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10/14/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Senate Adjourns Before Adopting Key US-Armenia Trade Provision 2) French Parliament Debates Turkey's EU Accession Bid 3) Spitting Incident Digs up Deep Rooted Old City Tensions 4) Media Groups Condemn New Attack on Journalist 1) Senate Adjourns Before Adopting Key US-Armenia Trade Provision Though US House gives final approval to extend permanent normal trade relations status to Armenia, post-adjournment session may approve measure only after election WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)US Senators left Washington yesterday to hit the campaign trail before taking up a large trade bill that includes a provision to permanently normalize trade between the US and Armenia. Senate's failure to act on the provision that would grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to Armenia, was due to entirely unrelated concerns about other parts of the larger trade measure, HR 1047the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act. The US House passed this bill on October 8. The last opportunity for Congress to approve this measure during the 108th Congress will be during a rare post-adjournment session of Congresseither before or, more likely, after the November 2 election. This session will deal primarily with approving appropriations bills and finalizing legislation on intelligence reform. Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) was the first to raise the issue of Armenia PNTR in Congress. His legislation, HR 528, introduced last year was supported by the Armenian Caucus and cosponsored 112 other Members of Congress. A companion bill was introduced on the Senate side by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and cosponsored by 21 other Senators. The strong support for these measures paved the way for serious consideration of their inclusion by members of Congress negotiating the final version of the larger trade measure. "We want to thank Congressman Knollenberg, Senator McConnell and all those who played a role in bringing Armenia PNTR to the brink of final adoption," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "While we would have liked to have seen the Senate act before adjourning, we remain hopeful that this measure will be enacted into law before the end of the 108th Congress." Over the past two years, the ANCA has worked, in Washington, DC and in local communities throughout the country to generate bipartisan support for the measure among legislators, including those serving on key trade subcommittees. The trade bill represents a core element of the ANCA's efforts to expand bilateral economic relations, provide new commercial opportunities, and further strengthen the enduring bonds between the American and Armenian peoples. Over ten thousand pro-Armenia activists sent ANCA WebFaxes to Congress, thousands more made phone calls in support of PNTR, and this important issue was raised in several hundred Congressional visits, both in District Offices and the nation's capital. The sample ANCA WebFax letter for activists included several reasons to support this legislation, among them: nIncreased US-Armenia trade and investment advances US foreign policy by strengthening Armenia's free market economic development and integration into the world economy. nExpanded US-Armenia commercial relations will strengthen bilateral relations and reinforces the enduring friendship between the American and Armenian peoples. nAdoption of PNTR for Armenia will help offsetat no cost to US taxpayersthe devastating impact of the dual Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia up to a third of its entire GDP (as much as $720 million annually) and half of its exports. The Trade Act of 1974 excluded all Soviet countries from having normal trade relations (NTR) status with the United States. One particular provision of the Act, known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment, required the President to deny NTR to those countries that restricted free emigration. The policy was adopted, in part, in response to Communist government restrictions on the emigration of Jews. According to the terms of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, when the President determines that freedom of emigration rights have been reinstated in a country, normal trade relations may be granted. To maintain NTR, the President must report to Congress twice a year that Jackson-Vanik requirements have been met. While successive Presidents have waived the Jackson-Vanik Amendment restrictions on Armenia during the past decade, the passage of the Knollenberg bill, would grant Armenia permanent normal trade relations status, without the need for semi-yearly Presidential determinations. The depth of American support for Armenia PNTR was made clear in the responses from around the nation to the multi-issue candidate questionnaires circulated this election season by the ANCA. Challengers and incumbents from both parties have stressed their support for legislation that would grant (PNTR) status. 2) French Parliament Debates Turkey's EU Accession Bid Turkey 'not ready' yet to join EU according to French Prime Minister PARIS (AFP)--French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said on Thursday that Turkey is not ready to join the European Union but should pursue its membership bid; Raffarin was speaking during a parliamentary debate on the issue that has polarized the country. "Neither Europe nor Turkey" are "today ready for Turkey to join" the bloc, he told parliament in his opening remarks, but said "Turkey's request is not illegitimate." The debate was set to highlight major arguments raging in France--and in other EU countries--over Turkey's four-decade-old bid to become a member of the expanding European Union. However, in an unusual approach criticized by many MPs and underlining the deep divide over the issue, the exchange was not to be put to a vote. The debate was being held ahead of an EU summit on December 17 at which EU leaders will decide how to act on a recommendation from the bloc's executive arm to open accession talks with Ankara. President Jacques Chirac has pronounced himself in favor of Turkey's accession. At the same time, Chirac has bowed to public concern by promising to put the matter to a referendum and pointing out that France could veto negotiations at any time. Many in his ruling Union for a Popular Movement party, including ministers, have declared themselves opposed to the future inclusion of a country that is predominantly Muslim and comparatively poor. The opposition Socialist party is similarly divided, while a newspaper poll earlier this week found that 75 percent of people would vote against Turkish entry in a referendum. Turkish MPs visiting France this week expressed surprise at the resistance to their country's bid. "Some French politicians are asking whether our civilizations are compatible, whether Turkey belongs to the European continent, but we haven't changed our religion, our size or our geographical position," said Onur Oymen, of the center-left People's Republican Party. "Turkey today is better prepared than several other countries recently admitted to the EU, especially in the fields of economy, banking and finances," said Ibrahim Ozal, of the ruling Justice and Development Party. Chirac is to meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at three-way talks October 26 in Berlin hosted by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Germany also has a sizable, mainly conservative faction opposed to Turkey joining the bloc, although not on the scale as France. France is said to be pushing for any start date for accession talks to be put back until at least the second half of next year, fearing it could hit the government's drive to get the EU's first constitution accepted by referendum. 3) Spitting Incident Digs up Deep Rooted Old City Tensions JERUSALEM (Combined Sources)The recent altercation between an Armenian Orthodox bishop and an ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth has spotlighted the issue of such religious confrontations, which according to some observers, is on the rise. The incident occurred October 10 when a Jewish student spat at a cross carried by Archbishop Nourhan Manougian during a procession marking the exaltation of the holy cross in Jerusalem's Old City. The archbishop's ceremonial medallion, which has been in use since the 17th century, was broken during the ensuing brawl, during which he slapped the student. The archbishop and the student were questioned by the police, and the student was arrested. The Ha'aretz newspaper said religious Jews often spit on the ground when they see the cross. The newspaper quoted the archbishop as saying he had grown accustomed to people turning around and spitting when he walked past, but to have a cross spit at during a religious procession was a "humiliation we are not prepared to accept." Manougian denounced the "shocking silence" of the Israeli religious establishment toward "these unacceptable acts." "You meet a fanatic segment of Jews who have their own ideas; sometimes when they see Christian clergy walking on the Via Dolorosa with the cross, some fanatics [may say something or spit] but we can't generalize. It is not the sort of thing you see in general," said Father Shawki Baterian, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. "It may happen to individual priests sometimes, but they don't [lodge] complaints or pay attention to it." He said Archbishop Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem has never been insulted or abused in such a manner. Daniel Rossing, former adviser on Christian affairs for the Religious Affairs Ministry and director of the Jerusalem Center for Christian-Jewish Dialogue, said, however, that the Armenian and Syrian Orthodox churches are generally the ones facing the brunt of such antagonism because their communities are located closer to areas where Orthodox Jews go and so have more chances of contact. "You don't hear of a lot of incidents near the Latin Patriarchate area or near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, because those are not areas where in general Jews are passing, [but] the Armenian Quarter is along a major thoroughfare, with a human traffic flow of Jews going to the Jewish Quarter and to the Western Wall," Rossing said. In general, Rossing said such attacks are perpetrated by younger male members of the Orthodox Jewish community. He said his center is planning to ask Christian churches to report all such incidents so it can build a solid statistical base with which to approach leading rabbinical figures to ask for their assistance in curbing the abuse. Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said police have had only two complaints from Christians in the past year. In both cases, the culprits were caught and punished, he said, adding that police deploy a large number of patrols and employ special technology in the Old City to try to maintain order. Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, said there have been increasing reports of such incidents. "There is a lack of education in a very certain quarter of Jewish life, but it is not sweeping Israeli society. It tends to be in the areas of Jerusalem where [Christian clergy] come in contact with ultra-Orthodox [Jews]," he said. "It is not an epidemic, but it is increasing." The problem is most intense in the Old City, he said, recalling an incident when he accompanied a visiting Catholic cardinal to the Western Wall, and an Orthodox Jewish youth shouted disparaging remarks at the religious leader. The cardinal ignored the shouting, and his visit continued as planned. "There needs to be more education and statements by some leading figures in the Orthodox [Jewish] world in Israel," Rabbi Kronish said. "But it is hard to educate people who are not open to dialogue. More awareness that this is a city of three faiths would be helpful." In its lead editorial, Ha'aretz called the incidents "Jerusalem's disgrace" and charged the police and Interior Ministry with not doing enough to prevent such attacks. "It turns out that for some time the Christians in Jerusalem have been suffering from... provocations by wild young people. The provocations. . . have become an ugly routine in recent years, fitting right in with the increasingly extremist political atmosphere," the newspaper said. It called on the city to "take firm action" against the offending youth. "It is intolerable that Christian citizens of Jerusalem suffer from the shameful spitting at or near a crucifix," the paper said. Many Orthodox Jews see the cross as a symbol of the violence perpetrated on Jewish communities by Christians over the centuries. According to Albert Aghazaryan, one of the prominent leaders of the Palestinian Armenian community, the act of spitting on Christian symbols is "deep rooted in the Jewish religious doctrine." "Hostility to Christianity is intrinsic in religious Jewish thinking," Aghazaryan said. A few weeks ago, a similar incident took place when another religious Jew, reportedly an old man wearing a skullcap, spat at a Christian Orthodox leader as he opened the window of his car. A few years ago, Jewish religious students burned down a Jerusalem flat in which two Christian college students were living. The two students fled unharmed. According to the famous Jewish author and philosopher Yisrael Shahak, much of the Jewish Orthodox hostility to Christianity originate in theology. In his book "Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years," Shahak pointed out that "it became customary to spit [usually three times] upon seeing a church or a crucifix." On page 98, Shahak points out that Christianity as a religion is classed by Rabbinic teaching as idolatry. "All the Christian emblems and pictorial representations are regarded as idols. . . even by those Jews who literally worship scrolls, stones or personal belongings of 'Holy Men.' " According to Shahak, some Orthodox Jews are enjoined to recite the following curse on hearing the name Jesus: "May his name be damned and his memory be erased." Interior Minister Avraham Poraz issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday against incidents of Jews spitting at Christian clergy in Jerusalem, saying he was "repulsed" by the repeated attacks." Poraz called such behavior by ultra-Orthodox Jewish students "intolerable," and asked Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra to "take all the necessary steps to prevent these incidents in the future." Poraz also expressed his dismay to the heads of the churches in Israel and noted "Israel's commitment to freedom of religion." 4) Media Groups Condemn New Attack on Journalist YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Armenia's three leading media associations condemned on Thursday a reported attack on the editor of a provincial newspaper, calling it the result of the failure of authorities to properly investigate similar incidents earlier this year. In a joint statement, the Yerevan Press Club, the Journalists Union of Armenia, and the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression demanded an "objective investigation" into the incident and punish the guilty. Samvel Aleksanian, the editor of the "Syuniats Yerkir" newspaper based in the southeastern town of Ghapan, said he was beaten up by three young men in his office on Wednesday for publishing articles that criticized the government's decision to close two regional schools. He described the attackers as the local leaders of the youth league of the Republican Party (HHK). Police in Ghapan have pledged to investigate Aleksanian's claims. "If they are guilty they must not only be expelled from the party but also punished by law," said Galust Sahakian, the leader of the HHK faction in parliament. "Apparently, the lack of punishment in a number of recent incidents of violence against media representatives or the mild punishments imposed on their perpetrators led some people to think that they can intimidate journalists," said the statement by the journalist unions. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.