Letter to the Editor

Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide is insincere and inadequate

June 28th’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Israel’s cabinet (but not yet its Knesset) was driven neither by memories of the Holocaust nor by moral integrity.

The long-overdue recognition was, instead, mainly a rebuke to an increasingly anti-Israeli Turkey, the Genocide’s unrepentant perpetrator.

It’s well-known that, for decades, Israel and leading Jewish American organizations colluded with Turkey to deny/diminish the Armenian Genocide and defeat U.S. Congressional resolutions on that mass extermination.

(For background, please see my Hypocritical Jewish Organizations and the Armenian Genocide in Foreignpolicyjournal.com)

Had Armenia and Armenian American organizations ever taken analogous steps regarding the Holocaust, Israel and Jews worldwide would have blown their tops.

Israel, Jews, and their supporters would have demanded that Armenians apologize and undertake reparations, perhaps including payments to Washington D.C.’s Holocaust Museum.

Armenian American organizations must, similarly, demonstrate the courage to insist that Israel and culpable Jewish American organizations:

• Apologize to Armenians everywhere

• Make appropriate amends

• Publish all documents, including correspondence with Turkey, pertaining to activities taken against Armenians

Otherwise, Israeli recognition of the Armenian Genocide will remain meaningless and, even worse, insulting.

David Boyajian

Boston, Mass