The world does not seem to need very much advice on how to cover up massacres. People are good at creating masks of indifference, unknowing, denial and distortion of evidence without needing much training. A thoughtful and extensive review of a documentary on the catastrophe for the Arab people in the course of Israel’s War
A bill has been presented in Uruguay to criminalize the denial and also the trivialization of the Holocaust or of the Armenian Genocide and all other genocides that are recognized by the UN General Assembly and by Uruguay itself. The bill defines such behaviors as “crimes of incitement to hatred, contempt or violence towards people”
In an important new move, the German criminal code has been expanded from criminal liability of those who deny the Holocaust now also to include those who deny the genocides and war crimes in various parts of the world. DW-the German news service, Deutsche Welle, notes that this legislation now covers the various genocides such
On the occasion of the Zoryan Institute’s 40th Anniversary, once a month we will be highlighting one of our ZI Heroes. Not only have these individuals made invaluable contributions to the Institute and its mission, but they have also left their mark on the field of Genocide and Human Rights Studies. November 17, 2022: The
The several-months campaign of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide Jerusalem to influence the Israeli government to recognize the Armenian Genocide as of April 24, 2022 failed to achieve its goal, but we can hope nonetheless that it left some positive influences which will yet be helpful in the future. We argued that the
What can we in Israel can do to stop what we believe to be a slow and steady march toward appeasement with Iran. Professor Elihu Richter, MD published the following article in the Jerusalem Post and gave permission for its reproduction: Throughout my youth, I retained an obsession with the history of World War II and the
In a moving story in the Forward, released by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), the late Elie Wiesel’s son, Elisha, published a moving statement of shame about US participation in the Olympics in China. “Most of the world didn’t seem to know, or care, that the host country is hosting a pageant of ‘peace and
From our Editor: Sadly, news of fake news is an important aspect of tracking contemporary reality. Moreover, given that the war events between Azerbaijan and the Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabach represent at least symbolically a kind of continuation of the denied Turkish genocide of the Armenians, such fake news becomes part of our continuing study of
GERMANY ACKNOWLEDGES FIRST GENOCIDE OF THE 2Oth CENTURY, THE HERERO AND NAMA Hambira, Kavenam, and Gleckman-Krut, Miriam (July 8, 2021). Germany Apologized for a Genocide. It’s Nowhere Near Enough. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/opinion/germany-genocide-herero-nama.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage ED NOTE: This acknowledgment by Germany, at long last, is of great importance to students of genocide, and an important breakthrough in respect of
“The Family of Genocides Represents a Universal Sickness of Mankind.” A Conversation with Professor Israel Charny by Alessandra Pellegrini De Luca (June 22, 2021). In GARIWO website, Milan, Italy [GARIWO=Garden of the Righteous Worldwide.] https://en.gariwo.net/interviews/the-family-of-genocides-represents-a-universal-sickness-of-mankind-23905.html Israel Charny is an Israeli psychotherapist and a well-known genocide scholar. He is a specialist in the treatment of Holocaust survivors,
The full length review of the book written by distinguished German genocide scholar, Tessa Hofmann can be found here by clicking this link. A somewhat briefer version of this review was published in the California Courier on May 6, 2021. Book Review: “One is either for human life or not!” A review of Israel Charny’s New
Thank you Ofer Aderet and Haaretz for your meaningful article on May 3, 2021, “How Israel Quashed Efforts to Recognize the Armenian Genocide.” The article definitely succeeds in painting the picture of government – in this case Israel’s Foreign Ministry – lying blatantly, manipulating, invading academic freedom, putting out fake news and more. In this
by Ofer Aderet | Haaretz English Edition | May 2, 2021 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-israel-quashed-efforts-to-acknowledge-the-armenian-genocide-1.9766390?lts=1620128020482 Decades before the U.S. president formally recognized the horrors of 1915, Israel’s Foreign Ministry sought to foil an academic conference on the subject, fearing reprisal from Turkey. ‘We continue to act to reduce and diminish the Armenian issue to the extent of our ability by
by Israel W. Charny When the Turkish government demanded the cancellation of all lectures on the Armenian Genocide at Israel’s First International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide, and that Armenian lecturers not be allowed to participate, the Israeli government followed suit. This book follows the author’s gutsy campaign against his government and his quest
Ed. Note: Because of the Corona pandemic, many of the activities of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide Jerusalem were necessarily postponed. We particularly regret that our website did not join in a more timely fashion in reporting the wonderful, history-making news of recognition of the Armenian Genocide – and so overwhelmingly – by
by Israel W. Charny An excellent conference has been held in Athens, Greece, December 6-8, entitled “International Conference on the Crime of Genocide.” The conference, which was sponsored by the Pan-Pontian organization of Greece which sports a remarkable 450 or so branches in Greece and around the world, was dedicated on the one hand to
http://efxinospontos.gr/genoktonia/5773-declaration-of-the-international-conference-on-the-crime-of-genocide DECLARATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE 6 – 8 December 2019, Athens, Greece Submitted to the International Community for the «International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime December 9th, 2019 Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen of the
The following was submitted as an op-ed in English to the Jerusalem Post by Israel Charny, and similarly in Hebrew to Haaretz with the additional signature of Yair Auron, but in both cases was not published. There is no real basis for judging why op-eds are not accepted by newspapers, but we cannot help wondering
Beginning with the U.S. House of Representatives voting 405 to 11 on October 29, 2019 to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and continuing with an unprecedented unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate on December 21, 2019 to confirm recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Congress of the United States has unambiguously gone on record, “recognizing and
Yad Vashem is, understandably and with much justification, an ‘untouchable holiness’ in Israel, never to be criticized or regarded negatively. It is almost as if doing so would constitute speaking disparagingly about the awful and terrible Holocaust which of course no decent person would do. Nonetheless, there have always been significant criticisms by many Israelis
Overwhelming Bipartisan Passage of Armenian Genocide Resolution Reflects the Best of America Rouben Adalian October 29, 2019 http://bit.ly/2q2MeTY WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Armenian Genocide resolution, H.Res.296, was adopted today by an overwhelming favorable bipartisan vote of 405 to 11 in the U.S. House of Representatives, reported the Armenian Assembly of America. “The passage of
The following story dating back to 2015 was just sent to us by Dr. Rouben Adalian, Director of the Armenian National Institute (ANI) in Washington, DC. The photo of the delegation at the Eternal Flame at the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Musuem in Yerevan is of particular importance to Israelis, so that it is widely
Estricher, Noa (September 9, 2019). Genocide: Five Books on Genocide. Haaretz Book Review (Hebrew). An interview of Yair Auron in Hebrew with reference to five books on genocide in Hebrew: Franz Werfel, 40 Days of Musa Dag; Ora Achimeier, Araratim; Ambassador Morgenthau’s Diary, Israel Charny, Genocide -“And You Shall Destroy the Evil Inside of You”: We
June 25, 2019 BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN http://www.thecaliforniacourier.com/un-sends-a-stunning-letter-questioning-turkey-on-the-armenian-genocide/ Twenty-nine years ago the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted a report acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as a case of genocide. Until recently, there has been no other activity at the UN on this issue. Unexpectedly, on March 25, a surprising letter
Djulfa is a site in Azerbaijan which boasted the world’s largest collection of exquisitely carved medieval cross-stones as remnants of the areas once-thriving community of Armenian Christians. The site had stood for centuries. In December 2005, Azeri soldiers armed with sledgehammers, dump trucks and cranes destroyed the site, pounding the medieval headstones into rubble and
Neither the Armenian Genocide nor the Holocaust were included in a recent draft proposal of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Needless to say, a wide range of protests have reached the state including a partnering of Armenian, Greek, and Jewish organizations. Source: This article was read in the California Courier: Taub, David (August 22
“In Israel, it seems the Shoah must be viewed as unique; it is yoked to the narrative of redemptive Zionism.” From article by Daniella Peled, Does Yad Vashem Have a Problem with the Bosnian Genocide? Managing Editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Haaretz English Edition, August 16, 2019.” It was our intention
The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and the Armenian National Institute (ANI) join in paying tribute to Dr. Vahakn Dadrian, the internationally renowned scholar of the Armenian Genocide who passed away on August 2 at the age of 93. The author of a set of critically important books and articles on the Armenian Genocide, Dr.
Mr. Erdogan has carried out a purge of Turkish society, punishing his perceived enemies. He has closed 189 media outlets and jailed some 319 journalists. Turkey is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the Reporters without Borders 2019 index of press freedom. All told, 96,885 people have been arrested, 6,021 academics have been dismissed
In a lecture at Fresno State University in California, Dr. Taner Akcam, holder of the chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, presented a summary of the stages of genocide as identified by Professor Michel-Rolph Trouillot in Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History.[1] People in power silence or delete history in
The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem Salutes the Memory of the Great Researcher of the Armenian Genocide, Professor VAHAKN DADRIAN We celebrate the masterful significance of Vahakn Dadrian’s numerous researches of the Armenian Genocide. He was a brilliant and resolute authenticator of the validity of the documentation of the genocide at a
The United States government has in fact repeatedly recognized the Armenian Genocide. However, notwithstanding these statements of recognition which include a president’s (Reagan) recognition and several resolutions of the House of Representatives, the overall or standing policy of the United States continues to be an avoidance of recognition. An explicit statement of this avoidance is
by Joe Levine Retrieved from Teacher’s College at Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2019/january/driven/ The Nuba Betwixt, Between and Mostly Ignored Sudan, Africa’s third-largest nation, won independence from Great Britain in 1956, but has been the scene of two subsequent civil wars between the primarily Arabic, Islamic north and the black African and Christian south. Though located in
Would you believe this quotation from the War Department Reply?: “There has been considerable opinion to the effect that such an effort, even if practicable, might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans.” WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS August 9, 1944 Hon. John J. McCloy Under Secretary of War War Department Washington, D.C. My dear Mr.
By Israel W. Charny Once and For All for History: Repeatedly, there are articles that report or suggest that the milestone First International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in 1982 never took place at all or, alternatively, it is reported that the conference deteriorated severely and just about evaporated. Thus, the California Courier (June
Excerpted from Asbarez, April 9, 2019. New Armenian Genocide Resolution Locks-In Official Recognition, Rejects Turkey’s Denial, Encourages Public Education. Representatives Schiff and Bilirakis joined by over 70 U.S. House Colleagues in Launching Bipartisan Resolution WASHINGTON—On the eve of the Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide Observance, Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) were joined by more
A report of a remarkable ceremony at Auschwitz in March 2019 tells of Israeli and Polish students standing side by side reading out the names of their relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust at Auschwitz-Birkenau and other death camps. As is widely known, the Polish government in recent years has gone to an extreme
by Robert Fisk, Independent (London) Holocaust expert Israel Charny’s new book makes uncomfortable reading, as he asks us to examine ‘a truth we haven’t faced fully enough’ September 25, 2018 – Confronted on a warm, soft Jerusalem evening by one of Israel’s venerable Holocaust scholars – and a psychologist to boot – a visitor to
February 4, 2019 The news and anticipation that relationships between Israel and Armenia are developing constructively is good news indeed (“Are Israeli-Armenian Relations Warming Up,” January 9), if only because the Armenian people are our true brothers in suffering major genocides in the 20th century. As the Armenian Genocide is considered by many scholars to
The Knesset voted down a bill on Wednesday that would have recognized that the Yazidi people, a Kurdish religious minority with a presence in Iraq and Syria and the surrounding region, had been victims of genocide. Fifty-eight Knesset members voted against the bill, which was sponsored by Zionist Union Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova, while 38
Lynne Tracy, Ambassadorial nominee to Armenia, confirms “the mass killings that ended 1.5 million lives,” but will not use the big G-word and say the profanity “Genocide.” In a forceful editorial, “U.S. Ambassador to Armenian Should Call the Armenian Genocide a Genocide,” Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier, reproduces the amazing dialogue of denial
ONLY VICTIMS OF THE GAS CHAMBERS CAN GIVE PROOF OF THE GAS CHAMBERS Lyotard [French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist] used the example of Auschwitz and the revisionist historian Faurisson’s demands for proof of the Holocaust to show how the differend operates as a double bind (a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION AND DIGNITY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE AND OF THE PREVENTION OF THIS CRIME In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.
December 9 is a day proclaimed by the United Nations as a memorial to all the victims of genocide of all peoples: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION OF VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE AND OF ITS PREVENTION. December 9 is the day that in 1945 the United Nations passed the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN, PUBLISHER, CALIFORNIA COURIER · AUGUST 28, 2018 Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Media reports indicated that her visit to Armenia and meetings with its leadership were very constructive. Armenian German political, cultural and trade relations are expected to expand. Merkel’s visit resulted in a much needed boost for
Professor Yehuda Bauer, doyen of Holocaust studies in the world, who is academic advisor to Yad Vashem said in a radio interview about Poland’s newly announced position of suspending criminal penalties in a law that criminalized blaming Poles for Nazi crimes, that Yad Vashem/Israel’s approval of the correction “borders on betrayal” Bauer said about the
Excerpts from article on June 28, 2019 in Haaretz in response to Poland’s law forbidding reference to Polish participation in the Holocaust. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Poland a real treasure in return recognition of Poland’s narrative. The joint declaration, which (for good reason) the two leaders read in English rather than in their voters’ languages, made
Davies, Christian (June 27, 2018). Poland makes partial U-turn on Holocaust law after Israel row: Threat of jail removed for those who attribute crimes of Nazi Germany to Poles. Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/27/poland-partial-u-turn-controversial-holocaust-law Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has signed a legal amendment to decriminalise the false attribution to Poland and Poles of crimes committed by Nazi Germany
The Associated Press and Aderet, Ofer (March 22, 2018). Poland Disavows PM’s Father’s Claim That Jews Moved to Ghettos to Get Away From non-Jews. Haaretz English Edition. https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/poland-disavows-pm-s-father-s-ghetto-claim-1.5935141. In a revealing sequel to the original legislation criminalizing any reference to Poles as perpetrators in the Holocaust which was stewarded by Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the father of the prime
Published in the California Courier (March 15, 2018). The USC Shoah Foundation announced the receipt of one of the largest collections of testimonies from survivors of the Armenian Genocide. The testimonies were recorded over several decades beginning in the 1970’s by Richard Hovannisian, a leading scholar on the genocide and the son of a genocide
Fisk, Robert (15 February 2018). In the cases of two separate holocausts, Israel and Poland find it difficult to acknowledge the facts of history. London Independent. Reprinted with permission of the author. While Poland has decided to outlaw any claims that their countrymen participated in the extermination of the Jews, Israel continues to ignore the
Sassounian, Harut (March 1, 2018). Pres. Erdogan, a Menace to the World, Should be Stopped Before It’s Too Late. California Courier. http://www.thecaliforniacourier.com/pres-erdogan-a-menace-to-the-world-should-be-stopped-before-its-too-late/ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become a major danger to his own nation as well as many others. His actions and statements in recent years should seriously worry his neighbors and the entire
Listserv of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) Publishes a Report on Polish Criminalization of References to the Holocaust, Allows Criticism of Israel as a Denier of Genocides and Seller of Arms, but Censors Critique of the Journal of Genocide Research. On February 7, 2018, an article was posted on the IAGS Listserv about
by Harut Sassounian California Courier, January 11, 2018. Prominent Israeli scholar Yair Auron filed an official request with Israel’s Foreign Ministry on December 21, 2017 asking for all internal documents on agreements and commitments undertaken by the State of Israel with Turkey and Azerbaijan not to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The request sent by Auron’s
A Smoking Gun!: Erdogan Calls Turkey the ‘Continuation of the Ottoman Empire,’ So It Is Unmistakably Turkey that Committed the Armenian Genocide Turkey’s current (and who apparently hopes to join the growing list of rulers of countries who stay on and on accruing greater and greater power) president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has himself provided the
Professor Yair Auron, who is the Associate Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, has created and leads a project of a GARDEN OF THE RIGHTEOUS at Nave Shalom which is Israel’s only official Jewish-Palestinian cooperative settlement. The following article in Hebrew, הגן הוא סמל הנכסים המטאפיסיים והרוחניים, by Ruth Almog describes
Published in the California Courier January 28, 2018 – The Polish parliament has approved a law that forbids use of the term “Polish Death Camp,” and forbids any other mention of the participation of the Poles in crimes committed during the Holocaust. Anyone who violates the law, including non-Polish citizens, will be liable to receive a
“How do we act with regard to genocide committed by other nations? We deny the Armenian Genocide. The State of Israel (and not private arms dealers) sold arms to the government of Rwanda at the time they were committing the most rapid genocide in history. Israeli government authorities prevent scrutiny of the documents that reveal
By Yair Auron | Apr. 1, 2016 | Haaretz English Edition Identifying with Azerbaijan by saying there was mass murder at Khojaly in 1992 desecrates the memory of the Holocaust. In an Israeli forest dedicated to Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, 613 trees were planted last month to mark “24 years since the Khojaly genocide” in Azerbaijan.
Alternative memorial in mixed Israeli village to commemorate rescuers in all genocides, including some Holocaust saviors never acknowledged by Yad Vashem. By Judy Maltz | Haaretz English Edition | Jul. 14, 2016 | NEVE SHALOM – A makeshift sign tacked onto an olive tree is for now the only clue to the grand plan in store
Ahead of international conference in Jerusalem, two rival camps of genocide scholars are at each other’s throats, including accusations of anti-Semitism and debates over the Holocaust BY RAPHAEL AHREN Times of Israel June 26, 2016 http://www.timesofisrael.com/academics-go-to-war-over-the-study-of-mass-killings/ Remember the Jew who was stranded on a deserted island and built two synagogues: the one in which he
By Israel W. Charny Jerusalem Post Magazine May 27, 2016 http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Genocide-scholars-who-minimize-the-Holocaust-and-some-who-are-coming-to-town-455021 We all know sadly how often Jews are hated in this world, but would you ever have dreamed how far they would go in distorting history? Polish born Mordechai Fox, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, wears a yellow Star of David on his jacket during
אברהם בורג Haaretz Hebrew Edition May 20, 2016 Review of Auron, Yair. The Banality of Compassion: On the Rescuing of Jewish Children in the Circassian Muslim Village in 1942. Published in Tel Aviv. Riesling, 2016. (Hebrew) ספרו של יאיר אורון עוסק בסיפור לא ידוע ונוגע ללב על הכפר הצ׳רקסי־מוסלמי בסלניי שבקווקז, שהתגייס להציל ילדים יהודים יתומים
Identifying with Azerbaijan by saying there was mass murder at Khojaly in 1992 desecrates the memory of the Holocaust. By Yair Auron | Apr. 1, 2016 | Haaretz English Edition In an Israeli forest dedicated to Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, 613 trees were planted last month to mark “24 years since the Khojaly genocide” in Azerbaijan.
By Yair Auron Haaretz English Edition Jul 10, 2015 In the only genocide to occur in Europe since the Holocaust, more than 8,500 Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered by Serb forces in a UN-declared ‘safe area.’ Despite the evidence, denial of the atrocity continues. A forensic anthropologist of the International Commission on Missing Persons attempts to
California Courier November 13, 2015 Following the first conference ever held in Israel on the Armenian Genocide which took place on November 2-3, 2015 at the Open University of Israel, the lecturers at the conference were invited to an hour-long meeting with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin at the president’s residence in Jerusalem. President Rivlin spoke
by Harut Sassounian Presented at the first international conference on the Armenian Genocide in Israel held at the Open University of Israel on November 2-4, 2015. “Marking 100 Years since the Armenian Genocide” Now that the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide is coming to an end, Armenians consider the recognition stage of the century old