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Balakian Discusses Genocide, Cultural Destruction at Holocaust Museum Houston
Anticipation was peak as a record crowd gathered at the Holocaust Museum Houston on Sat., March 14 for an emersion into a fascinating lecture on Raphael Lemkin, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and cultural destruction.
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Peter Balakian has done a noble service to the Armenian cause in his address at Houston, as is always the case with him. His efforts are notable in several respects. First, in emphasizing the systematic destruction of our culture: the churches, the schools, the museums, in addition to over one million innocents in the 19th and 20th centuries. This puts the lie to the Turkish claim that they were merely responding to traitorous act of Armenian soldiers. The Turks do not address the fact that thousands of Armenians served the Ottoman Empire loyally in the 19th and 20th centuries. Second, it is admirable that he recognizes and honors Jewish contribution to recognition of the genocide.We need coalitions to support our efforts even though many Jews today minimize the realities of the Armenian Holocaust. Lastly, he points to the shortsightedness and cowardice of our State Department notwithstanding that so many countries recognize the facts of history. This is not the only example of shortsightedness on the part of our country in foreign relations.
I don’t know where you are from but I have many Jewish friends AND NOT ONE MINIMIZES THE REALITITIES OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE furthermore they all believe if they forces that be would have stopped it THE HOLOCAUST would have NEVER TAKEN PLACE Their words not mine
The “erosion and falsification of Ani” does not come from Turkey. Turkey has tried to do it, and continues to attempt to do it, but no visitor to Ani has ever given any regard to it. The real erosion and falsification of Ani is now coming from the secretive foreign band of “experts” who control Ani. For example, Carsten Paludan-Müller, director of The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, considers that the identification of Ani as an Armenian site, or the identification of a particular structure as Armenian, is “ideological” rather than being an architectural or archaeological question, and he has stated that the goal of his project’s team (aka the “Ani Workshop”) is to get Ani “de-nationalised”. Under the “Ani Workshop”, Ani is no longer an archaeological site whose preservation and study should be guided by international protocols. Ani is now a tool to be used in ngo, EU, and US government-controlled “Turkish-Armenian dialog” exercises, where discussions about the identity of, or significance of, Ani’s monuments is dictated by the goals of the Ani Workshop’s paymasters.