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ANCA RALLIES AGAINST WHITE HOUSE DECISION TO BLOCK SMITHSONIAN DISPLAY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ORPHAN RUG
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/10/25/anca/
11:13 25/10/2013 " SOCIETY
Armenian Americans across the U.S. are calling upon the White House
and Congress to secure a prominent and permanent public display of
a historic rug woven by Armenian Genocide orphans and presented to
President Calvin Coolidge in 1925, in appreciation for U.S.
humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Turkey's murder of over
1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
The ANCA campaign was initiated after The Washington Post reported,
earlier this week, that a planned December 16th Smithsonian
Institution exhibit featuring the rug, organized in conjunction
with the Armenian Cultural Foundation and the Armenian Rug Society,
was abruptly cancelled when the White House, reversing an earlier
affirmative decision, refused to lend the iconic symbol of American
and Armenian shared heritage to the museum.
Armenian Americans can take action by visiting:
http://www.anca.org/action_alerts/action_disp.php?aaid=62978086
Washington Post staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Philip Kennicott, reported, "There was hope that the carpet, which has
been in storage for almost 20 years, might be displayed December 16th
as part of a Smithsonian event that would include a book launch for
Hagop Martin Deranian's 'President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian
Orphan Rug.' But on September 12th, the Smithsonian scholar who helped
organize the event canceled it, citing the White House's decision not
to loan the carpet. In a letter to two Armenian American organizations,
Paul Michael Taylor, director of the institution's Asian cultural
history program, had no explanation for the White House's refusal to
allow the rug to be seen and said that efforts by the U.S. ambassador
to Armenia, John A. Heffern, to intervene had also been unavailing."
Kennicott described the controversy as "a sign of the Obama
administration's dismal reputation in the Armenian American community
that everyone assumes... must be yet another slap in the face for
Armenians seeking to promote understanding of one of the darkest
chapters in 20th-century history."
The complete Washington Post article is available online at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/armenian-orphan-rug-remains-in-white-house-storage-as-unseen-as-genocide-is-neglected/2013/10/21/90458518-3a6d-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html
The White House response thus far has been vague - with National
Security Staff Assistant Press Secretary Laura Magnuson offering the
following comment to the Asbarez Armenian Newspaper: "The Ghazir rug
is a reminder of the close relationship between the peoples of Armenia
and the United States. We regret that it is not possible to loan it
out at this time." A statement with the same exact wording was released
by the White House last week and included in Kennicott's article.
"The White House should simply come clean," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "It's time for the White House to open up
about Turkey's role, and lay out all the facts about its decision
to block the Smithsonian's exhibit of the Armenian Orphan Rug - a
historic, Armenian Genocide-era work of art that speaks powerfully
to the common values and shared experiences of the American and
Armenian peoples."
In a letter sent earlier today to President Obama's Chief of Staff,
Denis McDonough, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian reminded the White
House that "upon receiving the rug, President Coolidge wrote,
'The rug has a place of honor in the White House where it will be
a daily symbol of goodwill on earth.' I ask you, in this spirit, to
remove any obstacles to the Smithsonian's display of this historic
artwork and to secure a prominent and permanent public home for this
powerful symbol of America's humanitarian values and friendship with
the Armenian people," continued Hachikian.
Placing this latest controversy in context, Hachikian noted that:
"since taking office, President Obama has not only failed to recognize
the Armenian Genocide, but has actively blocked Congressional
legislation (H.Res.252, 111th Congress) to commemorate this atrocity
and, through his Solicitor General, officially opposed efforts in the
U.S. courts (Arzoumanian v. Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft AG) to allow American citizens to pursue
Genocide-era property claims. In addition, the Administration has
regularly sent senior officials to speak at events organized by
Armenian Genocide deniers, while refusing repeated invitations to
simply attend Congressional observances of this atrocity. In these
areas, and, sadly, many more, the President has not simply failed
to honor his pledge, but rather - in both letter and spirit - worked
to fundamentally undermine and reverse the very policies he pledged
to pursue."
According to Dr. Hagop Deranian, the Armenian orphan rug measures
11'7" x 18'5" and is comprised of 4,404,206 individual knots. It
took the Armenian girls in the Ghazir Orphanage of the Near East
Relief Society 10 months to weave. A label on the back of the rug,
in large hand-written letters, reads "IN GOLDEN RULE GRATITUDE TO
PRESIDENT COOLIDGE."
Source: Panorama.am
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/10/25/anca/
11:13 25/10/2013 " SOCIETY
Armenian Americans across the U.S. are calling upon the White House
and Congress to secure a prominent and permanent public display of
a historic rug woven by Armenian Genocide orphans and presented to
President Calvin Coolidge in 1925, in appreciation for U.S.
humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Turkey's murder of over
1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
The ANCA campaign was initiated after The Washington Post reported,
earlier this week, that a planned December 16th Smithsonian
Institution exhibit featuring the rug, organized in conjunction
with the Armenian Cultural Foundation and the Armenian Rug Society,
was abruptly cancelled when the White House, reversing an earlier
affirmative decision, refused to lend the iconic symbol of American
and Armenian shared heritage to the museum.
Armenian Americans can take action by visiting:
http://www.anca.org/action_alerts/action_disp.php?aaid=62978086
Washington Post staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Philip Kennicott, reported, "There was hope that the carpet, which has
been in storage for almost 20 years, might be displayed December 16th
as part of a Smithsonian event that would include a book launch for
Hagop Martin Deranian's 'President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian
Orphan Rug.' But on September 12th, the Smithsonian scholar who helped
organize the event canceled it, citing the White House's decision not
to loan the carpet. In a letter to two Armenian American organizations,
Paul Michael Taylor, director of the institution's Asian cultural
history program, had no explanation for the White House's refusal to
allow the rug to be seen and said that efforts by the U.S. ambassador
to Armenia, John A. Heffern, to intervene had also been unavailing."
Kennicott described the controversy as "a sign of the Obama
administration's dismal reputation in the Armenian American community
that everyone assumes... must be yet another slap in the face for
Armenians seeking to promote understanding of one of the darkest
chapters in 20th-century history."
The complete Washington Post article is available online at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/armenian-orphan-rug-remains-in-white-house-storage-as-unseen-as-genocide-is-neglected/2013/10/21/90458518-3a6d-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html
The White House response thus far has been vague - with National
Security Staff Assistant Press Secretary Laura Magnuson offering the
following comment to the Asbarez Armenian Newspaper: "The Ghazir rug
is a reminder of the close relationship between the peoples of Armenia
and the United States. We regret that it is not possible to loan it
out at this time." A statement with the same exact wording was released
by the White House last week and included in Kennicott's article.
"The White House should simply come clean," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "It's time for the White House to open up
about Turkey's role, and lay out all the facts about its decision
to block the Smithsonian's exhibit of the Armenian Orphan Rug - a
historic, Armenian Genocide-era work of art that speaks powerfully
to the common values and shared experiences of the American and
Armenian peoples."
In a letter sent earlier today to President Obama's Chief of Staff,
Denis McDonough, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian reminded the White
House that "upon receiving the rug, President Coolidge wrote,
'The rug has a place of honor in the White House where it will be
a daily symbol of goodwill on earth.' I ask you, in this spirit, to
remove any obstacles to the Smithsonian's display of this historic
artwork and to secure a prominent and permanent public home for this
powerful symbol of America's humanitarian values and friendship with
the Armenian people," continued Hachikian.
Placing this latest controversy in context, Hachikian noted that:
"since taking office, President Obama has not only failed to recognize
the Armenian Genocide, but has actively blocked Congressional
legislation (H.Res.252, 111th Congress) to commemorate this atrocity
and, through his Solicitor General, officially opposed efforts in the
U.S. courts (Arzoumanian v. Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft AG) to allow American citizens to pursue
Genocide-era property claims. In addition, the Administration has
regularly sent senior officials to speak at events organized by
Armenian Genocide deniers, while refusing repeated invitations to
simply attend Congressional observances of this atrocity. In these
areas, and, sadly, many more, the President has not simply failed
to honor his pledge, but rather - in both letter and spirit - worked
to fundamentally undermine and reverse the very policies he pledged
to pursue."
According to Dr. Hagop Deranian, the Armenian orphan rug measures
11'7" x 18'5" and is comprised of 4,404,206 individual knots. It
took the Armenian girls in the Ghazir Orphanage of the Near East
Relief Society 10 months to weave. A label on the back of the rug,
in large hand-written letters, reads "IN GOLDEN RULE GRATITUDE TO
PRESIDENT COOLIDGE."
Source: Panorama.am