Armenian National Committee of Canada
Comité National Arménien du Canada
130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622 Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-cana da.com
Press Release
July 31, 2007
Contact: Kevork Manguelian
ANCC and the Canadian Centre for Genocide Education Hold
4th National Genocide Education Institute
Toronto–The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) and the Canadian
Centre for Genocide Education held the 4th national teachers’ summer
institute at the Armenian Community Centre of Toronto from July 23 to 27.
The five-day training session was an overwhelming success with teachers
travelling from all over Canada to attend the educational gathering. 40
teachers attended the Institute.
The Genocide Institute is designed to encourage teachers to instruct
students the lessons of genocide–the importance of tolerance, upholding
human rights, helping others in need–and to help prepare them to
effectively communicate these lessons to their students.
The institute’s morning portion was designed to introduce teachers to the
history of four case studies of Genocide. In the afternoon segment teachers
participated in classroom implementation, resources, multimedia
presentation, and group activity.
On the opening day Dr. Gerry Caplan and educator Dr. Barabra Coloroso talked
about the overall theme of genocide, the history of the UN Charter on
Genocide, the causes of genocide, its devastating effects on victims, its
social, religious, and political implications, its denial, and the
complicity of some governments, the perpetrators’ bully mentality, and
finally, the confidence of genocide perpetrators that you would be granted
impunity.
On Tuesday July 24, the main topic was the Armenian Genocide. Prof. Alan
Whitehorn and Dr. Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill presented the various aspects
of the Armenian Genocide. A number of teachers said that they were baffled
by the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide against such
overwhelming documentation, evidence, and the verdicts of historians.
On Wednesday, Prof. Roman Serbyn and Valentina Kuryliw instructed the
gathering on the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933.
Thursday was allocated to the Holocaust. Prof. Gerald Tulchinsky and Sylvia
Bereskin brought to the attention of the teachers new details about the
horrors of the Holocaust. That evening Prof. Abdulkerim Ousman talked about
the latest developments in Darfur.
The genocide studies gathering came to a close on Friday with discussions on
the Rwandan Genocide. Major Brent Beardsley, Shyrna Gilbert and Leo Kabalisa
took the teachers on a painful journey of discovery about the latest
genocide of our times.
During the Monday July 23 banquet, the lead speakers were Drs. Caplan and
Coloroso. The latter observed that it is only a short walk from hate to
genocide. Representatives of partner communities also delivered messages
from their groups and expressed their confidence in the continued success of
the institute.
Aris Babikian, executive director of ANCC, saluted the "teachers’ dedication
and commitment to this noble cause." He added: "Your sense of mission and
duty to make Canada and the world a better place through education and by
sensitizing future generations and our country’s future leaders is greatly
appreciate not only by Genocide and Holocaust victim nations but everyone
around the globe."
The ANCC representative acknowledged "it is incumbent upon us [victim
nations and teachers] to work together to educate and to empower the next
generation of Canadians and world leaders with moral values which will guide
them to eradicate the plague of genocide and prevent other races and nations
from experiencing what we have suffered from."
Rich Hitchens, founder and president of the Canadian Centre for Genocide
Education, observed "it is a straight walk from the Armenian Genocide to
Darfur today. Each successive genocidal regime had learned from its
predecessors that the world would do little to nothing to intervene, to
prevent, to stop, or punish genocide. No one cared about the Armenians, as
Hitler observed, and so, in turn, no one cared about those to follow,
including Ukrainians, Jews, Cambodians, Bosnians, and Rwandans. What other
lesson could the regime in Sudan have learned other than that it was free to
pursue genocide with impunity."
Orest Steciw from the League of Ukrainian Canadians, Prof. Wsevolod W.
Isajiw of the Ukrainian Canadian Research & Documentation Centre, and MP
Peggy Nash also addressed the Monday evening gathering.
A silent auction featuring cultural pieces from the homelands of various
partners was held at the banquet.
The Genocide Institute was offered for the first time in London, Ont., in
2004, with the sole participation of teachers from the London area. In 2005,
teachers from across Southwestern Ontario participated in the second annual
Genocide Institute. Because of the success of the Genocide Institute, the
program was expanded in 2006 to include teachers from across the country.
One of the attributes that makes the Genocide Institute special is that it
is a partnership of a number of organizations representing victim groups of
genocide. Armenians, Jews, Rwandans, and Ukrainians have joined together in
common cause to encourage teachers to teach about the lessons of genocide.
The ANCC became a partner in the Genocide Institute in 2006. Meanwhile, the
Armenian Community Centre graciously donated its facilities and hosted the
Institute.
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The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of
the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.
Regional Chapters/Sections régionales
Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St.
Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver