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Israeli right shifts stance on Armenian genocide amid Turkey spat

May 23, 2018 By administrator

 

Members of the Armenian community attend a memorial march marking the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces, Jerusalem’s Old City, April 23, 2015.

Akiva Eldar,

As long as I can remember, I’ve known that there was only one unique Holocaust in the history of humankind. We learned that the Armenians had suffered a “genocide” and that “a people’s massacre” had been perpetrated in Rwanda. We learned that Israel’s Arab citizens experienced a catastrophe, known in Arabic as the “Nakba,” when the state was established 70 years ago and they were uprooted from their homes. We were told that the use of the term “Shoah,” Hebrew for “Holocaust,” to characterize atrocities committed after World War II does a moral and historic injustice to the 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis.

However, a sea change has now occurred, and senior elected officials have ceded the Jewish monopoly over the Holocaust. On May 16, Education Minister Naftali Bennett used “Shoah” in calling on Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to “promote Israeli recognition of the holocaust against the Armenians carried out by Turkey.” Last month, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan of the Likud used the same term in urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize the “Armenian Holocaust.”

Knesset member Amir Ohana, also of the Likud, drew a direct line between Nazi crimes and the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian people by Ottoman forces during World War I. “When Hitler presented the Wehrmacht officers with his plan for mass extermination,” Ohana wrote on Facebook, “he reassured those worried about the reaction of the world by saying: ‘After all, who mentions the extermination of the Armenian people anymore?’” He added, “If for no other reason, that is why we should have already recognized this murder officially.” An original and winning argument? Not really. A quick glance through the Knesset minutes from February reveals that Yair Lapid, chair of the Yesh Atid opposition party, presented this argument virtually word for word three months ago to

present proposed legislation recognizing the Armenian genocide.

“The question facing the Knesset today is not a practical one, it is not a foreign relations issue, it is a fundamental moral issue,” Lapid said. “Can we as Jews ignore a holocaust?” Himself the son of a Holocaust survivor, the late Knesset member Yosef Lapid, he added that the State of Israel could not afford to ignore the genocide of another people, the murder of its children, women and elderly. “It is not moral, it is not just and we have a commitment,” Lapid concluded. And how did his fellow Knesset colleague Ohana vote? Like the 15 other Likud members who bothered turning up for the debate, he voted “nay.” So did the Knesset members of Bennett’s HaBayit HaYehudi. Their leader, along with the Likud’s Erdan, skipped the vote altogether. Deputy Minister Michael Oren, who said during a 2015 Knesset debate, “It’s time for us as a state to recognize the massacre of the Armenians and do it justice and close the circle,” also voted against the proposed bill. So did all the members of his center-right Kulanu. The Knesset voted down the proposal to recognize the Armenian genocide by 41 to 28.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely informed the Knesset in that same session that her ministry was opposed to the legislation proposed by Lapid’s party. She conceded that it was important to recognize the suffering of the Armenian people and the tragedy they experienced, but despite “our deep identification with them stemming from the experience of the Jewish people, there’s no room to take a stand on the issue.” She went on to explain, “Given the complexity and the diplomatic repercussions, and the clear political context, there’s no place for a step that could necessarily be interpreted as recognition of the Armenian genocide.” Hotovely added, “This situation is not expected to change anytime soon.”

It is unclear yet whether the verbal clash between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the killing of Palestinians during violent demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel border changed the “situation” to such an extent that the government is at long last heeding calls for recognition of the Armenian genocide. But if it does so, the world in general and the Armenians in particular will see through the claims of morality and conscience and recognize the move for what it is: taking cynical advantage of a genocide to exact diplomatic retribution and score PR points.

It’s true that joining the 29 other states, among them 11 members of the European Union, that have recognized the genocide would undermine the prospects of eventual reconciliation with Erdogan’s regime. To resolve its previous contretemps with Turkey over the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla that sought to breach the Israeli siege of Gaza, Israel relented and paid compensation to Turkish victims of its commando raid on the vessel. It will not be able to go back on its recognition of the Armenian genocide. Such decisions cannot be made in the heat of the moment, nor as public relations ploys. The Talmud had this to say about such situations: “Woe unto me from my creator and woe unto me from my inclination.”

Knesset member Yair Tzaban (Meretz), who first proposed recognition of the Armenian genocide some 30 years ago, told Al-Monitor that such a move now would raise an issue of Jewish law that questions the value of a good deed born in sin. Tzaban suggests instead adopting the approach of conscientious Israelis who take a stand on each issue on its merits rather than conducting moralistic scorekeeping. The opportunity now emerging for Israeli recognition of the genocide, he advised, should not be missed.

Turkish criticism of the current right-wing Israeli government, harsh as it may be, “will not turn me into a fan of Erdogan and his dark and oppressive regime, which have inflicted deep scars on the bodies and souls of Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian freedom fighters and lovers of democracy,” Tzaban said. At the same time, he added, no condemnation of Erdogan and of Hamas rulers of Gaza will blunt his harsh criticism of Netanyahu and Co. for leading Israel on a dangerous road that stifles the Jewish people’s hopes of national revival and of peace.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: armenian genocide, Israeli, right shifts, stance

The German stance on Syria: Ready to help, but not militarily

April 12, 2018 By administrator

Chancellor Angela Merkel has shed some light on Germany’s position as tensions flare in Syria. She said Germany stood ready to assist its allies, but that Germany’s military would not be involved.

Angela Merkel twice stated that Germany’s military “will not participate in possible military actions” in Syria during a press conference on Thursday, but stressed that Berlin supported the need to “send a clear signal that the use of chemical weapons” is unacceptable.

“Just doing nothing at all is also difficult,” the chancellor said, adding that if the US, UK and France were to take military action, Germany would seek non-military ways to help.

Merkel also criticized Russia, albeit gently, saying that Moscow blocking a full OPCW investigation into the alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack “does not cast Russia in a positive light.”

The chancellor’s comments followed a bilateral meeting with her Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who said that Denmark’s stance on the issue was comparable with its neighbor to the south.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said earlier on Thursday that neither France nor the US had yet asked Germany for any assistance in Syria.

“But if we want to maintain the pressure on Russia, then Western partners cannot start going their separate ways,” Maas said.

Transatlantic communication ‘a development that concerns us’

Twice, Merkel was also asked about the language of US President Donald Trump’s tweets, and whether these made diplomacy more difficult. She sidestepped the question in both instances.

But Germany’s new government coordinator for Transatlantic relations, Peter Beyer, told DW that Trump’s unusual style of presidential communication posed “new challenges” for Germany.

“First of all, the United States remain the most important partner of Germany and Europe as a whole on a global scale,” Beyer said. “On the other hand, we see in the past a development that concerns us, that brings a change to how we communicate across the Atlantic as compared to former times. So we’re facing new challenges.”

Beyer described military intervention in Syria as the “ultima ratio,” but said that the “barbaric, inhumane” gas attacks in Douma “need an answer.”

White House steps back, saying all options on table and nothing decided

Trump on Thursday rowed back somewhat from Wednesday’s explosive tweet telling Russia to “get ready” for “nice and new and ‘smart'” missiles.

“Never said when an attack on Syria would take place,” Trump said. “Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: german, stance, Syria

Armenian President Sargsyan, Merkel talk German stance on Genocide, Armenia-EU prospects

May 22, 2015 By administrator

192541President Serzh Sargsyan met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, presidential press service reports.

At the May 21 meeting, the parties focused on Armenian-German relations, expressing satisfaction over enriched cooperation agenda of the two countries through around six dozen cooperation agreements.

President Sargsyan further expressed his gratitude to the German government for its continued support of Armenia.

The Armenian president and the German chancellor touched upon Armenia-EU relations and their development prospects. The President stressed Germany’s role in deepening those relations as a key player in the EU.

The parties also reflected upon the Armenian Genocide centennial and the respective commemorative events which took place in Armenia and numerous countries around the world, including Germany. President Sargsyan thanked German authorities for their position on the condemnation of the Genocide.

At the meeting, the parties exchanged views on issues and challenges present in the South Caucasus region, including the Nagorno Karabakh peace process within the frame of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: Armenian, Genocide, Germany, Merkel, stance

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