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HARMAN LETTER ANGERS ARMENIAN ACTIVISTS
By Gene Maddaus Staff Writer
Daily Breeze, CA
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/10410592 .html?showAll=y&c=y
Oct 10 2007
South Bay representative says genocide resolution she co-sponsored
could destabilize the greater Middle East.
Jane Harman's letter requesting that the Armenian genocide resolution
not come to a vote
Rep. Jane Harman is facing protests and a flood of angry phone calls
after urging a House committee chairman not to allow a vote on a
resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Harman, who is a co-sponsor of the resolution, was confronted Saturday
at a rally for Assembly candidate Warren Furutani by young Armenian
activists chanting "Hypocrite, liar, genocide denier."
The protesters plan to appear at more events where the South Bay
Democrat is scheduled to speak, said Zanku Armenian, spokesman for
the Armenian National Committee of America.
"We will be following her around," Armenian said, "to the point
where people are not going to want to invite her because she will
be radioactive."
The controversy erupted last week, after Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo,
scheduled a vote on the resolution in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. The vote is scheduled for today.
On Oct. 3, Harman sent Lantos a letter urging him to reconsider. She
warned that the resolution would be "destabilizing not only to
Armenian-Turkish relations but also to our efforts to create stability
in the greater Middle East."
The issue is of utmost concern to the local Armenian community.
Though more than a million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks from 1915 to 1923, the U.S. government has steadfastly refused
to characterize those events as a "genocide."
Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region, has hired lobbyists to defeat
similar resolutions in the past.
In the letter, Harman warned Lantos that now is "the wrong time" to
consider the resolution and urged him to avoid anything that would
"embarrass or isolate the Turkish leadership." She also mentioned
that she had traveled to Turkey earlier this year and met with the
prime minister.
The Armenian groups obtained the letter, after which Harman released
it on her Web site.
Harman is one of the resolution's 226 co-sponsors, a fact that
especially galls the activists.
"Although she was a co-sponsor, she covertly flipped her position
and in a secret manner sent a letter to Tom Lantos," said Vache
Thomassian, co-chairperson of the Armenian Youth Federation. "She
went all the way to the absolute opposite end and was advocating its
complete dismissal."
The activists said they knew of no other representative who had
publicly endorsed the measure while privately working against it.
"I was infuriated that she would change her mind that way," said Lori
Khajadourian, a member of the federation's South Bay chapter. "To us,
it seems like a betrayal."
A few dozen protesters showed up Saturday at the Furutani event
in Lakewood. Harman was there to support Furutani's campaign for
the 55th District Assembly seat, but her speech was interrupted by
chanting. Afterwards, she met the group in the parking lot, where
she argued that her objection was about timing and not about the
substance of the resolution.
"I am not arguing for a second about what happened in Turkey 100
years ago," she said in a video clip that the activists posted on
YouTube. "I condemn acts of - I would use the `genocide' word, sure
I would - I'm not denying it."
She also noted that her father had fled Nazi Germany.
"I come from a community where there was genocide against my people,
too," she said. "The letter I sent was about the timing of the vote
and not about the grievous harm that was caused to your community."
She went on to argue that the current Turkish government is playing
a helpful role in the Middle East and in Darfur. The activists were
not satisfied.
"I don't think a country that denies genocide should be patted on
their back for what they're doing in Darfur," Khajadourian said. "She
shouldn't be allowing herself to be bullied by what this country
might do if they pass this resolution."
Armenian said he believed Harman had been influenced by Turkey's
lobbyists, including the firms of former House Democratic leader Dick
Gephardt and former House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston,
a Republican.
Though Harman has vowed to vote against the resolution if it comes to
the floor, the activists are hoping she will change her mind. Failing
that, they believe she should be voted out of office.
"Her hypocrisy on this issue is morally reprehensible," Armenian
said. "By signing the letter to Lantos, she may as well have been
signing her resignation letter."
Furutani's campaign manager, Sandra Sanchez, said the protest did
not derail the kickoff event.
"Everything was resolved very amicably," she said, adding that Furutani
supports the resolution.
By Gene Maddaus Staff Writer
Daily Breeze, CA
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/10410592 .html?showAll=y&c=y
Oct 10 2007
South Bay representative says genocide resolution she co-sponsored
could destabilize the greater Middle East.
Jane Harman's letter requesting that the Armenian genocide resolution
not come to a vote
Rep. Jane Harman is facing protests and a flood of angry phone calls
after urging a House committee chairman not to allow a vote on a
resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Harman, who is a co-sponsor of the resolution, was confronted Saturday
at a rally for Assembly candidate Warren Furutani by young Armenian
activists chanting "Hypocrite, liar, genocide denier."
The protesters plan to appear at more events where the South Bay
Democrat is scheduled to speak, said Zanku Armenian, spokesman for
the Armenian National Committee of America.
"We will be following her around," Armenian said, "to the point
where people are not going to want to invite her because she will
be radioactive."
The controversy erupted last week, after Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo,
scheduled a vote on the resolution in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. The vote is scheduled for today.
On Oct. 3, Harman sent Lantos a letter urging him to reconsider. She
warned that the resolution would be "destabilizing not only to
Armenian-Turkish relations but also to our efforts to create stability
in the greater Middle East."
The issue is of utmost concern to the local Armenian community.
Though more than a million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks from 1915 to 1923, the U.S. government has steadfastly refused
to characterize those events as a "genocide."
Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region, has hired lobbyists to defeat
similar resolutions in the past.
In the letter, Harman warned Lantos that now is "the wrong time" to
consider the resolution and urged him to avoid anything that would
"embarrass or isolate the Turkish leadership." She also mentioned
that she had traveled to Turkey earlier this year and met with the
prime minister.
The Armenian groups obtained the letter, after which Harman released
it on her Web site.
Harman is one of the resolution's 226 co-sponsors, a fact that
especially galls the activists.
"Although she was a co-sponsor, she covertly flipped her position
and in a secret manner sent a letter to Tom Lantos," said Vache
Thomassian, co-chairperson of the Armenian Youth Federation. "She
went all the way to the absolute opposite end and was advocating its
complete dismissal."
The activists said they knew of no other representative who had
publicly endorsed the measure while privately working against it.
"I was infuriated that she would change her mind that way," said Lori
Khajadourian, a member of the federation's South Bay chapter. "To us,
it seems like a betrayal."
A few dozen protesters showed up Saturday at the Furutani event
in Lakewood. Harman was there to support Furutani's campaign for
the 55th District Assembly seat, but her speech was interrupted by
chanting. Afterwards, she met the group in the parking lot, where
she argued that her objection was about timing and not about the
substance of the resolution.
"I am not arguing for a second about what happened in Turkey 100
years ago," she said in a video clip that the activists posted on
YouTube. "I condemn acts of - I would use the `genocide' word, sure
I would - I'm not denying it."
She also noted that her father had fled Nazi Germany.
"I come from a community where there was genocide against my people,
too," she said. "The letter I sent was about the timing of the vote
and not about the grievous harm that was caused to your community."
She went on to argue that the current Turkish government is playing
a helpful role in the Middle East and in Darfur. The activists were
not satisfied.
"I don't think a country that denies genocide should be patted on
their back for what they're doing in Darfur," Khajadourian said. "She
shouldn't be allowing herself to be bullied by what this country
might do if they pass this resolution."
Armenian said he believed Harman had been influenced by Turkey's
lobbyists, including the firms of former House Democratic leader Dick
Gephardt and former House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston,
a Republican.
Though Harman has vowed to vote against the resolution if it comes to
the floor, the activists are hoping she will change her mind. Failing
that, they believe she should be voted out of office.
"Her hypocrisy on this issue is morally reprehensible," Armenian
said. "By signing the letter to Lantos, she may as well have been
signing her resignation letter."
Furutani's campaign manager, Sandra Sanchez, said the protest did
not derail the kickoff event.
"Everything was resolved very amicably," she said, adding that Furutani
supports the resolution.