet, it is rarely taught or discussed. What may be more egregious is how world affairs and the geopolitical debate can dictate the official response of the United States when it pertains to what happened to the Armenians over 100 years ago. Students learn about the parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust and draw their own conclusions based upon the evidence.  

The use of films and a novel plays an important part in the class and helps to bring a human element to their experience. Schindler’s List, The Promise, Defiance and Hotel Rwanda bring these important events in history to life in a way that students understand. Students also read the book Never Fall Down. The novel is leaves such an impression that students often ask to take a copy home or read it outside of class. The method used in telling the story of Arn (a young boy assigned to a Cambodian labor camp then turned child soldier) is very authentic, and students can visualize a vivid picture of the scenes described throughout the book. These different forms of media play a vital role in the educational process and show students how ordinary people can do extraordinary feats against the toughest of odds, even in the most difficult situations.  

Visiting the Armenian Martyrs’ Memorial Monument in Providence, RI on October 26, 2022

There have been many memorable class experiences, but the bi-annual field trip and final presentation are the top two choices of the students. Every semester, we visit downtown Providence to walk through Memorial Park, just off South Main Street. Students can walk from the pedestrian bridge to the park and take in the beautiful memorials, while listening to an audio tour of the RI Holocaust Memorial. Students also visit the North Burial Ground in Providence. There, students learn the history of the Armenian Martyrs’ Memorial Monument dedicated on April 24, 1977, and the Memorial Pedestal dedicated on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015. Following these two stops, we often travel to the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center for a tour of the facilities and to hear a speaker, usually discussing the Holocaust.  Over the years, students have heard from a Jewish rabbi, a passenger on the Kindertransport (Children’s Transport), and most recently, they heard and asked questions of  internationally-recognized Rwandan genocide survivor and human rights activist Jacqueline Murekatete.

Our final presentation of the semester challenges students to think about the future and the role the United States plays when it concerns the issue of genocide globally.  The simulation is an adaptation of the Brown University Choices Program. Students use what they’ve learned throughout the semester and get a more concentrated look at genocide from the use of primary source documents and a series of important eyewitness testimony videos. They learn what America knew about the Armenian Genocide through a series of headlines and articles in The New York Times in 1915. All of this work culminates in a simulation the students conduct on the final two days of the project. They are tasked with deliberating four different policies the United States could adopt by asking a series of questions for better clarification of the policy. The background information is paramount to their role, and students can use real historical events to argue their points.  

Once the presentations are complete, the real work begins. Students analyze the policies and then craft their own policy based on history, research and their own beliefs. They can adopt a policy they learned during the simulation, combine policies or draw on their experiences throughout the semester to write something completely different. After drafting the new policy for the United States, it’s time to put their work to the test. Students are given a global case study, and they must examine their policy as it would pertain to the hypothetical crisis identified and assess its effectiveness in the conflict. Our final exam is challenging given the global community, the United Nations and the sovereignty of other countries. The world is continuously more and more intertwined; the lines–especially economically–are blurred as countries scour the earth for trade opportunities with nations and open up new markets to capitalize on business ventures and opportunity. As students begin to realize just how difficult every decision really is, be it political, humanitarian or morally just, these decisions are no longer black and white; they are fraught with varying shades of gray, even if that decision is to stop the senseless killing of innocent people. Our semester does end with hope, as they provide a potential plan to end genocide forever. Maybe someday their dreams can be realized.  

I am forever grateful to the students of East Greenwich High School for their thoughtful and articulate responses to the class as a whole and how they approach the final exam.  Their empathy and understanding of a complex subject inspires me to work harder and design a course worthy of their participation. Throughout my 24-year career, seventeen of which have been spent teaching Genocides of the Twentieth Century, I am continuously amazed at how fortunate I am to be in this district working in a profession that is so vitally important to society.  Interacting with students who think about the world around them and who apply the knowledge they gain may be the greatest gift of all.

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Rob Petrucci is a social studies and theater teacher at East Greenwich High School (EGHS) in Rhode Island. A graduate of Rhode Island College, he began his career in education as a behavior specialist at EGHS in 1998 and moved to the social studies department in 2000. Petrucci was the first recipient of the RI Outstanding Genocide Educator of the Year award in 2007, presented by the RI branch of The Genocide Education Project. He has also been recognized as the Fastpitch Softball Division II North Coach of the Year (2022), East Greenwich High School District Teacher of the School Year (2021-2022), NBC 10 Golden Apple Award Winner (2018) and Joyce & Bob Starr Teacher Award for Holocaust Education (2011).