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'Genocide' In Armenia Is Not For Israel To Decide

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  • 'Genocide' In Armenia Is Not For Israel To Decide

    'GENOCIDE' IN ARMENIA IS NOT FOR ISRAEL TO DECIDE
    by Mark Meirowitz

    New Jersey Jewish News
    http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7871/genocide-in-armenia-is-not-for-israel-to-decide
    Jan 11 2012

    The Education Committee of the Israel Knesset recently held open
    hearings on whether the events in Armenia in 1915-18 should be defined
    as "genocide." The committee closed the hearing without taking any
    action. Hopefully, the Israeli Knesset will not take any further action
    on this issue, since it is not appropriate for the State of Israel
    to become the arbiter and decider of whether the events in Armenia -
    or any other historical event for that matter, with the exception of
    the Nazi Holocaust - are or are not properly defined as genocide.

    The Knesset's taking up this issue is part of a trend in which
    legislatures of various countries have considered (and made
    determinations on) the question of whether the events in Armenia
    constituted genocide. Most recently, the lower house of the French
    legislature passed a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the
    events in Armenia were genocide (this bill still requires approval
    of the French Senate to become law). It seems quite hypocritical
    for the French - whose Vichy government collaborated with the Nazis
    to implement the genocidal Holocaust in France - to sit in judgment
    of others.

    Regretfully, words like "genocide" and "Holocaust," used outside the
    context of the Shoa, have become terms of political dynamite with
    meanings light-years away from their significance in the context
    of the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people. The careless and
    inappropriate use of the term "genocide" outside the context of the
    Jewish Holocaust diminishes the significance and uniqueness of the
    Nazi genocide against the Jewish people.

    Some have suggested that politicians in the Knesset took up the
    Armenia issue to retaliate against Turkey for its actions against
    Israel (including the expulsion by Turkey of Israel's ambassador in
    connection with the Gaza flotilla debacle). However, this strategy
    could backfire to the detriment of Israel, because further action
    on this issue could interfere with efforts to repair and reinstate
    relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, and could even terminate
    relations entirely. Even the Israeli Foreign Ministry - whose head,
    Avigdor Lieberman, has been a sharp critic of Turkey - urged the
    Knesset not to take up the Armenia issue.

    Because of developments in Iran and the Middle East, it is very likely
    that the interests of Turkey and Israel will converge at some point in
    the future, and that Turkey, Israel, and the United States will have
    to work together to maintain stability in the region. Further Israeli
    actions on the Armenia issue could disrupt efforts at achieving peace
    and stability in the region.

    It is also important to mention that Turkey and Armenia agreed
    to protocols in 2009 to normalize their relations. One aspect of
    this agreement was the establishment of a historical sub-commission
    consisting of Armenian, Turkish, and international experts to perform
    an impartial scientific review of historical archives relating to
    the events in Armenia. These protocols, unfortunately, are in limbo
    because the parliaments of Turkey and Armenia have not ratified them.

    The United States is in favor of their ratification.

    Turkey and Armenia need to move forward with the protocols and also
    establish the historical sub-commission to perform the historical
    analysis of the events in Armenia. This is a job for the historians,
    not the politicians. Historians are divided on the Armenia issue, and
    even distinguished historians such as Bernard Lewis and Steven Katz
    have taken the position that the events in Armenia did not constitute
    "genocide."

    As people of conscience, Jews have given the world the gift of
    human compassion. However, we must also be vigilant and oppose
    the mischaracterization of historical events, other than the Jewish
    Holocaust, as genocide. We must never forget, as Steven Katz tells us,
    that the Holocaust was "unique" because "never before has a state set
    out, as a matter of intentional principle...to annihilate physically
    every man, woman, and child belonging to a specific people."

    Finally, Israel's further involvement in this issue can only lead
    to problems and difficulties, and will provide no benefit - moral,
    political, or otherwise - for Israel at this time of crisis in the
    Middle East.

    Mark Meirowitz is a business lawyer in New York City. He holds a
    doctorate in politics and has taught politics, history, and law at
    colleges in the New York area.

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