Genocide recognition billboards showcased in Boston streets

PanARMENIAN.Net - During the month of April, the 2014 Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards will be displayed at the corner of Arsenal and School Streets in Watertown; on Cambridge Street, at the Lechmere Station in Cambridge; and on Route 1 South, 1/4 mile from the Gillette Stadium, in Foxboro, Asbarez reported.

Sponsored by Peace of Art, Inc, the 2014 Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards honor the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. In this year’s message “Recognize the Crime of the Century, the Armenian Genocide,” the word ‘genocide’ has imbedded the number 100, and handcuffs. The number 100 refers to the approaching 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The handcuffs refer to a century of victimization and denial by the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide and their supporters. The Armenian Genocide was the crime of the century because it was the first genocide of the 20th century. Had the genocide been condemned by the world community, the governments that followed most likely would not have used genocide as the means to eliminate unwanted groups of their populations segregated by race, religion or ethnicity.

Millions of people around the world have been killed, victims of genocide, for political motives, and ethnic cleansing. Since the Armenian genocide took place in the beginning of the 20th century, genocide has become an effective tool of war, to eliminate unwanted sectors of the population segregated by race, or religion, or ethnicity. As the Armenian people struggle for recognition of the crime of the century, the world remains ‘blind’ to crimes against humanity perpetrated around the globe. The world community must recognize the Armenian genocide and condemn such crimes against humanity.

Since 2003, through the annual commemorative billboards, Peace of Art, Inc.has been calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and it has urged the community at large, the President of the United States, and the United Nations to recognize the Armenian Genocide. It is time to urge Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and to make amends.

“To deny the Armenian Genocide is to further victimize those who perished and their descendants, it is an act of blaming the victims. After a century of denial, it is time to place the ‘handcuffs’ on the criminals. For those who think that after the last survivor dies there will be no more witnesses, and with the passing of time the Armenian genocide will be forgotten, know that all Armenians are survivors of the genocide, and as long as the Armenian genocide remains unrecognized by Turkey, millions of Armenians around the world will demand recognition and justice,” said the president of Peace of Art, Inc. Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.