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ARMENIA AND ANTI-SEMITISM
Armen Tsatouryan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
July 03, 2008
Armenia
The PACE Resolution on the "Fight against Anti-Semitism and Especially
its Manifestations in the Mass Media and the Academic Circles"
again draws our attention to the commitments undertaken by the OSCE
member states.
We wouldn't certainly be concerned by the adoption of the document if
David Crammer, US Under-Secretary of State who was visiting Yerevan a
few days ago, hadn't expressed his own concerns over the anti-Semitist
propaganda allegedly circulated by the Armenia media.
What are the reasons of looking for anti-Semitism in our country? Which
are the "internal impulses" guaranteeing their possible repetition?
In our country, it is more than senseless to look for anti-Semitism
as a definite and clear-cut phenomenon. We believe that the US State
Secretariat and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
are aware of it as well. The problem here is one a different plane.
The Armenian public, at least some part of it, was seriously
concerned by the obvious and disguised presence of the Jewish
factor in the country's political life during the recent presidential
campaign. The press spoke a lot about the millions of dollars spent by
the Jewish circles of foreign countries with the purpose of organizing
L. Ter-Petrosyan's campaign.
And their information, which was quite well-founded, was never refuted
by anyone.
Moreover, at the most heated moment of the political campaign the whole
country saw the Israeli flag swaying on the Theatrical Square during L.
Ter-Petrosyan's pre-election meetings. And society never received the
answer to the question what the leader of the Armenian Pan-National
Movement wanted to say by that.
If this was a way of expressing gratitude to the foreign "sponsors",
society did have the right to be concerned by that. If not,
the organizers of the rally should have explained their goal of
"introducing" such kind of attributes to our country's internal
political campaign.
Perhaps, this was done with the purpose of provoking the political
rivals and arousing their counteraction which was becoming quite
natural and logical in such conditions. And then it would be possible
to give the State Secretariat (as well as the OSCE) the opportunity
to classify Armenia among the countries suffering from the old-time
illness of anti-Semitism.
So, who provides a breeding ground for the increasing rumors on
anti-Semitism, a topic to which we had a scornful attitude in the
past?"
Are our enemies so few in number for us to allow some people to
replenish their ranks with the Jews, a nation sharing the same fate
with us? Certainly not. The thing is that the obvious facts proving
the presence of the Jewish factor in the internal political campaign
in Armenia were not refuted in time. On the contrary, they were openly
shown to the public, arousing its anxiety.
All those who also involve the Jewish factor in the process of
realizing their political goal for acceding to power become the
"sewers" of anti-Semitism in Armenia.
The rumors and accusations on the "alleged" anti-Semitism in our
country have been recently spread by the international-political
circles which are trying to attribute the consequences of the indecent
steps of the opposition and its leader to the Armenian authorities
and public which fear the threat of foreign intervention.
It turns out that apart from laying their burden of responsibility
to others, they are also making attempts to accuse those people of
their own sins.
Armen Tsatouryan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
July 03, 2008
Armenia
The PACE Resolution on the "Fight against Anti-Semitism and Especially
its Manifestations in the Mass Media and the Academic Circles"
again draws our attention to the commitments undertaken by the OSCE
member states.
We wouldn't certainly be concerned by the adoption of the document if
David Crammer, US Under-Secretary of State who was visiting Yerevan a
few days ago, hadn't expressed his own concerns over the anti-Semitist
propaganda allegedly circulated by the Armenia media.
What are the reasons of looking for anti-Semitism in our country? Which
are the "internal impulses" guaranteeing their possible repetition?
In our country, it is more than senseless to look for anti-Semitism
as a definite and clear-cut phenomenon. We believe that the US State
Secretariat and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
are aware of it as well. The problem here is one a different plane.
The Armenian public, at least some part of it, was seriously
concerned by the obvious and disguised presence of the Jewish
factor in the country's political life during the recent presidential
campaign. The press spoke a lot about the millions of dollars spent by
the Jewish circles of foreign countries with the purpose of organizing
L. Ter-Petrosyan's campaign.
And their information, which was quite well-founded, was never refuted
by anyone.
Moreover, at the most heated moment of the political campaign the whole
country saw the Israeli flag swaying on the Theatrical Square during L.
Ter-Petrosyan's pre-election meetings. And society never received the
answer to the question what the leader of the Armenian Pan-National
Movement wanted to say by that.
If this was a way of expressing gratitude to the foreign "sponsors",
society did have the right to be concerned by that. If not,
the organizers of the rally should have explained their goal of
"introducing" such kind of attributes to our country's internal
political campaign.
Perhaps, this was done with the purpose of provoking the political
rivals and arousing their counteraction which was becoming quite
natural and logical in such conditions. And then it would be possible
to give the State Secretariat (as well as the OSCE) the opportunity
to classify Armenia among the countries suffering from the old-time
illness of anti-Semitism.
So, who provides a breeding ground for the increasing rumors on
anti-Semitism, a topic to which we had a scornful attitude in the
past?"
Are our enemies so few in number for us to allow some people to
replenish their ranks with the Jews, a nation sharing the same fate
with us? Certainly not. The thing is that the obvious facts proving
the presence of the Jewish factor in the internal political campaign
in Armenia were not refuted in time. On the contrary, they were openly
shown to the public, arousing its anxiety.
All those who also involve the Jewish factor in the process of
realizing their political goal for acceding to power become the
"sewers" of anti-Semitism in Armenia.
The rumors and accusations on the "alleged" anti-Semitism in our
country have been recently spread by the international-political
circles which are trying to attribute the consequences of the indecent
steps of the opposition and its leader to the Armenian authorities
and public which fear the threat of foreign intervention.
It turns out that apart from laying their burden of responsibility
to others, they are also making attempts to accuse those people of
their own sins.