Snow (the book!)

I finished reading Snow this week - it was actually quite nice to read it last Saturday while it snowed all day. For those that don't know, the book is by Orhan Pamuk, who won the Nobel Prize in literature. It took me a good 30 to 50 pages to get into the book, and then it was hard to put down. A fascinating glimpse into the different forces in Turkey (Secular Liberals, Religious fundamentalists, Kurds).

The book takes place in Kars - just a few kilometers from the Armenian border (and greatest historical capital of all, Ani). The references to Armenians are heavily sprinkled throughout the book, including allusions to the Armenian Genocide. Considering he is so famous both in Turkey and out of Turkey, this book has no doubt served as a good reminder to many of the ancient presence of Armenians in a place where today, there are none. Hopefully other Turks will feel more comfortable mentioning a people after decades of having to worry about even saying the word Armenian (forget about the word Genocide).

If you want a very interesting glimpse into what much of Historic Armenia is like today culturally, demographically, architecturally, then you would do well to read this book.

Cartoon

Thanks to Vahan Bournazian for sending this one...

Insulting Turkishness

Two of the police Turkish officers photographed proudly with Hrant Dink's murderer, holding a Turkish flag are on trial. One for "abusing his office by allowing acts unbefitting state officials and leading to the impression that there was sympathy for Samast's action," and the other for "violating the secrecy of the investigation" by leaking the images to the media. They should both be charged with the same article 301 that Hrant Dink was convicted of, the publicity of which led to his murder. Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code of course is the infamous law outlawing "insulting Turkishness". If these two sons of bitches posing proudly with a murderer and a Turkish flag aren't an insult to Turkishness, and those simply telling 92 year old truths are, then perhaps simply being Turkish is an insult.

Letter to the Anti-Defamation League

This is my letter to the ADL, which I submitted at the URL below. It is not meant for copy/pasting, simply sharing what I wrote. If you'd like to write to them too, use this address (and keep it to 1,000 characters or less). http://www.adl.org/contact_us.asp

I have been following the controversy over the Armenian Genocide within your organization, and I read the ad you are about to publish. Shame on you! At every step along the way you have chosen the wrong course, and continue to insist upon it. There are some things which are morally wrong, and for you, as Jews, to minimize the crime that the Armenians suffered, well as fellow genocide victims it's disgusting.

If anybody neglected to call your Shoah a Holocaust, and simply called it a tragedy, or events, as a matter of policy, you would be up in arms, and rightfully so. Your hypocritical stance on this issue has long been noted by the Armenian community, and it is fantastic that now, widespread coverage is showing many others that your organization MUST change its position on this matter, or accept that it has no role in any type of moral leadership.

No Place For Hate indeed. Genocide denial is hateful, believe it or not, even if we're not talking about Jews.

Amot tsezi,
Raffi