Armenia–Israel relations

Armenian - Israeli relations

Armenia
Israel

Armenia–Israel relations are bilateral relations between Armenia and Israel. During the period of 1993–2007 Armenia was covered from the Embassy of Israel in Georgia. In 1996 Mr. Tsolak Momjian was appointed as Honorary Consul of Armenia in Jerusalem. Since 2007 the residence of the Embassy of Israel to Armenia moved to Jerusalem and in October 2010 Shmuel Meirom was appointed as Ambassador of Israel to Armenia.[1] In 2012 Mr. Armen Melkonian was appointed as Ambassador of Armenia to Israel with residence in Cairo.[2] In October 2012 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Israel Mr. Armen Melkonyan presented his credentials to the Israeli President Shimon Peres.[3]

The Armenians and the Jews have been often compared in both academic and non-academic literature since at least the early 20th century, often in the context of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust,[4][5] which along with the Cambodian Genocide and the Rwandan Genocide are considered among the most notorious genocides of the 20th century.[6] Historians, journalists, political experts have pointed out a number of similarities between the two ethnic groups: the wide dispersion around the world, the relatively small size, the former lack of statehood, the fact that both countries are largely surrounded by Muslim and mainly hostile countries, their influential lobby in the United States, and even their success in chess.[7][8][9][10]

Armenians in Israel

An Armenian priest in Jerusalem (left) and a Jew in Armenia circa 1900 (right).

The Armenian community has been residing in the Levant for around two millennia. According to Yoav Loeff, a professor of Armenian language and history at the Hebrew University, the Armenian presence in Jerusalem dates back to 301 AD, thanks to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, that dates back to the Apostolic Age.[11][12] Tigranes the Great, under whom Armenia reached its greatest extent, deported thousands of Jews into Armenia in the 1st century BC.[11] Israel itself is home to the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.[13][14] The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was founded in 638 and it is located in the Armenian Quarter, the smallest of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to a 2006 study, 790 Armenians live in the Old City alone.[15]

One of the earliest mentions of the Armenians and the Jews is in the 1723 book Travels through Europe, Asia, and into parts of Africa by French traveler Aubry de La Motraye, where the author writes that the Armenians and Jews are "reckon'd more honest" compared to the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire.[16]

Roughly 25,000 resided in the former British Mandate of Palestine by the time of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, but the majority fled the area in the ensuing violence.[12] After the establishment of the State of Israel, most of the remaining Armenian community took up Israeli citizenship and settled in the Old City's Armenian Quarter.[12]

Israel supported Azerbaijan with weapons and ammunition during the Nagorno-Karabakh War against Armenia in the early 1990s, for geopolitical reasons. The threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran was taken into account.[17][18][19] The Journal of Turkish Weekly has stated that the relations between Israel and Armenia deteriorated because of this exact reason, although the blame was partly on the Jews of Azerbaijan as well, therefore creating all sorts of conspiracy theories from unscrupulous sectors of the Armenian society.[20]

There have been several spitting incidents during recent years in the Old City of Jerusalem, usually by some Haredi Jews who study at yeshiva. The Jerusalem Post reported in 2009 that out of all Christians living there, Armenians were most often spat on by the ultra-Orthodox Jews.[21] In 2011, several instances of spitting and verbal attacks on Armenian clergymen by Haredi Jews were reported in the Old City. The Jerusalem district police responded: "All complaints of mutual assault are treated with the utmost severity. In the past, more than one case ended with charges being filed and the deportation of clergy involved in assault. As opposed to the situation about three years ago, the frequency of spitting has declined dramatically." [22] Nourhan Manougian, the current Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem (an independent and self-governing Christian patriarchate that dates back to the Apostolic Age), stated in 2013 that If Israel recognizes the Armenian Genocide it won't be the end of the world and that Armenians in Jerusalem are currently being treated as third-class citizens, referring to the bureaucracy in the State of Israel, that is established for obvious strategic and security reasons.[23]

Culture

Armenian pottery painting in Armenian Quarter (left) and An Armenian ceramicist in the Old City of Jerusalem (right).

Armenians in Israel are ethnic Armenians with Israeli citizenship. There are currently 3,000[24] Armenians living in Israel, including 1,000 in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter.[25] Around one thousand Armenian-Israelis have Israeli citizenship, residing mainly in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Jaffa and Haifa. Additionally "The Institute of African and Asian Studies" at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem established a chair of Armenian Studies programme, specialising in the study of the Armenian language, literature, history and culture as well as the Armenian Genocide. Jewish Virtual Library describes Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter as follows:

Unlike other Quarters in the Old City, the Armenian Quarter is well preserved. The St. James Convent is a complex of several churches with open spaces and gardens covered with a variety of greenery. The Patriarchate building next door is an impressive structure consisting of the Patriarch's residence, gold embossed throne room and several offices. Behind its main gate, the convent contains priest's quarters, a library building, a museum, printing press, elementary and high schools and residences, youth and social clubs and residential shelters for the poor and employees of the Patriarchate. Currently the Theological Seminary is located outside the convent across the street from the main gate.[25]

Much of Jerusalem's artistic heritage has been influenced by Armenian ceramics and tile-painting.[12]

Jewish community in Armenia

Jew and Armenian by James Tissot, 1880s, Brooklyn Museum

Prior to the 1996 discovery of a medieval Jewish cemetery, it was believed that there had been no Jewish presence in Armenia before modern times.[26] A team of Armenian and Israeli historians and archaeologists excavated the site of the original discovery and managed to find 64 more graves.[26] It was ultimately determined that the Jewish community of Armenia dated back to at least the 13th century.[26] Bishop Mkrtchyan, who first discovered the cemetery, commented, "At a time when you can't imagine that a country... in Europe either helped create or didn't destroy a Jewish settlement... It is fantastic how they could gather cultural, architectural symbolism of Jewish Armenians... and they were connected, and built one of the strongest kingdoms during time of Mongols."[26]

Subsequently, historians conjectured that the first Jews arrived in Armenia shortly after the destruction of the first Holy Temple in Jerusalem.[27] They lived relatively peacefully alongside the Armenian Christians and continue to do so, with anti-Semitic incidents being a rarity.[27] Many immigrated to Israel following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948,[27] and 2002 estimations place the number of ethnic Jews living in Armenia at below 1,000.[28]

Officially, there is only a small Russified Jewish community of 800 Jews in Armenia still remaining, mostly living in Yerevan, without taking into account the Subbotniks who reside around Sevan.[11][29] Rimma Varzhapetian-Feller, the head of the Jewish Community of Armenia, has stated that she always felt proud of Armenia when she met fellow Jews from other parts of the former Soviet Union, and that “We always declare everywhere that there has never been antisemitism in Armenia, that Armenia is a good place for Jews to live and, more importantly, that Armenia is quite a stable country in political and social respects”. The first instances of antisemitism in Armenia occurred in September 2004 when, for the first time in Armenia's history, the Joint Tragedies Memorial in Yerevan was desecrated.[30]

On 23 October 2004, the head of the Department for Ethnic and Religious Minority Issues Hranoush Kharatyan accused Israeli leaders of promoting intolerance toward non-Jews,[31] in response to an incident regarding the Archbishop of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian and a yeshiva student, in which latter spat on him during a religious procession in the city.[32] The yeshiva student eventually apologized to the Armenian Archbishop for spitting.[33]

During her visit to Armenia in 2012, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture Orit Noked stated, "We are like each other with our history, character, with our small number of population and having communities abroad."[34]

Economic relations

Since independence, Armenia has received support from Israel and today remains one of its trade partners. According to the CIA World Factbook, Armenia receives 4.8% of its imports from Israel, which means that Israel receives 7.1% of Armenia's exports.[35]

Diplomatic relations

Israel and Armenia have maintained diplomatic relations since the latter's independence from the Soviet Union in 1992.[1] From 1993 to 2007, the Armenian embassy to Israel was located in Georgia, though Tsolak Momjian was appointed as Honorary Consul of Armenia in Jerusalem in 1996.[1] The embassy was eventually moved to Jerusalem.[1]

There have been several high-level official visits to Israel by Armenians in the last several years. In January 2000, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan traveled to Israel and met with high-ranking Israeli officials, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The two sides pledged to strengthen relations and signed agreements on health and bilateral investment.[36] In 2003, the Catholicos of All Armenian Karekin II visited the then Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger who accepted an invitation by Karekin II to visit Armenia,[37] a trip that he made in 2005, including a visit to the Tsitsernakaberd (the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan).[38] While doing so he formally recognised the Armenian Genocide as an historical fact.[39]

In 2014, Shmuel Meirom, the Ambassador of Israel to Armenia with residence in Jerusalem, declared that Israel is willing to have a visa-free regime with Armenia soon, applying this directly to holders of diplomatic passports.[40]

High-level visits and meetings
Date Location Note
December 1994 Israel Armenian Minister of Forign Affairs Vahan Papazian visits[1]
February 1995 Israel President Robert Kocharyan of the Republic of Armenia visits[1]
October 1998 Israel Armenian Minister of Forign Affairs Vardan Oskanian visits[1]
January 2000 Jerusalem Armenian President Robert Kocharyan meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, President Ezer Weizman, Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg, Minister of Interior Natan Sharansky, and Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert[1][41]
November 2005 Yerevan Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger visits Armenia and declares that the Israeli Jewish community recognizes the Armenian Genocide[42]
August 2011 Yerevan Israeli diplomats headed by Foreign Ministry official Pinchas Avivi and Armenian diplomats headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian meet to discuss the relationship between their countries[43]
April 2012 Yerevan Israeli Agriculture Minister Orit Noked meets with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetian[44]
July 2013 Yerevan Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan meets with Yair Auron, an Israeli historian who specializes in genocide studies[45]

Holocaust and Armenian Genocide

Current

President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi with the leader of the Armenian Church in 1958

The recognition of the Genocide became a subject of debate in Israel in the years following the independence of Armenia in 1991 from the Soviet Union, with several citizens, ranging from politicians, rabbis, and the Armenian community calling on Israel to formally do so. At the same time, Turkey has warned of harming its ties with Israel, if either Israel or the United States recognize the mass extermination as a genocide.[46] Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 2003-2013, paid a visit to Tsitsernakaberd in 2005, also known as the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan[38] and while doing so formally recognised the Armenian Genocide as an historical fact.[39] In October 2008, 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. By its own initiative, the government of Turkey kept on lobbying to prevent it going on further.[47] According to The Jerusalem Post, "many Israelis are eager for their country to recognize the Genocide".[48] During the summer of 2011, the Knesset held its first discussion on the matter. By a unanimous vote of 20-0, Israel's Parliament approved an open, public session on the issue by the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, at the request of Meretz Knesset member Zahava Gal-On,[49] and stopped the passing of a bill put forward by Gilad Erdan, an Israeli cabinet minister and close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leaving the subject aside for political reasons.[50] Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who was among the bill's supporters, stated "It is my duty as a Jew and Israeli to recognize the tragedies of other peoples."[51] He has told an Israel-based Armenian action committee that he intends to introduce an annual parliamentary session to mark the Armenian Genocide.[52]

The State of Israel has yet to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and the Armenian community of Jerusalem has vocalized its beliefs that this is due to fear of jeopardizing diplomatic relations with Turkey.[12] Yair Auron, an Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing on Holocaust and Genocide studies, has corroborated the fact that Israel is worried about hurting its current trade relations with Turkey and wants to, as a side note, to retain the uniqueness of the Holocaust.[53]

The Israel lobby in the U.S. has differing views, but to date the Anti-Defamation League[54] and the American Jewish Committee[55][56][57] have recognized the Armenian Genocide as an historical fact.

The Yad Vashem, or the Holocaust Memorial of Israel, has paid tribute to 24 Armenians as Righteous Among the Nations for risking their lives to save and rescue Jews during the Holocaust.

20th Century

One of the major primary sources narrating the Armenian Genocide, Ambassador Morgenthau's Story (1918), was written by Henry Morgenthau, Sr., a Jewish-American lawyer who served as the Ambassador of the United States to the Ottoman Empire from 1913-1916. On the other hand, Raphael Lemkin, a famous Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, coined the concept of Genocide in 1943 as a Crime against humanity. He created the word while thinking of the Armenian tragedy.[58][59][60] Arguably the most famous novel discussing the Genocide, titled The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1933), was written by Franz Werfel, an Austrian of Jewish descent.[61]

Denial issues

In 2001, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres described the Armenian Genocide as "meaningless." In response, Dr. Israel Charny, an expert historian, current Executive Director and one of the founders, among Elie Wiesel (a Holocaust survivor), of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem accused Peres of going "beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass.". In his letter to Peres, Charny stated:

“ It seems that because of your wishes to advance very important relations with Turkey, you have been prepared to circumvent the subject of the Armenian genocide in 1915–1920 ... it may be that in your broad perspective of the needs of the state of Israel, it is your obligation to circumvent and desist from bringing up the subject with Turkey, but, as a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian genocide, comparable to denials of the Holocaust.[62] ”

In 2008, Yosef Shagal, former Israeli parliamentarian of the Far-right political party Yisrael Beiteinu, which was founded by immigrants from the former Soviet Union (including Jews from Azerbaijan) stated the following in an interview to the Azerbaijani media: "I find it is deeply offensive, and even blasphemous to compare the Holocaust of European Jewry during the Second World War with the mass extermination of the Armenian people during the First World War. Jews were killed because they were Jews, but Armenians provoked Turkey and should blame themselves."[63]

Notable people of mixed Armenian-Jewish descent

Levon Aronian, the son of a Jewish father and an Armenian mother

Works

Books

Articles

Other

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Bilateral Relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ Chernamorian, Artiom (May 11, 2012). "Armenia Already Has An Ambassador In Israel". Friends of Armenia. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ Cashman, Greer (October 17, 2012). "New Egyptian envoy: We're committed to peace". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ Sanjian, Ara. "Richard Hovannisian and David Myers, Enlightenment and Diaspora: The Armenian and Jewish Cases (book review in English)", Haigazian Armenological Review, vol. 21 (2001), pp. 405–410. See here "This is not the first attempt, of course, to compare certain aspects of Armenian and Jewish history. Previous comparative endeavors, however, had mostly dealt with the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in relation to the Jewish Holocaust of the Second World War."
  5. ↑ "Armenia". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 12 August 2013. The fate and modes of existence of the Armenians have been compared in some essential features to those of the Jews.
  6. ↑ Jones, Adam (2013). Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-134-25981-6.
  7. ↑ Burns, John F. (14 June 1982). "William Saroyan's long journey from Fresno to his ancestral land". New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2013. In common with Jews and other scattered peoples, the Armenians have fostered a pride that goes beyond their mountainous corner of the transCaucasus, not much bigger than Vermont, which is all that remains of an empire that ranked with Byzantium and Persia in the ancient world.
  8. ↑ Keller, Bill (11 September 1988). "Armenia and Its Neighbors Only Diverge". New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2013. Like the Israelis, the Armenians are united by a vivid sense of victimization, stemming from the 1915 Turkish massacre of 1.5 million Armenians. Armenians are brought up on this story of genocide, and have a feeling of being surrounded by actual or potential enemies - the Islamic Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey.
  9. ↑ Specter, Michael (15 July 1994). "Armenians Suffer Painfully in War, But With Pride and Determination". New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2013. Like Israel, another small country surrounded by enemies with a hauntingly similar character and history, Armenia puts its single-minded goal -- the rugged mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, in Azerbaijan -- ahead of everything.
  10. ↑ Edmonds, David (18 November 2009). "The lion and the tiger". Prospect. Retrieved 25 August 2013. The parallels between Jews and Armenians are striking. Both have well-knit diasporas—there are more than three times as many ethnic Armenians living outside the country as inside and remittances are key to sustaining the economy. Both have strong lobby groups in Washington. Both take inordinate pride in the achievements of their ethnic group—singer Cher and tennis player Andre Agassi are two Americans that Armenians claim as their own. Both have histories marked by identity-shaping tragedies. And both Israel and Armenia are small nations and chess giants.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Armenia". National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Gelfond Feldinger, Lauren (June 29, 2013). "'We are third-class citizens,' says Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem". Haaretz. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Jerusalem - The Old City: The Armenian Quarter". Jewish Virtual Library.
  14. ↑ Neusner, Jacob (1965). A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Volumes 1-5. Brill Archive. p. 27. Tigranes took a large number of Jews captive, and deported them to Armavir and Vardges on the Ksakh river, which became a great commercial center.
  15. ↑ "Jerusalem The Old City The Urban Fabric and Geopolitical Implications" (PDF). International Peace and Cooperation Center. 2009. p. 43. ISBN 965-7283-16-7. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  16. ↑ Aubry de La Motraye (1723). A. de La Motraye's Travels through Europe, Asia, and into parts of Africa. London: Printed for the author. p. 189.
  17. ↑ R. Hrair Dekmejian & Hovann H. Simonian. Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region, 2003, p. 125 "In addition to commercial links, Israel has given strong backing to Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which reportedly has included military assistance."
  18. ↑ Sedat Laçiner, Mehmet Özcan, İhsan Bal. USAK Yearbook of International Politics and Law 2010, Vol. 3, p. 322 "Israel was one of the strategic partners and supporters of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh War with Armenia."
  19. ↑ Bahruz Balayev, The Right to Self-Determination in the South Caucasus: Nagorno Karabakh in Context, Lexington Books, 2013, p. 73 "Israel has supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia for the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh."
  20. ↑ Laciner, Sedat (2002). "Armenia's Jewish Scepticism and Its Impact on Armenia-Israel Relations". Journal of Turkish Weekly. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  21. ↑ Derfner, Larry (26 November 2009). "Mouths filled with hatred". The Jerusalem Post. Of all Old City Christians, the Armenians get spat on most frequently because their quarter stands closest to those hot spots.
  22. ↑ Rosenberg, Oz (6 November 2011). "Armenian clergy subjected to Haredi spitting attacks". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "'We are third-class citizens,' says Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem". Haaretz. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  24. ↑ "Armenia Diaspora (Հայաստան սփյուռք)" (in Armenian).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "The Armenian Quarter". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Borshchevskaya, Anna (February 11, 2013). "Jewish Armenia". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Armenia: History of Jewish Community". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Armenia's Jewish Scepticism and Its Impact on Armenia-Israel Relations". Turkish Weekly. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  29. ↑ "The Subbotniks: an Armenian community on the fringe of extinction - World". Jewish Journal.
  30. ↑ Danielyan, Emil (26 January 2005). "Armenia: Country's Jews Alarmed Over Nascent Anti-Semitism". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  31. ↑ "Armenia: Country’s Jews Alarmed Over Nascent Anti-Semitism". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
  32. ↑ Armenian archbishop quizzed over spat with yeshiva student. Haaretz, Oct 11, 2004
  33. ↑ Jerusalem yeshiva student apologizes to Armenian archbishop for spitting Haaretz, Oct. 18, 2004
  34. ↑ "Israeli Minister of Agriculture Speaks About Similarities Between Histories of Armenians and Jews". Armenian Mirror-Spectator. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  35. ↑ "The World Factbook". cia.gov.
  36. ↑ Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia - Armenia
  37. ↑ Ara Abrahamian called to develop Armenia-Israel relations
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "The Armenian Church". armenianchurch.org.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "World Jewish Congress: Israeli Chief Rabbi says killing of Armenians in 1915 was genocide".
  40. ↑ "Arminfo: Shmuel Meirom: Israel is willing to contribute of its experience in the field of economy, but it cannot force Israeli business to invest in Armenia". arminfo.am.
  41. ↑ "President of Armenia - Visit to Israel". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. January 20, 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  42. ↑ "Israeli chief rabbi in historic Armenia visit". European Jewish Press. November 24, 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  43. ↑ Danielyan, Emil (August 23, 2011). "Armenia, Israel Review Tenuous Relationship". Azatutyun. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  44. ↑ "Israeli Minister Visits Armenia". Asbarez. April 16, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  45. ↑ "President Sargsyan receives visiting Israeli historian". Armenia Now. July 18, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  46. ↑ "Israel expresses concern over Turkish-Armenian massacre dispute". The Associated Press. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  47. ↑ "A Turkey-Armenia reconciliat In Chapter 12 of "The Hunger Games 3: Mocking Jay", ion?". Los Angeles Times. 2008-04-25. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  48. ↑ David Smith (2008-04-25). "Armenia's 'Christian holocaust'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  49. ↑ Stoil, Rebecca Anna (18 May 2011). "Knesset moves toward recognizing Armenian genocide". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 May 2011. For years, consecutive governments had blocked attempts by MKs to raise the subject of recognizing the genocide out of concern that such recognition could damage relations with Ankara. This year, however, the government did not block the hearing.
  50. ↑ "Israeli minister calls to recognize Armenian genocide". Reuters. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  51. ↑ Lis, Jonathan (31 May 2011). "Knesset Speaker working to boost recognition of Armenian genocide". Haaretz. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  52. ↑ Lis, Jonathan (31 May 2011). "Knesset Speaker working to boost recognition of Armenian genocide". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 June 2011. 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.
  53. ↑ Der Mugrdechian, Barlow (December 2000). "Dr. Yair Auron Analyzes Jewish Response to the Armenian Genocide Through New Research". Hye Sharzhoom. California State University, Fresno Center for Armenian Studies. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  54. ↑ ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide www.adl.org, Press Release
  55. ↑ A Commemoration of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide www.ajclosangeles.org, Event
  56. ↑ AJC Pays Tribute to Memories of Victims of the Meds Yeghern www.ajc.org, Press Release
  57. ↑ Turkey’s DC Envoy Angered by Jewish Group’s Genocide Recognition, Asbarez News
  58. ↑ Yair Auron. The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide. — Transaction Publishers, 2004. — p. 9:"...when Raphael Lemkin coined the word genocide in 1944 he cited the 1915 annihilation of Armenians as a seminal example of genocide"
  59. ↑ William Schabas. Genocide in international law: the crimes of crimes. — Cambridge University Press, 2000. — p. 25:"Lemkin’s interest in the subject dates to his days as a student at Lvov University, when he intently followed attempts to prosecute the perpetration of the massacres of the Armenians
  60. ↑ A. Dirk Moses. Genocide and settler society: frontier violence and stolen indigenous children in Australian history. — Berghahn Books, 2004. — p. 21:"Indignant that the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide had largely escaped prosecution, Lemkin, who was a young state prosecutor in Poland, began lobbying in the early 1930s for international law to criminalize the destruction of such groups."
  61. ↑ Bushinsky, Jay (20 August 2004). "The Armenian genocide : Face history's heartbreaking truth". New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  62. ↑ Fisk, Robert (18 April 2001). "Peres stands accused over denial of 'meaningless' Armenian Holocaust". The Independent. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  63. ↑ Депутат парламента Израиля: "Считаю глубоко оскорбительными и даже богохульственными попытки сравнивать Катастрофу европейского еврейства в годы Второй мировой войны с массовым истреблением армянского народа в годы Первой мировой войны". Day.Az (in Russian). 28 March 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  64. ↑ Edmonds, David (18 November 2009). "The lion and the tiger". Prospect. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  65. ↑ Stanley, Alessandra (19 June 2011). "Elena Bonner, Widow of Sakharov, Dies at 88". New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  66. ↑ Glad, John (1990). Literature in exile. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-8223-0987-1.
  67. ↑ Shefler, Gil (8 April 2013). "UN Watch to bestow Kasparov with human rights accolade". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  68. ↑ "Garry Kasparov". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  69. ↑ Bauer, Laurel (12 September 1993). "The Moves Of A Mental Matador". Chicago Tribute. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  70. ↑ "А всему виной телефон ...". Central Jewish Resource. Retrieved 9 October 2013. Евгений Петросян, у которого мама еврейка. А вы знаете, что считается не по папе - армянин, а по маме - еврей.
  71. ↑ Arkun, Aram (15 June 2012). "The Two Hollywood Worlds of Richard Shepard". Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  72. ↑ "Jackie Speier". J Street. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  73. ↑ Vartanian, Hrag (1 April 2004). "Michael Vartan: A Face That's Hard To Forget". Armenian General Benevolent Union. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  74. ↑ Bloom, Nate (3 June 2005). "Celebrity Jews". Jweekly.
  75. ↑ "Georgian Prime Minister Proud His Mother Is Armenian". PanARMENIAN.Net. 10 June 2004.
  76. ↑ "Jewish Community Mourns Sudden Loss of Georgian Prime Minister". Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. 3 February 2005. Retrieved 9 October 2013.