Israeli Scholar Assails Israel’s Denial of the Armenian
Genocide
21-04-2010 16:30:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
An important international symposium on "Armenia-Turkey:
How to Normalize Relations," was held in Paris on April 14. It
was organized by the French Bureau of the Armenian Cause and the
Armenian National Committee of France.
The participants were: Dr. Yair Auron, Professor of History
at Open University, Israel; Dr. Israel Charny, Executive
Director, Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem;
Ali Ertem, Turkish historian and President of the Association to
Combat Genocide, Germany; Dogan Ozguden, Turkish journalist and
President of the Foundation “Info-Turk,” Belgium; Dr. Alfred de
Zayas, Prof. of International Law, Geneva; Dr. Yves Ternon,
historian, Paris (by video); Frederic Encel, Political
Scientist, Lecturer, Institute of Political Studies of Paris;
Giro Manoyan, spokesman of the Armenian Cause office of the ARF
Bureau, Armenia; and Harut Sassounian, Publisher of The
California Courier, Los Angeles.
Given the recent heated exchanges between Israeli and
Turkish officials and the upcoming discussion on the Armenian
Genocide in the Knesset on April 28, the audience paid
particular attention to Prof. Auron's bold and candid remarks.
He has been, for many years, a staunch supporter of the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and a strong critic of its
denial by the Israeli government.
Prof. Auron started his presentation by quoting from an
article written in 1918 by Shmuel Talkowsky, the secretary of
Chaim Weitzmann, who later became the first president of Israel.
Talkowsky deplored the “martyrdom” of Armenians and suggested
that "a free and happy Armenia, a free and happy Arabia, and a
free and happy Jewish Palestine are the three pillars on which
will rest the future peace and welfare of the Middle East." Dr.
Auron expressed his regret that the policy of the State of
Israel today is far from the principles enunciated by Talkowsky
in 1918.
Criticizing Israel’s opposition to the acknowledgment of
the Armenian Genocide, Prof. Auron listed the following specific
anti-Armenian actions: "In 1978, a film on the Armenian Quarter
in Jerusalem was banned from being screened. In 1982, the
Israeli Government intervened in an international Congress on
the subject of the Shoah and Genocide, pressing the organizers
to eliminate lectures on the Armenian Genocide. In 1989, Israel
was involved in preventing mention of the Armenian Genocide in
an American calendar. In one way or another, Israel and Jews
were involved in the debate in the United States also in 1985,
1987, 1989, 2000, 2007, and 2010. In 1990, the showing of
‘Armenian Journey, a TV film produced in the U.S., was banned."
Prof. Auron further related that on April 24, 2000, when
Yossi Sarid, Israel’s Minister of Education, suggested the
inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in high school curricula,
Israel’s government rejected the idea.
A year later, on April 10, 2001, the then Foreign Minister
(now President) of Israel Shimon Peres was quoted as stating:
“We regret attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust
and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust
occurred. It is a tragedy, but not a genocide.” Reminding his
audience that Israel's Ambassador to Armenia Rivka Cohen made
similar denialist remarks in February 2002, Prof. Auron
considered these statements "as Israel's escalation from passive
to active denial, from moderate denial to hard-line denial." He
said that an Armenian friend "rightly" told him: "I do not know
of any enlightened politician in a democratic state that has
ever made remarks such as these; you, the Jews, of all people!"
Prof. Auron also spoke about discussions held in the
Israeli Parliament on the Armenian Genocide in 2007, 2008, and
2009. Each time, the Israeli government opposed this issue. He
expected a similar rejection later this month when the issue is
raised in Knesset once again.
Prof. Auron specifically pointed out the double-standard
practiced by Israel: "The State of Israel continues to struggle
against Holocaust denial on one hand, but participates in the
denial of another genocide on the other. This most likely will
damage the struggle against Holocaust denial in the future. One
might view this attitude as a moral failure. We have to remember
that moral claims can have influence only if they are
consistent... Everyone would agree that Israel has no right to
bargain with the memory of the Holocaust. But, even more, it has
no right - by no means, in any circumstance, and much less so
than any other country - to bargain with the memory of another
victim group. And yet Israel did just that with the Armenian
Genocide. Israel is contributing to the process of genocide
denial and by doing so, it also betrays the memory and the
legacy of the Holocaust."
The Armenian Genocide has been almost universally
acknowledged by dozens of countries, international organizations
and prominent scholars. Armenians do not need to beg Israel to
recognize it. By denying the Armenian Genocide, Israel morally
undermines its own credibility and standing in the world!
By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier
NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIAN TODAY