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The Stubborn Myth of Jewish Involvement in the Armenian Genocide

By Khatchig Mouradian / February 11, 2008

On Nov. 30, Jewcy published an article titled “Are Armenians Angry at Jews?” in which I argued that although the Armenian community is upset that a prominent Jewish civil rights organization (ADL) supports Turkey’s campaign to the deny the Armenian Genocide, it is also aware of the Jewish-American writers, bloggers, and activists who speak out against ADL’s hypocrisy. Armenians know, I said, that throughout the 20th century there was never a shortage of righteous Jews, individuals who spoke out against the Armenian genocide. I then proceeded to name three such righteous Jews: Henry Morgenthau, Franz Werfel (to whom I dedicated an entire article later), and Raphael Lemkin.

I received dozens of comments—made either to me in person or posted on Jewcy—immediately after the posting of the article. In one of the emails, a reader advised Jewcy to continue “kicking Foxman’s ass.”

I will not dwell on the positive remarks and the many emails, some from prominent academics, suggesting several other names of righteous Jews (about whom I might write in the future). I will, however, bring to the reader’s attention one point of view—from a fellow Armenian—that I thought was outrageous and, I believe, is shared by some other Armenians and non-Armenians.

“It is with great reluctance,” my fellow Armenian said, “that I wish to tell you that your article is oversimplified, very naïve and, at bottom, worthless. The Jewish involvement in Armenian Genocide is much complicated, intricate and perplexing.” He went on to cite historians who studied the “Zionist Jewish participation and their ominous role in Armenian Genocide.”

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  • By Alamity 2/14/08 at 8:42 a.m. UTC

    My two cents on the "Jewish role in the Armenian Genocide": I can understand why there is a whole cottage industry out there for conspiracy theorists to thrive in; particularly, when the likes of Abe Foxman of the ADL and many other Jewish organizations cast doubt, deny, and denigrate the veracity of the Armenian genocide with all their might and money –Turkish money, to be exact; blood money of Armenian victims is even more exact.

    In fact, the sole responsibility of the Armenian genocide falls solely and squarely on Turkish shoulders — Period. Modern day Turkish leaders have shamelessly performed a series of lobotomies on their citizens to eradicate the memories of their criminal Ottoman past; It is obvious that article 301 of the Turkish penal code, is in part — as there are other reasons — designed to muzzle free speech, discourage debate, and prevent the truth from ever seeing the light of day.

     

    In a nutshell: The Ottoman Empire at that time was commonly known as "the sick man of Europe", a sign that the once-great power was crumbling, just as Khatchig mentioned in his article. Furthermore, the Ottoman leaders became increasingly paranoid as Christian minorities began to gain their independence one by one. The Ottoman Turks grew restless and began to envision a new pan-Turkic empire spreading all the way to Turkic speaking people to the east. Unfortunately, Armenian ancestral land was in the way of that dream. They wanted land — not people; Armenian land — without Armenians… Ethnic cleansing was the answer, genocide was the solution. so, they thought.

     

  • By ChevyNazi 2/12/08 at 1:15 a.m. UTC

    And I can say that there does not seem to be any animosity between the Armenian and Jewish communities.

  • By Mika 2/11/08 at 8:47 p.m. UTC

    I suspect that the origin of this conspiracy theory has much to do with the economic role which Jews played in Turkey. A similar conception of Jews as the source of all evil developed in the Ukraine in the late 19th century when that country was changing from a natural to a money economy. Jews played a middle-man role between the land-holders and the peasants and thus, the Jews came to be seen as the exploiters of the population (never mind foreign witnesses reporters that the Jews were utterly destitute and just as poor as the peasants they were 'exploiting'). 

    hmm…I might just write a paper on this. If I do, Jewcy gets it first. 

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