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A MORAL OBLIGATION
Israel Hayom
April 23 2013
Eitan Belkind, of the Nili underground, which operated in Palestine in
the early 20th century, infiltrated the Turkish army during World War
I and witnessed how Circassian soldiers in the Turkish army burned
thousands of Armenians alive. Belkind recounted how the soldiers
ordered the Armenians to gather kindling and pile it in a pyramid:
"After that, they tied the Armenians, nearly 5,000 people, hand to
hand, surrounded them with the kindling in a ring and set it on fire.
The fire rose to the heavens, together with the screams of the
wretched."
The Armenian genocide, commemorated annually around the world on April
24, took place between 1915 and 1918. The Turks marched hundreds of
thousands of Armenians into the Syrian Desert and to the outskirts
of Turkey. Every day, thousands were killed along the way. In one
of these journeys, which lasted 60 days, only 180 people survived,
out of 170,000. The survivors of the expulsion marches were taken
to 25 different camps, where many more died of exposure or hunger,
or were killed in various ways.
The holocaust that befell the Armenian people happened nearly 100 years
ago. It was different than the Jews' Holocaust, smaller in dimension,
and far less organized and effective. Turkey slaughtered only its
own citizens, while Nazi Germany sought to exterminate Jews everywhere.
But beyond the differences, and there are more, the Armenian people
underwent their own genocide. Countless researchers and historians
have recognized the Armenian genocide, in which between a million and
1.5 million people were exterminated, as have more than 20 countries
worldwide, including France, Italy, Holland, Poland and Russia. But
one of the countries that still refuses to recognize the Armenian
genocide is, shamefully, the country that harbors the Jews, who
experienced a more terrible and systematic holocaust.
Professor Yair Oron, whose curriculum on 20th century genocide was
shelved by the Education Ministry because it included a chapter on
the Armenian genocide, has remarked repeatedly that on the eve of
the Jewish Holocaust, in August 1939, Hitler arrogantly asked his S.S.
officers: "Who remembers today what happened to the Armenians?"
But in the name of political "interests," on its 55th Independence Day,
Israel revised the biographies of the 12 honorees selected to light
torches in the annual torch lighting ceremony because one of them,
Naomi Lenvandian, of Armenian descent, had written that she was a
"third generation survivor of the Armenian holocaust."
In another instance, Israel also censored a documentary film called
"Journey to Armenia" and prevented it from being aired on Channel 1.
The Israeli government also rid itself of two brave ministers:
former Education Minister Yossi Sarid, who served under Ehud Barak,
and former Immigration Absorption Minister Yair Tzaban, who served
under Yitzhak Rabin during the latter's second term. Both ministers
had attended a memorial service at the Cathedral of Saint James,
the Armenian church in Jerusalem.
Turkey continues to deny the Armenian genocide and reject any
responsibility. In the past, the Turkish government banned the book
"The Forty Days of Musa Dagh," written by Austrian Franz Werfel,
which describes the experiences of 5,000 exiled Armenians. Turkey
successfully pressured MGM Studios when it wanted to produce a film
based on the book. Turkey maintains a grip of terror over countries
wishing to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Israel's reputation in this regard is not only shameful, but also
embarrassing. In the past, Israel lobbied for Turkey in the U.S.
Congress, and was even quick to win the big prize, scooping up the
arms deals that Turkey rescinded when France decided to recognize
the Armenian genocide.
There is no need to explain to current Education Minister Shay Piron,
formerly a fellow of the Israel Democracy Institute in the field of
human rights, how immoral and low Israel's conduct is. If Piron's
campaign promises are true, and an age of "new politics" is really at
the gate, and indeed "something new is starting," and the Education
Ministry, as Piron described it, really is the "holy of the holies,"
the education minister should honor the Armenians with his presence at
the annual memorial service for the Armenian genocide in Jerusalem. He
should put all political interests aside, whatever they may be.
After all, Israel would never accept a refusal to recognize the Jewish
Holocaust on the basis of economic or security considerations. It
is true that the Jewish Holocaust is probably unprecedented, even
in comparison with the Armenian genocide, but the moral standard
shouldn't be any different.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=4091
Israel Hayom
April 23 2013
Eitan Belkind, of the Nili underground, which operated in Palestine in
the early 20th century, infiltrated the Turkish army during World War
I and witnessed how Circassian soldiers in the Turkish army burned
thousands of Armenians alive. Belkind recounted how the soldiers
ordered the Armenians to gather kindling and pile it in a pyramid:
"After that, they tied the Armenians, nearly 5,000 people, hand to
hand, surrounded them with the kindling in a ring and set it on fire.
The fire rose to the heavens, together with the screams of the
wretched."
The Armenian genocide, commemorated annually around the world on April
24, took place between 1915 and 1918. The Turks marched hundreds of
thousands of Armenians into the Syrian Desert and to the outskirts
of Turkey. Every day, thousands were killed along the way. In one
of these journeys, which lasted 60 days, only 180 people survived,
out of 170,000. The survivors of the expulsion marches were taken
to 25 different camps, where many more died of exposure or hunger,
or were killed in various ways.
The holocaust that befell the Armenian people happened nearly 100 years
ago. It was different than the Jews' Holocaust, smaller in dimension,
and far less organized and effective. Turkey slaughtered only its
own citizens, while Nazi Germany sought to exterminate Jews everywhere.
But beyond the differences, and there are more, the Armenian people
underwent their own genocide. Countless researchers and historians
have recognized the Armenian genocide, in which between a million and
1.5 million people were exterminated, as have more than 20 countries
worldwide, including France, Italy, Holland, Poland and Russia. But
one of the countries that still refuses to recognize the Armenian
genocide is, shamefully, the country that harbors the Jews, who
experienced a more terrible and systematic holocaust.
Professor Yair Oron, whose curriculum on 20th century genocide was
shelved by the Education Ministry because it included a chapter on
the Armenian genocide, has remarked repeatedly that on the eve of
the Jewish Holocaust, in August 1939, Hitler arrogantly asked his S.S.
officers: "Who remembers today what happened to the Armenians?"
But in the name of political "interests," on its 55th Independence Day,
Israel revised the biographies of the 12 honorees selected to light
torches in the annual torch lighting ceremony because one of them,
Naomi Lenvandian, of Armenian descent, had written that she was a
"third generation survivor of the Armenian holocaust."
In another instance, Israel also censored a documentary film called
"Journey to Armenia" and prevented it from being aired on Channel 1.
The Israeli government also rid itself of two brave ministers:
former Education Minister Yossi Sarid, who served under Ehud Barak,
and former Immigration Absorption Minister Yair Tzaban, who served
under Yitzhak Rabin during the latter's second term. Both ministers
had attended a memorial service at the Cathedral of Saint James,
the Armenian church in Jerusalem.
Turkey continues to deny the Armenian genocide and reject any
responsibility. In the past, the Turkish government banned the book
"The Forty Days of Musa Dagh," written by Austrian Franz Werfel,
which describes the experiences of 5,000 exiled Armenians. Turkey
successfully pressured MGM Studios when it wanted to produce a film
based on the book. Turkey maintains a grip of terror over countries
wishing to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Israel's reputation in this regard is not only shameful, but also
embarrassing. In the past, Israel lobbied for Turkey in the U.S.
Congress, and was even quick to win the big prize, scooping up the
arms deals that Turkey rescinded when France decided to recognize
the Armenian genocide.
There is no need to explain to current Education Minister Shay Piron,
formerly a fellow of the Israel Democracy Institute in the field of
human rights, how immoral and low Israel's conduct is. If Piron's
campaign promises are true, and an age of "new politics" is really at
the gate, and indeed "something new is starting," and the Education
Ministry, as Piron described it, really is the "holy of the holies,"
the education minister should honor the Armenians with his presence at
the annual memorial service for the Armenian genocide in Jerusalem. He
should put all political interests aside, whatever they may be.
After all, Israel would never accept a refusal to recognize the Jewish
Holocaust on the basis of economic or security considerations. It
is true that the Jewish Holocaust is probably unprecedented, even
in comparison with the Armenian genocide, but the moral standard
shouldn't be any different.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=4091