BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
When Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said “attempts to turn conflicts and massacres in Africa, Asia and Balkans into another Holocaust are unacceptable,” and “Since its establishment, Israel has opposed the application of the term Holocaust to another war or tragedy,” it revealed an ugly and ignorant reality by which certain Israeli leaders have been guided.
Having risen from the ashes of the Holocaust, Israel should have been the first country to properly acknowledge the events of 1915 as Genocide. However, as Lieberman himself decries that “today historical incidents have turned into political disputes; that’s why I don’t consider it right for Israel to address this [the Genocide] issue,” the Israeli government has made it a policy to ignore the Armenian Genocide in the face of its regional POLITICAL interests—namely its unholy alliance with Turkey.
Lieberman’s assertion that Israel has a monopoly on man’s inhumanity to man disrespects and diminishes the suffering and eventual fate of the millions genocide victims be they Armenian, Rwandan or Sudanese. It also goes against all international conventions on prevention of such acts, to which Israel is a signatory. More important, Lieberman’s statements can be characterized as denial, which implies complicity in and the perpetuation of the cycle of Genocide.
In December, an unprecedented discussion took place in the Israeli Knesset, where leaders from both parties affirmed the need for Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This coincided—or prompted—leading Israeli publications and human rights advocates, to as the director of Jerusalem Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Israel Charny appropriately said “put an end to this charade and fully recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
At the same Knesset event Israel’s foreign ministry representatives maintained the Tel-Aviv’s steadfast denial of the Genocide by saying “at this time, recognition of this type can have very grave strategic implications… Our relations with Turkey today are so fragile and so delicate that there is no place to take them over the red line.” Is this not politicizing historic events?
This dangerous semantics game only bolsters the likes of Turkey to continue its policies and further its pre-meditated and planned campaign of denial that also allows it to wreak havoc on its minorities today and pursue a policy of stifling those that stand opposed to its doctrines.
Israel must rise above Lieberman’s skewed beliefs that Israel has cornered the market on being a victim of a systematic effort to annihilate an entire race. Such a monopoly does not exist in the world and the likes of Avigdor Lieberman only incite hatred by making such statements.
Lieberman should remember that such sense of entitlement breeds supremacist sentiments, which were the cornerstone of Hitler’s plan that eventually became known as the Holocaust.
this idiot is just going to be an enabler to more turkish hypocrisy and transgressions against israel. the more he wants to appease, the more the turkish govt will take advantage. all europeans who suffered under nazi germany have a problem with this israeli “exclusivity of the holocaust theory”. how many poles and greeks did the germans kill?
Armenians should never trust the right wing Israeli leaders. Whatever they do is based on self-interest and the last thing they would do is to care about others. When the relations between Turkey and Israel was good, Turkey was sharing with Israel intelligence on Arab countries in return for the anti-Armenian Zionist lobby. Now that the relations between Turkey and Israel has soured because of the flottila incident, Israrel is trying to use the Armenian tragedy to score political points against Turkey. In both cases, Israel is acting out of self-interest and it does not matter to them who suffers in the process as long as they get what they want.
Common sense and decency would dictate that Israel should have been one of the first countries to condemn Turkey and recognize the Armenian Genocide because what befell on the Armenians during WWI was a rehearsal for what was to come to the Jews in WWII. But the reality is that in the eyes of the insincere and cunning Israelis an absolute monopoly, as sick as it sounds, on the Genocide is required in order to grab and maintain the spotlight on victims of Genocide to facilitate the perpetual flow of hard-earned US tax dollars into Israel. In simple and sick terms, Israelis will sabotage anything in order to avoid competition and to grab a hold of top ranking among the victims of attrocities, since only through such ranking can they justify their existence and many of their deplorable actions.
Ara, excellent as usual.
A self serving jew,disgraces the position he’s in.
This is what you end up with when a select ethnic group, through decades of indirect manipulation and lobbying action, prevents the moral compass on human tragedy to shine on anything else beyond their own needs. The term to aptly describe little Avi’s sentiments is the Jews have gotten “too big for their britches”.
This type of open and blatant disrespect toward the suffering of Armenians as well as other ethnic groups via selective morality will very soon blow up in the face of Israel and the Jews worldwide. They need to start becoming more humble and less meddling, until that happens, their fate is an uncertain one on the world stage despite their beliefs that 200 secret nuclear weapons will keep them safe.
Most Armenian Genocide Denialists are under influence of something, where the mouth forcing the brain to act differently. In the case of Minister Avigdor Lieberman, he is under influence of his honorable boss Mr. Shimon Peres, who still believe that “Shoha” must outshine suffering of others, even AG, where most Jewish scholars know, that Holocaust was the carbon copy of Armenian Genocide. Evil man Hitler confirmed with the help of his Jihadist Muslim Ottoman officer, Amin Al Husseini, who used to be one of the organizers of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
Mufti Amin Al Husseini: Father of Jihad!!
Hypocrites!
Where is our UN’s Mrs. Rice to say: “We are disgusted”.
Truly, I am disgusted to witness over-and-over how a high-ranked Israeli official opens a bazar, when speaking about the Armenian genocide. About genocides of other people. According to him, a genocide-scale disaster can happen only to his people. For other people these are just “incidents”.
Here is the definition and an example of “incident” from Wikipedia:
1. an accompanying minor occurrence or condition : concomitant
2. an action likely to lead to grave consequences especially in diplomatic matters
3. Examples of INCIDENT
“We just want to put that embarrassing incident behind us”.
Israel uses this cynical comment on “Armenian genocide” as a) an exchange coin against “apologizing” to Turkey for killing its citizens recently; b) leading Turkey through the door of opportunity to grab Syria’s wealth, as the New World Order is scavenging its next victim.
Israel’s FM was, is and will be a Jerk. With a capital J.
Unfortunately, official Armenia doesn’t react to such anti Armenian statements, If Armenia would chose to response more often to such rude statements -special made by Israeli officials and some in EU- be sure next time they would think twice before making such statements
The right answer to Lieberman (bitch) would be to call him: Stop justifying The Armenian Genocide and making it an article of trade!
Be aware, ignorant and ignominous members of past and current Israeli governments. Way before the word Holocaust was used to describe the Jewish tragedy, it was used to describe the fate that befell on the 70% of the Armenian citizens of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew, coined the term GENOCIDE based on what befell the Armenians during the early 20th century and later on to his own co-religionists during WWII. Whom are you trying to fool, you despicable members of the human race?!
Lack of compassion, lack of education, and lack of all-around humanity.
The man is a moron. What more needs to be said? This kind of attitude is “medieval” (to borrow some recent Turkish criticism of France’s genocide law) — he should go back to the middle ages with Ahmet Davotoglu and all the other dumbass foreign ministers.
Thank you Mr Khachatourian
Look at what the Israeils do when the iranians say the jews were never kille and that there was no holocaust- weill -the ISraelis care about their survival and who can blame them-no one else except us came to their rescue but they want more an more and more and keep pushing us away-we do not need nor want their history pushed into the faces here in the USA-we know-we care-lets move on
History for them is partially what they created-not us- they r killing to stat alive over there- lets forget them and care about us-we do NOT need their endorsement- they r selling weapons and other stuff to kill our people-way laong ago and now-for their own gain-lets move on and take our own claim and not even validate what they say or think cus it is no different than it was 800 years ago-they work to their own advantage-not for us and if we get the recognition they do not want to see- then they are prouder cuz they theink they won and only they suffered- right- 20 MIL russians and others including Armenians were wiped out- more and more by the Germans- forget them- they are only a part of it-sadly so-but we need our own claim and not their blessing or endorsement-
The Israeli foreign minister Lieberman is the most extreme racist individual in the govenment. Many
times he has advocated complete expulsion of all palestnians from the occupied west bank. I consider
this as Genocidal. Lieberman has taken a page from the Turkish actions against Armenians left in the Syrian
desert to parish. He does not know what he is talking about.
If the Armenian Genocide didn’t occur (and especially if Turkey had been punished after committing the crime), Hitler would have been less emboldened on his mad campaign of war and genocide (total war).
Dear Avigdor Lieberman (I’m sure they call you Avi for short), show some human decency and realize that all human lives are equally valuable. Does the life of an Armenian cost any less than the life of a Jew?
Look at the Balkans….a tiny number of Albanians (compared to the Armenian Genocide) were killed in Kosovo, and ‘Adolf Clinton’, as the Serbs called him, raised a big hullaballoo and ‘wagged the dog’ and went to war in the name of stopping genocide. Simply exposes that Clinton had his motives and interests in cutting up Serbia. Be that as it may, in Lieberman’s world Albanians count as much as Jews. Like I said in a previous comment, that’s what you call a supremacist.
TYPO I left out the “don’t”
Be that as it may, in Lieberman’s world Albanians DON’T count as much as Jews. Like I said in a previous comment, that’s what you call a supremacist.
Israel should not be shortsighted, in the event that Turkey himself recognizes the Armenian Genocide, there will be NO need of Israel to recognise it, however Armenian’s forever will remember the Israel’s hostility towards Armenian’s, and will be reminded in every ocasion
Well said- WE DO NOT NEED THEM NOW and they will regret it-they will find themselves without-we care-but they do not-they lie
Israeli parliament…
And not their ethnic…race…
Want to grey the genes of their
Genius-Honest writers and their fellers
with every human cause…
There are many of them and
they existed and will exist
As they have endless humanity cells
In their astrocytes and cardiocytes…
Can those be vanished as well…!?
Can they abolish word ‘Geno-Cide’
from the world dictionaries…!
Or holocaust from their eyes…hearts…dendrites…
I wish we never had those scavengers in our terrains
Thus,the coined word ‘Genocide’ wouldn’t been defined for our names…
Us… the unlucky nation…the Artful Armenians…!
Sylva-MD-Poetry
Written instantly
February 9, 2012
the israelis want to extend the denial as long as possible because their haulocost is excepted around the world they like to keep it so so that they can continue taking cash from germany as long as they can and they stay the only beneficiary.i am very sorry to see israel going this way
ANC of “High Tadd” in Diaspora should organise Armenians around the world a demonstration against Israeli Embassies and complaine, for this irrationale Idiot speacks as spokesperson of Israeli Government.
Maybe also American Embassies around the world, for Mrs. Clintons’ speech last week.
What we are up against – a mindset that goes back to biblical days. Yes, to biblical days.
1915 – the background of the ring-leaders organising the genocide was dönme.
2012 – today they are providing the technical backup to the adversary.
We don’t have to get hot under the collar – we have to accept them for what they are.
is anyone surprised?!
Dear honorable LIEberman: Excuse my prefatory salutation, it may sound a bit ironic, given the preceding words of “honor” and “lie” trying to walk a straight line down “Holocaust monopoly” dirt road. Such insensitive, immoral, solipsistic poison spewing out of your mouth about the Armenian genocide is insulting, not only to Armenians, but also to Jews. The children of the Armenian genocide have never attempted to dilute nor discount the horrors of the Shoah. In fact, you are doing a fine job desecrating it yourself, sir. Has it ever occurred to you, Mr. LIEberman, that you are beginning to look a lot like Mr. Ahmadinijad from across the fence? I should have known, just as Professor, Norman Finkelstein, so eloquently writes in his book, titled, ” The Holocaust Industry”, about this sort of dirty games that you, people of power, play.
Please how on earth it is possible to compare Avi with Ahmedijanad ? Ahjamenidad has acknowledged the Armenian genocide, unlike Avi and his ilk. Enough abuse has been heaped up on Ahmenijadad; do not worsene it by comparing him to someone like Avi.
Azniv, you are missing the point. Let me clarify: LIEberman is a Genocide denier extraordinaire and a hyper-hypocrite, PERIOD, no one is worse than him, yes, including Ahmadinijad who happens to deny the Holocaust (I, for one, am beginning to shed less and less tears every day over the Shoah as a consequence of the monopoly of the Holocaust industry). When a revisioist Jewish state and numerous duplicitous Jewish lobbies including the ADL incessantly paint and fervently scapegoat Ahmadinijad as a denier, then it is incumbent upon me to remind my readers that the LIEbermans, and the FOXman’s, and their ilk about the taste of their own medicine of HYPOCRISY. So, if these Jews constantly barrage Ahmadinijad for denying their sorrowful Holocaust, so DO THEY before there ever existed an Ahmadinijad. In conclusion: When these Jews take a look in the mirror they shall ALWAYS and FOREVER see their own denialist face smiling right back at them in a reflection of an Ahmadinjad (a face of their own making). However, under the Ahmadinijad’s mask lives a lowlife in an unmistakeable likeness of a LIEberman and NOT, repeat, NOT an Ahmadinijad.
Israel could care less of us and our plight-history shows and now- not all of course-but such leaders-who are pathetic and yes- of course they make the movies and build the museums and push their history on us and MOST PEOPLE DO NOT want it-we know. many others suffered the same-there is no worse or better maybe= the monsters that did what they did to us and all others-war or no war- is what we discuss- the Iranians recognise us and we have plenty of Armenians and money there and we r their neighbor-but still-they too will raze us like a burning barn-they have done that in history-so we MUST TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES= enuf of the jewish plight- we know- and we do not need their support- like someone said-they use anything to their advantage. and remember-they still sel ladn supply our enemies-make no mistake about it-100% for their gain-always have and they will continue- we know
First time I hear Lieberman make sense. I might become a fan if he keeps this up 😀
Lieberman is a right wing Israeli extremist nut who used to be a bouncer at a bar. Right wing extremists in Israel are human rights violators who have been responsible for the horrible human rights crimes against the Palestinians. Right wingers are obstacles to peace. Peace between Israel and the Palestianians can improve the entire situation in the Middle East but these right wingers , many of whom are part of the Israeli military-industrial complex benefit from the state of war. If there is peace, Israeli defense contractors go out of business.
What does our “friend” Samantha Power have to say about all this?
Nothin’.
She’s gon’ fishin’.