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KNESSET SPEAKER WORKING TO BOOST RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Jonathan Lis
Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/knesset-speaker-working-to-boost-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-1.365034
May 31 2011
Israel
Reuven Rivlin says it is his duty as a Jew and Israeli to recognize
the 'tragedies of other people.'
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Monday that he wanted to convene an
annual parliamentary session of the full Knesset to mark the Armenian
genocide of 1915 and 1916 at the hands of the Turks. "It is my duty
as a Jew and Israeli to recognize the tragedies of other peoples,"
Rivlin said, speaking to an Israel-based Armenian action committee.
Rivlin added: "Diplomatic considerations, important as they may be,
do not allow us to deny the disaster [experienced by] another people."
In recent years the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry
have applied heavy pressure to head off such sessions of the Knesset
out of concern that relations between Israel and Turkey would be
harmed. Turkey denies that it committed genocide against the Armenians.
Since 2008, the full Knesset has allowed the Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee to hold sessions that have been closed to the
media about the Armenian genocide. Last week, for the first time,
the full Knesset approved the convening of an open, public session
on the issue by the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, at the
request of Meretz Knesset member Zahava Gal-On. This represents a
complete change in approach on the issue.
In 1915 to 1916, between a million and a million and a half Armenians
reportedly lost their lives in Turkey, representing about a third of
the Armenian people. Armenians have been campaigning for international
recognition of the genocide, but the Turks have been active in
countering these efforts. Turkey claims there was no genocide, and that
in the course of the Armenian fight for independence between 250,000
and 500,000 Armenians and a similar number of Turks lost their lives.
As part of the Foreign Ministry's attempt in recent years to block
pro-Armenian genocide commemorations, in 2007, ministry staff expressed
what was called "dissatisfaction" with plans to hold a session in
the Knesset plenum on the issue. The prime minister at the time,
Ehud Olmert, intervened to have the session canceled.
Several months before that, tensions with Turkey rose after the
U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League supported an effort to have the U.S.
Congress recognize the genocide. The Turkish government responded
by asking the Israeli government to apply pressure on the ADL to
moderate its stand on the Congressional debate. Responding to the
entreaties of the president of Turkey, Israeli President Shimon Peres
also approached ADL national director Abraham Foxman on the issue,
after which the organization reversed course and softened its stance.
In October of 2008, in an unprecedented move, the Knesset voted to
have a parliamentary committee convene on the Armenian genocide at
the initiative of then-Meretz chairman Haim Oron, paving the way for
the sessions in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Over the
past two years, however, after relations between Israel and Turkey
deteriorated, the Foreign Ministry's opposition to the issue abated,
though Rivlin's latest move was at his own initiative.
By Jonathan Lis
Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/knesset-speaker-working-to-boost-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-1.365034
May 31 2011
Israel
Reuven Rivlin says it is his duty as a Jew and Israeli to recognize
the 'tragedies of other people.'
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Monday that he wanted to convene an
annual parliamentary session of the full Knesset to mark the Armenian
genocide of 1915 and 1916 at the hands of the Turks. "It is my duty
as a Jew and Israeli to recognize the tragedies of other peoples,"
Rivlin said, speaking to an Israel-based Armenian action committee.
Rivlin added: "Diplomatic considerations, important as they may be,
do not allow us to deny the disaster [experienced by] another people."
In recent years the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry
have applied heavy pressure to head off such sessions of the Knesset
out of concern that relations between Israel and Turkey would be
harmed. Turkey denies that it committed genocide against the Armenians.
Since 2008, the full Knesset has allowed the Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee to hold sessions that have been closed to the
media about the Armenian genocide. Last week, for the first time,
the full Knesset approved the convening of an open, public session
on the issue by the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, at the
request of Meretz Knesset member Zahava Gal-On. This represents a
complete change in approach on the issue.
In 1915 to 1916, between a million and a million and a half Armenians
reportedly lost their lives in Turkey, representing about a third of
the Armenian people. Armenians have been campaigning for international
recognition of the genocide, but the Turks have been active in
countering these efforts. Turkey claims there was no genocide, and that
in the course of the Armenian fight for independence between 250,000
and 500,000 Armenians and a similar number of Turks lost their lives.
As part of the Foreign Ministry's attempt in recent years to block
pro-Armenian genocide commemorations, in 2007, ministry staff expressed
what was called "dissatisfaction" with plans to hold a session in
the Knesset plenum on the issue. The prime minister at the time,
Ehud Olmert, intervened to have the session canceled.
Several months before that, tensions with Turkey rose after the
U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League supported an effort to have the U.S.
Congress recognize the genocide. The Turkish government responded
by asking the Israeli government to apply pressure on the ADL to
moderate its stand on the Congressional debate. Responding to the
entreaties of the president of Turkey, Israeli President Shimon Peres
also approached ADL national director Abraham Foxman on the issue,
after which the organization reversed course and softened its stance.
In October of 2008, in an unprecedented move, the Knesset voted to
have a parliamentary committee convene on the Armenian genocide at
the initiative of then-Meretz chairman Haim Oron, paving the way for
the sessions in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Over the
past two years, however, after relations between Israel and Turkey
deteriorated, the Foreign Ministry's opposition to the issue abated,
though Rivlin's latest move was at his own initiative.