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  • ASBAREZ ONLINE [09-03-2004]

    ASBAREZ ONLINE
    TOP STORIES
    09/03/2004
    TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
    WEBSITE AT <http://www.asbarez.com/>HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ.COM

    1. ANCA Endorses Senator Barbara Boxer
    2. Bush Administration Disastrous for Armenian American Voters Announces AADLC
    3. Injuries, Lack of Funds Justification for Poor Olympic Performance
    4. For Whom The Zell Tolls
    5. Cultural Amnesia: The Museum of Tolerance
    6. Glendale Police Department Seeks to Diversify Force

    1. ANCA Endorses Senator Barbara Boxer

    WASHINGTON, DC--The Armenian National Committee of America announced on
    Thursday it will endorse two term Democrat from California, US Senator Barbara
    Boxer for reelection. Boxer is challenged by Republican Bill Jones who most
    recently served as California's Secretary of State.
    The ANCA endorsed the Senator based on her long and faithful record of public
    service with special consideration to Armenian-Americans living in the
    State of
    California. Since her tenure in Congress, Boxer has held an open door policy
    toward her constituents, carrying their message to the halls of Congress. In a
    letter to Senator Boxer, the ANCA stated that while the Senator's
    responsibilities as an elected official have increased, she has managed to
    maintain close working relationships with even her smallest constituencies.
    California is the nation's most populous state and home to the nation's
    largest
    Armenian American community.
    On issues of concern to her constituents of Armenian heritage and to the
    Armenian-American community at large, Senator Boxer has time and again
    defended
    their history and rightful place in American society. As recently as this
    year,
    she made statements of support for the official reaffirmation of the Armenian
    Genocide, including letters to President Bush urging to end the illegal
    Turkish
    blockade of Armenia. In addition to these measures, Senator Boxer has
    co-sponsored legislation, and actively sought the support of Democratic party
    leaders, on the issue of Genocide reaffirmation. Additionally, Senator Boxer
    has been a staunch advocate of aid to the Republic of Armenia as it undergoes
    the difficult process of transition towards democracy and a free market
    economy. Senator Boxer traveled to Armenia to witness firsthand these changes
    and returned as an even stronger advocate than before.


    2. Bush Administration Disastrous for Armenian American Voters Announces AADLC

    LOS ANGELES--The nation's largest Armenian American Democratic political
    organization announced on Friday that the Bush Administration has compiled one
    of the most anti-Armenian American records in history. From actively denying
    the Armenian Genocide, seeking to slash US assistance to Armenia in half,
    attempting to list Armenian immigrants on a terrorist-watch list, to
    forcefully
    attempting to provide four times more military aid to the Republic of
    Azerbaijan than to Armenia, the Bush track-record represents an affront to
    tens
    of thousands of Armenian American voters in California and other Western
    States, according to the Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council
    (AADLC).
    "George W. Bush and his advisors in the Pentagon, like Paul Wolfowitz, have
    carried on a four year sustained campaign of attacking Congressional
    legislation that is of concern to the Armenian American community,"
    remarked an
    AADLC spokesman. "At the behest of foreign governments, like the Republic of
    Turkey, the Bush Administration has denied the Armenian Genocide, weakened US
    ties to Armenia, and worked hard to boost the military strength of
    Azerbaijan -
    a nation which is committed to the total destruction of Armenia," the
    spokesman
    added.
    The AADLC is working with Democratic Party officials and the Kerry
    campaign in
    reaching out to Armenian American voters in swing states like Arizona, Nevada,
    and Oregon. All three states already boast Armenians for Kerry groups and are
    working with the official Armenians for Kerry organization
    (<http://www.armeniansforkerry.com/>www.ArmeniansforKerry.com).
    In its evaluation of the Bush Administration, AADLC officials stressed
    that in
    2002, the Bush Administration attempted to require that Armenian immigrants
    register with an anti-terrorism program. Armenian Americans learned of the
    Bush
    Administration registration plan only after the Federal Register--the official
    record of government regulations--stated that males age 16 and up from Saudi
    Arabia, Pakistan and Armenia would join a list of men from 18 other countries
    considered at risk for terrorism. Such men would be required to visit local
    Immigration and Naturalization Service offices to be photographed,
    fingerprinted and show certain documents. Only a massive grassroots protest,
    led by the ANCA, overturned the Bush Administration's attempt to list
    Armenians
    as individuals "at risk for terrorism." The Bush Administration never
    offered a
    full explanation of why Armenians were listed in the initial Federal Register
    notice.
    According to the AADLC, the Bush Administration has also continued to support
    the Republic of Turkey, even after Turkey's refusal to allow access for the
    United States to mount a northern front in the war against Iraq. Specifically,
    the Bush Administration supported a $1 billion taxpayer aid package to Turkey
    that was passed by Congress in 2003. The Bush Administration also continues to
    be the one of the few countries pushing for Turkey's admission into the
    European Union.


    3. Injuries, Lack of Funds Justification for Poor Olympic Performance

    YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Senior sports officials and coaches on Thursday blamed
    Armenia's extremely poor performance at the Olympic Games in Athens on a lack
    of state funding and injuries suffered by their top athletes.
    None of the 18 Armenian athletes that participated in the games won
    medals--the country's worst Olympic showing since independence; several
    Armenian-born athletes now representing other countries won silver and bronze
    medals.
    The results sparked an outcry from the media and leading politicians who
    unanimously pointed the finger at Ishkhan Zakarian, the head of the State
    Committee on Sport and Physical Fitness and the National Olympic Committee,
    who
    was accused of incompetence and mismanagement.
    In a newspaper interview published on Thursday, Zakarian rejected the
    accusations, saying he will not resign voluntarily. "I could not have stepped
    on the arena in place of a boxer, wrestler, or weight-lifter," he said.
    Zakarian did not appear at the news conference, but was represented by his
    deputy Mikael Ispirian who said that only seven Armenian athletes had
    realistic
    chances of doing well in Athens and most of them suffered injuries in the
    middle of the competitions. Asked about the quarterfinal elimination of
    Aleksan
    Nalbandian, Armenia's sole boxer at the Olympics, he said, "Maybe he lost
    narrowly. But in essence, it was a victorious bout."
    "If we felt that resignation would change things positively we would all be
    ready to quit," Ispirian said. "And if you think that the specialists sitting
    here are not as professional as you journalists are, then you are wrong."
    The coaches, for their part, complained that government funding allocated to
    sports is highly insufficient for proper training of their athletes. The Sport
    Committee's budget for this year is only 350 million drams ($680,000).
    "To win medals you need money, money and money," said Vahan Bichakhchian, the
    head coach of the national weight-lifting team. "What do you think I can
    achieve with a monthly salary of $50?"


    4. For Whom The Zell Tolls

    By Skeptik Sinikian
    Asbarez Columnist

    This has been some week! The Olympics are finally over and I heard that an
    Armenian from Uzbekistan or Khazakhstan or one of the other stans (except
    Hayastan) finally won a bronze medal (that's third place for the metallurgic
    challenged)! My friend who called me to tell me about this medal reassured me
    that even though the medal is only a bronze, the winner has some relatives who
    work in the Jewelry District in Downtown LA who will have it gold plated at no
    extra charge. So I guess that should hold us over until 2008. But the
    Olympics aren't making headlines anymore, so let's put the ancient games to
    bed. The fabricated CNN and Fox News headlines are being churned up in New
    York where the Republican Convention has captured the attention of the
    nation.

    On Wednesday night the key note speaker was US Senator Zell Miller, an
    unabashed Democrat turned Bush supporter. Senator Miller, or Zell as we will
    call him, took the podium and delivered a fiery "Armageddon is upon us if
    Kerry
    is elected" speech that had Republican delegates hooting and hollering like
    the
    Dukes of Hazzard. Zell tore into Kerry's voting record like a rabid hyena
    attacking a carcass. Even if you disagree with his statements, almost
    everyone
    agrees that Zell was the best speaker so far at the convention, outshining
    even
    Dick "potty mouth" Chenney. But even with the Zellmeister beating up on Kerry
    like a birthday piņata, there was very little substance in his remarks.
    Now wait! (I can hear Republican Party loyalists and conservative readers
    grinding their teeth or sharpening their knives). I think that Zell did a
    heck
    of a job of painting Senator John Kerry as the flip-flopper who wants to arm
    the US army with spitballs instead of bombers, missiles, and jet fighters. In
    fact, if I were Kerry and were watching this speech, I'd make sure to have my
    assistant or butler or sidekick take Zell off the Christmas card list. But
    there's more to this speech than meets the eye. Aside from being a superb
    Republican hatchet job, it was rift with moronic rhetoric. Here's my favorite
    line from the speech that exemplifies the ignorance of war mongers in our
    country.
    "In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little
    Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew
    that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they
    could."
    That's right folks, a brilliant gem of a statement (not taken out of context,
    I assure you) from Senator Zell Miller. What a brilliant child he was at the
    tender age of 8. Apparently young Zell thought the Germans and Italians were
    "crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could." The same
    Germans
    and Italians who gave us Mozart, Beethoven, the Roman Republic, the Catholic
    Church, spaghetti and pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs, Sigmund Freud, Johann
    Wolfgang von Goethe, not to mention Michalengelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and
    countless other contributions which this country is based on. These same
    folks
    have been reduced to being irrational homicidal maniacs. But I guess if
    you're
    running around the Appalachian valley in overalls covered in mud, chasing
    frogs
    and playing the banjo when you're not steeling moonshine from the neighbor's
    still, then it's pretty hard to see Germans and Italians as anything other
    than
    "crazy men" bent on killing innocent children. Is it any wonder why this
    administration and the Republicans see Arabs as maniacs and wild freaks who
    live in the desert, one notch above the Jawas and one notch below the Tusken
    raiders (Star Wars reference folks).
    I haven't met one person yet who thinks that if Kerry is elected
    President, he
    will ask everyone in the army to turn in their guns for rhythmic gymnastics
    batonsthe ones with long flowing ribbons like Will Ferrell's in "Old School."
    I'm just tired of having patriotism shoved down my throat night after night
    after night. We get the point already! The Republican party claims to be the
    party of Homeland Security and superior intelligence; yet before the
    convention
    even started, a well-known news agency reported that "a welcome e-mail that
    was
    sent to hundreds of volunteers for the Republican National Convention
    inadvertently included the name, address, social security number, race, and
    other personal information of those volunteers." This is the Party of
    securitydefending the rights of every Americanyet they can't even send out an
    email without botching the job.
    The real sad thing about this whole election is that Kerry is taking all of
    this without any comebacks. Maybe it's part of the "play dead and they'll
    leave you alone" campaign strategy that's going to pan out later on. But
    seriously, there are two months left until the election and Kerry just got
    handed the ass whooping of a lifetime. In fact, the Republicans hit him so
    hard that he should pack his bags and head back to his palatial resort getaway
    in the Cape. When you can't harm a monolingual President who can't even speak
    English coherently, then you have problems.
    Anyway, Zell has spoken and regardless of what people say about this
    political
    Judas, he has dealt Kerry a body blow. Kerry needs to win states in the
    southand having pretty boy Edwards by his side just won't cut it. It's time
    for Kerry to follow the Boston Red Sox motto from last year and either "Cowboy
    Up!" or resign himself to the Michael Dukakis Massachusetts Presidential
    Candidate Hall of Shame. Time is running out.

    Skeptik Sinikian loves to make bold accusatory statements with no factual
    foundation. Skeptik claims that if you're not with him, then you're against
    him and if you're against him, then you don't love America. If you would like
    to "bring it on," do so at [email protected] or visit
    www.sinikian.blogspot.com.


    5. Cultural Amnesia: The Museum of Tolerance

    By Farris Wahbeh

    "The world should know we are not building a bunker. We're building something
    that breathes with life, just as God breathed life into us."

    So said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last May 2, in Jerusalem at the
    groundbreaking ceremony for a new Simon Wiesenthal Center for Human Dignity
    and
    a Museum of Tolerance, which is the Center's educational arm. The Simon
    Wiesenthal Center (SWC), named after the Ukrainian-born survivor of the Nazi
    Death camps who later became a world famous Nazi-hunter, was founded in
    1977 as
    an international center for "Holocaust remembrance, the defense of human
    rights
    and the Jewish people." The organization is supported by an international
    member base of 400,000 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in
    New
    York, Toronto, Miami, Jerusalem, Paris and Buenos Aires. The SWC's first
    Museum
    of Tolerance (MOT) was opened in 1993 in Los Angeles as a "high tech, hands-on
    experiential museum that focuses on two central themes through unique
    interactive exhibits: the dynamics of racism and prejudice in America and the
    history of the Holocaustthe ultimate example of man's inhumanity to man."
    The new MOT in Jerusalem, which was conceived by SWC's Dean and Founder,
    Marvin Hier, is slated to open between 2006 to 2008 with a price tag of $150
    million. The MOT Jerusalem will be designed by the esteemed international
    superstar-architect-of-the-moment, Frank Gehry. The SWC in Jerusalem will
    house
    not only MOT but also a full three-acre museum campus including an
    international conference center, a grand hall, an education center and a
    library.
    While the SWC in Jerusalem seems like an ideal ground for highlighting
    violations of human rights against the Jewish people, something seems to have
    been forgotten in the processhuman rights violations against Palestinians in
    Israel by the Israeli government. One example of this historical amnesia is
    the
    fact that the SWC will be built on top of an ancient Muslim cemetery that has
    now become a dilapidated parking lot.
    The leftist politician and former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Meron
    Benvenisti,
    writing in Ha'aretz, confirms the hesitation that many feel about the SWC and
    MOT moving into Jerusalem: "It is difficult to imagine a project so
    hallucinatory, so irrelevant, so foreign, so megalomaniac, as the Museum of
    Tolerance. The mere attempt to stick the term tolerance to a building so
    intolerant to its surroundings is ridiculous." Benvenisti also acknowledges
    the
    plight of Palestinians in the occupied territories: "Fanatic, brutal
    Jerusalem,
    saturated with the ambition to gain exclusive possession over it, will take
    pride in a site that preaches equality between communities and the brotherhood
    of nations, and from its rooftops will be seen the homes of Palestinians,
    whose
    struggle for freedom is always defined as 'terror.'"
    According to Samuel G. Freedman in the New York Times, while the museum's
    content is still in the early stages, the director of Los Angeles' MOT, Liebe
    Geft, has already solicited ideas from Israeli novelists, political scientists
    and religious leaders. So far, however, the central exhibition at MOT
    Jerusalem, which is conceived by Mr. Hier, will highlight the journey of the
    Exodusa ship that carried Jews from Europe after WWII and was later denied
    entry into British controlled Jerusalem.
    Since the museum's mission is to specifically highlight the violations of
    human rights against Jews, Mr. Hier, speaking to the New York Times, has said
    that MOT is not about Palestinians. "It's not about the experience of the
    Palestinian people. When they have a state, they'll have their own museum."
    For
    a museum that boasts of highlighting the effects of human rights violations
    and
    the practice of tolerance, it seems rather odd that such an intentional
    omission would be allowed.
    The SWC's MOT Jerusalem directly conflicts with their mission of confronting
    "important contemporary issues," such as racism, terrorism and genocide, when
    it turns its back on the Palestinian situationa situation that is known
    worldwide as an "important contemporary issue." For instance, in 1949, the
    United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 302 (IV) to carry out direct
    relief and works programs for Palestinian refugees that were displaced
    following the Israeli incursion into Palestine, otherwise known as the
    Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1950, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
    Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which works with refugees and
    refugee camps in Israel and has seen the number of Palestinian refugees
    rise to
    4 million in 2002, was the off-spring of Resolution 302 (IV), and the General
    Assembly has renewed UNRWA's mandate repeatedly since 1949 until June 2005.
    After Israel invaded East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967
    Six-Day-War, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 242 which
    calls for the "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in
    the recent conflict" and highlights the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of
    territory by war." Interestingly, the SWC is an accredited NGO at both the UN
    and its cultural division of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
    Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
    Even if this form of cultural etiquette may come as a surprise to many, this
    is not the first time that the SWC has turned its back on human rights
    atrocities. The center's MOT in Los Angeles came under fire by the city's
    Armenian communitywhich is one of largest outside of Armenia todayin 2003 when
    the museum retracted their pledge of including the Armenian genocide by the
    Turkish Ottoman Empire as part of their permanent installation. A group of
    Armenian-American college students [Armenian Youth Federation members] even
    staged a six-day hunger strike in front of the MOT as a sign of protest
    against
    the museum's refusal to incorporate the topic into the permanent exhibition.
    Another Los Angeles-based artist/activist group created an on-line museum
    titled Museum of Amnesia (MOA) in protest against MOT's omission of the
    Armenian genocide. One of the members, speaking to F News about MOT's handling
    of political themes within their museum, responded by saying, "In general I
    think the MOT (LA) appears as this fortress that exhibits filtered-down
    (Wiesenthal's filter) and in some cases filtered-out information on complex
    issues. I think the Palestinian writer/ scholar Daoud Kuttab who was quoted in
    the [New York Times] article really echoes part of MOA's position when he said
    "What we often see is an attempt to give a superficial meaning to tolerance."
    In response to the Armenian community's protest, MOT's Director Geft
    responded
    the Jerusalem Post, saying, "Whatever we do, it won't be enough for some
    members of the Armenian community."
    Clearly, the SWC's track record in recording human rights violations at their
    museums is shaky at best. What that means for Palestinians living within
    Israel, in a museum meant to display Tolerance and Human Rights abuses within
    that very same country, remains contentious.

    Israeli Reservist Art
    While Israel is bracing herself for a new cultural display of "tolerance,"
    several Israeli reservists are exhibiting the exact opposite. In a June
    exhibition titled "Breaking the Silence" at the Academy for Geographic
    Photography in Tel Aviv, three Israeli Reservists, Micha Kurz, Yehuda Shaul
    and
    Yonathon Baumfeld, who finished their three years of mandatory service in
    Hebron, exhibited videotapes and photographs detailing the mistreatment of
    Palestinians under Israeli army rule. The exhibition was intended to portray
    what actually occurs during mandatory service with the Israeli army. In a
    letter addressed to visitors at the entrance of the exhibit, the soldiers
    said:
    "We decided to speak out. Hebron isn't in outer space. It's one hour from
    Jerusalem."
    Among the exhibition photographs, some images included Palestinians that are
    blindfolded and bound, and countless pictures of racist and near fascist
    graffiti created by Israeli settlers and directed towards the Palestinians.
    One
    such photo includes the phrase: "Arabs to the Gas Chambers."
    The videotapes included in the exhibition comprise testimonials by 70 Israeli
    soldiers who reveal the use of Palestinians as human shields and the overall
    mistreatment of Palestinians in general. The Israeli Military Police
    interrogated several of the artists-cum-reservists, including Micha Kurz.
    Kurz,
    after a seven-hour questioning session, responded to the press: "The army
    wants
    to keep us quiet and scare us way. They're not going to shut us up, because we
    have a lot to say, and they're not going to scare us off."


    6. Glendale Police Department Seeks to Diversify Force

    By Ani Shahinian
    Asbarez Staff

    GLENDALENever in the history of the Glendale Police Department have more
    positions been available for those thinking of pursuing a career in law
    enforcement. "It's a golden opportunity; there are positions for officer
    recruits, police cadets, and community service officers," says Sergeant Vahak
    Mardikian who is always ready to talk to potential applicants. "It is always
    helpful to talk to any officer within the department to gain a better
    understanding of what it takes."
    Lt. Bruce Fox, who heads the department's Professional Standards Bureau
    and is
    responsible for all hiring, said that while the department is working more
    diligently to be representative of the community, the task becomes difficult
    when trying to expand and hire in larger numbers.
    "The pressure is on to not only expand but to also diversify the
    department at
    the same time," says Fox, addressing the number of applicants who actually
    qualify.
    While there were a good pool of applicants seven to ten years ago, there has
    been a huge shrinkage among all nationalities since then.
    Fox explained that all Southern California departments face the same problem,
    and attributed the trend to the current low level of unemployment, along with
    the public's perception of police in general.
    But Fox says that the opportunities are expansive. He especially described
    the
    department's Cadet Program as an ideal means to attain experience in law
    enforcement.
    The part time program is open to full time college students currently
    enrolled
    in an accredited college or university carrying 9 units or more per semester,
    or eight units or more per quarter, with a GPA of at least 2.0.
    The program allows participants to tailor work schedules around school
    schedules, allowing exposure to a variety of areas in the police department,
    and the opportunity to attain diverse experience.
    The process to become a police officer begins by filing an application,
    followed by a written test covering basic writing, vocabulary, and
    comprehension skills in English. If successful, applicants go through a
    physical agility test, followed by an oral examination. It is during the oral
    examination that maturity level and decision making skills are measured.
    Once an applicant successfully completes these stages, a background check,
    which can take up to three months, is conducted.
    It is during this stage of the process, says Fox, that many problems arise.
    Considering that trustworthiness is a must for all positions, Fox emphasized
    the importance of a clean background.
    In order to better inform the community about what it takes to become a
    successful police officer, an information session will be held on Tuesday,
    September 7, at the Glendale Police Department's Community Room. It is
    presented by the Glendale Human Resources Department in conjunction with the
    Glendale Police Department. "The session will allow prospective applicants to
    better understand whether they are ready to serve the community," says Lt.
    Fox.
    The program, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will have speakers and officers on
    hand to answer any questions, including Sgt. Mardikian who says that the
    Glendale Police Department is ready to assist in any way it can.
    "The community has so much potential and is such a positive place to work. In
    the bigger departments you get lost in the shuffle, but in Glendale, you feel
    like you accomplish something every day. It's a good balance," says Lt. Fox,
    who has wanted to be a Glendale police officer since 8th grade.
    For more information go to www.police.ci.glendale.ca.us or call (818)
    548-3117.


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