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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RUG'S FREEDOM A WORTHY CAUSE FOR AMERICAN JEWS
JNS.org [Jewish News]
Oct 25 2013
By Rafael Medoff/JNS.org
Ninety-nine years after the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, one
of the most poignant symbols of Armenian suffering is being held
hostage-by the White House.
The prisoner is an 18-foot long rug. It was woven by four hundred
Armenian orphan girls living in exile in Lebanon, as a gesture of
appreciation for America's assistance to survivors of the genocide. In
1925, they sent the rug to President Calvin Coolidge, who pledged
that it would have "a place of honor in the White House, where it
will be a daily symbol of goodwill on earth."
Unfortunately, the rug is instead becoming a symbol of the unseemly
politics of genocide. An Armenian-American dentist, Hagop Martin
Deranian, recently authored a book called "President Calvin Coolidge
and the Armenian Orphan Rug," and the Smithsonian Institution
scheduled an event about Dr. Dernanian's book for Dec. 16. But when
the Smithsonian asked the White House to loan it the rug for the event,
the request was denied.
Reporters who asked the State Department about it this week were
referred to the White House. When they asked the White House spokesman,
they were curtly told that he had nothing to say except, "It is not
possible to loan it out at this time."
Armenian-American leaders believe the Obama administration is
responding to pressure from the Turkish government, which denies that
genocide took place. And Armenians have good reason to be suspicious.
As a presidential candidate in 2008, then-Senator Obama declared,
"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
genocide." By contrast, the statements that President Obama has issued
each April on Armenian Remembrance Day have never included the g-word.
Instead, he has used an Armenian expression-"Meds Yeghern," meaning
"the great calamity." Fear of displeasing the Turks appears to be
the only plausible motive for that rhetorical sleight-of-hand.
Armenian-Americans are not the only ones who should be upset. American
Jews should be up in arms, too. Not only because of the sympathy
that victims of genocide instinctively feel for one another-but also
because if the White House can permit political considerations to
trump recognition of the Armenian genocide, there is a danger that
memorialization of the Holocaust could one day suffer a similar fate.
In any event, at least one president did keep his word: Calvin Coolidge
proudly displayed the Armenian Orphan Rug in the White House for the
rest of his term.
After he left office, Coolidge took the rug to his Massachusetts
residence. It was still there in 1939, when former First Lady Grace
Coolidge became a leading figure in the struggle to rescue a different
group of children from a genocidal dictator. Mrs. Coolidge lobbied in
support of the Wagner-Rogers bill, which would have admitted 20,000
German Jewish children to the United States. But President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt refused to support the legislation, and it was buried
in committee.
Ironically, FDR's relative and predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt,
advocated declaring war on Turkey over the Armenian genocide. "The
failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all
talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous
nonsense," the then-ex-president asserted in 1918. Teddy Roosevelt
was correct to fear that tolerating genocide would pave the way for
it to happen again.
Indeed, Adolf Hitler reportedly once assured his subordinates that
their atrocities would not be remembered since "Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
The genocide rug eventually made it back to the White House and was
in use during at least part of the Clinton administration. But it
has not been seen in public since then. If the Obama administration
and the Turkish government have their way, it seems, the imprisoned
rug may never again see the light of day.
In December, Americans will flock to a new movie called "Monuments
Men." Directed by (and co-starring) George Clooney, it will tell
the true story of a handful of U.S. military personnel who risked
their lives to rescue famous paintings, monuments, and other precious
European cultural artifacts from the Nazis in the waning days of World
War II. It seems that it might take a new generation of Monuments
Men to rescue the Armenian genocide rug and restore the treasured
heirloom to its rightful place-in a public display.
Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for
Holocaust Studies, in Washington, D.C. His latest book is "FDR and
the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith."
http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/10/25/nei27kbgs6gnsn3vmt9nagejbvfbp5
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
JNS.org [Jewish News]
Oct 25 2013
By Rafael Medoff/JNS.org
Ninety-nine years after the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, one
of the most poignant symbols of Armenian suffering is being held
hostage-by the White House.
The prisoner is an 18-foot long rug. It was woven by four hundred
Armenian orphan girls living in exile in Lebanon, as a gesture of
appreciation for America's assistance to survivors of the genocide. In
1925, they sent the rug to President Calvin Coolidge, who pledged
that it would have "a place of honor in the White House, where it
will be a daily symbol of goodwill on earth."
Unfortunately, the rug is instead becoming a symbol of the unseemly
politics of genocide. An Armenian-American dentist, Hagop Martin
Deranian, recently authored a book called "President Calvin Coolidge
and the Armenian Orphan Rug," and the Smithsonian Institution
scheduled an event about Dr. Dernanian's book for Dec. 16. But when
the Smithsonian asked the White House to loan it the rug for the event,
the request was denied.
Reporters who asked the State Department about it this week were
referred to the White House. When they asked the White House spokesman,
they were curtly told that he had nothing to say except, "It is not
possible to loan it out at this time."
Armenian-American leaders believe the Obama administration is
responding to pressure from the Turkish government, which denies that
genocide took place. And Armenians have good reason to be suspicious.
As a presidential candidate in 2008, then-Senator Obama declared,
"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
genocide." By contrast, the statements that President Obama has issued
each April on Armenian Remembrance Day have never included the g-word.
Instead, he has used an Armenian expression-"Meds Yeghern," meaning
"the great calamity." Fear of displeasing the Turks appears to be
the only plausible motive for that rhetorical sleight-of-hand.
Armenian-Americans are not the only ones who should be upset. American
Jews should be up in arms, too. Not only because of the sympathy
that victims of genocide instinctively feel for one another-but also
because if the White House can permit political considerations to
trump recognition of the Armenian genocide, there is a danger that
memorialization of the Holocaust could one day suffer a similar fate.
In any event, at least one president did keep his word: Calvin Coolidge
proudly displayed the Armenian Orphan Rug in the White House for the
rest of his term.
After he left office, Coolidge took the rug to his Massachusetts
residence. It was still there in 1939, when former First Lady Grace
Coolidge became a leading figure in the struggle to rescue a different
group of children from a genocidal dictator. Mrs. Coolidge lobbied in
support of the Wagner-Rogers bill, which would have admitted 20,000
German Jewish children to the United States. But President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt refused to support the legislation, and it was buried
in committee.
Ironically, FDR's relative and predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt,
advocated declaring war on Turkey over the Armenian genocide. "The
failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all
talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous
nonsense," the then-ex-president asserted in 1918. Teddy Roosevelt
was correct to fear that tolerating genocide would pave the way for
it to happen again.
Indeed, Adolf Hitler reportedly once assured his subordinates that
their atrocities would not be remembered since "Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
The genocide rug eventually made it back to the White House and was
in use during at least part of the Clinton administration. But it
has not been seen in public since then. If the Obama administration
and the Turkish government have their way, it seems, the imprisoned
rug may never again see the light of day.
In December, Americans will flock to a new movie called "Monuments
Men." Directed by (and co-starring) George Clooney, it will tell
the true story of a handful of U.S. military personnel who risked
their lives to rescue famous paintings, monuments, and other precious
European cultural artifacts from the Nazis in the waning days of World
War II. It seems that it might take a new generation of Monuments
Men to rescue the Armenian genocide rug and restore the treasured
heirloom to its rightful place-in a public display.
Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for
Holocaust Studies, in Washington, D.C. His latest book is "FDR and
the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith."
http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/10/25/nei27kbgs6gnsn3vmt9nagejbvfbp5
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress