Author: Ani Tigranian

The New York Times
 Sunday
Mr. Trump, Meet a Hero You Maligned
 By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
In 1885, a poor, uneducated 16-year-old boy arrived in our country
from Germany at a time when immigrants were often looked down on by
affluent Americans.
This boy was ambitious and entrepreneurial, and, despite language
problems, he earned some money and then traveled up to the Klondike
during the gold rush to operate a hotel that became notorious for
prostitution. He prospered, and today his grandson is President Trump.
After Germany became an enemy in World War I, the Trump family was
embarrassed enough about its heritage that it claimed to be from
Sweden instead. President Trump himself repeated this lie in his 1987
book, ''The Art of the Deal.''
Yet Trump hypocritically joined the modern Know-Nothings by reportedly
railing against immigrants from ''shithole countries'' like Haiti and
those in Africa. He favored admitting white people over black people
-- which is just the latest incident in a four-decade record of his
racial epithets and discrimination.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, I carefully reviewed Trump's
race-related history, including the 1,021 pages of legal documents
from racial discrimination suits against him, and the evidence is
devastating. We should be careful about tossing around the word
''racist,'' and any one incident can be misconstrued. But in Trump's
case, we have a consistent, 40-year pattern of insults and
discrimination, and I don't see what else we can call him but a
racist.
It's true, of course, that some African countries are in wretched
shape and that some immigrants from poor countries arrive uneducated
and end up, along with homegrown Americans, in dubious trades. But
careful, Mr. President, given your own grandfather's history.
More important, the toxic disparagement of immigrants tarnishes heroes
like Emmanuel Mensah, 28, a New Yorker who came from the West African
country of Ghana and joined the Army National Guard.
Then a couple of weeks ago, when he was back from training, a fire
broke out in Mensah's Bronx building. Mensah easily saved himself, but
then rushed back into the burning building to rescue others. Three
times he rushed in and out, bringing out four people.
Then Mensah dashed toward the flames again and reached the fourth
floor in a desperate effort to save a fifth person. This brave soul
from what Trump would describe as an s-hole country, the kind of
person Trump was insulting, never made it out. Mensah's body was found
high in the building's wreckage.
A few days ago, the Army posthumously awarded Mensah the Soldier's
Medal, its highest award for heroism outside of combat, and New York
State awarded him its Medal for Valor. The citation on the state medal
reads: ''His courageous and selfless act in the face of unimaginable
conditions are consistent with the highest traditions of uniformed
service.''
Who better embodies our nation's values? A politician with a history
of racist comments who took five deferments to escape military duty in
the Vietnam War, including one for heel spurs? Or a heroic Ghanaian
immigrant and soldier who dies in a fire while rescuing others?
Most of us recognize that immigration is complex and that we cannot
throw open our borders, but also that newcomers enrich us. That is
true not only of Norwegians but also of penniless refugees from
impoverished, war-torn countries, such as my father -- a
Polish-Armenian fleeing Eastern Europe, whose first purchase in the
U.S. was a Sunday New York Times to teach himself English.
Trump once showed a willingness to be big-hearted to immigrants who
break the rules: He married Melania, a Slovenian who came to the U.S.
on a visitor visa and then earned money as a model before she was
authorized to work, according to an investigation by The Associated
Press.
If only Trump could show a similar compassion to unauthorized
immigrants who don't look like Melania. In particular, his decision to
send Salvadorans back, in the face of murderous gang violence in that
country, and his rejection of a bipartisan deal to protect DACA
''Dreamers,'' simply seem cruel.
So what can we do?
Obviously, we need to stand up to racist xenophobia even when it
emanates from the White House -- particularly when it emanates from
the White House -- and in addition, if Americans are looking for a
constructive way to respond, here's a suggestion: Donate to an
immigrant rights organization like the National Immigration Law
Center, or to an aid group that works with people whom our president
just insulted.
I've seen firsthand and admired the work of two American aid
organizations that save lives in Haiti from tuberculosis, cervical
cancer and more. They are Partners in Health and Innovating Health
International. Both are working heroically on the front lines to save
the lives of ordinary Haitians, particularly women.
It seems to me that a fine, practical response to racism is to help save a life.
I'm delighted to announce that the winner of my 2018 win-a-trip
contest, to take a university student with me on a reporting trip, is
Tyler Pager, a graduate of Northwestern University now studying at
Oxford. The runner-up is Diana Kruzman of the University of Southern
California. Thanks to the hundreds of students who applied, and
special appreciation to the Center for Global Development in
Washington for helping screen applicants.
I invite you to sign up for my free, twice-weekly email newsletter.
Please also join me on Facebook and Google+, watch my YouTube videos
and follow me on Twitter (@NickKristof).
URL: 

Mehr News Agency (MNA), Iran
January 2, 2018 Tuesday
Armenians wish prosperous New Year for fellow-Iranians
TEHRAN, Jan. 02 (MNA) – The following is the report recounting my
visit to a church in Tehran where Iranian Armenians observed the rites
of the Eve of the New Year.
Late on Sunday (on the Eve of the New Year of 2018) I went to
Vahidiyeh district in eastern Tehran where a community of Armenian
Iranians live in a somehow big neighborhood.
I was accompanied by Mehr News photographer Majid Hamed Haghdoust and
political desk contributor Mohammad Mahdi Maleki.
The main church of the area was Surp Targmanchats Church opened in
1968. After the 1962 earthquake ravaged the area, the International
Council of Churches funded the Armenians of the neighborhood to buy a
big area of land and rebuild their community. A land of 6000 square
meters was specified to erecting the new venue.
Before the opening of Surp Targmanchats Church in 1968, the Armenians
of the district used to go to the Church of Holy Mary to do their
religious chores, but the Church of Holy Mary was at a distance of 15
kilometers from where they lived. In 1945, the number of Armenians
residing in the area was around 20,000.
It was a sweet night full of wishes for a good New Year and people who
were making resolutions for the new era ahead of them.
In addition to my fellow Iranians of the religion of Christianity,
there were Muslims who were attending the event to show homage to
their compatriots. There were also some other non-Armenian
participants who were interested in how the ceremony was held and the
kind of music played.
The walls were decorated by religious painting hung, most of them
about the life of Prophet Jesus Christ. Upstais was a balcont where
three female vocalist performed choral music accompanying the rite.
The Holy Communion rite kicked off with the ringing of the bells.
Everybody looked happy and smiling.
Some were pondering deep to think about their New Year’s resolutions,
maybe praying for their dear ones.
Ghazal was a teenage Muslim girl who was attending the event along
with her mother and sister. They came early and left around 02:00 a.m.
after the event was over. She said that she wished good things happen
to all people, regardless of their religions, whether Muslims or
Christians, in the New Year.
Vana Gharibian was a young ethnomusicology student at Iranian State
University of Art at the level of master’s degree. She told me that in
2017 she found the real value of life and wished health for those who
are bed bound.
Another person in the community, was a middle-aged gold-smith who had
lost his sister just some days before, but he was attending the event
to respect his fellows in the church. He wished peace for all people
of the world saying that it is no use to have peace in somewhere and
war in somewhere else because all the world is interconnected and
anything unpleasant sat anywhere can sooner or later affect the other
parts of the world.
There were a young Armenian couple who told me that the best thing
they heard in 2017 was the news that they were going to have a baby.
The pregnant lady said that she is expecting for the best event of her
life, the birth of her expected baby, to happen in 2018.
Another middle aged man told me that he was happy that he met his
sister’s children, returning from abroad, in 2017. He described it as
the best event of his last year.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday
Former Armenian Ambassador to Egypt: The Reduction of the Armenian
community in Jerusalem is our main problem
Yerevan December 22
Ani Mshetsyan. "The problem of the reduction of the Armenian community
in Israel, and in particular in Jerusalem, is our main problem." On
December 22, the former Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Ruben Karapetyan
stated at a roundtable organized by the Ramkavar Azatakan Party and
dedicated to the fate of Armenian Jerusalem in the light of the latest
statement by US President Donald Trump.
He noted that it would certainly be right to send delegations both to
Israel and Palestine in order to listen to both sides and understand
the problem, but the Armenian Foreign Ministry was late with these
steps.
"Trump understands that his main ally in the Middle East is Israel,
and he supports it in every way against the background of the Middle
East crisis." concluded Karapetyan, stressing that the most important
thing for the Armenian community in this situation is to preserve its
independence in Israel.
Bishop Nathan, responsible for external affairs of the Holy
Echmiadzin, said that the fate of the Armenian Jerusalem in the light
of recent events is of concern to the church, but not for political
reasons. Anxiety is connected with the fate of the Armenian community
in Jerusalem.
He said that the church is very concerned about the fact that the
number of the Armenian community in Jerusalem is getting smaller and
smaller, in addition, Trump's statement does not say a word about what
will happen to the church communities that are in Jerusalem. "I am
very worried by the fact that Jerusalem can eventually become a closed
city like Bethlehem, which is walled and does not get there without
passport control, which complicates the lives of its residents. Almost
all the Armenians of Bethlehem have already moved, and I'm afraid ,
that the same fate will befall the Armenians of Jerusalem," the bishop
stressed.
He also noted that the church, in fact, is worried about the unknown.
"What will happen if the Israeli authorities do not recognize the
status quo of the church communities, what will happen to the
community itself and the lands, schools and Armenian families that are
in Jerusalem?".
On December 21, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling
not to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Regnum news agency, Rusia
Dec 22 2017
Armenian army to use satellite imagery for reconnaissance
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Russian]
Yerevan, 22 December: The Armenian Armed Forces are expanding their
reconnaissance capabilities, and in the near future they will start
using "images from space" to conduct operational reconnaissance of the
territory of neighbouring states.
To this end, the Armenian government has allocated 300m drams (625,000
dollars) to Geokosmos closed-type joint-stock company [CJSC], which
was set up in November. According to the government's decision [to
start using "images from space" to conduct operational reconnaissance
of the territory of neighbouring states, the money will be used] "to
put into operation and upgrade the software and hardware used by the
receiving station at Geokosmos".
Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the spokesman for the Armenian Defence Ministry,
said that details of the agreement as well as any further information
related to the government's decision, could not be disclosed.
"The decision to cooperate with Geokosmos CJSC will expand Armenia's
reconnaissance capabilities, particularly by means of space
technologies," the spokesman said.
Asked whether the establishment of Geokosmos would pave the way for
the launch of an Armenian satellite into space, Hovhannisyan said: "I
cannot say precisely what is possible, but the Armed Forces must
gradually develop, and they do develop their means of reconnaissance
and all means of ensuring combat capability in general, and they do
take clear steps in that direction, and you can see that. The draft
law is one of those examples."
The April 2016 war in Nagorno-Karabakh showed that the Armenian Armed
Forces did not possess technical means to carry out deep
reconnaissance and detect the wide scale of military operations
prepared by the enemy.
According to some observers, the Armenian Armed Forces will now be
able to obtain information not only from Russian satellites or those
of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, but
also from satellites that belong to other states.