Author: Jagharian Tania

CHARITABLE RELIGIOUS SEMINARY OF CALCUTTA (INDIA) ANNOUNCES ADMISSION OF CHILDREN
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 13 2006
The Charitable Religious Seminary of the Armenian Apostolic Church
in Calcutta (India) announces admission of children at the age of 7-11.
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Chancellery Department for
Inter-confessional Ties told ArmInfo, the seminary is a ten-year
educational establishment meeting the demands of an English secondary
education school. The graduated students of the seminary are to pass
examinations. The graduated students having excellent and satisfactory
marks will get an opportunity to continue their education in the
11-12th forms at schools in Calcutta or abroad, particularly, in
Australia, England and the USA. The Armenian Apostolic Church covers
the education expenses. Applications can be made to the Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin Chancellery Department for Inter-confessional
Ties. The deadline for applications is December 10.

THE PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN: BETRAYED, PERSECUTED, SACRIFICED
Abe W. Ata
American Chronicle, CA
Nov 13 2006
The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species.
When the modern state of Israel was established there were about
400,000 of us. Two years ago the number was down to 80,000. Now it’s
down to 60,000. At that rate, in a few years there will be none of
us left. When this happens non-Christian groups will move into our
churches and claim them forever.
Palestinian Christians within Israel fare little better. On the
face of it, their number has grown by 20,000 since 1991. But this is
misleading, for the census classification “Christian” includes some
20,000 recent non-Arab migrants from the former Soviet Union.
So why are Palestinian Christians abandoning their homeland?
We have lost hope, that’s why. We are treated as non-people. Few
outside the Middle East even know we exist, and those who do,
conveniently forget.
I refer, of course, to the American Religious Right. They see modern
Israel as a harbinger of the Second Coming, at which time Christians
will go to paradise, and all others (presumably including Jews)
to hell. To this end they lend military and moral support to Israel.
Even by the double-dealing standards of international diplomacy
this is a breathtakingly cynical bargain. It is hard to know who is
using whom more: the Christian Right for offering secular power in
the expectation that the Jewish state will be destroyed by a greater
spiritual one; or the Israeli Right for accepting their offer. What
we do know is that both sides are abusing the Palestinians.
Apparently we don’t enter into anyone’s calculations.
The views of the Israeli Right are well known: they want us gone.
Less well known are the views of the American Religious Right.
Strangely, they find the liberation of Iraqis from a vile dictator
just, but do not find it unjust for us to be under military occupation
for 38 long years.
Said Senator James Inhofe (Rep.,Oklahoma): “God Appeared to Abraham
and said: ‘I am giving you this land’, the West Bank. This is not
a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the
word of God is true.”
Inhofe must have got it wrong. Promises are being made to earthly
Jerusalem that God did not make. The Holy Land was promised to Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, as stated in the Bible.
These are the Palestinian Muslims, Christians and Jews, who have
been living in the land for thousands of years. The Bible never
mentioned that God promised it solely to Jews. Anyone can be a Jew,
but not anyone can be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
their descendants. James Inhofe and followers are unable to tell the
difference between Jew, Israelite and Israel.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey (Rep.,Texas) was even more forthright:
“I’m content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank … I happen
to believe that the Palestinians should leave.”
There is a phrase for this. Ethnic cleansing.
Silencing us, from seeking your support and enlightening you about
our suffering, goes counter to what Jesus has mandated us to do. We
all know that Muslims and Jews get ceaseless support (political,
spiritual and financial) from Saudi Arabia and America respectively,
while Palestinian Christians get nothing from Australian and other
Western “Christian” governments. (The Pope has been an exception.)
Prior to the 1967 war, the Christian youth at the Lutheran, Baptist,
Methodist and other churches in Bethlehem used to pray and rejoice
and have a good chat with hundreds of American Christian pilgrims. In
particular Texas and California were two places from where many came
to visit the Holy Land. Today only fading memories prevail. Bethlehem
has been vacated by Christian families. The remaining Christians are
paying the price by experiencing curfews which last for weeks. They
remain sandwiched between Muslims and Jews without drawing the
slightest concern from the many so-called Western Christians.
So why do American Christians stand by while their leaders advocate
the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not
know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well
… since Christ?
Do not think I am asking for special treatment for Christians. Ethnic
cleansing is evil whoever does it and to whomever it is done.
Palestinian Christians – Anglican, Maronite Catholics, Orthodox,
Lutherans, Armenians, Baptists, Copts and Assyrians – have been rubbing
shoulders with each other and with other religions – Muslims, Jews,
Druze and (most recently) Baha’is – for centuries. And we want to do
so for centuries more. But we can’t if we are driven out by despair.
We are equally frightened by those who commit suicide bombings. None
of us Christians have condoned it or even contemplated the idea. Our
commitment to Jesus’ teachings will never shake our resolve in
this matter.
American journalist Anders Strindberg makes a clearer conclusion. He
says Palestinians are equated with Islamists, Islamists with
terrorists. And presumably because all organised Christian activity
among Palestinians is non-political and non-violent, the community
hardly ever hits western headlines. Suicide bombers sell more copy
than people who congregate for Bible study.
What we seek is support: material, moral, political and spiritual. As
Palestinians we grieve for what we have lost, and few people have lost
more than us (the Ashkenazi Jews are one). But grief can be assuaged
by the fellowship of friends.
Abe W. Ata
Abe W. Ata was born in Bethlehem and is a descendant of a
nine-genration Palestinian Christian family. He was a temporary
delegate to the United Nations in 1970 and has lived and worked in
the Middle East, America and Australia. He founded the Victorians for
Racial Equality and is currently a Senior Fellow/Associate Professor
at the Institute for the Advancement of Research at the Australian
Catholic University. He has authored 86 journal articles and 11
books including Christian and Muslim Intermarriage in Australia:
social cohesion or cultural fragmentation (2003).
/viewArticle.asp?articleID=16487

MURR TOUTS IMPENDING DEAL ON UNITY CABINET
By Nada Bakri
The Daily Star, Lebanon
Nov 9 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s leading politicians are expected to reach a deal
over a national unity government, a key demand of Hizbullah and
the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), during Thursday’s consultation
meeting. According to MP Michel Murr, the official assigned to work
out a “formula” Wednesday to rescue the country from political crisis,
the formation of a national unity government was “70 percent” complete.
“I have so far accomplished 70 percent of my mission, and now I am
waiting for the last meeting, which is the most important,” with
Parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri, Murr said early Wednesday
afternoon.
Murr added that Hariri did not oppose this formula.
Hariri’s office said Wednesday evening that the two officials
had discussed the new formula, but declined to elaborate. Murr’s
spokesperson was not available for comment.
Earlier meetings included talks with Speaker Nabih Berri, a close
Hizbullah ally and sponsor of the national talks, and FPM leader
Michel Aoun.
Murr said following his meeting with Berri that all participants during
the roundtable talks on Monday and Tuesday agreed to a Cabinet that
includes four ministers from Aoun’s bloc.
He added Aoun wanted to be represented in Siniora’s Cabinet – whether
in its current 24-member form or in an expanded 26-member government.
Either scenario would see the addition of two FPM ministers and two
of the party’s allies in the Armenian Tashnak Party and the Zahle
bloc headed by MP Elie Skaff.
The question is whether two or four current Cabinet members will
be tossed.
Hizbullah and the FPM have been demanding a more inclusive government
since this summer’s war with Israel ended on August 14, to correct
what they argue is a misrepresentation of political power.
The two parties threatened to take to the streets to force a change if
the anti-Syrian majority refused to meet their demands by mid-November.
Sources close to Murr told the Central News Agency that the former
deputy prime minister is looking to bring “a neutral blocking minority”
into Siniora’s reshaped Cabinet.
The sources said participants must choose one of three options: Replace
four ministers with FPM ministers; expand Cabinet to 26 members and
introduce amendments to certain portfolios; or form a 30-member Cabinet
which will guarantee a higher likelihood of pleasing all parties.
Hizbullah and Amal, headed by Berri, have five ministers, pro-Syrian
President Emile Lahoud has three ministers, including Defense Minister
Elias Murr, Justice Minister Charles Rizk and Environment Minister
Yaacoub Sarraf.
Attaining one-third of Cabinet would allow the opposition to block
any Cabinet decision it did not support.
However, media reports said Wednesday that Lahoud will not approve
any new government that includes Rizk, who has not seen eye to eye
with the president on key issues as of late.
Rizk told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday that he
has had “differences of opinion” with Lahoud since the formation of
Siniora’s Cabinet on two main issues: judicial appointments and an
international tribunal to try those accused of the assassination of
former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Central News Agency quoted sources close to Berri on Wednesday
as saying that
a breakthrough might be pos-sible on Thursday “if the right Arab and
international coverage is available.”
But these sources said it was unlikely that a new government would
be formed – if a deal is reached Thursday – before November 13,
the deadline Hizbullah set for a new Cabinet.
Hizbullah MP Hussein Fadlallah said Wednesday his party insists on
acquiring greater representation through a national unity government.
“We hope that the governing majority realizes the importance of this
opportunity to correct the misrepresentation in power after they have
violated all the agreements, which were the basis for accepting to
participate in the current government,” Fadlallah said.
“We will not give up our demand … We are not seeking to topple the
government or change it, but we want to participate in power to boost
the country,” he added.

PAMUK A GREAT WRITER, A WORTHY NOBEL LAUREATE
The Jakarta Post, Indonesia
November 4, 2006 Saturday
Orhan Pamuk deserves the Nobel Prize for Literature; his books make
him a worthy laureate. But it is unfortunate that his success is now
being politicized.
Matt Moore and Karl Ritter wrote in The Jakarta Post (Oct. 13):
“With its selection, the Swedish academy stepped squarely into the
global clash of civilizations, honoring a Western-leaning Muslim
whose country lies on the strategic fault line between east and west
and whose people are increasingly unhappy with Europeans’ reluctance
to accept them as full members in the European Union.” Did Moore and
Ritter take the effort to read any of Pamuk’s brilliantly constructed
books? From their article it does not seem so.
Why didn’t they write about the themes and literary qualities of
Pamuk’s books? Now it seems he is being condemned because he is not
Turkish enough (i.e. he is not a good Muslim, not a good Oriental).
Is Orhan Pamuk a European because he admires Dostoyevski? If one reads
a book written by Pamuk one will see that he does not choose between
east or west, between secularism or religion, between modernity or
tradition. Pamuk takes a close look at his surroundings and tries
to make sense of them by constructing a narrative with many layers
and voices.
As Margaret Atwood wrote in a review for The New York Review of Books
(Aug. 15, 2004): “Stories, Pamuk has hinted, create the world we
perceive: Instead of ‘I think, therefore I am’, a Pamuk character
might say, ‘I am because I narrate'”.
Pamuk wants to show us that our world is not a black-and-white world,
and if we picture it as black and white, not only will it not make
sense to us but it can also become a rather unlivable place.
Pamuk is Dostoyevskian in the sense that he tries to go beyond simple
representations, his narrations are inhabited by subjects like the
honest thief, the tender murderer and the superstitious atheist;
people are never just this or that, they are both and neither.
In response to the bloody situation in Iraq, Pamuk says in an interview
with Alexander Star (The New York Times, Aug. 15, 2004): “In my books
I have always looked for a sort of harmony between the so- called east
and west. In short, what I wrote in my books for years was misquoted,
and used as a sort of apology for what had been done. And what had
been done was a cruel thing.” And in response to 9/11 he writes
(The New York Review of Books, Nov. 15, 2001):”I am afraid that
self-satisfied and self-righteous Western nationalism will drive the
rest of the world into defiantly contending that two plus two equals
five, like Dostoyevski’s underground man, when he reacts against the
‘reasonable’ Western world.
“Nothing can fuel support for an ‘Islamist’ who throws nitric acid at
women’s faces so much as the West’s failure to understand the damned
of the world”.
Pamuk’s position is subtle, for example his novel Now carries an
epigraph from Dostoyevski’s novel The Brothers Karamazov: “Well,
then, eliminate the people, curtail them, force them to be silent.
Because the European enlightenment is more important than people.”
This quote not only criticizes Turkey’s top-down modernization since
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), it also criticizes the way many
Europeans, for example the Somali-Dutch Ayaan Hirsi Ali, treat Muslims:
Modernization as such is more important than the lives of ordinary
people, but what is liberty without a life? Enlightenment cannot be
enforced, that is illiberal.
Pamuk infuriates Islamists and nationalists alike. Orhan Pamuk is
critical of Islamism, because it stifles freedom of thinking and
expression. Pamuk was also one of the first to speak up against the
Ayatollah Khomeini fatwa which ordered the murder of Salman Rushdie,
who was accused of blasphemy after publishing The Satanic Verses.
Pamuk was also recently one of the co-writers of an open letter to
the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, urging the release of scholar and
public intellectual Ramin Jahanbegloo, who is being held for having
contacts with foreigners.
Pamuk is also critical of nationalists and for the same reasons. He
gave an interview to the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger (Feb. 6, 2005)
in which he said that “thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians
were killed”. Pamuk is referring to the killings by Ottoman Empire
forces of Armenians during World War I.
Turkey does not deny the deaths, but denies that it was genocide,
i.e. according to a premeditated plan. Pamuk’s reference to 30,000
Kurdish deaths refers to those killed during the past two decades
in the conflict between Turkish forces and Kurdish separatists. In
Turkey, debate about this issue is stifled by stringent laws; therefore
Turkish history and identity are frozen.
Turkey should become a full member of the European Union soon, says
Pamuk. This must be possible because Turkey has long been a member
of NATO. It must be possible if the European Union stands for humanism.
But it becomes impossible if Europeans, out of fear of globalization,
deep- freeze an European identity as, for example, Christian.
But once again, Pamuk is no politician, nor is he an activist, he is
foremost a luminous artist. His books enlighten us on the difficulty of
forming an essential identity, to be someone; we are like the countries
we inhabit, i.e. complex and difficult to read. And Pamuk’s novel The
Black Book shows that to make sense of the world and ourselves the
reader has to become a writer. The clash of civilizations is simply
not an interesting narrative, it is far too colorless, and it is
about time to change that record.
Roy Voragen, Bandung The writer teaches philosophy at Parahyangan
Catholic University, Bandung, West Java, and can be contacted at
[email protected].

AZG Armenian Daily #211, 04/11/2006
Neighbors
MAMEDYAROV’S CONCOCTION: ARMENIANS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH
ARE CITIZENS OF AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan considers the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh
to be its citizens and is interested in future
development of this region which is inseparable part
of the country, Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar
Mamedyarov stated. At a meeting with Francesco
Bascone, Italy’s permanent representative to the OSCE,
Mamedyarov “harped on one string” that Karabakh issue
can be settled only on principle of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity by granting the Armenians of the
region the highest autonomy.
BY Aghavni Harutyunian

Turkish Police tried to arrest Armenian MP Gegham Manukyan
ArmRadio.am
04.11.2006 13:34
Turkish Police tried yesterday to arrest RA National Assembly Deputy
Gegham Manukyan, when the latter spoke about the Armenian Genocide
during an international forum in Istanbul.
During the Newsxchange conference Turkish Prime Minister Rejeb Tayyib
Erdogan reconfirmed the position of Ankara that there was no Armenian
Genocide.
Member f the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Gegham Manukyan
emphasized the fact that member of the Turkish Parliament Grigor
Zohrap was caught and murdered. He noted also the Istanbul is the city
where on April 24, 1915 the Genocide started with mass detention of
Armenian intellectuals. Gegham Manukyan called on the Turkish society
to start investigating “the dark pages of own history and acknowledge
the fact of the Genocide.” “Recognition will allow the two states
to take the path of peaceful coexistence,” said the Deputy. Gegham
Manukyan raised a poster reading, “Turkey must have the courage to
recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Following the speech, the Police surrounded Gegham Manukyan, trying
to take him out of the conference hall and arrest. However, the
journalists did not allow this.
Organizers of the forum declared they would join the Armenian
parliamentarian in case he is arrested.

U.S. AND UNDP WILLING TO SHOW FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO NATIONAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Though the RA Government
intends to work out a new national program against trafficking,
but practical steps were not taken yet, as no financial resources
were allocated for it from the state budget. Anthony Godfrey, the
U.S. Charge d’Affaires to the RA mentioned about it at the November
1 meeting with Hranush Hakobian, the Chairwoman of the RA National
Assembly Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth
Issues. The Charge d’Affaires assured that the U.S. is interested
in this issue, and if Armenia allocates from the state budget some
money for solution of the mentioned problem, the U.S. and UNDP are
willing to show active financial assistance to the program. H.Hakobian
agreed that this defective phenomenon exists in our reality, so steps
must be taken to uproot it. In her words, the national program must
successively be brought to life, it is necesaary to join international
agreements regulating the sphere, to regulate the legislative field,
to establish close ties with international organizations engaged in
this issue. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by
the RA NA Public Relations Department, it was decided at the meeting
to make the cooperation continuous and to take practical steps to
implement the program.

LIFE PRISONERS WENT ON A HUNGER-STRIKE
A1+
[08:05 pm] 01 November, 2006
About 30 life prisoners of “Noubarashen” Criminal penitentiary
institution have gone on hunger-strike since November 1. The Minister
of Justice confirmed the fact too. Several hours later the Ministry
made a statement, “On November 1 of the current year 24 prisoners
of Noubarashen Criminal penitentiary institution ceased their hunger
strike which they had started earlier that day”.
The NGO “Pach-iravunk” protecting the rights of life prisoners has also
made a statement about the reasons of the hunger-strike. According
to the statement, after the resignation of the previous head of
the prison, Aram Sargsyan, and the appointment of the new one, Vahan
Margaryan, all the reforms aimed at creation of better life conditions
for the prisoners were eliminated.
According to the author, the newly appointed manager of the prison
stopped the education programs for the prisoners and the construction
works aimed at improving the conditions of life.
The prisoners required a meeting with NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan
and RA Minister of Justice David Haroutyunyan in order to be able to
represent their problems.
The NGO “Pach-iravunk” announced that there are prisoners who have
been imprisoned for a long time and have serious health problems;
the responsibility for their spoiled health falls on Vahan Margaryan
and those who appointed him.

THE UNDER 19 FOOTBALL TEAM OF ARMENIA WON CYPRUS 1:0
ArmRadio.am
30.10.2006 12:33
The under 19 football team of Armenia scored 1:0 against the
team of Cyprus in the second round qualification of the European
Championship. In another match of the same group the team of Hungary
beat Azerbaijan 5:0.
Only after the last round of the tournament it will become clear
which two teams will continue competing in the European Championship.
November 1 in Larnaka Armenian footballers will meet with Hungarians,
while the team of Cyprus will meet with Azerbaijan. After two rounds
the group is leaded by Hungary with 6 points, the teams of Armenia and
Azerbaijan have 3 points each, while the team of Cyprus has no points.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HOLDS TRAINING ON EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Panorama.am
12:55 30/10/06
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has organized a seminar
to educate trainers for Armenian prosecutors, judges, and advocates
on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and on advanced case
studies. The seminar will be led by the Honorable Richard G. Stearns,
United States District Court Judge; Gediminas Sagatys, Senior Advisor
to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and Professor of Law
at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius; and Henrikas Mickevicius,
Executive Director of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in
Vilnius. The training seminar will last a day and a half and will
be held on October 30-31, as well as November 1-2, 2006. The seminar
will include advanced discussions and case studies of Articles 5 and 6
from the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as a comparative
analysis of the recent amendments to the Armenian criminal procedure
code with the ECHR. There will also be discussions on how the ECHR
has changed the constitutional, legislative, and case law landscape
in Lithuania, and lessons learned from this transition.
Armenia has been a signatory to the European Court of Human Rights
since 2002. This training is especially relevant since the number
of Armenian petitioners who have made applications to the Court has
increased from 89 in 2003 to 340 in 2005. This will be Judge Stearns”s
second trip to Armenia at the invitation of the U.S. Government. In
June, 2006, Judge Stearns conducted training sessions for Armenian
judges, the Prosecutor General”s Office, and the Armenian Police
Department on trafficking in persons issues, and specifically on
victims” rights and the protection of witnesses.