Knesset Speaker: as Jews we must recognize suffering of Armenian peopleMay 14, 2014 - 19:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein urged to recognize suffering of the Armenian people at a plenum discussion of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, according to The Jerusalem Post. “As Jews, we must recognize the suffering of the Armenian people. This discussion does not blame any modern country, rather it shows that we identify with the victims of the massacre and its terrible outcome,” he said on Tuesday, May 13. “We are not placing blame; we are acting like Jews and being faithful to the truth and the suffering of another people,” Edelstein continued. “We cannot deny history and hold back human values out of diplomatic or political caution.” He spoke in response to a motion to the agenda by Meretz chairwoman Zehava Gal-On, calling for the government to recognize the Armenian Genocide before its 100th anniversary next year. “The government should not sacrifice the recognition in the name of temporary interests,” she said. “Every time there’s a different diplomatic situation. When we’re for relations with Turkey, we don’t recognize the Genocide and then there’s the Marmara [Turkish Gaza protest ship in 2010] and we change our mind.” The Meretz leader pointed out that many MKs are children of Holocaust survivors. “As a nation that experienced the Holocaust, we cannot continue to ignore the Armenian Genocide because of irrelevant considerations,” she said. According to MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud Beytenu), the Jewish People were “next in line” after the Armenians to be killed. “Whoever thought of the Final Solution got the impression that, when the day comes, the world will be silent, as it was about the Armenians. It is hard for me to forgive other nations for ignoring our tragedy and we cannot ignore another nation’s tragedy. That is our moral obligation as people and Jews,” Rivlin said. A recent expression of regret from a Turkish official is connected to the fact that many countries, including Israel, refuse to ignore the genocide, Rivlin added. Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Likud Beytenu) responded to the motion in Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s place, saying that as Jews and Israelis, there is a moral obligation to recognize human tragedies, including the Armenian Genocide. When the discussion ended, the motion was moved to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as opposed to the Knesset Education Committee as Gal- On proposed. She accused Liberman of sending MK Shimon Ohayon (Likud Beytenu) to make sure the motion was moved to the classified committee in order to “bury” it. 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. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. Partner news | Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. Armenia to sing in 2nd semi-final of Eurovision The organizers of Eurovision 2024 have revealed the running order of the countries in the two semi-finals. |