UNITED NATIONS—In remarks in front of the General Assembly on Wednesday, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin seems to have recognized the Armenian Genocide.
As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, Rivlin recognized the Armenian Genocide during the General Assembly’s Holocaust memorial while he was defending Israel against what he called “cynical” accusations of genocide and war crimes in his country’s dealing with Palestinians.
Rivlin called on the UN to set boundaries beyond which it would intervene to stop acts of genocide. He then said:”At the same time we must remember that the setting of red lines requires us to stop diluting and cynically exploiting them in the name of pseudo objectivity, as is done in the rhetoric of human rights with the use of terms such as ‘genocide’ for political purposes,” reported Haaretz.
“Nonetheless, absurd comparisons… which we as Israelis are exposed to constantly… not only confuse the ally with the enemy, but they undermine this house’s ability to effectively fight the phenomenon of genocide,” said Rivlin according to Haaretz.
Yaron Weiss, an Israeli human rights activist and an advocate of Genocide recognition, shared with Asbarez a translation, by Yoav Loeff, of Rivlin’s remarks, which were made in Hebrew at the UN General Assembly.
Rivlin said: “In 1915, the days of the Armenian Genocide, Avshalom Feinberg of the NILI underground [A Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine] wrote the following: ‘My teeth have been worn away by anger, who is next? I have walked on sacred and holy ground, on the road to Jerusalem, and asked myself if it is this time that we live in—1915–or in the days of Titus or Nebuchadnezzar? And I asked myself whether I may cry for the hurt of the daughter of My people alone and if Jeremiah did not shed his tears of blood also for the Armenians?’”
Rivlin added: “Feinberg wrote that exactly 100 years ago. 100 years of hesitation and denial. In the Land of Israel of the time, in which I was born, no one denied the murder that occurred. The residents of Jerusalem, my parents, saw them coming by thousands, starving, burning sticks snatched from the fire. In Jerusalem they found refuge and their descendants live there to this day.”
However, he concluded his remarks with the following statement: “On this day we must ask ourselves honestly, is our struggle, the struggle of this Assembly, against genocide, effective enough? Was it effective enough then in Bosnia? Was it effective in preventing the killing in Khojaly?”
In December, Asbarez, citing Israeli sources, reported that Rivlin, once an outspoken advocate of Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, decided not to renew his signature on an annual petition calling for Israel to officially recognize the mass killings as Genocide.
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President Rivlin is fully aware of Raphael Lemkin speech during an interview with CBS for the creation of Genocide word!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzAexRmeZFs
Did he say ‘Khojaly’? I have to doubt this man’s integrity.
This man’s integrity is a piece of shit
Empty words to soothe Armenian emotions.
Israel is playing politics as usual, capitalizing on the Armenian Genocide he is sending a message to Turkey’s Erdogan saying, watch your steps or else…..?
Khojaly?? Is this Bozo for real? What an incredible insult to the Armenian nation and Armenian descendants of the Armenian Genocide. These Satanic snakes have no morality, their worship of money overrides all. I wish that an official from Armenia would come forth and tell these bastards off on an official level, and tell them to keep their recognition and stick it up their behinds.
I agree. Ironically many believe that Talaat himself was a crypto Jew. As was was Enver. Henry Morganthau, a Jew himself, wrote that although these Pashas claimed to be devout Muslims, he never once saw them attend a Mosque. The main purpose of the Armenian Genocide was opportunity for Theft. The main actors that benefited off the mass murder and THEFT of the Armenian wealth don’t want to give it back. That’s why the complete denial and even historical revisionism till this day..
The same old song… We want it to be said explicitly not implicitly!
We never seem to see the end of this recognition and non recognition on the part of Israel. Israel has not recognized the holocaust, the Armenian holocaust, and it is very doubtful if they”ll ever do. What is for them to gain from recognition ? Every time they have a boardroom or parliamentary scuffle with Turkey, they bring out the case of recognition/non recognition to abland and soft warn the Turks about retaliatory measures should their demeanor on Israel remain uncooperative.
The president of Israel also mentions “Khojaly”, why?
To put immediately a question mark on what was said before (outbalance it).
This is very common trick. If you read carefully, you will notice that all the instances of recognition are in the sentences that are asking, waiting for response. Kind of rhetoric, implicit.
He uses Armenian case again for shadowing the accusations. Yes, Lemkin has used Armenian Genocide. Besides other important things (like strong support from Stalin), Lemkin’s definition of attrocities is the beginning of the state of Israel started. Strange, but Israelis don’t appreciate this crystal-clear fact.
Levlin doesn’t speak about Armenian Genocide as a statesman, he speaks like a housewife who makes her morning bazar.
NO… HE DID NOT. Here’s the part of his speech where he mentions the Armenians. There is no mention of the “Genocide”, just “massacre”.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. In 1915, when the members of the Armenian nation were being massacred, Avshalom Feinberg, a leading member of Nili, the Jewish underground which cooperated with the Allies during the First World War, wrote the following and I quote, “My teeth have been ground down with worry, whose turn is next? When I walked on the blessed and holy ground on my way up to Jerusalem, I asked myself if we are living in our modern era, in 1915, or in the days of Titus or Nebuchadnezzar? Did I, a Jew, forget that I am a Jew? I also asked myself if I have the right to weep ‘over the tragedy of my people’ only, and whether the Prophet Jeremiah did not shed tears of blood for the Armenians as well? “ Avshalom Feinberg wrote that exactly one hundred years ago, one hundred years of hesitation and denial. But in the Land of Israel of that time, in the Jerusalem in which I was born, no one denied the massacre that had taken place. The residents of Jerusalem, my parents and the members of my family, saw the Armenian refugees arriving by the thousands – starving, piteous survivors of calamity. In Jerusalem they found shelter and their descendents continue to live there to this day.”
For me, this is only sad. It is sad that there are Jews in this world, Israeli political leaders with such strong power, who know the truth but are still controlled by Turkey and Azerbaijan. Are they afraid of retaliation? Haven’t they already been attacked by Azeris and Turks? What are they afraid of? Turkey spends countless dollars in aid to Palestinians and Israeli politicians still defer to Turks on foreign policy issues? Shame on them. I love Jews, I think most if not all people of Jewish decent and even I’m sure Israel’s agree that what happened to us was a precursor to what happened to them, but why are these politicians are gagged from speaking the truth yet again? Maybe I’m naive or an idealist but if I were to bet, I would bet that the majority of Israelis and Jews in the US would support Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
This guy wants to kill 2 birds with one stone… How can Israel be in a position of neutrality when it creates killings to all humanity! Khojaly……? why are you being so cynical mr pr. ? How would your people feel if we start doubting your holocaust and lands?? Israeli government is not better in any way, and people should not be ignorant there. If they are ignorant, it means thats in their interests!
This president is bought and paid for and has ZERO Integrity! If we had anything of value to sell to the “West” this mockery would never happen. Khojaly… really??? Even a nation like Israel which has suffered a holocaust is swayed by money and greed. The President of Armenia should strongly object to this Insult. I would go 1 step further and demand that Israel refrain from ever mentioning our peoples suffering as they insult the memory of our martyrs.
No he did not. News reports that the Armenian part is missing from his speech posted on his website.
Reuven Rivlin’s speech does the opposite of what he says he would like to do: It trivializes Genocide by not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. And, it makes “cynical attempts” and “exploits the term” to appease a petty dictatorship that wants to commit its genocide against Armenians.
To clarify further and more importantly:
In Khojali Azerbaijani government claims that 613 were killed of whom 161 were civilians. In Gaza in 2014 operation “protective edge” 2100 – 2300 people were killed. Several operations against Gaza and Lebanon, and attacks on Syria have taken place. However, somehow the events in NK war of liberation made Rivlin’s speech as atrocities that were not prevented and cited as failure on the behalf of the international community to stop atrocities while, the Gaza war made it in his speech as “cynical” attempts to trivialize genocide. This is a glare example of cherry picking and hypocrisy.
The President of Armenia must say the following lines back to Rivlin: “At the same time we must remember that the setting of red lines requires us to stop diluting and cynically exploiting them in the name of pseudo objectivity, as is done in the rhetoric of human rights with the use of terms such as ‘genocide’ for political purposes,” Sarkissian must add: That Armenians were attacked by Azerbaijan and Armenia fought to save Armenians from enslavement and Genocide. In Khjojali it left a corridor for civilians to flee. But, evidence exist to show that Azerbaijanis killed their own people that were caught in the middle. In any case, in Khojali, according to Azerbaijani sources, 613 people were killed in a struggle for survival. In Gaza, which is no mortal threat to Israel more than two thousand were killed. So, if you—Rivlin—wanna cite an example maybe the Gaza war is more suitable for failures to prevent atrocities. More people were killed in response to a far less mortal threat. It is more recent and the response was far more disproportionate.
Sarikissian must also highlight that Rivlin’s speech achieved the opposite of what he said he wanted to achieve: He did not recognize the Genocide that must be recognized, the Armenian Genocide, and he trivialized crimes against humanity as a political tool and to promote bilateral relations and to placate bloody dictators.
Typical modern Politician, They play with the words which is nonsense. Armenian Genocide is a ACE card in every politician’s hand to bluff each other in case of any disagreements. We have seen many of them in U.S.A, Britain, Israel, Egypt’s new Government, Syria and Iran. We should not trust them at all.
My dear Armenians. The very lesson of the Armenian Genocide is the absolute need for 100% Armenian unity, clear across the board. Is it not? That should be the WORD every Armenian needs to live by from here on out: “UNITY”… Without it we are fragments that will endlessly rely upon others for our eventual justice, (a useless pipedream) as is evident of the moral picking and choosing by the USA, Great Britain and Israel. With unity comes self reliance. With self reliance comes might. With might comes TRUTH. UNITY is the answer.
I think he knows well who organized the massacre near Aghdam (wrongly located in Khojaly)
http://www.artsakhtoday.com/?p=12634&lang=en