THE DAILY BLADE: Always Remember And Don’t Ever Forget: Part II
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day often coincides with Passover. During this time a slew of op-ed pieces (fourth item) about why Armenians should “move on” and stop pressing Turkey to admit their Ottoman forebears committed the first genocide (or jihad, as some describe it) of the 20th century appear in print and online publications. Some of these missives are inexplicably written by Jews who, in the annual retelling of the story of their people’s mistreatment, enslavement and liberation some 3,450 years ago, are also encouraged to remember the persecution of other people throughout history. From Tikkun’s reinterpretation of the traditional Haggadah, which was passed around the table at the Seder The Stiletto attended last week:
MAROR (the Bitter Herbs): The suffering of the Jews in Egypt has been matched by thousands of years in which we were oppressed as a people. Our insistence on telling the story of liberation and proclaiming that the world could be and should be fundamentally different has angered ruling elites. These elites often tried to channel against the Jews the anger that ordinary people were feeling about the oppression in their own lives. But Jews are not the only ones to have suffered oppression and violence. We think of the genocide against native peoples all around the world, including in the United States. We think of the enslavement of Africans, and the oppression of Armenians, homosexuals, women, and many others. Yet, tonight it is appropriate for us to focus also on the suffering of the Jewish people and to affirm our solidarity with victims of anti-Semitism through the ages.
Michael Rubin’s op-ed in Commentary, titled “What’s Wrong with Armenia?,” serves as this year’s exemplar of the genre:
I do not deny the sensitivity of the genocide issue, but Armenian American organizations are doing both themselves and U.S. national security a disservice by making the genocide issue the community’s marquee issue. History must be respected, but the future is as important as the past - if not more so. To the present day, Turkey and Armenia remain adversaries. Traditionally, the American alliance with Turkey has driven a wedge between Washington and Yerevan. Sadly, Armenia remains largely antagonistic to the United States. In 2009, Armenia voted with the United States on important issues at the United Nations less than half the time; In contrast, Israel voted with the United States 100% of the time.
The victim-blaming Rubin calls upon “Armenian organizations in the United States and the congressmen who partner with them to demand change in Armenian behavior.” If President Barack Hussein Obama were to change his behavior and keep his campaign promises to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Yerevan’s attitude towards the U.S. would turn 180-degrees.
Those, like Rubin, who believe that realpolitik should trump remembrance - at least, when it comes to Armenians - should consider what French philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy once noted about Armenian Genocide denial (video link):
For the crime to be perfect it has to be traceless. And for it to be traceless it has to be annihilated even from the memories of the survivors and descendants. ... And this is the reason revisionism can rightfully be qualified as the ultimate stage of genocide.
Now, 96 years after the crime most of the eye witnesses have died. The only students who learn about the Armenian Genocide in history class live in a smattering of school districts in MA and CA with a large Armenian population (second item). The horror of the Armenian Genocide is fast becoming lost to memory, lost to history, lost to apathy.
And so, the December 2010 issue of the Turkish edition of Elle, featured a ruined Armenian cathedral in the city of Ani as the backdrop for a photo shoot.
Located on the border of Turkey and Armenia, Ani dates back to the 5th century and once rivaled Constantinople (AKA Istanbul) as a center of culture and commerce. The 200,000 inhabitants of the city were slaughtered during the invasion of the Seljuk Turks in the early 11th century, leaving it a ghost town. Waging a campaign of cultural genocide (second item), successive Turkish regimes have left Ani to rot and it has now been included on the Global Heritage Fund’s list of a dozen historical sites “on the verge” of irreparable loss and destruction.
A lesser insult, perhaps, is Cosmopolitan magazine putting Armenian-American Kim Kardashian, who is the descendent of Armenian Genocide survivors, on the cover of its Turkish edition, much to her consternation:
We have now reached the ultimate stage of genocide. Editorial Note: The Genocide Education Project develops and distributes instructional materials about genocide and other serious human rights violations for teachers, students and educational organizations. The nonprofit organization hopes to help prevent future genocides by putting the Armenian Genocide in the context of the history of World War I, and as a predecessor of the pattern of genocides that followed. Please visit The Genocide Education Project to find out how you can help.
Michael Rubin actually conflates two issues. How can you respect history if you allow someone to say it never happened? And what does their current conduct have to do with whether you stick up for them when they are wronged? Obama has voted for my interests much less often than half the time. So I don't have to remind people that the Civil War was fought over slavery and that American chattel slavery was much worse than a "peculiar institution"? Hardly. Wrong is wrong. Modern Turkey did not exist when the Armenian genocide was perpetrated and if there can be a Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Turkey can repeal the law that makes mention of the Armenian genocide a crime. Turkey should just get over itself.
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