Posted on 04/30/2007 4:03:49 AM PDT by theothercheek
For weeks, Washington, D.C. has been the scene of frantic smoky back-room lobbying and political maneuvering against H.Res.106/S.Res.106 (AHA The Armenian Genocide Resolution).
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times and a commentary by The Jewish Exponent’s Jonathan S. Tobin published by Jewish World Review describe Israel’s dilemma of being torn between allegiance to Turkey, the only Muslim nation not actively trying to drive it into the sea, and moral obligation to a people whose history of persecution and extermination (video link) parallels that of the Jews so closely that Armenians are sometimes referred to as "the Chosen People of the New Testament." Two differing views of Israel's choice:
From the Los Angeles Times:
Though the events lie far in the past, Armenians and Armenian Americans have worked hard to keep the memory alive. The Turkish government and the ultranationalists who are resurgent in that country have worked equally hard to keep the U.S. government from taking a position.
Caught in the middle of the debate are Israel and its supporters. …
Civilian and military leaders of the Turkish government, including Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, met at a Washington hotel in February with more than a dozen leaders of major Jewish organizations in an effort to prevent action on the resolution. Members of the Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee took part in the gathering.
"I believe the right thing for the Jewish community is to recognize the Armenian genocide as a fact, because virtually every historian and scholar of note in this area calls it a genocide," said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. "As friends of Turkey, we need to encourage them to just recognize the truth, honor the victims and be done with it. This would only enhance Turkey's standing in the world."
Other Jewish leaders, believing the security needs of the U.S. and Israel trump distant history, are siding with Turkey.
"I don't think a bill in Congress will help reconcile this issue. The resolution takes a position. It comes to a judgment," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "The Turks and Armenians need to revisit their past. The Jewish community shouldn't be the arbiter of that history," he said. "And I don't think the U.S. Congress should be the arbiter either."
From Jewish World Review:
It was the first modern genocide, and the fact that the perpetrators were never held accountable is often cited as a reason why the Nazis thought they could get away with trying to exterminate the Jews.
You would think that a Jewish community that has expended so much effort not only to enshrine the memory of the Holocaust but to ensure that it serve as an example to warn against crimes against others would be aligned with the Armenians, but that's not entirely correct.
Though many Jews support the genocide resolution, some of the biggest Jewish communal players, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (which has worked for years to build support for the Israel-Turkey alliance), are not. …
No one should expect Jews, of all people, to lie about mass murder. The Turkish policy of official historical revisionism is as absurd as it is counterproductive. The Turks' stand on the Armenians only harms their international standing and efforts to integrate with the West. …
In theory, a victory for historic truth ought to serve as insurance for Jews and any other people who have faced annihilation and may yet again. …
Will an Armenian genocide resolution help us defend Israel against the threat of, say, an Iranian attempt at nuclear genocide better than a friendly Turkey? Some might believe that to be true. But can anyone who cares about the possibility of another mass murder of a non-Muslim population in the Middle East be indifferent to the possibility that it won't?
To help resolve Israel’s quandry, The Stiletto would like to point out that a scant generation after the devastating loss of so many of their brothers, sons and fathers, Armenian men fought and died in the Russian army during World War II to help Allied forces defeat Hitler. In contrast, Turkey claimed to be neutral while supplying the German war machine with raw materials and was its sole source of chromite, a mineral used to harden steel, to manufacture stainless steel and for anodising aluminium used to make aircraft parts.
Editorial Note: Click here for the backstory on the Los Angeles Times article cited in this post.
NOTE: If I did not put all the links in correctly, please refer to the original source to access a link.
One thing which definitely does not do Jews any good is the claim that Serbia was promulgating any sort of a policy of genocide against “albanian kosovars”. That one was unadulterated BS.
Turkey showed us its true colors when It stabbed us in the back by denying us a Northern front against Iraq. THAT war would have ended differently.
After generations of secular rule, they SUDDENLY became muzzie again.
To hell with them.
Iffen the Euros let ‘em in, they are even nuttier than I thought.
Never Forget (unless it happened to someone else).
Yup - on all counts.
Abe Foxman’s comments were particularly galling - don’t you think? In fact, he kinda sounded like Amahdinejad (or however you spell that Iranian nut’s name).
No surprise here. Foxman has always been an extreme left-wing piece of...what’s the word...how about @*&%@&*!
Read up on post-caliphate ‘modern’ Turkey. They have always been duplicitous opportunists. Their actions in 2003 were not new at all.
Foxman does not speak for all Jews. He needs a good facial rearrangement, preferably delivered by a petite female Israeli soldier.
Duplicitous - that’s the very word. They are just like the Saudi’s - our other “ally.” With “allies” like this, how can we expect to win the WOT? Can someone please give Bush and Rice a clue?
I grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Massapequa, LI, a local Rabbi lived across the street. I’ve attended numerous Passover Seders. I now live in Great Neck which is even more Jewish by percentage. My business partner is a Syrian Jew by way of Montreal. The attitude of ‘never again - unless it happened to someone else’ is one I’ve heard all my life. The only glaring exception in my experience is my partner who is a remarkably conservative person.
It should be noted that the argument in favor of Israel doing the right thing and supporting the Armenian Genocide Resolution instead of helping Turkey lobby against it was published in Jewish World Review - a conservative Web site. It’s sister site for bloggers, Political Mavens, has published several commentaries on the Armenian Genocide, most of which were featured on the home page of Jewish World Review as well.
In other words, the State Department approach was the usual for (relative to the Middle East) an ally of America: all stick and no carrot. State thought they could muscle Turkey because they didn’t think the vote would be even close.
Unsurprisingly, the actual vote took Foggy Bottom by surprise and was one of the biggest failures of Colin Powell’s enervated “telephone diplomacy” approach.
The secular army is protesting Erdogan, who actually took the United States side in that dispute. Opposition to the Iraq war didn’t revolve around an Islamist/secularist split-— 95% of the Turkish people were against it, and Erdogan took a big hit supporting the United States.
So far, the AKP in putting Gul forward isn’t doing anything really extraordinary-— who was the party supposed to put forward— someone from outside it? Secularists in Turkey aren’t entitled to power-— they need to work on expanding their influence among Turkey’s rural voters if they want to succeed democratically.
N-K was Armenian territory - as is Mr. Ararat. The borders in that region were moved around willy nilly after WWI by the superpowers of the day. Again, the Armenian situation here is very analagous to Israel, which only regained its land after a diaspora that lasted generations upon generations.
Darn - should’ve used the preview feature. That should be Mt. Ararat, not Mr. Ararat. Same argument though.
However, since (a) Hitler used the Ottoman Turk’s success in nearly wiping Armenians off the face of the earth as justification for his campaign to exterminate Jews; (b) the word “genocide” was coined specifically to describe the nearly complete destruction of the gene pool in the Armenian Genocide and the Nazi Holocaust; (c) the state of Israel was founded on the principle that “never again” should anyone get away with carrying out genocide - or trying to do so; and (d) Armenians fought Hitler, Turkey enabled him it seems that Israel’s choice is clear. Turkey may be an erstwhile ally today - and it is becoming more Islamist by the day so one day it will turn on Israel. But the truths of history are eternal, and Israel’s allegiance should be to truth and justice.
If you don’t believe this, you are either a Turk or a Turkish apologist. Which is it?
My point is that according to your column, Armenia wants a US House resolution regarding a genocide. Your column also states that Turks are opposing the resolution. Armenians should take that up with our US Congress and maybe Turkey—not Jewish Americans.
We should also be watchful of possibly volatile situations to the south and east of Armenia. There are those who are indicating desires toward radical, symbolic nationalism with wishes toward expansionism.
Abe Foxman is among the American Jews lobbying against the resolution. Armenian American organizations are lobbying for the resoltion. Both sides have Representatives and Senators supporting their positions.
But since this symbolic resolution has international repurcussions, foreign goverments are also lined up against it. Israel has hired lobbyists against the resolution. Turkey has not only hired lobbyists, but sent one of its top-ranking government officials - and now a candidate for president - to Washington to testify against the resolution. As far as I know - it has not been reported in the media - Armenia has not sent anyone over from its government to testify on behalf of the resolution and it seems to be relying on local US Armenian organizations to handle the lobbying effort rather than hired guns in Washington, DC.
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