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THE CASE FOR HELPING SYRIA'S CHILDREN-ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
The Atlantic
Aug 30 2013
Images from a century ago, advocating for American aid to children in
Syria and Turkey after they became victims of genocide Emma GreenAug
30 2013, 12:12 PM ET
One hundred years ago, when the United States faced a choice to
become involved with a human rights crisis in territory now divided
into Syria, Turkey, and Armenia, we chose to stay out. After ethnic
Armenians were massacred by the Ottomans during World War I, President
Wilson urged Congress to help the remaining population establish a
country of their own. But, claiming that the American public wouldn't
support such an intervention, Congress said no.
Spooky, isn't it?
On the night of April 24, 1915, Ottoman soldiers arrested more than
200 ethnic Armenian leaders and intellectuals in the empire's capital
city, Constantinople. The men were later executed at a prison in
inner Anatolia, which is part of modern-day Turkey. Over the next
seven years, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died during death
marches through the Syrian desert, mass executions, and epidemics at
the open-air camps where they were held, many of which were located
in what is now called Syria.
Americans in the region raised money to feed, clothe, and house
Armenian refugees, including orphans whose parents were killed in the
massacres. One organization, the American Committee for Armenian and
Syrian Relief, raised millions of dollars through rallies and church
collections. One fundraising campaign called for $5 million "to relieve
1,000 destitute, exiled, and starving Armenians scattered broadcast
over Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Palestine," the New York Times reported
in 1916. In 1919, the organization was incorporated by Congress into
Near East Relief, and today, it is known as the Near East Foundation.
The imagery used in these fundraising campaigns is chilling. A 1917
campaign for $30 million paired illustrations of women and children
with pleas for help. On one poster, Americans were reminded to think
of "The Child at Your Door: 400,000 Orphans Starving and No State
Aid Available."
Archival photographs show the organization's efforts to relocate
orphans. "Like little French soldiers," one reads. "Some of the
children being moved from Turkey to Greece to the American Near East
Relief. In Constantinople, the children were outfitted in light blue
uniforms which made them look like miniature French soldiers."
President Wilson strongly supported the organization's efforts to
provide relief to the region's refugees, and at the conclusion of
World War I, he argued on behalf of American intervention in the
Armenian case. "Have you thought of the sufferings of Armenia?" he
said in June of 1919. "You poured your money out to help succor the
Armenians after they suffered; now set your strength so that they
shall never suffer again."
Wilson's solution was an American mandate for Armenian, meaning
the United States would be responsible for helping the new country
establish a government and deal with the repatriation of hundreds of
thousands of refugees. According to a New York Times report, the U.S.
would have also had to provide two to four military regiments "to exert
a steadying effect upon the native population," as well as guidance
for creating infrastructure for transportation and sanitation. This
mandate failed to get support in Congress, however, and the United
States ultimately decided not to participate at all in partitioning
the former Ottoman Empire into new countries.
Of course, it is impossible to equate a century-old genocide that was
tied up in an international war with today's situation in Syria. It's
also worth noting how national borders have changed throughout the
complicated history that followed; modern-day Armenia lies to the
north and east of Syria, and the two countries are separated by Iraq,
Iran, and Turkey.
Still, this echo of the past is uncanny -- and very, very sad.
See posters at
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-case-for-helping-syrias-children-one-hundred-years-ago/279178/
From: Baghdasarian
The Atlantic
Aug 30 2013
Images from a century ago, advocating for American aid to children in
Syria and Turkey after they became victims of genocide Emma GreenAug
30 2013, 12:12 PM ET
One hundred years ago, when the United States faced a choice to
become involved with a human rights crisis in territory now divided
into Syria, Turkey, and Armenia, we chose to stay out. After ethnic
Armenians were massacred by the Ottomans during World War I, President
Wilson urged Congress to help the remaining population establish a
country of their own. But, claiming that the American public wouldn't
support such an intervention, Congress said no.
Spooky, isn't it?
On the night of April 24, 1915, Ottoman soldiers arrested more than
200 ethnic Armenian leaders and intellectuals in the empire's capital
city, Constantinople. The men were later executed at a prison in
inner Anatolia, which is part of modern-day Turkey. Over the next
seven years, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died during death
marches through the Syrian desert, mass executions, and epidemics at
the open-air camps where they were held, many of which were located
in what is now called Syria.
Americans in the region raised money to feed, clothe, and house
Armenian refugees, including orphans whose parents were killed in the
massacres. One organization, the American Committee for Armenian and
Syrian Relief, raised millions of dollars through rallies and church
collections. One fundraising campaign called for $5 million "to relieve
1,000 destitute, exiled, and starving Armenians scattered broadcast
over Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Palestine," the New York Times reported
in 1916. In 1919, the organization was incorporated by Congress into
Near East Relief, and today, it is known as the Near East Foundation.
The imagery used in these fundraising campaigns is chilling. A 1917
campaign for $30 million paired illustrations of women and children
with pleas for help. On one poster, Americans were reminded to think
of "The Child at Your Door: 400,000 Orphans Starving and No State
Aid Available."
Archival photographs show the organization's efforts to relocate
orphans. "Like little French soldiers," one reads. "Some of the
children being moved from Turkey to Greece to the American Near East
Relief. In Constantinople, the children were outfitted in light blue
uniforms which made them look like miniature French soldiers."
President Wilson strongly supported the organization's efforts to
provide relief to the region's refugees, and at the conclusion of
World War I, he argued on behalf of American intervention in the
Armenian case. "Have you thought of the sufferings of Armenia?" he
said in June of 1919. "You poured your money out to help succor the
Armenians after they suffered; now set your strength so that they
shall never suffer again."
Wilson's solution was an American mandate for Armenian, meaning
the United States would be responsible for helping the new country
establish a government and deal with the repatriation of hundreds of
thousands of refugees. According to a New York Times report, the U.S.
would have also had to provide two to four military regiments "to exert
a steadying effect upon the native population," as well as guidance
for creating infrastructure for transportation and sanitation. This
mandate failed to get support in Congress, however, and the United
States ultimately decided not to participate at all in partitioning
the former Ottoman Empire into new countries.
Of course, it is impossible to equate a century-old genocide that was
tied up in an international war with today's situation in Syria. It's
also worth noting how national borders have changed throughout the
complicated history that followed; modern-day Armenia lies to the
north and east of Syria, and the two countries are separated by Iraq,
Iran, and Turkey.
Still, this echo of the past is uncanny -- and very, very sad.
See posters at
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-case-for-helping-syrias-children-one-hundred-years-ago/279178/
From: Baghdasarian