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Armenian Genocide Resource Center
5400 McBryde Ave
Richmond, CA 94805 USA
(510) 965-0152
Email [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
MARCH 12, 2008
"Israeli genocide scholars respond to
reported statements of Ambassador Gaby
Levy denying the Armenian genocide."
OPEN LETTER TO MK TZIPI LIVNI,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ISRAEL
MK Tzipi Livni
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Jerusalem
We are writing to express our shock, disbelief and horror at the
statements attributed to Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy by the website
of Sabah News (Turkey) that `what we [Israel] did in Gaza is not
genocide just like there is no Armenian genocide.' These statements
were reportedly in response to comments made by Prime Minister Erdogan
of Turkey criticizing Israel's response to the terror attacks from
Gaza. We would like to believe that he was misquoted.
Ambassador Levy is insultingly wrong in denying the Armenian genocide.
There is an overwhelming body of historical evidence from many
separate and independent bodies of information to show that the mass
atrocities experienced by the Armenians were a result of an
intentional policy on the part of the Turkish government at the
time. It is precisely this evidence of intent to kill and destroy, in
whole or in part, as defined by the UN Convention on Genocide, which
is why these atrocities constitute genocide. They were adjudged
genocide by Raphael Lemkin, the person who gave the world the word-
concept of genocide, and have been so adjudged by any number of
impartial commissions and professional authorities, including the
International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Israel's ambassador is humiliatingly further misdirected on Gaza,
where it is Hamas, an organization with a genocidal agenda, which is
carrying out terror attacks aimed at killing, destroying and expelling
the entire population. Israel is defending itself against the
perpetrators of this genocidal agenda. The Grad rockets Hamas is now
firing at population centers in Israel come from Iran which has
expressed a sworn determination to wipe out the State of Israel.
Clearly Israel has never embarked on a genocidal program or action in
Gaza, but for the ambassador to prove his point as it were by
comparing Israel's actions today in Gaza to the known genocidal
activities of the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians and other
non-Moslem minorities in 1915 and on is self-defeating in the extreme.
The aim of Israel's military actions in Gaza is to stop the genocidal
terror aimed at the Israeli public.
To link proof that Israel is not the aggressor in Gaza with a denial
of the validity of the Armenian Genocide is seriously harmful to
Israel. Ambassador Levy's mission is not to revise historical truth,
but to represent Israel with honor, self-respect, competence and
integrity. He has failed the test on all counts. By publicly
declaring his denial of the Armenian genocide, he paves the way for
denial of all other genocidal threats, foremost of which are those now
facing Israel.
Israel's relationship with Turkey is a matter of vital importance to
the two countries,. But this relationship does not require public
displays of obsequiousness and participation in genocide denial. It
does require Ambassador Levy to advise Turkey of the genocidal threats
>From Hamas, and from Iran, its paymaster.
We call upon the Government to repudiate the remarks attributed to
him.
Sincerely,
Prof. Yair Auron, PhD
Dept. of Sociology
Open University of Israel
[email protected]
Prof. Israel W. Charny, PhD (retired Tel Aviv University and Hebrew
University)
Executive Director, Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem
Editor, Encyclopedia of Genocide [email protected]
Prof. Elihu D. Richter, MD, MPH
Genocide Prevention Program, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public
Health and Community Medicine
[email protected]
5400 McBryde Ave
Richmond, CA 94805 USA
(510) 965-0152
Email [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
MARCH 12, 2008
"Israeli genocide scholars respond to
reported statements of Ambassador Gaby
Levy denying the Armenian genocide."
OPEN LETTER TO MK TZIPI LIVNI,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ISRAEL
MK Tzipi Livni
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Jerusalem
We are writing to express our shock, disbelief and horror at the
statements attributed to Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy by the website
of Sabah News (Turkey) that `what we [Israel] did in Gaza is not
genocide just like there is no Armenian genocide.' These statements
were reportedly in response to comments made by Prime Minister Erdogan
of Turkey criticizing Israel's response to the terror attacks from
Gaza. We would like to believe that he was misquoted.
Ambassador Levy is insultingly wrong in denying the Armenian genocide.
There is an overwhelming body of historical evidence from many
separate and independent bodies of information to show that the mass
atrocities experienced by the Armenians were a result of an
intentional policy on the part of the Turkish government at the
time. It is precisely this evidence of intent to kill and destroy, in
whole or in part, as defined by the UN Convention on Genocide, which
is why these atrocities constitute genocide. They were adjudged
genocide by Raphael Lemkin, the person who gave the world the word-
concept of genocide, and have been so adjudged by any number of
impartial commissions and professional authorities, including the
International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Israel's ambassador is humiliatingly further misdirected on Gaza,
where it is Hamas, an organization with a genocidal agenda, which is
carrying out terror attacks aimed at killing, destroying and expelling
the entire population. Israel is defending itself against the
perpetrators of this genocidal agenda. The Grad rockets Hamas is now
firing at population centers in Israel come from Iran which has
expressed a sworn determination to wipe out the State of Israel.
Clearly Israel has never embarked on a genocidal program or action in
Gaza, but for the ambassador to prove his point as it were by
comparing Israel's actions today in Gaza to the known genocidal
activities of the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians and other
non-Moslem minorities in 1915 and on is self-defeating in the extreme.
The aim of Israel's military actions in Gaza is to stop the genocidal
terror aimed at the Israeli public.
To link proof that Israel is not the aggressor in Gaza with a denial
of the validity of the Armenian Genocide is seriously harmful to
Israel. Ambassador Levy's mission is not to revise historical truth,
but to represent Israel with honor, self-respect, competence and
integrity. He has failed the test on all counts. By publicly
declaring his denial of the Armenian genocide, he paves the way for
denial of all other genocidal threats, foremost of which are those now
facing Israel.
Israel's relationship with Turkey is a matter of vital importance to
the two countries,. But this relationship does not require public
displays of obsequiousness and participation in genocide denial. It
does require Ambassador Levy to advise Turkey of the genocidal threats
>From Hamas, and from Iran, its paymaster.
We call upon the Government to repudiate the remarks attributed to
him.
Sincerely,
Prof. Yair Auron, PhD
Dept. of Sociology
Open University of Israel
[email protected]
Prof. Israel W. Charny, PhD (retired Tel Aviv University and Hebrew
University)
Executive Director, Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem
Editor, Encyclopedia of Genocide [email protected]
Prof. Elihu D. Richter, MD, MPH
Genocide Prevention Program, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public
Health and Community Medicine
[email protected]