Author: Andres-Papazian

Back In 1924…

Report
Published: 04-01-2011

– On April Fool’s Day, winter came back with a vengeance. After some
spring-like weather, 9 inches of snow had fallen in the Shamokin area,
meaning March had gone out like a lamb, which didn’t impress the month
of April at all.

– There was a plumbers-electrical workers’ strike in Shamokin. The
master plumbers wanted a raise from 90 cents to $1.15 an hour – big
money for the year 1924.

– The Susquehanna Collieries announced the appointment of one of
Shamokin’s best-known doctors as chief surgeon. He was Dr. Clay Wiemer.

– Ann Hewitt of Franklin Street, Shamokin, heard from her brother,
Clark, a member of an orphan’s relief agency in Armenia, 7,000 miles
from Shamokin, that people in the Near East listened every night to
radio broadcasts from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Radio was pretty new
and the Armenian government did not allow citizens to listen to it in
fear that they might get revolutionary ideas, but, Clark said, everyone
listened anyway.

– There was a burglary at the Marshall Building Apartments at Sunbury
and Washington streets. The story made front-page headlines, not for the
amount stolen, even though $300 was substantial in these times, but
because the break-in had occurred between 3 and 5 p.m. in broad
daylight. The townsfolk couldn’t believe it.

– At the Hotel Graemar in Shamokin, a large and angry crowd gathered in
the evening to formulate a protest. They were protesting the deplorable
conditions, they said, of the road between Shamokin and Mount Carmel.

From: A. Papazian

Fresno-born Armenian Leader Ends Hunger Strike

John Hughes / Special to The Bee
Published: Mar 31, 2011

YEREVAN, Armenia — A political leader here with family ties to Fresno
has just come off a 15-day public hunger strike in the center of the
city that has energized thousands.

Fresno-born Raffi K. Hovannisian, 51, who moved to Armenia in 1991, had
been on a fast since March 15 in demonstration against the government of
President Serzh Sargsyan. Hovannisian is calling for regime change of
authorities who Hovannisian’s and other opposition parties say have held
illegitimate power since fraudulent elections in 2007 (parliamentary)
and 2008 (presidential).

Hovannisian camped out in Liberty Square in the nation’s capital. He
spent the first nine days of his fast sitting and sleeping on a park
bench until being allowed to erect a tent — a concession authorities
had earlier refused.

Members of Hovannisian’s Heritage Party and supporters were surprised by
his fast; opponents derided it as a publicity stunt.

Hovannisian ended the strike Wednesday, a day after a doctor advised
that further lack of nourishment could result in liver and kidney
damage.

According to members of the Heritage Party, over the course of the 15
days of the hunger strike, more than 20,000 people signed a guest book
in support of Hovannisian’s position.

Two days into his fast, an anti-government rally was allowed on the
grounds of Liberty Square, the first such event in three years. Although
led by the largest opposition party, the Armenian National Congress of
first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan (1991-96), many in the crowd of
about 20,000 (although reported at 9,000 by state authorities and
100,000 by organizers) rushed to the park to greet and thank Hovannisian
for “reclaiming” their revered square.

On March 1, 2008, a violent police raid of an opposition protest
encampment in Liberty Square sparked a day of clashes that left 10 dead,
hundreds wounded and dozens arrested. Since that day, Ter-Petrosyan’s
party had filed more than 100 requests with City Hall for permission to
gather at Liberty Square. All had been rejected.

When demonstrators marched there March 17, they met a barricade of riot
police. After a few tense minutes and several cell phone conversations
between opposition leaders and authorities, police stood down and the
crowd flooded the square.

A request to hold another rally on April 8 has been denied.

Hovannisian had vowed to continue his fast until he is satisfied that
his party’s call for early elections, among other demands, is seriously
considered — “as long as my health allows.” Regular elections are
slated for 2012 and 2013 for parliament and president, respectively.

Hovannisian, a descendant of genocide survivors and a 1980 graduate of
the University of California at Los Angeles, relinquished his American
citizenship for an Armenian passport in 2001, after moving his family of
seven there just before the former Soviet republic gained independence
in 1991.

He was named foreign minister when Ter-Petrosyan won the country’s first
presidential election.

Hovannisian resigned after just over a year. He later founded Armenia’s
first political “think tank” and in 2002 founded the Heritage Party,
which won seven seats in parliament in 2007.

Now, Hovannisian has become something of a folk hero for Armenia’s
disenfranchised and a wedge dividing conflicting opposition camps.

He says that he is pleased with his role in re-invigorating a segment of
the population that has been muted by the dominance of the Sargsyan
coalition — which holds 91 of the National Assembly’s 131 seats, with
an additional 17 “independents” typically voting with the coalition —
and has been put off by Ter-Petrosyan’s abrasive and unfulfilled
promises to unseat the current leaders. Hovannisian’s future influence
rests on the yet-unknown size of that demographic.

“By my modest sacrifice, I did not seek a reaction, but sought to signal
an alarm of the state against the ‘rule-lessness of law’ by this
government, against the legacy of false elections and ultimately in the
face of these challenges to return power to the people,” Hovannisian
said.

His protest comes as many in Armenia struggle against 10% inflation, a
12% rise in overall cost of living and an increase in the cost of
consumable goods of up to 40%. A result of the worsening economy has
been a new wave of emigration, most of it to Russia, where the number of
Armenians approaches the same unofficial estimate of 2.5 million left in
Armenia.

Hovannisian said Armenia is now living in “an emergency.” He is
especially distressed by a recent memorandum of understanding signed by
the ruling coalition in which the three parties agreed to cooperate with
each other to expand even more their overwhelming majority in the coming
elections — thus creating, Hovannisian said, an undemocratic “single
party state.”

“There is a danger of re-investing the population with a sense of
fatalism that everything is pre-determined by the powers that be,”
Hovannisian said. “I wanted to raise an alarm to Armenian society with a
message and expectation that only through people’s civic action and
their rights of public assembly would it be possible to expect any
transformation for the Republic of Armenia.”

Hovannisian himself has experienced transformation, having last year
shed more than 80 pounds. And just before starting his fast, he shaved
his bushy mustache that had been a distinctive feature for decades —
which by strike’s end had become a 15-day white beard.

His wife, Armenuhi, founder of Junior Achievement in Armenia and of
Orran, an aid center for Yerevan street orphans, sat with her husband
most days; relieved by their son Garin, a UCLA graduate who recently
wrote a memoir, “Family of Shadows,” published by Harper. He stayed at
night while his father slept under an afghan knitted in the orange, red
and blue of the Armenian flag.

Throughout the days, supporters left random mementos on the bench — a
candle, a biography of Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands, a 1980s-era
record album cover of favored son of Armenia, Charles Aznavour.

On Monday, he was visited by the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Marie L.
Yovanovitch.

Hovannisian said in jest that the welcomed but odd and continuous
gathering of the prominent and the unknown is “a bit like learning who
would attend your funeral.” He was attended by war veterans and by old
women who scolded him when he didn’t wear a stocking cap.

Last week, a group of university students gathered with guitar to
serenade in a scene Hovannisian likened to 1960s Haight-Ashbury.

From: A. Papazian

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
Victoria woman to go one day without shoes

Published:04-01-2011

For one complete day, Tess Yarbrough wants to walk without shoes.

In doing so, the 20-year-old Victoria native will help raise awareness
and interest in Tom’s Shoes national campaign One Day Without Shoes.

The California-based shoe company started the effort in 2006, aiming to
send one pair of new shoes to barefoot children in
economically-disadvantaged Argentina for every pair purchased by a
customer.

“It’s called One for One,” Yarbrough said.

Moved by the campaign, which has now grown to support struggling
countries around the globe, including Uganda, South Africa, Cambodia,
Haiti, Armenia, and the United States, Yarbrough decided to bring the
movement to Victoria with a One Day Without Shoes walk.

Any city can participate, she said, and Tom’s Shoes provides a tool kit
for hosts, complete with signs and information packets.

“I’m doing this because it’s my favorite organization. I really just
want to raise awareness about this effort,” Yarborough said, describing
the walk on the Lone Tree Creek Hike and Bike Trail from Victoria East
High School to Airline Road on Tuesday. “But, I’m going the whole entire
day without shoes.”

Walking the Lone Tree Trail down and back, Yarbrough said, will help
participants understand for a moment what more than one-third of the
world’s population endures for a lifetime – what it means to go barefoot
without choice.

“It will be uncomfortable,” she said, laughing.

Yarbrough also hopes attendees may option to buy Toms Shoes the next
time they’re in need of a new pair.

“If you need shoes, just buy one pair of Toms and you know someone else
who needs it, gets new shoes. It’s something so simple that everyone can
do,” Yarbrough said, who owns at least three pairs of Toms.

While walking barefoot on Tuesday, Yarbrough said she will bring along a
pair of Toms and when people ask her why she’s barefoot, she’ll tell
them the about the shoe campaign.

“I did this last year by myself, and only had one person come up to me
and ask why I was barefoot,” she said.

This year however, Yarbrough’s campaign has already generated about 100
eager participants in One Day Without Shoes.

There is no cost to participate in the walk and it is open to the
public, she said.

From: A. Papazian

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
April 1 2011

Armenian drills in Karabakh conflict zone

Armenian armed forces today started military drills in Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories. ANS TV’s Qarabag [Karabakh] bureau reports that
the drills started this morning in Uzundara area in the occupied part
of Agdam District. Sounds of heavy hardware could be heard from the
occupied territories starting from 0900 this morning [0400 gmt] and
sounds of shooting have been heard since 1200 [0700 gmt]. Heavy
artillery guns are mainly used. About 20 heavy explosions were heard
up to now. Sounds of explosion can be easily heard in [Azerbaijan’s]
Tartar and Agcabadi districts.

From: A. Papazian

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
April 1 2011

Azerbaijan denies plans to shoot down planes in breakaway Karabakh

The [Azerbaijani] Foreign Ministry has once again informed the world
community that flights to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan are
illegal and dangerous.

The press secretary of the ministry, Elxan Poluxov, said that
Azerbaijan did not plan or prepare any actions against passenger
planes. He said that danger to passenger flights came from the
Armenian side. It was the Armenian side which had several times shot
down passenger planes over the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. To
recap, the Armenians are going to open an airport in Xankandi
[Stepanakert in breakaway Karabakh] in May. It is planned that the
airport will receive international flights.

From: A. Papazian

Fox News Network
April 1, 2011 Friday
SHOW: BECK 5:00 PM EST

Sharia Law – What is Coming?

by Glenn Beck

GUESTS: Daniel Pipes, Chris Holton

(APPLAUSE)

GLENN BECK, HOST
Enhanced Coverage LinkingGLENN BECK, HOST -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days
: Hello, America. And welcome to THE GLENN BECK PROGRAM.

Tonight, is there a Sharia threat to America? No! No, there’s not.

I guarantee you what you’re going to learn tonight is going to open
your eyes a little bit. For instance, are we the American taxpayers
actually funding terror? Probably. Probably.

Are we unwittingly contributing to the destruction of our own Constitution? Yes.

You know, it’s amazing to me that we have — we’re good and decent
people. And we try to — we try to be inclusive and try not to be
hateful. But we’re going to be remembered not as tolerant; we’re going
to be remembered as morons. We are taking our own country down.

I showed you this before. This is a theory that as soon as — as soon
as Tunisia happened on the 31st of January, “I said, look out, Tunisia
is going to be possibly the Archduke Ferdinand moment.” Anybody
remember me saying that? Did you think I was — I mean, it sounded
nuts at the time, didn’t it? It sounded, like, it’s Tunisia, Glenn.
Relax.

And, now, look how it is spread across. And they said it would cascade
and sweep the Middle East and begin to destabilize Europe and the rest
of the world. “The Wall Street Journal” reported this week that, yes,
indeed, radicals, Islamists, communists and socialists are working
together.

In the Middle East — yes, I know that sounds crazy but it’s starting
to happen. And we know that it’s happening in the West and we know
that it’s happening here in America. There have been arrests of people
who are funding terrorists or working with terrorists and they’re from
the American left.

But, tonight, I want to show you something else. Tonight, I want to
show you a little bit of Sharia and some of the laws that are being
passed here in America. And what we’re doing to ourselves.

Sharia, every faithful Muslim is obligated to wage jihad. Now, there’s
a couple of different, two kinds of jihad. There’s the — hey, look at
me, I’m not a threat — jihad. And then there’s the other jihad,
people will say that it’s, you know, a jihad of the soul. There is a
stealth or civilization jihad.

The stealth or civilization jihad would be like the Muslim
Brotherhood, although I contend that they’re this one as well.

We’ve shown you this guy before, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. This guy is the
spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi is rated the
ninth most powerful Muslim on the earth.

And you might remember some of the lovely things he had to say about
the Jewish people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSUF AL-QARADAWI, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: Throughout history, Allah has
imposed upon the Jews people who would punish them for their
corruption. I will shoot Allah’s enemies, the Jews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: But, remember, Muslim Brotherhood, they’re changed. They’re not
like that anymore, even though he’s still their spiritual leader.

There’s something else that he has said that we haven’t told you about
yet on this program. He said it in 2006. He was talking to the BBC
about charity in the Islamic culture. That’s called Zaqat.

Now, here are his exact words on the subject. Quote, “I don’t like
this word ‘donations.’ I like to call it ‘jihad with money,’ because
God has ordered to us fight our enemies with our lives and our money.”

“Jihad with money” — that’s where we want to start tonight.

Jihad doesn’t always come in the form of a suicide vest or a plane
flown into buildings. There are also jihadists working to destroy
America from within, through the economy and through other avenues
like infiltrating the justice system or the media, Congress, American
culture. It is game on.

Financial jihad is being waged at this very moment against the United
States and across the globe to the tune of $1 trillion. If you have
ever heard the team Sharia complaint banking or Sharia complaint
products, well, let’s get into that a little bit.

Sharia compliant banking or finance is the practice of ensuring that
all monetary matters are in full compliance with all aspects of
Islamic law. Transactions must not involve products like pork or
alcohol. They have to avoid interest and other things.

But Sharia banking also involves charity or Zaqat. Remember we just
heard from al-Qaradawi. He likes to call Zaqat jihad with money. Why?

Well, Sharia requires Muslims to tithe percentage of money to charity.
So, Sharia compliant banks and mutual funds are ultimately tithing to
charity. OK. This sounds fine so far, rights?

But which charities are the monies going to? Charities like Hamas or
Hezbollah? Well, that’s up to the Sharia banking advisors. Who is an
advisor for the banks?

Well, there is a bank called Bank Al Taqwa. You’re not going to
believe who the advisor was — this guy. That was shut down by the
Treasury Department for funding terror groups. Who would have seen
that coming?

Well, are there other obvious points that maybe we’re turning our head
to? Islamic banking has entered the United States and other Western
nations thanks to banks like Citigroup, HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank
and others. It’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, until
you get down to the Sharia compliant officers.

Now, there’s one other thing. Are we as a nation the owners of the
largest purveyor of Sharia compliant insurance products in the world?
Yes, we are. In fact, we bought the company, as taxpayers, AIG. The
U.S. government took it over in 2008.

I want to introduce you to a couple of people. First is Chris Holton.
He’s the vice president at the Center for Security Policy. His
organization published a book called, “Sharia: The Threat to America.”
Holton is also the editor of ShariaFinanceWatch.org.

And Daniel Pipes, he is the founder of the Middle East Forum, a
visiting fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of “Militant Islam
Reaches America.”

Great to have you both.

Let me start first, Chris, with you, because, Daniel, you really —
you watch over Sharia and your expertise really is finance, correct,
Chris?

OK. First of all, do I have it all right?

CHRISTOPHER HOLTON, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: Yes, sir. The only
thing I can see you might have left out is the fact that Iran actually
dominates Sharia compliant finance in the world.

BECK: But this isn’t necessarily nefarious, right? I mean, you could
be Sharia complaint and not necessarily nefarious, right? Do you agree
with that?

HOLTON: That’s true.

BECK: OK. So, why is — why is Sharia compliant was something we
should worry about?

HOLTON: Well, first of all, the whole purpose of Sharia compliant
finances is to promote Sharia. And promoting Sharia is something that
we shouldn’t have here in America because Sharia is the enemy threat
doctrine. It is the goal of the groups like al Qaeda, Hezbollah and
Hamas. It is antithetical to everything that’s in our Constitution.
And in fact, in my opinion, it’s the biggest threat to our
constitutional rights over the next 25 years in this country.

BECK: Would you agree with that, Daniel?

DANIEL PIPES, MIDDLE EAST FORUM: Well, there are different kind of
threats. I mean, China is one kind of threat and Sharia is another
kind of threat. But it is certainly a very important threat.

BECK: I mean, behead you kind of threat. I mean, I think — do we all
not agree that if America fails because we’re lazy, or we just can’t
get our act together, somebody else beats us in fair competition,
anybody have a problem with that?

No. I mean, that’s our fault. We’re sloppy and lazy. But the threat of
someone coming in and, you know, we have our own problems with our own
radicals here in America that are trying to do this and overthrow
something. That’s a whole different topic.

Chris, help me out on the Sharia compliant officers. How are these guys picked?

HOLTON: Well, there’s not many Sharia scholars in the world. There’s
probably only about 200 or so who sit on Sharia advisory boards of
Sharia complaint financial institutions. You’ve got two superstar of
Sharia advisory up there: Taqi Usmani, who is a former Supreme Court
justice from Pakistan. And, of course, Yusuf al Qaradawi, who is the
foremost Sharia scholar in the Sunni Sharia world.

BECK: How much money do these guys control, just these two?

HOLTON: Well, billions of dollars. And they themselves sit on multiple
boards, probably get paid 50,000 bucks for each board that they sit
on. So, they enrich themselves.

BECK: Qaradawi, he is a guy who is at Muslim university or something
here in America or he’s on a board in America, right? Still? Do you
know what I’m talking about, Daniel? Do you, Chris?

HOLTON: Yes.

BECK: What is it?

HOLTON: Islamic American University. He was a founder and he was the
chairman of the board of trustees. But he has to do in absentia
because he’s forbidden from traveling to America because of ties to
terrorist groups.

BECK: How is that happening, Daniel? I mean, what are we doing here? I
mean, how are — how do we have a guy who is — do you think he’s a
threat to America?

PIPES: Yusuf al-Qaradawi is a threat.

BECK: Yes. So, how do we not know this stuff?

PIPES: Well, he’s prevented from coming in the country. But it wasn’t
the ties to terrorism but it was substance of a book he wrote that the
U.S. government found offensive and he was not allowed in, and has not
been here for decades, if ever.

BECK: Right. Are you saying he’s not, his influence isn’t felt here?

PIPES: I’m not saying that. I’m saying that the government is
bifurcated. There are some in the government understand who he is and
want to keep him out. And there are others who think that he is the
solution to al Qaeda and the Taliban, that this modern Islamism, this
nonviolent Islamism is the solution.

BECK: May I just ask a question: who thinks that, you know, hey, a few
people like the Nazis, even though he inflated the numbers, you know,
killing the Jews is not violent? Who — I mean, is there anybody here
thinks that just the clips you heard is not violent?

How does anyone thinking he’s nonviolent?

PIPES: There were Nazis who were nonviolent themselves and there are
part of, obviously, very, very violent machinery.

BECK: But they’re Nazis.

PIPES: Exactly. And that’s the point here. We’re agreeing, that this
so-called modern Islamists are, in fact, part of the same machinery to
apply the same Sharia that leads to the same domination of the world.
But they themselves are not violent.

BECK: But, wait, wait, wait. I’ve never said as a spiritual leader or
as a human being, or, you know, anytime that I can think of, hey, by
the way, I’m just — seriously, I mean, I’m praying that God is going
to give me the strength to shoot Jews from my wheelchair. Who is
defining him as moderate?

PIPES: The U.S. government, by and large, sees the Muslim Brotherhood
as moderate. It’s not the Taliban. It’s not out there planning and
plotting.

BECK: Chris, what’s worse?

HOLTON: He’s absolutely right. The left in the country also seems to
have a romantic view of the Muslim Brotherhood as well.

BECK: No, I know that. But I never heard this before. I mean, I know
that they’re all in denial with the Muslim Brotherhood, but I just
thought they shed the — what was it that Van Jones says — shed the
radical pose for the radical ends. But he’s more radical than what
he’s saying? Is there somebody more radical than what he’s saying
there? That’s pretty radical.

PIPES: Well, as you pointed out before, there are two different ways
to apply Sharia. One is through violence. Taliban, Khamenei, are the
examples. And the other way is working through institutions
politically and nonviolently.

And, by and large, in the West, if you are in the latter group and
you’re not engaged in criminal activity or violent activity, you get a
pass. Governments and other public institutions, including many
television stations, many universities, will say, you’re fine. You’re
OK. It’s just talk.

BECK: Chris —

PIPES: So, in some ways, that’s more dangerous, because it gets a
pass. Nobody gives bin Laden a pass.

BECK: Nobody gives the Tea Party a pass and they haven’t said anything.

Tell me, Chris, what you are most concerned about here with. Because
we looked at — there is a — there are several groups. And I don’t
want to single one out. But there is one that we found that is a hedge
fund. It’s a Sharia hedge fund and could find some nefarious
characters in and around, et cetera, et cetera. But you know what I’m
talking about?

HOLTON: Yes, sir.

BECK: OK. But I didn’t see anything that necessarily was smoking gun,
bad. When it comes to finance, are we missing something we should be
seeing?

HOLTON: There’s very few smoking guns, as you said. Look, Taqi Usmani
is one. Qaradawi is one. But there are other Sharia scholars that have
been much more careful of what they’ve said and what they’ve written
over the years. It’s very difficult to figure them out.

You can look back at some of the backgrounds of some of these people
and you look at where they’re educated and you realize that they’re
educators are incubators for jihad.

BECK: Hang on just a second — Tiffany, do you feel comfortable me
saying the name of this hedge fund? OK. Could you remind me of the
name of the hedge fund?

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: OK. Sharia Capital. Sharia Capital is one of my researchers
actually came over to my house on a Saturday and said, Glenn, I just
found this. And this doesn’t seem right. They started looking into it
and there’s a lot of things in and around.

Can you tell me anything — because there’s no smoking guns. But do
you agree that there are things in there that are just a little —

HOLTON: Look, the whole problem here is that if you go back to Great
Britain to see what’s happening in Great Britain, the purpose of
Sharia Finance is to promote Sharia. And one of the ways they’ve
basically lulled the British to sleep into accepting Sharia into their
society is through Sharia Finance. The archbishop of Canterbury made a
statement a couple of years in which he said that British common law
is going to have to incorporate aspect of Sharia and it really isn’t
that big a deal, seeing as we’ve already incorporated Sharia compliant
finance.

This is a Trojan horse that’s operating. Now, in terms of that
specific hedge fund, look, there is a Sharia advisor on the hedge fund
who was educated in a madrassa in Pakistan that is a madrassa that has
all kind of ties to jihadists. Now, that doesn’t mean that he’s a
jihadi, but he went to the same school as a bunch of them. So, it’s
very worrisome.

BECK: All right. Is there can this — like, for instance, a hedge fund
like that. The hedge funds are unregulated. They have — I mean, wild
power with wild amounts of money.

There was a Pentagon report that came out recently that said that
there are sovereign funds, or huge pools of wealth, that they have
seen — for instance, they almost collapsed on the last one, there’s
an unexplained amount of wealth being sucked out of the system quickly
when we had our financial collapse. And somebody did a report for the
Pentagon and said that was unusual. There is something wrong there.

And they think that was a test run. Somebody was trying to collapse
our system. And they haven’t found them. And they’re still trying to
do it.

Is this something that a hedge fund, the size of the one that you know
could do? Is there — is there something that we as Americans should
be looking for, any tell-tale signs? Or is this just something that is
saying — well, they might be giving money to terrorists here? Like
that’s not bad enough. But they might be funneling money off to
terrorists?

HOLTON: This is what I’d say on that. I don’t think there is evidence
that that particular hedge funds —

BECK: Yes, I’m talking generally. I’m not talking about that particular —

HOLTON: Certainly, the financial jihadists around the world who
promote Sharia compliant financing, many of them have motivation to do
this. We know Qaradawi hates America. We know Usmani hates America.
They’ve said it. They’ve written it. They control a lot of money in
the Sharia complaint finance world.

And then you have Iran. The largest Sharia complaint financial
institutions in the world are not these names that we see up here.
They’re state-controlled Iranian banks. By far, Iran has over twice as
many Sharia compliant assets under management as Saudi Arabia. So,
these are people and institutions that certainly are motivated to
damage America in right circumstances.

BECK: OK. Now, when we come back, I want to spend a little bit of time
with Daniel here on some of the things that are happening here in the
United States. I just read — Daniel, it was like last week or two
weeks ago, there was yet another judge that said, yes, you know what?
Sharia law applies here.

That is suicide, America. Wake up to it, next.

(APPLAUSE)

(APPLAUSE)

BECK: All right. This week, I have been talking to you about the
threat over in the Middle East.

And I tell you, I believe — well, let me ask you. How many people
have been watching the show and feel that you feel comfortable at
least that maybe America is heading down a path where we’re on the
wrong side in the Middle East? Yes, that’s pretty significant.

How many people think that, not necessarily by us, but that Israel is
being set up? I mean, look at that.

We are coddling our enemies at the very best now. We’re helping them
all over the world. One of the ways that it happens under the radar is
with Sharia law. It is a threat to America.

Daniel Pipes is with us. He’s the director and founder of the Middle
East Forum. He’s visiting fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of
“Militant Islam Reaches America.” And with us also is Chris Holton.
He’s a vice president at the Center for Security Policy.

Daniel, the — it’s amazing to me. And we’ll get into the 12th Imam
here in a minute. But it’s amazing to me how — I think, five years
ago before this economic meltdown started, I was very tuned in to what
was happening in Iran and the Middle East. And then we kind of took
our eye off the ball because America started having so many problems
under George W. Bush and then just kept cascading and haven’t been
paying attention enough. And I sit here now and think, oh, my gosh,
what have people been doing while America went back to sleep?

And one of the things is, Sharia law is starting to ugly creep in
America, right?

PIPES: People are so focused on terrorism that they don’t pay
attention to the insidious educational, media, legal and political
growth of radical Islam in the West as a whole, in United States in
particular. Yes.

BECK: Do you — organizations, I mean, they are mainstreaming now, the
Muslim Brotherhood. Our administration says nothing wrong with the
Muslim Brotherhood. Do you agree with that?

PIPES: Yes.

BECK: Nothing wrong with it?

PIPES: Do I agree with it? No. Do I agree the administration is saying it? Yes.

BECK: Yes, yes. No. I know. I’m like, Daniel, what’s happened? They’ve
gotten to you, man!

(LAUGHTER)

PIPES: No, I don’t agree with that.

BECK: Yes, OK. What about the organization in America that have been
mainstreamed already even by the last administration, CAIR?

PIPES: Great example. CAIR was founded in 1994, as a stepchild of
Hamas and has undertaken to promote the ideas of the Muslim
Brotherhood, which is the parent of Hamas in the United States. And it
does it very aggressively, but it does it nonviolently.

BECK: Right. But it — you know, I’m a little — I’m always a little
worried about any organization that fights hard to silence people it
disagrees with.

PIPES: It has ties to terrorism. It just itself is not engaged in
terrorism. It has plenty of employees and board members have ties with
terrorism and apologize for terrorism. It’s a dirty organization and
it’s an aggressive organization.

And it has been, by and large, accepted not so much by the government,
which has queasy feelings about it, but by the press and the academy,
which are celebrating. I mean, CAIR’s ability to get a story is
remarkable. It holds a press conference and you’ve got a story.

BECK: You say that the biggest concern of the creep of Sharia is
actually polygamy.

PIPES: I think it’s the deepest matter. There are a lot of fronts.
But, to me, the deepest of all is the institution of marriage, which,
yes, I’m not saying it’s always maintained but monogamy is the rule of
the land. And look at the Mormons and what the trouble they have with
polygamy.

BECK: Right. And they still have in Utah. They still have people —
full disclosure: I am one. But I got one wife, because that’s
(INAUDIBLE).

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: But there are still people that have been excommunicated and
everything else in these communities.

PIPES: It’s hard by the law. In the United States, there is no
polygamy acceptable yet but I think it’s coming because you can look
at the other jurisdictions, like the United Kingdom, or Ontario where
it is legal —

BECK: Polygamy is cool — legal in England?

PIPES: So long that it’s contracted in a country where it is legal.
So, you have a man and two wives and five children coming from Morocco
or India where it’s legal. They arrive in Britain or Ontario and they
say, “We’re here.” And the government says, “Fine.”

And the government in Britain goes further and has different
allocations for social welfare for the first, the second wife, the
third wife. And if the man dies intestate, then there are special
provisions for the different wives, all very legal.

BECK: Wait a second. Just pick up Chris’ face here. Chris is just
like, so dead. That is so dead.

PIPES: That’s profound I think. That’s important and I think it’s
coming our way.

We can see it in our way. Look, here in New York City, a few years
ago, there was a major fire and some 11 people were killed with
children. Well, it turned out the two families involved were both
polygamist families. And it was covered like it was nothing out of the
ordinary. The mayor went to visit them, and it was all very normal, of
course. Some people are monogamist, some are polygamist. There was no
particular —

BECK: Yes. Where you would say, you know, you bring in these people
who claim to be Mormons and they’re polygamists and the house burns
down.

PIPES: Right.

BECK: My gosh, that’s a story for a month. It’s — we’re almost suicidal.

PIPES: The press is full of half pieces about men who say, well, I was
raised in a polygamist household and it was wonderful. I had all these
aunties around and I want it, too. And my children love it and the
wives love it.

BECK: Is there — hang on just a second. Is there a guy in here who
says, “Man, if I could just have two wives, it would be sweet”?
Anybody here? Any takers? Not that we don’t cherish and love the one
wife. I just can’t imagine, you know, talking to one and then having
(INAUDIBLE) from the other one. Nuts.

All right. Back in just a second. I want to show you a disturbing tape
that has come out of the Middle East this week. And then we talk to
the audience, in a second.

(APPLAUSE)

PATTI ANN BROWNE, FOX ANCHOR: I’m Patti Ann Browne. Outrage in
Afghanistan has turned deadly over a Florida pastor’s burning of the
Quran. At least seven people are dead and 20 were arrested during
violent protests at the United Nations office there. The Libyan
government is refusing to pull its troops out of various cities. This
defies a term of the cease- fire presented by rebel forces.

Meanwhile, thousands turned out for antigovernment protests in Syria
and Jordan and, in Yemen, a sit-in continued as participants prayed
for the president’s rule to end.

At home, the Dow hit its highest point since the summer of 2008,
driven by a low unemployment report.

You can read more about the struggles in Libya on foxnews.com. Glenn
beck returns in a moment. But first, Chris Wallace previews “SPECIAL
REPORT.”

CHRIS WALLACE, “SPECIAL REPORT” HOST: Hey, Patti Ann. Coming up,
unemployment is down, but is the economy really improving? The Fed
reveals which banks got crisis loans and does AARP deserve the
non-profit status? Join me for “SPECIAL REPORT.” Now, back to Glenn
Beck.

BECK: We are back with Daniel Pipes and Chris Holton and a studio
audience. Talking a little bit about Sharia law and what is coming.
And I want to spend a minute here with a tape that we’ve shown you
earlier this week. And it is about the 12th Imam. The 12th Imam, about
— I don’t know — seven years ago I started reading up on.

And Daniel, have you read the Hadif, Chris?

HOLTON: No.

PIPES: Yes.

BECK: OK. Daniel, you’ve read the Hadif, obviously. When I — when I
first started looking at this, I thought, wow, this guy really looks
like somebody went on opposite day and read the — you know, John the
Revelator and read the book of Revelation and said, hey, let’s just
make this story end the opposite way. And the anti-Christ by John the
Revelator seems to have a lot of the same earmarks that the 12th Imam
does.

The video that you’re seeing on the screen is a video that was made by
the state of Iran that is saying that the 12th Imam is here. The chaos
is all part of his return. First of all, do you agree with the take
that it – – he has a lot of the — it’s like opposite day with the
Bible?

PIPES: Definitely, the Quran plays off the Bible. There’s no question.

BECK: No, no. I mean, the Hadif — the way he’s described by the 12ers
that he comes back and the moment that the world is washed in blood,
it is chaotic, then he makes everybody submit. You don’t, he chops
your head off. I mean, it’s — the parallels from the book of
Revelation to the 12th Imam in the Hadif, as they interpret it, he is
the anti-Christ. Have you ever heard that before.

PIPES: Well, there’s actually a technical term in Islamic eschatology
for the anti-Christian. It’s called Dejal (ph). So that I think is the
precise person who you’re thinking of.

BECK: No, no.

PIPES: There are common features here.

BECK: Yes, I’m saying that the roles are reversed. Does anybody know
what I’m talking about here? The roles are reversed. What Christians
believes is the anti-Christ, he has all the earmarks of the 12th Imam.
And the one they say is the Dejal has all the earmarks of like, I
don’t know, us.

PIPES: I think the really important thing here is that Ahmadinejad and
a number of others at the highest levels of the Iranian government
really believe this. And I think that’s of enormous importance.

BECK: When Ahmadinejad said this week in this tape that he has been
selected by the 12th Imam to be the ruler over Iran that destroys
Israel. I don’t hear this reported anyplace, really. I mean, no
mainstream is on – – you know, you don’t see Brian Williams saying,
and looks like the 12th Imam is going to crawl out a well and come
back. Why?

PIPES: Yes. It’s implausible to so many Americans that it doesn’t get
reported. But it is vividly important to the leadership in Iran and it
shapes their policies. This is not some abstract —

BECK: So, do you believe Ahmadinejad actually believes he’s talked to
the 12th Imam? And — you do, Chris?

HOLTON: Absolutely. When he was mayor of Tehran, he had the boulevards
— the main thoroughfares widened so that the Mahdi could come and
land.

BECK: He’d have to have a big car.

HOLTON: Absolutely believes it. Absolutely believes it.

BECK: Do you believe he believes it? That he has spoken to?

PIPES: I don’t know if he has personally spoken to, but the 12th Imam
and end of days are imminent. And his actions are —

BECK: Will hasten it.

PIPES: — in the course of —

BECK: When he says, oh, Allah, help me hasten the return of the
promised one, I’d like to ask both of you what does that mean to him?

HOLTON: Well, I believe Ahmadinejad thinks that needs to take action
to hasten this event.

BECK: Which would mean — which would mean?

HOLTON: It obviously — I think of the Iranian nuclear program when I
think of that. And the possibility that Iran could do something, you
know, horrible.

BECK: But it’s just — but it is also just chaos, isn’t it?

PIPES: Right. And that’s where the nuclear weapons come in. Because if
you want to create chaos, win or lose, whatever that means, using
nuclear weapons brings chaos. And I think that’s part of the
attraction of nuclear weapons is that this is a tool for imposing
chaos like nothing else.

BECK: I was made fun of by bringing up — because I don’t know. You
know, I’m a Christian and I don’t know when Jesus is coming back. I
have a lot of Jewish friends and I say — I’ve made a pact with them.
Look, both die, we get up to the pearly gates and the Savior is there
and he’s like hey, I haven’t been to Earth yet. You vouch for me. If
he’s like, I’m just about ready to go back, I vouch for you.

And I have no idea when — when he’s coming. But it’s always kind of a
good idea just prepare. His — how many — how many people are
Christian here? OK. How many people — how many people think that a
lot of the things — and I know it’s happened a million times. I mean,
the apostles were saying, oh, Jesus is going to be right back. He just
went to go get a sandwich and stuff.

So, how many people here believe that this feels like a time that you
haven’t experience in your lifetime? That’s a little disturbing.

Let me go to John here in the front. And we go back to Sharia and it’s
open to anything you guys want to talk about here. Go ahead, John.

JOHN: My question is, do you think that the application of Sharia law
in a U.S. court by an American judge should be an impeachable offense?

BECK: I do. Chris? Daniel?

PIPES: I’m with you. Yes. No, I think it’s outrageous. And it’s
happening ever more frequently, Just a couple of weeks ago in Florida,
as Glenn mentioned. And there was a notorious case in New Jersey and
there have been a bunch of cases around the country where judges are
repairing (ph) to Sharia and saying between Muslims and a Mosque,
altercation or some other circumstance, the Sharia is our guide. and
it was a notorious case.

BECK: Well, let me — hang on just a second. Before I — maybe I’ll
ask you where we can — how we can stop this. But let me go to
Richard. Where are you, Richard? Up here.

Because you have a great example here.

RICHARD: Is it — is it similar to how the Amish are treated in the
courts? There’s a separate judicial or a separate disparity between
Amish law and say American law?

PIPES: There is — what is acceptable is that individuals can make
agreements among themselves to follow a civil law that is different
from the prevailing one and it’s not offensive. It doesn’t contradict
anything. These are done all the time.

What’s not acceptable is that the — say that the Amish want their law
to be applied to everyone else. And that’s what we’re seeing with the
Islamists. They want their law, Sharia, apply to everyone. It’s —
it’s offensive. It’s on the offense. It’s aggressive.

And as was mentioned before, both the archbishop of Canterbury and the
lord supreme high justice in Britain have endorsed this. Well, Britain
is different from us, but it’s not that different. And if that can
happen there, it’s not so implausible for it to happen here.

BECK: Back in just a second.

BECK: We’re trying to kind of have a refresher on some of the things
that are happening to our country with Sharia law and some of the
things that are going on around the world. Back with Daniel Pipes and
Chris Holton. And I want to go to a Harry from Connecticut? Harry?

HARRY: Glenn, the country of Turkey is 99 percent Muslim. To this day,
the Turkish government has denied committing genocide against the
minority Armenian Christians back in 1915 when 1.5 million were
massacred. Is this not an example — the first example in the 20th
Century of Jihad against Christians and Sharia law — using Sharia
law? And is it something that we ultimately need to worry about if
Sharia law gains a foothold in America?

BECK: Who wants to take that one? Daniel?

PIPES: That one’s a good one, a tough one. I don’t think I would call
it Jihad as such. It was murderous. It was massacre. It was genocide.
But I don’t know that it was Jihad as such because the — Jihad — the
point of Jihad is to spread the rule of Islam. It’s not to convert
people. It’s not just to kill people. It’s to spread the rule of Islam
— the rule and therefore the law of Islam.

The Ottoman empire in 1915 was already Muslim and, therefore, there
could not be a Jihad within the Ottoman empire. It wasn’t technically
possible. So yes, it comes out of superiority of the Muslims versus
non- Muslims. It comes out of the aggravations of war. But I don’t
think, technically speaking, you can call it —

BECK: OK. Hang on. Chris, help me out. Because Daniel just said that
Sharia is for the spread of Islamic rule.

HOLTON: Jihad.

BECK: Or Jihad is. Right?

HOLTON: Right.

BECK: OK. But — so then what is — how does that work with Sharia
finance because isn’t that — isn’t that kind of to spread it and also
— Sharia to spread to get everybody to live under Islamic rule?

HOLTON: Sharia finance was a concept that was invented in the 1930s
which was supposed to insulate the Muslim world from the West. And
now, we have the other side of the coin and they’re using it an
imperialistic way to infiltrate the West.

BECK: Do you both believe — I have to take a break — but do you both
believe, yes or no, that the goal of Islamists is to have a global
caliphate?

HOLTON: Definitely.

PIPES: Yes.

BECK: Yes, OK. Back in just a second.

BECK: I want to actually — Jeanette (ph) is in the front row of our
audience. And we were talking before the show started and she has a
question. But I actually would rather ask you a question.

You’ve been watching the events of the world unfold recently. I can’t
imagine how it must feel as a Jew seeing the radicals all start again,
the communists and the socialists and the Jihadists all around the
world. But let me ask you this. In World War II, Jews had some place
to run. And I’ve only got a couple of seconds. Do you feel there’s
some place that is protected?

JEANETTE: You know, we used to think that Israel was it. But Israel is
also surrounded by —

BECK: Everybody —

JEANETTE: — terrible, powerful enemies.

BECK: All right.

JEANETTE: And now, the only friend that, you know, the Jews could at
least, you know, count on is no longer — I mean, in my opinion, is no
longer there.

BECK: All right. America, this is what I said earlier this week. First
of all, you have to know exactly what you’re up against and what you
believe. And then check what side you’re on. God will not hold us
unaccounted for. He will account for each one of us. And I don’t
believe in collective salvation. Barack Obama’s not going to be
standing next to me at the judgment seat.

You better — you better figure out the difference between good and
evil and stand up. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be a Jew
today and there’s got to be a safe haven. It has always been America.
It should remain that way and if it doesn’t, we’re in more trouble
than I thought we were in. And I thought we were in a lot. Back in a
minute.

BECK: Some of this science — don’t do this at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait. Pause that. Now rewind. I got to see this
again. Did he just —

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he is squirting whipped cream into his mouth
while talking about redistribution of wealth. Only on Glenn’s show.
DVR it because you just can’t make this stuff up.

BECK: I want to thank you for watching this week. And I want to thank
you for listening and being there. And actually trying to figure
things out. I urge you to do your own homework. I urge you to get
involved and stand together with like-minded people.

America will survive. Freedom will survive as long as good people
stand up. From New York, good night, America.

From: A. Papazian

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
Turkish nuclear plans on Mediterranean raise fears

SELCAN HACAOGLU
Published: 04-02-2011

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey plans to build a coastal nuclear power
plant close to an earthquake-prone area, dismissing neighbors’ fears
that Japan’s nuclear disaster shows that the new plant could be a risk
to the whole Mediterranean region.

Greece and Cyprus say the move is a gamble that could cause catastrophe
and want the European Union to scrutinize the EU candidate’s plan in a
debate fraught with political and historical baggage. Turkish officials
insist the plant is safe and necessary to keep the country’s strong
economy going.

The EU is reassessing the whole 27-nation bloc’s energy policy and
questioning the role of nuclear power on a continent where no one can
forget that Ukraine’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation for
thousands of miles (kilometers).

But Turkey is standing firmly by plans to build three nuclear power
plants in the years ahead – including one at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean
coast, close to the Ecemis Fault, which an expert says could possibly
generate a magnitude-7 quake.

Greece is staunchly opposed to the plant – calling out its historic
rival at an EU summit at which the bloc agreed to checks on its 143
reactors.

“Nuclear power for us is not an option because we are in a highly
seismically active region,” Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said
in Brussels last week. “The EU will ask for stress tests to be carried
out at existing and planned facilities in neighboring countries – and we
stressed the fact that Turkey is planning to build a nuclear site at
Akkuyu.”

France has several plants not far from the Mediterranean, Turkey’s
neighbors Armenia and Bulgaria already have them, and several countries
around the sea have announced ambitions to build ones. Turkey’s plan,
however, is drawing particular attention because of its temblors.

Akkuyu is 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the island of Cyprus, which
has been divided between ethnic Greeks and Turks since 1974, when Turkey
invaded. Turkey says the 1,200-megawatt Russian pressurized water
reactor, the VVER-1200 – a new model yet to be operated anywhere in the
world – will be quake-proof and meets the highest nuclear safety
standards.

Turkey has already signed a deal with Russia’s Rosatom agency for the
plant’s construction, which has yet to begin, and hopes the completed
facility will start producing electricity in seven years.

“We are in an effort to realize everything in a plan with all security
measures,” Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan said. “Turkey is becoming
more powerful in industry and technology day by day. It is obvious that
it will be in great need of power.”

Erdogan has repeatedly downplayed risks at nuclear power plants since a
magnitude-9 quake off Japan’s northeastern coast triggered a March 11
tsunami that crippled the cooling systems of the Fukushima Dai-ichi
nuclear plant. The plant has been spewing radioactivity ever since and
officials admitted Saturday that highly radioactive water was leaking
into the sea.

Erdogan says all investments have risks. “In that case, let’s not bring
gas canisters to our homes, let’s not install natural gas, let’s not
stream crude oil through our country,” he said a few days after the
Fukushima accident.

“I wonder whether those who oppose nuclear energy do not use computers
or watch television because of the radiation risk?” he added.

So far no country has reached a conclusion on the safety requirements
for nuclear plants following the Fukushima accident, according to Mujid
S. Kazimi, director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“But the lesson from Fukushima is not only to withstand strong
earthquakes, but also to prevent loss of electric power systems needed
for decay heat removal,” Kazimi said in an email. “What is more
important is to ensure that the complete loss of electric power will be
avoided under the most severe expected external events.”

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says the high-end technology used
in the construction of the Akkuyu plant will make it safer than
Fukushima, which began operating in 1971. At Fukushima, nuclear
engineers scrambled to prevent a total and simultaneous reactor meltdown
at three reactors while dealing with overheating fuel rods in a damaged
storage pool at a fourth reactor.

“I would not say ‘yes’ to anything that I was not comfortable about,”
Yildiz said.

But many in Turkey remember how Chernobyl contamination hurt the vital
export of tea and hazelnuts and forced Turkish leaders to assure a
worried public, drinking cups of tea daily in front of cameras to show
it was not contaminated.

The nuclear standoff comes against a background of territorial disputes
between Greece and Turkey, including in Cyprus. Activists have protested
Turkey’s nuclear plans at home and in Cyprus. Hundreds of protesters
have marched in Istanbul, holding banners that read: “Don’t let Akkuyu
become Fukushima.”

Greek President Karolos Papoulias joined the chorus last week, saying
“the irrational insistence of Turkey to build a nuclear plant in a
highly seismic region” endangers the safety of everyone in the region
and “must be answered directly.”

Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias said Cyprus, Greece and other
southern European countries have raised the issue at the European
Council.

“Mr. Erdogan must strictly get the message that earthquake-prone areas
are not in the least appropriate to develop such projects,” Christofias
said.

But, fears of a strong earthquake near the nuclear power plant may be
exaggerated, one expert said.

“It is possible, but with low probability,” said professor Mustafa Erdik
of the Istanbul-based Kandilli Quake Research Institute and Observatory,
who has studied the fault line near the plant. “I don’t think there will
be any problem regarding the location and quake-design of the nuclear
plant.”

Erdik said, however, there was need for further scientific study since
he last examined the site in 1987.

“Ecemis is an active fault zone. Its southward extension and distance
from site is disputed and needs further evaluation,” Erdik said. “It
could possibly generate a magnitude-7 earthquake.”

Turkey is also holding talks with Japanese companies for a second plant
near the Black Sea coastal town of Sinop, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north
of the North Anatolian Fault, which generated two powerful earthquakes
that killed 18,000 people in western Turkey in 1999. Activists have also
protested the selection of Sinop but with no immediate progress in that
project, the spotlight is focused on Akkuyu.

Erdik said there was also “uncertainty” about the seismic activity near
the proposed Sinop site.

Turkey has not disclosed the possible location of the third nuclear
plant yet.

___

Associated Press Writers Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Suzan Fraser in
Ankara and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Cyprus, contributed to this report.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
April 1 2011

Armenian defense minister, Russian Ground Forces commander discuss
military cooperation

YEREVAN. Apr 1

Armenian Defense Minister Seiran Oganian met with Russian Ground
Forces Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Postnikov in Yerevan on Friday to
discuss bilateral military cooperation, the Armenian Defense Ministry
told Interfax.

No other details of the meeting have been disclosed.

The Armenian city of Gyumri hosts a Russian military base. During
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s official visit to Armenia in
August 2010, Armenia and Russia signed a protocol on extending a
previous treaty between the two countries on the Russian base’s
presence in Armenia for 49 years.

The protocol also envisions that, in addition to defending Russia’s
interests, the Russian military base is also responsible for Armenia’s
security along with the Armenian armed forces.

va

From: A. Papazian

Fresno Bee (California)
April 1, 2011 Friday

Stand up to Turkey, then move on

by Danielle R. Shapazian

One of the most beloved story arcs in American culture is that of the
downtrodden ultimately finding their way past adversity to revel in a
new-found glory. We all know how it goes: The scorned
wife/lover/factory worker/playground nerd has suffered long enough.

After yet another punch to the gut, another assault to the spirit,
they’ve reached their limit. Fed up, resolute, they’re not going to
take it anymore.

So they pull themselves up from their bootstraps. A cry goes out to
the world. “Enough is enough! I know who I am. I deserve better than
this!” Then they walk into the sunset, spirit soaring, chest held
high. “Tomorrow will be a better day because you can’t kick me
anymore!”

That’s what I want Armenians to say to the Turkish people. “Enough is enough!”

And then I want them to proudly, quietly move on.

You might ask how I get off asserting such a radical idea. Who does
she think she is, this green-eyed half-breed who knows only a few
Armenian words?

I can say this because I know the truth. I don’t need any government,
or Congressional resolution, or Turkish revisionist to tell me what I
already know: That the Armenian Genocide happened. That a lot of
innocent lives were lost. That the homeland of my ancestors was lost,
too.

The first time I caught a glimpse of Mount Ararat, I lost my breath.
Walking out the door of a magnificent Orthodox cathedral in Yerevan, I
happened to look to my left.

The sight took me by surprise. I silently gasped and my eyes filled
with tears. My visceral reaction surprised me. Yet, my heart knew
better. This tall, snow-capped mass of volcanic rock that soared
toward the sky was a part of me. This was the mountain of my people.

Mount Ararat sits in Turkey now.

I had never felt a particular compulsion to visit Armenia. Not that I
wasn’t proud of my heritage. But my paternal grandparents had fled
that land almost a hundred years before. Each time I remembered their
courage, I rejoiced in my own good fortune. Their sacrifice was
ultimately my gain. I am a proud American down to the tip of my toes.

But an opportunity presented itself in 2001. Then 9/11 happened and my
travel plans were stalled. A war was brewing. No one wanted to go
anywhere near the Middle East.

Half a year passed. On a spring afternoon, I sat in a Fresno bistro
with my family and ate Italian food as my farewell lunch. My father
handed me the name of the Armenian village of his parents, Basmashen,
scrawled on a piece of paper. “Look for it,” he said. Then I started
my journey to the other side of the world.

Some days later, my traveling companions and I ventured to a place on
the border between Armenia and Turkey. A soldier armed with a machine
gun escorted us, just in case. We looked through a chain-linked fence,
across a huge ravine, to see the abandoned, medieval ruins of an
Armenian village called Ani.

Later, I would tell my father that whatever became of the village of
his ancestors, I wasn’t able to find out. That place was on other side
of the fence too, but, far, far away, in the middle of Turkey. We
weren’t even close.

On April 24, in Yerevan, we walked in silence with tens of thousands
of other Armenians toward the Armenian Genocide Memorial, taking the
opportunity to lay a flower of remembrance at the eternal flame. The
trees along the path were just budding, but even in the hope of
springtime, we could feel the sad presence of those who were lost to
an evil hand.

Now, in 2011, it doesn’t get past me that Easter happens to coincide
with Armenian Martyr’s Day this year. Might we think of Jesus and
forgive the Turkish people who have been brainwashed over generations
to revise history, to deny the truth? Might we forgive their
ignorance, the posturing of their government, without forgetting those
horrific acts?

They can’t kick us anymore if we don’t let them. Let that belief, that
strength, be our glory.

Danielle R. Shapazian of Fresno is associate chief of staff for
Clinical Affairs and Quality Management, VA Central California
Healthcare System.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
April 2 2011

Silent protest in Yerevan’s Liberty Square

April 02, 2011 | 21:05

On April 2, the Heritage party member Larisa Alaverdyan, ethnographer
Hranush Haratyan and the scholar Anahit Tonoyan started a silent
protest in Liberty Square in Yerevan. Determined not to utter a single
word they refused to answer any of Armenian News-NEWS.am’s questions.
A certain Susanna Barkhudaryan, a Board member, Heritage party, said
the reason for the protest is intellectuals’ disagreement with the
ways of dealing with existing problems.

The participants will change one another from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
every day. `They will remain silent during the action, tomorrow and
the day after tomorrow – all the following days – whoever comes,’
Barkhudaryan said.

Stepan Safaryan, a member of the Heritage parliamentary faction, told
Armenian News-NEWS.am he came to express his support to the
protesters.

As to whether the intellectuals’ action is a follow-up to Raffi
Hovhannisyan’s hunger-strike, Safaryan said: `I would not like to say
the action is a follow-up to Raffi Hovhannisyan’s hunger-strike, but
the party leader’s action gave rise to a new form of protest.
Intellectuals are protesting on their own behalf and on behalf of
others. Everybody is aware that Raffi Hovhannisyan and these persons
have far fewer problems than others. But, no matter how gravely
people’s right to protest is violated, the intellectuals had the
courage to protest instead of the people that are not allowed to,’
Safaryan said.

Heritage party Chairman Raffi Hovhannisyan was on a hunger-strike
March 14 to 30.

From: A. Papazian