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Did Israel's President Recognize the Armenian Genocide at the UN?
Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 | Posted by Contributor
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin implicitly recognizes Armenian Genocide
during remarks at UN General Assembly
UNITED NATIONS--In remarks in front of the General Assembly on Wednesday,
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin seems to have recognized the Armenian
Genocide.
As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported
, Rivlin
recognized the Armenian Genocide during the General Assembly's Holocaust
memorial while he was defending Israel against what he called "cynical"
accusations of genocide and war crimes in his country's dealing with
Palestinians.
Rivlin called on the UN to set boundaries beyond which it would intervene
to stop acts of genocide. He then said:"At the same time we must remember
that the setting of red lines requires us to stop diluting and cynically
exploiting them in the name of pseudo objectivity, as is done in the
rhetoric of human rights with the use of terms such as 'genocide' for
political purposes," reported Haaretz.
"Nonetheless, absurd comparisons... which we as Israelis are exposed to
constantly... not only confuse the ally with the enemy, but they undermine
this house's ability to effectively fight the phenomenon of genocide," said
Rivlin according to Haaretz.
Yaron Weiss
,
an Israeli human rights activist and an advocate of Genocide recognition,
shared with Asbarez a translation, by Yoav Loeff, of Rivlin's remarks,
which were made in Hebrew at the UN General Assembly.
Rivlin said: "In 1915, the days of the Armenian Genocide, Avshalom Feinberg
of the NILI underground [A Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine] wrote
the following: 'My teeth have been worn away by anger, who is next? I have
walked on sacred and holy ground, on the road to Jerusalem, and asked
myself if it is this time that we live in--1915-or in the days of Titus or
Nebuchadnezzar? And I asked myself whether I may cry for the hurt of the
daughter of My people alone and if Jeremiah did not shed his tears of blood
also for the Armenians?'"
Rivlin added: "Feinberg wrote that exactly 100 years ago. 100 years of
hesitation and denial. In the Land of Israel of the time, in which I was
born, no one denied the murder that occurred. The residents of Jerusalem,
my parents, saw them coming by thousands, starving, burning sticks snatched
from the fire. In Jerusalem they found refuge and their descendants live
there to this day."
In December, Asbarez, citing Israeli sources, reported
that Rivlin, once an outspoken advocate of Israel's recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, decided not to renew his signature on an annual petition
calling for Israel to officially recognize the mass killings as Genocide.
Perhaps, when faced with accusations by members of the UN, he decided that
he would do the right thing.
http://asbarez.com/131240/did-israel%E2%80%99s-president-recognize-the-armenian-genocide-at-the-un/
From: Baghdasarian
Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 | Posted by Contributor
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin implicitly recognizes Armenian Genocide
during remarks at UN General Assembly
UNITED NATIONS--In remarks in front of the General Assembly on Wednesday,
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin seems to have recognized the Armenian
Genocide.
As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported
, Rivlin
recognized the Armenian Genocide during the General Assembly's Holocaust
memorial while he was defending Israel against what he called "cynical"
accusations of genocide and war crimes in his country's dealing with
Palestinians.
Rivlin called on the UN to set boundaries beyond which it would intervene
to stop acts of genocide. He then said:"At the same time we must remember
that the setting of red lines requires us to stop diluting and cynically
exploiting them in the name of pseudo objectivity, as is done in the
rhetoric of human rights with the use of terms such as 'genocide' for
political purposes," reported Haaretz.
"Nonetheless, absurd comparisons... which we as Israelis are exposed to
constantly... not only confuse the ally with the enemy, but they undermine
this house's ability to effectively fight the phenomenon of genocide," said
Rivlin according to Haaretz.
Yaron Weiss
,
an Israeli human rights activist and an advocate of Genocide recognition,
shared with Asbarez a translation, by Yoav Loeff, of Rivlin's remarks,
which were made in Hebrew at the UN General Assembly.
Rivlin said: "In 1915, the days of the Armenian Genocide, Avshalom Feinberg
of the NILI underground [A Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine] wrote
the following: 'My teeth have been worn away by anger, who is next? I have
walked on sacred and holy ground, on the road to Jerusalem, and asked
myself if it is this time that we live in--1915-or in the days of Titus or
Nebuchadnezzar? And I asked myself whether I may cry for the hurt of the
daughter of My people alone and if Jeremiah did not shed his tears of blood
also for the Armenians?'"
Rivlin added: "Feinberg wrote that exactly 100 years ago. 100 years of
hesitation and denial. In the Land of Israel of the time, in which I was
born, no one denied the murder that occurred. The residents of Jerusalem,
my parents, saw them coming by thousands, starving, burning sticks snatched
from the fire. In Jerusalem they found refuge and their descendants live
there to this day."
In December, Asbarez, citing Israeli sources, reported
that Rivlin, once an outspoken advocate of Israel's recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, decided not to renew his signature on an annual petition
calling for Israel to officially recognize the mass killings as Genocide.
Perhaps, when faced with accusations by members of the UN, he decided that
he would do the right thing.
http://asbarez.com/131240/did-israel%E2%80%99s-president-recognize-the-armenian-genocide-at-the-un/
From: Baghdasarian