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All-ASA Genocide Recognition Committee - April Events

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  • All-ASA Genocide Recognition Committee - April Events

    SATURDAY, March 23, 2005
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    All-ASA Genocide Recognition Committee
    c/o UCLA Armenian Student Association
    Kerckhoff Hall Room 146
    308 Westwood Plaza
    Los Angeles, CA 90024
    Contact: Raffi Kassabian
    E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

    Armenian collegiate student groups join forces for genocide awareness, justice

    LOS ANGELES, CA - Next month, area Armenian college students will gather to
    commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The
    All-Armenian Student Association's Genocide Recognition Committee, a
    coalition of collegiate Armenian student groups, has been busy organizing
    two major events set to take place this April. Aside from smaller
    projects, the committee has organized two major events; an educational
    panel presentation and an candlelight vigil for the southern California
    student community. On April 7th, the CSU Long Beach campus hosts a panel
    on human rights atrocities and genocide denial.

    "Since Long Beach State holds such a diverse community it is of great
    importance to hold a panel that reviews how denial and ignorance of
    genocide affect cultures and people all around the world,' explained Lisa
    Narinian, president of the CSULB Armenian Student Association and
    representative to the committee.

    The panel discussion will feature faculty from local universities who will
    address the Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide and its continuation in the
    Democratic Republic of Congo, the genocide in Darfur, as well as the Women
    of Juarez.

    The following Thursday, the UCLA campus' Bruin Plaza will serve as the site
    for the 2005 All-ASA Candlelight Vigil. Hosted each year at a different
    college campus, this year's vigil will feature a reenactment of a genocidal
    death march, performances by UCLA students, and the premier of an
    educational video feature commissioned by the committee. The event will
    also feature UCLA Professor Paul Von Blum, a specialist on media and
    genocide, as well as rapper Knowledge from the Axis of Justice, a
    non-profit, social justice organization formed by Tom Morello of Audioslave
    and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Local student and community groups
    have been invited to participate and table at the event.

    However, the panel presentation and the vigil will not be the first
    genocide-related event of the year for many of the committee's
    participating organizations. The UCLA Armenian Student Association has
    also been addressing the impact of past genocides on current affairs. In
    February, it co-hosted a similar panel presentation on genocide denial as
    coalition student groups concerned about the genocide in Darfur. The event
    drew over 150 students and members of the faculty.

    "When groups of people are systematically oppressed, and targeted for
    destruction, it is our duty as humans to do something. Genocide and denial
    seems to run hand in hand," noted Matthew Sablove, a member of the Darfur
    Action Committee at UCLA. "Students can lead the way for social justice as
    well as social change to stop the current genocide in Darfur."

    Earlier in November this academic year, the USC Armenian Student
    Association, another Genocide Recognition Committee participant, co-hosted
    a reception and book signing featuring Colgate University Professor Peter
    Balakian and his NY Times Bestseller, Burning Tigris. The event was held
    in conjunction with the opening of USC's Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial
    Library exhibition documenting the Near East Foundation's relief efforts -
    commonly cited as an example of one of the first world-wide humanitarian
    relief efforts in the global age - to help survivors of the Armenian Genocide.

    The committee also addresses issues regarding education about the Armenian
    Genocide such as its proper inclusion in human rights-related curricula and
    exhibitions such as the local Museum of Tolerance.

    "The Museum of Tolerance issue is a continuing source of concern to the
    student community," explained Arineh Der Petrosian, president of the
    Glendale Community College Armenian Student Association and representative
    to the committee. In 2003, college students protested the lack of a
    permanent and prominent exhibit on the Armenian Genocide at the
    museum. The GCC ASA supported their efforts by collecting 1,500 signatures
    in support of this initiative.

    "As of today, there is still no permanent exhibit. We think it is
    important that the student community continues to work on this issue. The
    lack of an adequate and prominent acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
    in a place like the Museum of Tolerance only serves to embolden deniers of
    all genocides."

    But in the end, much of the collective effort has been leading up to this
    April's events.

    "The panel and the vigil being organized by the committee are critical not
    only because they mark the April anniversaries of such tragedies as the
    Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide, and Holocaust, but also because we are
    living in a world today in which genocide is being committed, specifically
    in Darfur," emphasized Raffi Kassabian, chair of the committee and
    president of the UCLA Armenian Student Association. "I think this is a
    clear illustration that if people continue to turn a blind eye or deny such
    atrocities the cycle of genocide will continue to turn."

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE All-ASA GRC Events in April:

    "All-ASA Panel Presentation - The Blind Eye: Genocide & Denial"
    at the Soroptomist House, CSU Long Beach Campus
    THURSDAY, April 7th @ 7:30pm
    - featuring: presentations on the Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide,
    genocide in Darfur, and the Women of Juarez
    - for more info contact: CSULB ASA - c/o Lisa Narinian <[email protected]>

    "2005 All-ASA Candlelight Vigil"
    at Bruin Plaza, UCLA Campus
    THURSDAY, April 14th @ 7:30pm
    - featuring: genocide reenactments/recollections, performances, speakers,
    and a newly commissioned educational video montage
    - for more info contact: UCLA ASA - c/o Raffi Kassabian <[email protected]>

    PHOTO # 1:
    http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/agsa/photos/2004-2005/031905grc-pr-photo01.bmp

    CAPTION # 1:
    Pictured from Left to Right: Raffi Kassabian (UCLA Armenian Student
    Association), Ani Nahapetian (UCLA Armenian Graduate Student Association),
    Ara Krikorian (Loyola Marymount University ASA), and Arineh Der Petrossian
    (Glendale Community College ASA). Not pictured are representatives from
    the AEO, ARF-SSA, CalPoly ASA, CalTech ASA, CSULB ASA, CSULA ASA, UCI ASA,
    UCR ASA, UCSC ASA, USC AGSA, USC ASA, Woodbury U. ASA and other All-ASA
    participating organizations.
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