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TheStar.com
History course proposal upsets Canadian Turks
1,200 people sign petition against class that labels 1915 mass killing
of Armenians as a genocide
Jan 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Louise Brown
Education Reporter
An unusual new course about genocide to be offered in Toronto high
schools this fall has sparked anger among Turkish-Canadians for
including the Turkish killing of Armenians in 1915.
The Grade 11 history course, believed the only one of its kind at a high
school in Ontario and possibly Canada, is designed to teach teenagers
what happens when a government sets out to destroy people of a
particular nationality, race or religion, through three examples: the
Holocaust which exterminated 6 million Jews in World War II, the Rwandan
slaughter of nearly one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994, and
the Turkish killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between 1915
and 1923.
"These are very significant, horrible parts of history, and without
sounding hackneyed, we hope we can learn something from them so we can
make a better world for our children's children," said Trustee Gerri
Gershon, of the Toronto District School Board, who proposed the course
after a moving tour in 2005 of the Nazi death camps in Poland.
"This isn't a course to teach hatred or blame the perpetrators ` no, no,
no," said Gershon. "Our goal is the exact opposite: To explore how this
happens so we can become better people and make sure it never happens
again."
But the Council of Turkish Canadians has gathered more than 1,200
signatures on an online petition opposed to the course for calling the
Armenian killings a "genocide" and inciting anti-Turkish sentiment. The
Turkish government has long denied the slaughter was a genocide, but
rather part of the wartime casualties of World War I, with both sides
guilty of some provocation.
"To pick Armenia as a genocide when it is so controversial ` especially
when there are atrocities by other countries that could have been chosen
` is just wrong, and will inadvertently lead to the bullying of
Turkish-Canadian children," argues Ottawa engineer Lale Eskicioglu,
executive director of the council and author of the petition, which she
will present to school board staff at a meeting this month.
"Children of Turkish descent already face bullying, racism and hatred in
the school yards. We rely on our schools to provide a shelter free from
hate-inciting propaganda and not contribute to the divisions between
ethnic minorities," she says.
School board Superintendent Nadine Segal says teachers already are being
trained to handle these issues "with sensitivity to the cultural mosaic
in our schools," and insists the course is not designed to "point
fingers, but to examine the early warning signs of genocide and the role
of the perpetrator and bystander.
"Our own Canadian government has recognized the Armenian genocide as
uncontestable reality, the original genocide of the 20th century, and
the course has been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education," says
Segal.
"But students will also be doing independent studies of their own
choosing that will allow them to examine other examples of genocide. The
goal is to help students gain a deeper understanding of human rights and
their responsibilities as global citizens."
Kudos for the new course have been rolling in from historians and human
rights advocates, Segal adds, including former United Nations special
envoy Stephen Lewis, author Joy Kogawa and genocide historian Frank
Chalk, co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies at Concordia University.
The course is being designed with the help of experts from UNICEF, York
University, the Canadian Centre for Genocide and Human Rights Education,
the University of Toronto and the Holocaust Centre of Toronto. Schools
from as far away as Montreal have asked for the curriculum, says Segal.
Both Segal and Gershon cite the International Association of Genocide
Scholars' unanimous declaration of the Armenian killings as "genocide"
in 1997.
However, Eskicioglu calls the course "propaganda by the Armenian
diaspora" and notes that although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
recognized the Armenian tragedy as genocide, his government also
supports Turkey's call for an "impartial" joint historical review of
events ` a move Armenians refuse to take part in.
"We are asking either for the removal of the genocide course from the
curriculum," says the petition, "or removing any discussion of the
Ottoman-Armenian tragedy from its contents."
Gershon says she would oppose any such change.
http://www.thestar.com/article/291545
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
History course proposal upsets Canadian Turks
1,200 people sign petition against class that labels 1915 mass killing
of Armenians as a genocide
Jan 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Louise Brown
Education Reporter
An unusual new course about genocide to be offered in Toronto high
schools this fall has sparked anger among Turkish-Canadians for
including the Turkish killing of Armenians in 1915.
The Grade 11 history course, believed the only one of its kind at a high
school in Ontario and possibly Canada, is designed to teach teenagers
what happens when a government sets out to destroy people of a
particular nationality, race or religion, through three examples: the
Holocaust which exterminated 6 million Jews in World War II, the Rwandan
slaughter of nearly one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994, and
the Turkish killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between 1915
and 1923.
"These are very significant, horrible parts of history, and without
sounding hackneyed, we hope we can learn something from them so we can
make a better world for our children's children," said Trustee Gerri
Gershon, of the Toronto District School Board, who proposed the course
after a moving tour in 2005 of the Nazi death camps in Poland.
"This isn't a course to teach hatred or blame the perpetrators ` no, no,
no," said Gershon. "Our goal is the exact opposite: To explore how this
happens so we can become better people and make sure it never happens
again."
But the Council of Turkish Canadians has gathered more than 1,200
signatures on an online petition opposed to the course for calling the
Armenian killings a "genocide" and inciting anti-Turkish sentiment. The
Turkish government has long denied the slaughter was a genocide, but
rather part of the wartime casualties of World War I, with both sides
guilty of some provocation.
"To pick Armenia as a genocide when it is so controversial ` especially
when there are atrocities by other countries that could have been chosen
` is just wrong, and will inadvertently lead to the bullying of
Turkish-Canadian children," argues Ottawa engineer Lale Eskicioglu,
executive director of the council and author of the petition, which she
will present to school board staff at a meeting this month.
"Children of Turkish descent already face bullying, racism and hatred in
the school yards. We rely on our schools to provide a shelter free from
hate-inciting propaganda and not contribute to the divisions between
ethnic minorities," she says.
School board Superintendent Nadine Segal says teachers already are being
trained to handle these issues "with sensitivity to the cultural mosaic
in our schools," and insists the course is not designed to "point
fingers, but to examine the early warning signs of genocide and the role
of the perpetrator and bystander.
"Our own Canadian government has recognized the Armenian genocide as
uncontestable reality, the original genocide of the 20th century, and
the course has been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education," says
Segal.
"But students will also be doing independent studies of their own
choosing that will allow them to examine other examples of genocide. The
goal is to help students gain a deeper understanding of human rights and
their responsibilities as global citizens."
Kudos for the new course have been rolling in from historians and human
rights advocates, Segal adds, including former United Nations special
envoy Stephen Lewis, author Joy Kogawa and genocide historian Frank
Chalk, co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies at Concordia University.
The course is being designed with the help of experts from UNICEF, York
University, the Canadian Centre for Genocide and Human Rights Education,
the University of Toronto and the Holocaust Centre of Toronto. Schools
from as far away as Montreal have asked for the curriculum, says Segal.
Both Segal and Gershon cite the International Association of Genocide
Scholars' unanimous declaration of the Armenian killings as "genocide"
in 1997.
However, Eskicioglu calls the course "propaganda by the Armenian
diaspora" and notes that although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
recognized the Armenian tragedy as genocide, his government also
supports Turkey's call for an "impartial" joint historical review of
events ` a move Armenians refuse to take part in.
"We are asking either for the removal of the genocide course from the
curriculum," says the petition, "or removing any discussion of the
Ottoman-Armenian tragedy from its contents."
Gershon says she would oppose any such change.
http://www.thestar.com/article/291545
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress