By Hagop Avedikian
I would like to present several observations I have made, based on purely personally impressions, after closely following the parliamentary proceeiings and the work of the consultatory commission of representatives of the Jewish European diaspora who came to Yerevan upon the invitation of the World Armenian Congress. All this took place at an appropriate level and with fitting Armenian hospitality.
The parliamentary speeches and the consultatory commission’s materials, with the titles “World without Genocides” and “Prospects for Cooperation of Two Diasporan Organizations” already sketch the framework of the issues being raised, with the additional circumstance of the pending 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the 70th of the Shoah (Holocaust).
The struggle against denialism, misanthropy, racism and religious fanaticism were the issues which concerned the Jewish side. Meanwhile the Armenian side remained fixated chiefly on the issue of recognition of the Genocide, especially since two days prior to the talks the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, who previously was known to us in the Knesset as an advocate of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, refused to ratify the annual resolution to examine this in the very same Knesset.
Amazingly, this situation was not raised by the Armenian side in the way that was necessary. Our orators basically were satisfied with calls for Armenian-Jewish friendship. One even did not avoid mentioning that he had the honor of spending the night in the house of former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres’ house, and did not forget to call the latter a “genius.”