Cartoon

Thanks to Vahan Bournazian for sending this one...

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

LA Times / Mark Arax controversy

For those of you who haven't read the background on this, see the Harut Sassounian column - Los Angeles Times Must Dismiss Managing Editor Douglas Frantz. Basically, Mark Arax, an Armenian writer at the LA Times has been told he cannot objectively write about the Armenian Genocide - by an editor who was based in Istanbul for years and is buddies with the Turkish Consul in LA. The controversy continues - and we need to make sure the LA Times knows how you feel about this disgusting discrimination at the largest newspaper in LA - which is home to the largest Armenian community outside the former Soviet Union. So read the column I linked to above. Below I'm posting my reply, their reply, and my reply to theirs... just so you can see how (poorly) the dialog is going. I need reinforcements!!

My original note to them:

April 24, 2007

Dear Editors,

I'd just like to say that having read the background on the Arax article which was not published in its original form, I am amazed that Armenians are still treated like second class genocide victims. The simple fact that we cannot even fathom a Jew being told he cannot write an article on the Holocaust shows the problem that Armenian are dealing with, and have been dealing with for so long. It is incredibly frustrating to be discriminated against in this way - even in the city with the most Armenians outside of the former USSR. I hope that this issue is resolved justly, which to me can only mean that this discriminatory editor be fired, and a public apology be issued to Mr. Arax alongside the publication of his original article.

Sincerely,
Raffi Kojian
Orange, CA / Yerevan, Armenia

Their standardized reply:

Dear Friends and Readers,

Many people in the Armenian community have contacted me about concerns that Doug Frantz, an editor here at the Los Angeles Times, interfered with a story being reported by Mark Arax. Arax is Armenian and his story concerned the Armenian genocide resolution pending in Congress. Please be assured that we take all allegations of that sort most seriously, and have in this case conducted an internal review by legal counsel and other editors at the direction of our top editor, Jim O'Shea.

I also want to take a few minutes to share a number of important points with you.

First, we will never tolerate anybody being discriminated against based on ethnicity, race, religion, or any other ground. This includes how reporters are assigned stories and how stories are handled in the editing process.

There is no reason, therefore, that Latinos cannot write about Latinos, or that Armenians cannot write about Armenians, etc.

That was not the question here. The question here was whether Mark had been personally identified with the important Armenian genocide issue in such a way as a reader might conclude that he could not be objective in writing about the subject. As an example, if I were publicly involved in taking a position on the Iraq war, I could not write on that subject without a concern by readers that I was influenced by that personal point of view. That is the specific issue Doug Frantz raised.

In this case Mark was not blocked from reporting the story, which appeared on the front page of The Times last Saturday, April 21. Mark decided he did not want his name on the article because of additional reporting and editing that was done to include more Washington-based perspective.

I am very proud of the reporting that The Times does on the Armenian genocide, and also the positions we have taken on our editorial pages. I am also proud and grateful for the welcome and support my new friends in the Southern California Armenian communities have shown me since my arrival here six months ago.

I look forward to continuing that fine relationship and the strong and open communications on which it is based.

Very truly yours,

David Hiller
Publisher

My latest reply:

Hello David, and thank you for your thoughtful reply. I unfortunately feel like you have missed the entire point of this exchange. Your one paragraph summary of what "the question" is, is exactly where the problem lies.

Here is the paragraph I am referring to:

"The question here was whether Mark had been personally identified with the important Armenian genocide issue in such a way as a reader might conclude that he could not be objective in writing about the subject. As an example, if I were publicly involved in taking a position on the Iraq war, I could not write on that subject without a concern by readers that I was influenced by that personal point of view."

To equate someone's position on the Iraq war, with their position on (again, I will use the holocaust here rather than the genocide because unfortunately, it makes people see this issue more clearly) the holocaust is ludicrous. Sorry, but if your own policy states that there was a genocide, and that it is historical fact, then how can you possibly consider Mark to be "taking a position"? That is what you are implying. That there are two positions (Pro-war/Anti-war, Genocide took place/No genocide took place). If you are not saying that, then in fact you cannot be saying anything other than the fact that he, as an Armenian, has personally identified with this issue, as every Armenian has, and like Sassounian wrote, you are excluding Armenians from writing about the genocide, Jews, the Holocaust, Mexicans, illegal immigration, etc.

It really is that simple to me. There are no positions in this matter. There was a genocide. Period. Stating it any other way is a very inexplicable (and in my view) immoral pandering to the Turkish government and misguided Turks. Telling any Armenian they can't write about it, for that reason, racist. Again, simply imagine ANY Jew being told they cannot write about the holocaust because they personally identify with it. *Absolutely inconceivable* and you know it.

I appreciate that you had a lot of letters to reply to, but I would appreciate if you could specifically address this concern of mine, because it seems that you have missed the problem entirely.

Sincerely,
Raffi Kojian

April 23rd

April 23rd was quite interesting for me this year. The genocide commemorations started for me at 5:30pm at Artbridge, where they were introducing a new booklet - "24", about 24 genocide survivors who came to Armenia after the genocide and stayed. Since Armenianow started the project, 7 of the survivors have passed away. One survivor was present, and just to be in his presence was a very powerful thing... that direct connection. He gave a very brief summary of his life - including how rich they were in Western Armenia, as judging by the number of cows and goats. After he was finished talking, he interrupted someone to add something. And now for the first time he became very emotional. He said how extremely thankful he was to the American people. When he came to Armenia - every single person from the older generation was dead except his mother, who could no longer keep him. So he went into an orphanage, around 1920, and stayed for 10 years. This orphanage kept him until he was 20 years old. It was funded wholly by donations by ordinary Americans... Soviet Union or no, they gave, and saved many Armenian children. Balakian's latest book did an excellent job of documenting the massive amount of private aid given at that time... something amazing to this day.

At 8:30pm I went to the big Tashnag torch lit youth rally at Opera. It was the first time I went to this, and it was kind of weird... it was like being in front of the Turkish Embassy in LA. I prefer the solemn commemoration of the 24th - at least in Armenia. I watched and took some pics until they headed off to Tsitsernakaberd in the rain. Then at midnight I headed to Tsitsernakaberd with some friends... it was really nice at that hour. A small group of young were there, reciting poetry with loud, sure voices. Others just came and lay flowers, and stopped to listen to the recitations. It was really beautiful in the dark, with the flame illuminating the 13 massive slabs, meant to represent the 13 provinces of Western Armenia, huddled around a flame for heat and protection...