Jewish body adds voice against Genocide denier McCarthy
SYDNEY, MELBOURNE—Professor Justin McCarthy, a well funded denier of the Armenian Genocide, has had two planned events in Sydney and Melbourne canceled on the grounds of his unwelcome denialist views.
McCarthy was due to address audiences at the University of Melbourne and at the New South Wales Art Gallery this week, however, each institution revoked McCarthy’s opportunity after learning of his abhorrent denialist views on the Armenian Genocide.
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia), Vache Kahramanian welcomed the independent decision taken by both institutions.
“Justin McCarthy’s views have no place in Australia and no institution or venue should ever allow a genocide denier to utilise their stage,” said Kahramanian.
“Genocide denial is the final act of genocide against victims and surviving generations. As a proud multicultural nation we should never allow the denigration of the memory of victims of genocide,” Kahramanian added.
McCarthy is due to address a private gathering in Parliament House, Canberra, on November 21st.
ANC Australia has written to all Members of Parliament, informing them of McCarthy’s denalist views and to ensure they do not allow Parliament House to be used as a platform for McCarthy’s denialist views.
Jewish body adds voice against Genocide denier McCarthy
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has released a powerful statement expressing their deep concerns of Professor Justin McCarthy’s upcoming address in Parliament House, Canberra.
In a media release dated 20 November 2013, the ECAJ accepts the “overwhelming view of history scholars that the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in these communities was done with genocidal intent.”
The release goes on to address the issue of McCarthy’s upcoming event at Parliament House on 21 November, which the ECAJ says, will mean the institution is “lending his theories the misleading appearance of official approval. In our view, no part of Parliament House should be misused in this way.”
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia), Vache Kahramanian stated: “We thank the Executive Council of Australian Jewry for their principled position on this important matter. Venues such as Parliament House should never allow genocide deniers to have a stage.”
McCarthy was due to speak at events at the University of Melbourne and the New South Wales Art Gallery but were both canceled by the respective institutions upon learning of McCarthy’s denialist views on the Armenian Genocide.
ANC Australia has written to Laurie Ferguson MP, who booked the venue in Parliament House for the event, to immediately withdraw his name and revoke access to the venue to ensure McCarthy isn’t allowed to spread his denialist views.
The full text of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry media release can be read below:
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry notes the current visit to Australia of the American Professor of history, Justin McCarthy. Professor McCarthy campaigns around the world against the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Professor McCarthy does not deny that from 1915 to 1923 more than 1 million Armenians, Pontian Greeks and Assyrians, almost all of them civilians, lost their lives at the hands of the Ottoman Caliphate. However, notwithstanding that this slaughter was on a massive scale over a period of years, Professor McCarthy maintains that this loss of life was not systematic and was not carried out with the intention of eradicating these Christian communities, but was an act of war.
The inherent implausibility of this contention raises many questions about the quality of Professor McCarthy’s analysis. The ECAJ accepts the overwhelming view of history scholars that the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in these communities was done with genocidal intent.
Whilst freedom of expression and academic freedom require that Professor McCarthy must be at liberty to put forward his theories, the manner in which he does so must not lapse into racial vilification. Professor McCarthy is a guest of Australia and must respect Australia’s laws during his visit.
One of the venues to which Professor McCarthy has been invited to put forward his views, is a room in Parliament House Canberra, thereby lending his theories the misleading appearance of official approval. In our view, no part of Parliament House should be misused in this way.
Peter Wertheim AM | Executive Director
This issue raises the question of freedom of speech. People are perfectly free to abhor Justin McCarthy’s views concerning the alleged Armenian Genocide but they have no right to stop him expressing those views. Instead of preventing him from speaking, people who disagree with him should attend his speeches and then put their questions to him. I am appalled that the Armenian lobby is trying to stifle free speech concerning the alleged genocide. Is this because they are concerned that their allegations of genocide will not stand up to critical debate?
Armenian Genocide is a fact, and there is no reason to debate something that’s already is fact. Also, just out of curosity, how did you know about Asbarez(since Asbarez is not Wasington Post, New York Times).
We have figured out long ago that there is no need to “debate” established facts with paid pseudo-scholars and plain old clowns such as yourself, who hide behind the “free speech” clause to spew their poison. Only a moron believes that the Armenian Genocide is debatable. Join the club.
And this is not about “free speech”. This is about whether any institution who wants to remain credible is willing to host scholastic prostitutes who are paid by an extremist terrorist government to be Genocide Deniers. Pseudo-scholars clowns have their free speech and practice it daily… but none of you should be allowed any prime time with your pseudo-history and drivel. You are all just parasites of any society you are in.
Mr. Toynton, free speech does not mean that you can say anything anywhere and all should be obliged to listen, you should know better. He can get on top of Mt. Everest and say anything he wants but he can not do the same in an official public or governmental establishment where he spreads disinformation on purpose (for profit). Just as no reputable scientific organization would allow members of Flat Earth Society to lecture them. So called historians like this guy are dime a dozen who would sell themselves to the highest bidder.
Well said
No one wants to deny anyone the freedom of free speech, however, would it not be obvious that one would not want to welcome to the platform a holocaust denier, and in this case, mccarthy is a genocide denier? We have many holocaust deniers, even so-called scholars, in the US and they are free to speak. people of conscious just choose not to given them the stage. We all must be afraid from and vigilantly against this kind of “hired gun” who chooses to purport revisionist history. i understand many years ago, he was also denied a platform at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. here is a link to the wiki on the international association of genocide scholars since apparently you might not have not done enough research on this topic since you choose to call it an “alleged” genocide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Association_of_Genocide_Scholars
There is NO such thing ”Freedom of Speech” freedom of speech also has it’s boundries, why don’t you try to criticise the holocaust of the Jews? when Ahmadineyad tried once 3rd. world war was going to happen
This is no longer a question of a free speech, Justin McCarthy is a paid agent of the government of Turkey and has a mission to spread the denial of the Armenian genocide all over the world. so
please cool off Alec Toynton !
Good work . It is good that the Jewish lobby has joined force . But, I think efforts should be exerted to win over lobbyists such as Greeks ,Christians and Assyrians which I heard have become a strong voice in Australia of late .
Professor Justin McCarthy can travel to Turkey with his grandchildren, cousins, nieces, immediate family members, and have a relax Turkish bath with Davood, Rajab and Abdullah in Bosphrorus Marmara Esma Sultan hotel, for relaxation!!
Shame on you Justin McCarthy,
Let’s put aside the Armenian Genocide,
But didn’t Turks spluttered your brothers in Gallipoli?
You are willing to forget those horrible manslaughters “Just for Handful of Dollars”?
Just for that, I eagerly would like to spit on that shameless face of yours.
This dumb S should understand that this problem will not go away, it can, only by recognizing like a civilized nation confronting it’s past with courage and justice, the rest is BS. He shoud remember that 10000000 diaspora Armenian dispersed all over the world did not come out of the air.
I ve red the book about Van Uprising of this pseudo Historian which is just a mercenary on the turkidh payroll, It is full of falshood of half truth of invention of statistics . I wonder why no one has replied to the falsity of those incidents mentioned in his book, the event of Van are higly documented by not only Armenians, but also and espescially by neutral powers eyewitnesses like the italian conule Sbordone, the American Mission members, and the Persian consul. Naturakly all these documents were ignored by this mr Justin employee on the payroll of Turkish denial budjet.
The so called Professor Justin McCarthy, believes that destruction of the life of millions of Armenians,Greek
Pontians & Assyrians are not concidered to be a systematic or programed Genocide & crime against humanity.outright insulting these nations & raising question if he has any kind of educations & understanding
possibly he is graduated in a turkish school of Engeenering & Invention History. He snobs & parroting turkish
prostitude politics to recieve few turkish silver which have been stained with the blood of millions of inocent
people.
75/80 years ago Adolf Hitler acknowleded, he got learned & inspired his lessons of crime from turkish Barbarians Genocide against Armenians. Today this so called Professor intends with his none sence absurdities white wash turkish Genocide crime, with turkish Mental Instability.
Genocide is the greatest crime of humanity and International Court of Justice or domestic courts are the only authorities reserved to prosecute and proclaim genocide according to the 1948 UN Convention. Therefore, accusing a whole nation and its generations as criminals of genocide requires strong historical and legal proofs and supports.
Fact: There has never convened a “competent tribunal”, as foreseen by the article 6 of the 1948 U.N. Convention on Genocide where the accused were given a chance of fair representation, cross-examining the evidence, and producing own evidence in defense. Therefore, a genocide verdict does not exist. So how can one deny something that does not legally exist?
Fact: Genocide charges are political and cannot be substantiated with historical evidence. What Armenians claim as evidence and eyewitness accounts do not amount to more than hearsay and forgeries in the eyes of the law. If it is suffering they wish to discuss, then they have to talk about the suffering of all the people of the area in 1915, including the suffering Armenians had inflicted on Muslims, mostly Turks, and not just what Armenians had experienced.
Turks do not deny the Armenian suffering; Turks point to the facts that Armenians took up arms against their own government, conducted violent raids, rebellions, terrorism, and treason, coupled with territorial demands, caused many Turkish dead and casualties.
Most non-partisan historians characterize this tragic episode correctly as “inter-communal warfare conducted by Christian and Muslim irregular forces” against a backdrop of a brutally raging world war. Turks were only defending their home like any citizen anywhere would do.
We can always discuss who did what to whom, when, how, how many casualties, and where, provided that it is a thoughtful and civilized debate based on verifiable facts conducted in a fair and honest manner to arrive at the truth, without anyone attempting to dismiss the other side of the story by prejudicially labeling it genocide, a verdict strictly reserved for the competent tribunal.
Those are the reasons why the Armenian claimants have never resorted to legal ways to establish the veracity of their claims and that is also why Armenia still does not come forward to accept Turkey’s 2005 offer of creating a joint commission of historians, scholars and researchers to sort out the contentious and complex matter. That Turkish offer still stands. T.Ataov
Well, when you see and know that fellow members of your race are being deported and slaughtered you would kind of fucking expect some kind of so called rebellion and fighting. Now lets say only a few thousands Armenians fought back and rebelled. Are you telling me that 100% of the deportees of whom were women, young children, and men of old age (1 million+) scattered in long marches across Turkey were fighting back? Starving people with no access to food, water, or shelter marching in the desert sun, fatigued, were fighting back? Were rebelling? The need to deport 1 million plus unarmed and harmless people (women, children, elderly) was the genius idea to stop the so called rebellions? The purposely orchestrated and systematic deportations of these masses, without taking consideration of supplying them with food, water, shelter, marching hundreds and thousands of miles in desert terrains, accross a gigantic country from “Turkey” to Syria (not your fucking ordinary Sunday 3 mile marathon, but across COUNTRIES) is in itself the very ACT of genocide! How can anyone believe these people would survive these marches? Forcing the Armenians through these deportations knowing that they will eventually die of starvation is in itself an act of killing/murder, done systematically against a specific ethnicity constitutes genocide. There is more than enough evidence.