Israel commemorates 99th anniversary of Armenian Genocide (video)

Israel commemorates 99th anniversary of Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel hosted a mass rally on April 24 to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Over 500 people gathered outside the Turkish and U.S. embassies in Tel-Aviv, with demonstrators including public figures, representatives of Armenian community and youth movements, the spokesman of Union of Armenians of Israel Ararat Mendel Korsunsky told PanARMENIAN.Net The city of Petah Tikva hosted the first ever protest rally, with representatives of the clergy and Armenian community participating. At the event, ex-mayoral candidate Rami Greenberg expressed condolences to the people of Armenia and urged his compatriots, survivors of Holocaust to share Armenia’s pain.

The chair of Meretz party, the Armenian Genocide recognition champion Zahava Gal-On urged Israeli parliament to voice a clear stance on the issue after lengthy silence of the government. She called recognition of the Genocide a moral obligation and slammed Israeli leadership for sacrificing the memory of the victims to their cynical interests. “Though realizing importance of diplomatic ties with Turkey, I cannot accept Israel’s excuses for non-recognition of the tragedy. We need to let Ankara know that the Genocide recognition is neither a challenge nor a provocation. It is the moral obligation of Israeli people,” Ms Gal-On stressed.

Photo: Sofia Mkrtchyan
The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.

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