Author: Emil Lazarian

PRESS RELEASE
Office of the Independent Councillor, City of Ryde
Email: [email protected], or Alt. Email: [email protected]
Phone: (02) 9879 4159 , Mobile: 0412 048 330
PO Box 631, Galesville, NSW 2111, Australia
Science prize goes to UNSW again
16 November 2004

The Australasian Science prize has been awarded to an academic from
UNSW, for the second year in a row.
The 2004 prize has been awarded to Professor Levon Khachigian, an
NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow in the Centre for Vascular
Research (CVR) in the Faculty of Medicine.
Professor Khachigian and his 15-strong team in the Transcription and
Gene Targeting Laboratory are hoping to develop novel treatments for
arterial diseases, including several aggressive cancers, based on
innovative ways for identifying genes that damage blood vessels.
“I think that one of our strengths is our ability to translate
fundamental observations into potential therapeutic strategies,” said
Professor Khachigian. “We like to think of inventive ways to interfere
with key molecules and the cellular events that would otherwise lead
to the manifestation of disease.”
Their most recent discovery is of molecular tools that block the
growth of aggressive melanoma in mice.
In accepting the prize, Professor Khachigian called for increased
funding for health and medical research by Government in its new term
– an area, which he claims, received scant attention in the recent
federal election campaign. “Otherwise we risk losing the opportunity
of capturing and building upon the people, project and infrastructure
investments already made,” he said. “Our competitive position as an
international player in research is squarely dependent on adequate
government funding.”
“Fundamental understanding is critical to any area of research, which
is why we need to support curiosity-driven research,” said Professor
Khachigian.
UNSW Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Wainwright, and Professor Michelle
Haber, Director of the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia applauded
Professor Khachigian’s impressive body of research. He was presented
the Award by the editor of Australasian Science Guy Nolch.
Last year, another UNSW academic, Emeritus Scientia Professor Mark
Rowe, was presented with the prize for his work as a sensory
neuroscientist.
Next month Professor Khachigian will be awarded his Doctor of Science
(Research), his third degree over 23 years from UNSW.
Our Congratulation to Professor Levon Khachigian and his family,
Prof. Khachigian is born in Lebanon of Armenian Parents he resides in
Ryde, he is married and has two children.
Sarkis Yedelian, Councillor, City of Ryde.
For further information about Australasian Science go to the website.

Media Monitors Network
Nov 16 2004
Arresting Vanunu While Burying Arafat
by Mary La Rosa
“Mr. Vanunu, who is a Christian and who claims his faith profoundly
directed and sustained him during the worse of his imprisonment,
gives much credit to the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ.”
They stormed St Georges early in the morning
just like it was Ramallah
and the Ghost of some other plot the base of their desire
Machine guns poised ready to fire
How many agents do you think it takes
to intimidate Anglican Bishop Riah?
How many agents needed to crash a cathedral gate
How many agents to dash past clergy and Pax Ecclesiae
How many agents to frighten the Christian pilgrims
and seize the unarmed Mordechai?
Mr Vanunu remained calm.
They took him away with automatic weapons and hostility
Later they returned him without harm but missing his technology
Without regard for laptop sanctity and inviolability
towards sacred place, circle, temple, mosque or church
how many security agents DOES it take to represent a fascist state?
MLR
On November 10 2004, Fredrik Heffermehl, Norwegian author of the book
“Peace Is Possible” and spokesperson for the International Free
Vanunu Campaign distributed an online report and analysis concerning
the ongoing and active campaign for full human and civil rights for
Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu. Mr Vanunu is
currently living with the ambiguity of not quite full freedom. While
it appears that he was physically released from one Israeli styled
prison six months ago, he is seemingly further punished and being
held prisoner by being forced to remain under court restrictions that
prevent him from leaving the country that does not really want him,
but also does not really want him to be free. The overt theme of
Israel’s continued restrictions over Mr Vanunu’s civil rights and
liberties is one that claims security , not vengeance, to be at the
core paranoia about Mr Vanunu’s twenty year old memory of such
“secrets” now known and published throughout the free world.
Fredrik Heffermehl, who is also a lawyer and Vice President of the
International Peace Bureau had only just presented the newly proposed
legal strategy based upon review of Mordechai’s situation and the
progress of the campaign thus far. Due to various aspects of Mr
Vanunu’s unique case re: its legality, civil rights, environmental
concerns, an international awareness and interest in the case has
been growing. Mr. Heffermehl’s report welcomed a larger international
presence including special interest groups that support Mordechai and
umbrella together in support of the abolition of nuclear
proliferation. Another lawyer and activist, Jennifer Harbury joins Mr
Heffermehl in Lawyers For Full Freedom For Vanunu . She is currently
working on a project that exposes the various use and users of
torture and she brings to the Vanunu campaign her expertise in
championing political prisoners and human rights causes.
Less than one day after Mr Heffermehl posted his report to an
international community of supporters, Mordechai Vanunu was taken
away in a fanfare of commando style mobbing. If indeed this event
took place to contrast the event of Yasser Arafat’s death and
funeral, why did Israeli security still deem it so necessary to
utilize such armed force against unarmed Christian clergy and
pilgrims.? Some witnesses reported as many as thirty security agents
arriving in various kinds of vehicles brandishing weapons across the
threshold of the sanctity of the Church grounds, and against the much
outraged indignation of the Right Reverend Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal.
Bishop Riah is the Christian leader of the Anglican community at the
Cathedral of St George in Jerusalem where Vanunu has been living in
sanctuary from those who wish to do him physical harm. This is not
the first time Bishop Riah has been rudely approached by security
police with regards to Mordechai Vanunu. Since offering Mordechai
Vanunu the hospitality and protection of the Church, Bishop Riah has
been stopped and detained at Tel Aviv airport. There he was subjected
to a body search and he was interrogated by the Shin Bet.
Bishop Riah , as a Palestinian Christian, has experienced most of his
life living under Occupation.
Considering his past and present status in the Anglican community
this recent incursion is a great disrespect and an affront to all
Churches. Since this inappropriate incident and armed visit that
included Mordechai’s arrest, the Anglican Church and the Compass Rose
Society have featured Bishop Riah’s letter and reaction to this
latest assault.
He remains Mordechai’s loyal friend and spiritual adviser.
The motivation behind making the dramatic kind of arrest at St
George’s that befitted some dangerous kingpin with some equally armed
entourage, is unclear at this time, except that it has provided the
Vanunu campaign with further vitality in the medias. Mr Vanunu
remained calm and the other guests and clergy, after expressing their
initial shock and dismay, are now expressing their outrage. It has
been alarming to notice how an established religious leader at his
center and consecrated ground, is treated by an over active police
force thus setting further example for those “unofficial” and self
proclaimed police gangs known for acting out racist hatred and
violence near illegal settlements. Other religious leaders, pilgrims
and concerned travelers must consider if this incident is part of a
current trend by the Israeli government to single out certain types
of Jesus followers, especially those involved in human rights issues
and/or unpopular causes.
An unpopular cause, besides Mordechai Vanunu’s complete freedom,
appears to be any overt defense of the Palestinian people’s basic
human rights and needs. Christians involved in using their presence
in order to protect Palestinians from settler violence have been
physically attacked while walking as a protective presence with
school children. The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron has reported
on such settler violence for some time now. Israeli and Christian
groups report that the rate of incidence has increased but with
little or no real policing of the hate crimes.
Recently tensions in Jerusalem involving chronic abuse of Christian
clergy by orthodox students culminated when a Jewish orthodox student
spat at an archbishop during a procession from Jerusalem’s Armenian
Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site that
comemorates the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The student in this
particular incident was arrested, after ripping the cross from the
neck of the cleric. The Armenian Christians reported that the
spitting is an ongoing and continuous problem and one that comes from
adult men and women , as well teens.
The Presbyterian Church has been recently featured in alternative and
some mainstream medias for its latest strategy and decision to do
something positive on behalf of the existing and continuing suffering
of the Palestinian people living under occupation. Tired of waiting
for yet another official UN veto to stop “even” investigation of
human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, the Presbyterian
Church has decided to take direct action against illegal settlements
and the illegal targeting of human rights activists in the Occupied
Territories.
By making such brave and courageous commitment to peace in the name
of values directly associated with the life and teachings of Jesus,
the Presbyterians, have come under attack.
As a pro active commitment to peace and justice, the Presbyterian
Church announced it would target specific companies and businesses
that operate on occupied land, and or companies that support illegal
settlements, build barriers and make business with organizations that
support violence against the Palestinian people. The Church further
explained that all Companies can balance their past bad business
practices by protesting the occupation, helping victims, contributing
to a viable economy for an independent Palestinian state, or
employing Israeli Arabs or Palestinians.
“The goal is not to divest but persuade organizations to change their
behavior,” said Jerry Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian News
Service.
This statement and statements like this have inspired bullying and
threats from violent Jewish extremist groups operating in the US and
abroad. Tensions have risen with the most recent arson threats that
have been directed specifically towards Presbyterian churches all
around the United States. Threats of arson were sent to individual
Churches and included swatiska signs condeming each Church and the
Presbyterian organization as a whole, for its human rights efforts
against illegal settlements, that either promote or inflict apartheid
style racism or that defiantly stand as obstacles to peace.
Mr. Vanunu, who is a Christian and who claims his faith profoundly
directed and sustained him during the worse of his imprisonment,
gives much credit to the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ.
Throughout his hardship and the loneliness of solitary confinement,
Mordechai held strong to his Christian beliefs. If eighteen and a
half years did not break him of those beliefs, thirty men with
weapons will not succeed either. Afterall, the universal message of
Christ is one of peace and love and is still held in “some” popular
esteem at his birthplace and elsewhere around the world, more than
two thousand years later.
This year Mr Vanunu was once again nominated for the prestigious
Nobel Peace Prize. Had he won he would have had to have made his
acceptance speech from inside Israel while under restrictions for
doing that which put him in prison eighteen and a half years ago
which in turn led him to be nominated. He was recently honored at the
United Nations along with Seymour Hersch as recipient of the Lennon
Ono Peace Award and also because of his restrictions he could not
attend. Instead , his adoptive parents, Nick and Mary Eoloff accepted
for him and gave his speech for him in absentia.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament recently made a tribute by
naming its national headquarters in London after him.
In October, Mordechai Vanunu celebrated his 50th birthday . Because
of the court restrictions he could not share his cake and toast with
all his friends, but supporters from all around the world celebrated
his special day . Shortly after, David Frost contacted him and he
answered David’s questions in interview format . This interview was
considered a defiance of the restrictions placed on him upon his
release. However, if David Frost calls Mordechai Vanunu how is it
possible to comply with such restrictions and still be a man free to
answer the door or pick up the phone?
Among his last words to David Frost :
“I tried to inform the world and to try to stop this nuclear
proliferation”
— Mordechai Vanunu
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 16 2004
Economic Analysis
Georgian government goes looking for investors
By M. Alkahzashvili
The Georgian leadership’s attempts to attract foreign investments in
the country have so far produced little visible results. Despite the
undoubted energy with which the government, led by Minister of
Economic Development Kakha Bendukidze, has set about persuading
foreign entrepreneurs to invest in Georgia – organizing business
forums and conferences to display what Georgia has to offer and
reiterate the administration’s guarantee of stability and support for
entrepreneurs – there has been very little in the way of private
foreign investments since the Rose Revolution.
The Rose government considers foreign investment as vital for the
country’s economic development and a major priority. Hence the
business forums that have been held this year along with discussions
with Russian, Armenian, Turkish, Israeli and Kazakh businessmen. The
government has also called on Georgian businessmen working abroad to
return to their country and invest in businesses here.
The government continued its pursuit of potential investors last
week, when Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania traveled to London with
Bendukidze and Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli, as well as
representatives of such Georgian companies as Tbilvino, Bagrationi
1882, Tbilaviamsheni, and Batumi and Poti Ports, to try to persuade
foreign businessmen to come to Georgia. The ‘Invest in Georgia’
business forum opened on November 11, and will be followed by similar
events in Italy, later this month, and New York, in January 2005.
Whether or not such international conferences will result in
increased investments remains to be seen, but the fact is that up
until now the government’s attempts have been largely fruitless,
suggesting that private investors remain wary of setting up new
businesses in Georgia. The tense situation in South Ossetia (and
Abkhazia) and the possibility that it could develop into an armed
conflict, is one reason for hesitancy among businessmen.
But there are other factors too. Although the government repeatedly
stresses that investors in Georgia will receive protection and
support from the government and the law, there is still much to do to
persuade investors that this is in fact the case. Stamping out
corruption is one task for the government which is far from
completed; changes to the law, and equally importantly, to the
implementation of the law, are another.
The government hopes that the adoption of the new tax code, which
should come into effect from January 2005, will help to attract
foreign investors. Indeed, Akhali Taoba reports that the code has
been created solely with foreign businessmen, and less local
entrepreneurs, in mind.
However, analysts think that the adoption of the new tax code will
not be enough to change the situation to any great extent. Very much
depends on the law on financial amnesty, which needs to be
implemented quickly, but also needs to be improved so that there is
no possibility of entrepreneurs coming under pressure from the
government. If there remain possibilities for different punitive
institutions to continue attacking businessmen, the business
environment will continue to put off potential investors.
There is still little, if any, trust in law enforcement bodies –
prosecutors, police, or the court system – and entrepreneurs are well
aware of current cases of unlawful conduct, human rights violations,
bribery, and so on.
Georgia is still a high risk country for investors, and although the
government should be praised for its energetic attempts to lure
businessmen at such events as ‘Invest in Georgia,’ it also needs to
continue the long and hard fight to improve the country’s business
environment.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lawrence.com, Kansas
Nov 16 2004
Cohesive chamber orchestra unites for priceless performance
By Sarah Young – Special to the Journal-World
Not even technical difficulties involving the Lied Center’s stage
lighting could dim the musical fire emanating from the stage Sunday
afternoon during the concert by Camerata Sweden. Also known as
Camerata Nordica or Camerata Roman, the 15-member chamber orchestra
performs without a conductor, relying on the heightened sense of
collective unity usually reserved for small chamber ensembles.
A traditional orchestra’s lines of communication run primarily from
individual players through the conductor. In a quartet or other small
ensemble without a conductor, the individual players must connect to
one another in ways that are sometimes difficult in the larger
orchestra. In a camerata, the difficulties multiply because there are
so many players. The possibilities for loss of cohesion multiply when
more individuals are added to the group.
However, Camerata Sweden excels at that kind of cohesiveness.
Everyone – with the exception of cellists – performs standing,
accentuating the possibilities for physical communication. Through
direct eye contact and body language, the members of the ensemble
maintain an intense, high-level, sensitive connection with one
another, moving as individuals yet playing with one glorious sound.
Saying the ensemble is not being led is false, however. Just as a
quartet follows the lead of the first violinist, Camerata Sweden
relies on the subtle direction of its music director and violinist
Levon Chilingirian, whose expressive body language guides the
ensemble through intricate musical phrasing.

Special to the Journal-World
Camerata Sweden, a 15-member chamber orchestra, performed Sunday at
the Lied Center.
Chilingirian was also the featured soloist in the aurally striking
`Violin Concerto’ by Alan Hovhaness, which was an alteration from the
announced program. Hovhaness, a 20th-century composer of Armenian and
Scottish descent, found much of his musical inspiration in Armenian
church music. The `Violin Concerto’ is a haunting piece whose first
movement – `Pastoral’ – sets the scene for the concerto’s evocation
of lazy summer days. During one of the later movements is a moment of
spectacular sound and bowing technique as the instruments emulate the
buzzing of bees. All the while, the sound of Chilingirian’s violin
soared above the ensemble with crystalline clarity.
The concert began with the Mendelssohn `String Quartet in F minor,’
which established the intense emotional content of the afternoon’s
selections. Obviously reflecting the composer’s state of grief and
despair following his sister’s death, the music is often strikingly
dissonant and macabre, but its emotional peak occurs in the third
movement, when the violins and cellos cast out the opening phrase of
profound sadness that is borne throughout the sections in an elegy of
despair.
The second half of the program contained the familiar Barber’s
`Adagio,’ played with breathtaking delicacy; however, the featured
number was the Beethoven `String Quartet in F minor.’ Mirroring the
emotions of the Mendelssohn, it is moody and intense, written in 1810
during the composer’s bleak years of worsening deafness, ill health
and familial frustration. With its emotions ranging from violent
anger to anxiety and despair and finally to hopeful resolve, it is a
piece well-suited to the chamber orchestra’s talent for emotional
investment.
Overall, Camerata Sweden’s performance offered priceless
opportunities for intense, complex musical experiences.
Sarah Young is a lecturer in Kansas University’s English department.
She can be reached at [email protected].

ANTI-ARMENIAN TENSIONS INSIDE AZERI COMMUNITY OF MOSCOW PROVOKED BY
TURKISH LOBBY
MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 16. ARMINFO. The present anti-Armenian tensions
inside the Azeri community of Moscow are being inspired by the Turkish
political lobby, says the president of the Armenian National Club
Miabanutyun Smbat Karakhanyan.
Now they are trying to play off the Moscow Azeris with the Moscow
Armenians and to set the Russian authorities especially Pres. Putin
against the Russia-based Armenian community.
To remind, some 300 Moscow Azeris held Monday a sanctioned rally in
the center of Moscow. Many of them came in special buses. They
demanded that the Russian authorities change their attitude towards
their “false” strategic partner Armenia and turn their eyes towards
“honest” Azerbaijan. Nov 20 they are planning to rally in front of the
Armenian Embassy in Moscow.
Karakhanyan says that pressurized from abroad certain Azeri
politicians are plotting regional destabilization and stoppage of the
Karabakh conflict settlement talks.
The next step, according to Karakhanyan, will be the return of Azeri
refugees to their homes first as peaceful civil marches and then as
bloody clashes. In case of war resumption Azerbaijan will try to break
through Armenia’s territory to Nakhichevan to create a direct passage
towards Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baltic News Service
November 15, 2004
ESTONIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH ARMENIAN COUNTERPART
TALLINN, Nov 15
Estonian President Arnold Ruutel who is on an official visit to
Armenia met on Monday with his opposite number, Robert Kocharyan.
The meeting between the heads of state and official delegations took
place after a formal reception ceremony in front of the presidential
palace in Yerevan, the press service of the Estonian president’s
office reports.
Under discussion were potential areas of bilateral cooperation, among
them sharing the Estonian experience of reforms and European
integration, and economic, cultural and educational experience,
including on the level of local government.
The rector of Tartu University, Jaak Aaviksoo, spoke about contacts
in the field of higher education which go back for more than two
centuries. The best-known example of this is that the founder of
modern Armenian literature, Khachatur Abovyan, was a student at Tartu
in 1830-1836.
State Secretary Heiki Loot spoke about the Estonian government’s
experience of using an electronic information system at its sessions.
Ruutel met also with the chairman of the Armenian National Assembly
Artur Bagdasaryan and other members of parliament. The Armenian
lawmakers showed great interest in tapping into Estonia’s experience
through parliamentary contacts.
The Estonian head of state laid a wreath at the genocide monument.
In the afternoon the presidents opened an Estonian-Armenian business
seminar. Ruutel observed in his opening remarks that bilateral trade
is so far limited to contats between single enterprises.
“But the business delegation accompanying us has come here with a
clear interest in cooperation and finding a niche for instance in the
areas of industrial electronics, telecommunications and information
systems,” the president added.
On Sunday Ruutel and his wife, Ingrid, visited the 1st-century Garni
temple, 13th-century Geghard monastery and Lake Sevan. In the evening
the Estonian president visited also the museum of the renowned film
maker Sergei Paradzhanov.
Estonian Culture Minister Urmas Paet and Armenia’s Minister of
Culture and Youth Affairs Khovik Khoveyan signed at the museum an
agreement on bilateral cultural cooperation.
Ruutel’s official visit to Armenia will continue on Tuesday. The
president is scheduled to return to Estonia Tuesday evening.

Experts fear Armenian Chernobyl
The Times/UK
November 16, 2004
Jeremy Page reports from Yerevan
Local people and the European Union are at odds over a Soviet-era reactor

THE Metsamor atomic plant looms menacingly behind Eduard Kenyasyan as
he offers a slice of homegrown water melon on the end of his
knife. `Nuclear melon?’ he asks with a mischievous grin. After living
next to this Chernobyl-era power plant on a seismic fault in southern
Armenia for 30 years, he is usedto the threat of nuclear disaster.
`If anything happens, it will affect the whole country, not just me,’
he says, shrugging.
The rest of Europe has not taken such a relaxed approach. The European
Union has lobbied hard for the plant, just ten miles from the border
with Turkey,to close this year. It says that the pressurised
water-reactor, based on first generation Soviet technology, may not
withstand another serious earthquake. Alexis Louber, the EU’s
representative in Armenia, caused an uproarrecently when he said that
keeping the plant open was the same as `flying around a potential
nuclear bomb’.
Metsamor was built in the 1970s and shut down after a big earthquake
in 1988, which killed at least 25,000 people in northern Armenia and
hit 5.0 on the Richter scale around Metsamor. Yet the Armenian
Government reopened the plant’s second unit in 1995 because of severe
power shortages and now says that it can continue working until 2016 –
and possibly 2031.
The resulting dispute pits growing Western concerns over obsolete
Soviet nuclear facilities against Armenia’s determination to preserve
its independence and energy security. The EU has campaigned for the
closure of dozens of atomic plants in the former Soviet Union since
Chernobyl, and its concerns have intensified since expanding to
Russia’s borders.
Although Metsamor uses different – and safer – technology from that at
Chernobyl, it lacks secondary containment facilities to prevent
radioactiveleakage in the event of an accident, European experts say.
In addition, nuclear fuel has to be flown to Yerevan from Russia and
then driven along a bumpy road to Metsamor once a year, because
Armenia’s border with Turkey is closed.
Jacques Vantomme, the EU’s acting Ambassador to Georgia and Armenia,
said: ` If there is an earthquake tomorrow, would it create a nuclear
disaster? I don’ t know – it depends on the size of the earthquake.
`The EU’s policy is that we want the closure of the plant at the
earliest possible date. This type of nuclear plant is not built to EU
standards and upgrading it cannot be done at a reasonable cost.’
The EU has offered â=82¬100 million (£70 million) in financial aidto
shut the plant and develop alternative energy sources, but Vartan
Oksanyan, the Armenian Foreign Minister, described that as
`peanuts’. Metsamor notonly provides 40 per cent of Armenia’s energy,
it also sells excess power to neighbouring Georgia. Decommissioning
the plant alone could cost more than £270 million, according to local
experts. With no oil and gas, and scant wind and water resources,
Armenia has few alternative energy sources.
The mostly Christian nation is also reluctant to rely on imported
energy because of its history of hostility with its Islamic
neighbours.
`Armenia knows this plant has to go,’ Mr Oksanyan said, â=80=9Cbut
let’s make sure we have the capacity to replace it before we close it
down.’
Power shortages between 1989 and 1995 have left deep scars on the
country. Almost all Armenians can recall sleeping in multiple layers
of clothing or waking to use their one hour of power each day.
Armenia’s forests were devastated by people cutting wood for
fuel. Gagik Markosyan, the head of the Metsamor plant, said: `I saw
the energy crisis myself. We can’t talk about closing the plant down
overnight.’
He said that more than £27 million had been spent on improving safety
since the plant reopened. British experts have been training staff
there for the past three years.
The second unit, opened in 1980, was originally designed to work until
2010, but as it was shut for six years, it could now work until
2016. Tests by Russian experts on similar reactors show that Metsamor
could, in theory, operate until 2031.
`As an engineer, I would not exclude that,’ Mr Markosyan said. For
him, as for most Armenians, a new nuclear plant is the only viable
alternative. TheEU is reluctant to foot the bill, however, arguing
that Armenia, without the Soviet Union, would never have borne the
hidden costs of development and decommissioning.
`We need the plant,’ Mr Kenyasyan says. `Like it or not, we can’t live
without it.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The BYU Newsnet, UT
Nov 15 2004
WorlDance brings cultures, rival schools together
By Jennifer Olson Daily Universe Staff Reporter – 15 Nov 2004

Nick Sowards
Photo: BYU folk dancers perform a graceful Armenian dance style
called Aghcheekneroon during WorlDance Thursday, at Kingsbury Hall at
the University of Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY – The school rivalry between BYU and the University of
Utah dimmed for an evening as dancers from both schools joined
together Thursday, to perform WorlDance 2004 at Kingsbury Hall.
The performance bridged cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia,
through song and dance numbers from BYU Folk Dancers, the University
of Utah’s Character Dance Ensemble, the Dionysios Greek Dancers, a
Persian musician and a Persian dancer.
“It was spectacular because it was really an infusion of cultures,”
said Adam Marriot, a junior majoring in pre-management, from Salt
Lake City who performed with the BYU Folk Dancers.
The performance opened with Lloyd Miller, who spoke to the audience
about understanding other cultures through their artistic traditions.
“One night a year, there is peace between cultures,” Miller said.
“Peace not in the world, but on this stage.”
Throughout the evening, dancers gracefully twirled around the Hall
stage in hot pink, lime green and turquoise-colored costumes.
Between her two dance numbers “Tilliana” and “Sri Ganeshya Dhimahi,”
Persian dancer Radha Carman talked to the audience about the beauty
of dance.
“The hands and eyes are ornaments that highlight the feet and arms,”
she said.
WorlDance not only bridged the cultures of the Middle East and
Central Asia, but allowed students from BYU and the University of
Utah to develop new friendships.
“It put us on common ground because we were there as dancers,” said
Kristina Macbeth, a University of Utah graduate student, studying
ballet with a character dance emphasis.
Marriott said he enjoyed getting to know the University of Utah
dancers when he was backstage.
“It was fun just to talk with them – to compare thoughts on dancing
and how they do things,” he said. “It’s not the big BYU – Utah
rivalry you hear about in football.”
Marriott said that when dancers from the two schools first saw each
other backstage, they kind of stared each other down.
“The moment you start talking, it’s totally normal,” he said.
Through the Indian, Armenian, Iranian and Turkish dances performed at
WorlDance, people were provided with an opportunity to learn about
the artistic traditions of other cultures.
“I hope that people took home a greater respect for where people come
from,” Marriott said.

Assyrian International News Agency, CA
Nov 15 2004
U.S. Must Protect Iraq’s Christians
Iraqi Christians are being persecuted in unprecedented numbers since
the U.S. invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s Christian
community is only 3 percent of Iraq’s population, but according to
the United Nations, 20 percent of the refugees who leave Iraq are
persecuted Christians.
In raw numbers this is 20,000 to 30,000 of Iraq’s Christian community
of 800,000. The United States, as the champion of liberty and
democracy, must address this unplanned consequence of the war.
Freedom of worship and religious tolerance are pillars of liberty and
democracy.
During Hussein’s regime, Iraq was a secular dictatorship. Christians,
for the most part, were able to worship unmolested.
Christians have lived in Iraq since the time of Jesus Christ.
Christian groups include Chaldean Assyrians (Eastern Rite Catholics
who recognize the authority of the pope), the independent Assyrian
church and Armenian and Syrian Catholics.
Since April 2003, those groups, which form one of the world’s oldest
Christian communities, has been threatened with extinction.
Christian businesses are closing because of violence. Iraqi
businesses that traditionally are run by Christians are being
vandalized.
Bishop Mar Adai of the Assyrian Church of the East was attacked on
the streets of Baghdad by people who wanted to steal the gold cross
around his neck.
In August, Islamic extremists systematically bombed Christian
churches.
In September, there was evidence that Islamic extremists were
systematically kidnapping and torturing Iraqi Christians.
On October 16 and 17, five churches in Baghdad were bombed by
extremists.
There are reports that non-Christians dump garbage in the homes of
their Christian neighbors.
The new interim Iraqi government is unable to provide protection to
minority Iraqi Christians from acts of violence and bigotry.
While we talk of democracy and liberty for Iraq and the Middle East,
we fail to discuss the details, including the freedom to worship as
one pleases without fear of persecution. This is overlooked by the
media and the politicians in their discussions of Iraq’s future.
Unfortunately, many of our allies in the Middle East, such as Saudi
Arabia, do not permit their citizens or others the right to worship
as they please. As a result, the native Christian community
throughout the Middle East is fast disappearing because of
persecution. It is now happening in Iraq.
Because of the U.S. presence in Iraq, there is an unequaled
opportunity to stop religious persecution there and to influence the
course of religious tolerance for years to come.
But for that to happen, we must let our elected representatives and
national policymakers clearly understand that democracy and liberty
include religious freedom for all.
Religious minorities should not be forced to flee Iraq because of
America’s foreign policy or lack of attention. As one Iraqi Christian
leader said, “If the doors were opened to America and Australia,
there would not be a Christian left in Iraq.” The United States must
address the plight of Iraqi Christians.
To be fair, Iraq is not the only nation in the Middle East lacking
religious toleration or whose Christian population is diminishing.
But the United States liberated Iraq and its people. To make that
liberation complete and to make democracy and liberty a reality,
Iraqi Christians — and all Iraqis — need to be guaranteed the right
to worship without fear of persecution.
By Paul L. Whalen
Kentucky.com
Paul L. Whalen, a Fort Thomas lawyer, presented a resolution at the
United Methodist Church’s 2000 General Conference recognizing the
International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Azeri foreign minister accuses Armenia of settling occupied territories
Media-Press news agency
15 Nov 04
BAKU
Baku has the information that the occupied Azerbaijani territories are
being illegally settled by Armenians, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov has told Interfax-Azerbaijan.
“We have exact information about Kalbacar, Lacin, Zangilan and
Cabrayil to which the Armenian side is luring people with loans,
credits and other forms of financial support,” he said.
The minister said that this information has been provided by
operational sources, the mass media and independent sources, namely a
US State Department report. Mammadyarov stressed that in an effort to
attract international attention to this act of lawlessness, Baku has
succeeded in putting the issue of the situation in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories on the UN General Assembly session’s agenda.
“Just imagine us reaching a real outcome in the negotiations with
Armenia and displaced people starting to return to their homes only to
find the Armenian families living there. This represents a potential
for the resumption of the conflict. Therefore, we think that the
discussion of the issue in the UN is extremely important,” the
minister said. He disagreed with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan’s opinion that the discussion of the issue in the UN could
affect the Karabakh peace process and represents an attempt by the
Azerbaijani authorities to take the issue out of the hands of the OSCE
Minsk Group.
“On the contrary, I believe that by putting the issue of the situation
in the occupied Azerbaijani territories on the agenda of a UN General
Assembly session we will facilitate the process of negotiations. We
don’t think the UN discussion can in some way replace the discussion
of the issue by the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan has repeatedly said
that it wants the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to be more active,” the
Azerbaijani foreign minister said.
Mammadyarov spoke in favour of resumed negotiations at the level of
foreign ministers “within the framework of the discussions held in
Prague”. The negotiations were suspended on the initiative of the
Armenian side.
“We are ready to meet at any time and in any place within the
so-called ‘Prague process’ because the discussions we held in Prague
gave hope for the possibility of progress in the talks. But on the
other hand, it is difficult to believe in the sincerity of the talks
while the Armenians are settling in the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, including in the areas outside the administrative borders
of Nagornyy Karabakh,” the minister said.
“We expect the Armenian leadership to realize that the settling of the
occupied territories runs counter to all norms of international
humanitarian law and international conventions. There are well-known
1949 Geneva conventions about the law of armed conflicts. Under these
international legal documents, the settling of occupied territories is
prohibited. We think the Armenian administration has to understand
that and start evacuating and resettling the families that moved to
the occupied territories earlier and are living there now,” the
Azerbaijani foreign minister said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress