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MEMBERS OF KNESSET SAY HIGH TIME FOR RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
01:11 24.04.2013
Knesset members from the left and right on Tuesday called for Israel
to recognize the Armenian genocide, a topic which has been avoided
for years for fear of hurting diplomatic relations with Turkey,
Times of Israel reports.
"I'm aware of the sensitivity, but I'm not blaming modern-day Turkey.
The government that committed these acts was overturned by Turkey
itself," former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said during
a special session on the topic, marking 98 years since the series of
massacres took place. This issue cannot be turned into a political one,
he emphasized.
Rivlin also addressed the efforts to mend Israel's ties with Turkey,
which were all but severed following the deaths of nine Turkish
nationals in the 2010 IDF raid of the Mavi Marmara as it attempted
to break a naval blockade and reach the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
"I'm sure Turkey will be an ally. I think a solution needs to be
found for this crisis, but it's unthinkable that the Knesset ignore
this tragedy," Rivlin stated. "We demand that people don't deny the
Holocaust, and we can't ignore the tragedy of another nation."
There are huge differences between the Holocaust and the murder of the
Armenians, Rivlin told Army Radio. Without blurring those differences,
Israel must find a way to "fulfill its moral obligation of remembering
wrongs done to others."
"Reconciliation with Turkey is an important strategic move, but it
shouldn't affect recognition [of the Armenian genocide]," said Meretz
head Zahava Gal-on, who initiated the discussion. It's time for Israel
to join 27 other countries and acknowledge the mass murder, she added.
Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) is also of the opinion that Israel
officially recognize the genocide. "The silence of the world in face
of the [Armenian] genocide influenced Hitler when he planned the Final
Solution," the legislator said, adding that Israel cannot afford to
encourage forgetfulness.
"When a nation is in danger, no one cares. No one cared about the
genocide in Rwanda," Shaked said. "The fate of every nation is in
its own hands."
Also Tuesday, Hebrew University Professor Israel Charny, a world
expert on genocide, donated his library to the Armenian Genocide Museum
Institute; the collection included hundreds of volumes on the Holocaust
and the Armenian genocide, as well as other events in history.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/04/24/embers-of-knesset-say-high-time-for-recognition-of-armenian-genocide/
01:11 24.04.2013
Knesset members from the left and right on Tuesday called for Israel
to recognize the Armenian genocide, a topic which has been avoided
for years for fear of hurting diplomatic relations with Turkey,
Times of Israel reports.
"I'm aware of the sensitivity, but I'm not blaming modern-day Turkey.
The government that committed these acts was overturned by Turkey
itself," former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said during
a special session on the topic, marking 98 years since the series of
massacres took place. This issue cannot be turned into a political one,
he emphasized.
Rivlin also addressed the efforts to mend Israel's ties with Turkey,
which were all but severed following the deaths of nine Turkish
nationals in the 2010 IDF raid of the Mavi Marmara as it attempted
to break a naval blockade and reach the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
"I'm sure Turkey will be an ally. I think a solution needs to be
found for this crisis, but it's unthinkable that the Knesset ignore
this tragedy," Rivlin stated. "We demand that people don't deny the
Holocaust, and we can't ignore the tragedy of another nation."
There are huge differences between the Holocaust and the murder of the
Armenians, Rivlin told Army Radio. Without blurring those differences,
Israel must find a way to "fulfill its moral obligation of remembering
wrongs done to others."
"Reconciliation with Turkey is an important strategic move, but it
shouldn't affect recognition [of the Armenian genocide]," said Meretz
head Zahava Gal-on, who initiated the discussion. It's time for Israel
to join 27 other countries and acknowledge the mass murder, she added.
Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) is also of the opinion that Israel
officially recognize the genocide. "The silence of the world in face
of the [Armenian] genocide influenced Hitler when he planned the Final
Solution," the legislator said, adding that Israel cannot afford to
encourage forgetfulness.
"When a nation is in danger, no one cares. No one cared about the
genocide in Rwanda," Shaked said. "The fate of every nation is in
its own hands."
Also Tuesday, Hebrew University Professor Israel Charny, a world
expert on genocide, donated his library to the Armenian Genocide Museum
Institute; the collection included hundreds of volumes on the Holocaust
and the Armenian genocide, as well as other events in history.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/04/24/embers-of-knesset-say-high-time-for-recognition-of-armenian-genocide/