CGTN published this video item, entitled “” – below is their description.

For more:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-01/Spirit-of-President-Xi-s-New-Year-message-peaceful-constructive-1q0NXmRjbQ4/p.html

Discussing #Chinese President #Xi Jinping’s New Year message, Hayk Mamijanyan, a member of the national assembly of #Armenia, told CGTN that the spirit of the greetings is peaceful and constructive. He said China has consistently committed to promoting peace and development and actively building bridges of communication instead of erecting barriers.

CGTN YouTube Channel

Watch the video at 

By Dr. Taras Kuzio

The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California has commenced the structural steel fabrication for the two-level, 50,820-square-foot museum building superstructure. The major announcement kicks off the second phase of construction for the historic project.
“We are excited to announce a major milestone with the commencement of the structural steel fabrication for the Armenian American Museum,” executive director Shant Sahakian said in a statement. “Our vision for the cultural and educational center will be taking shape in the new year as the museum building superstructure is elevated to the horizon.”
The museum is a world-class cultural and educational center that is currently under construction in the museum campus at Glendale Central Park. The first phase of construction featuring the museum parking garage and building foundation has been completed. The second phase of construction features the two-level, 50,820-square-foot museum building superstructure. The structural steel delivery, erection and installation is anticipated to commence in early 2024.
PNG Builders, the general contractor for the museum project, contracted with Muhlhauser Steel as the structural steel subcontractor following a competitive bidding process. Muhlhauser Steel is based in Southern California and brings more than four decades of experience with commercial, industrial, educational and entertainment facility projects.
The mission of the museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. The museum will offer a wide range of public programming through the permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions, auditorium, learning center, demonstration kitchen, archives center and more.
Learn more about the museum project at ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org.

First published in the December 30 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.

The Indian visa policy is a critical aspect of managing international relations and promoting cross-cultural exchanges. In this essay, we will specifically explore the Indian visa requirements for citizens of Armenia, focusing on the application process, types of visas available, and the potential significance of this policy for enhancing bilateral ties between the two nations. Understanding the nuances of the Indian visa system for Armenian citizens is essential for fostering educational, professional, and cultural exchanges, ultimately contributing to a more globally interconnected world.

Armenia and India share a long history of diplomatic relations that deepened over the years. The establishment of an Embassy of India in Yerevan in 1999 and the reciprocal opening of the Embassy of Armenia in New Delhi in 2009 further solidified this relationship. The visa policy plays a pivotal role in encouraging closer interactions between the citizens of these two nations.

To embark on a journey Indian visa for Cambodian citizens must first obtain an appropriate visa. The Indian visa application can be completed through the Embassy of India in Yerevan or via the online e-Visa facility, adding ease and accessibility to the overall process. This digital platform ensures timely visa processing and convenience for Armenian applicants.

Armenian citizens can apply for various types of Indian visas based on their specific purpose of visit. The most common visa categories are tourist visas, business visas, student visas, employment visas, and research visas. Each visa type carries specific eligibility criteria and documentary requirements that cater to the unique needs and circumstances of Armenian travelers.

The Indian visa policy holds immense importance for facilitating educational and cultural exchanges between the two nations. Armenian students pursuing higher education in India have access to a diverse range of academic programs, scholarships, and research opportunities. Simultaneously, Indian students benefit from the cultural and historical richness of Armenia through exchange programs, fostering mutual understanding and learning.

The Indian visa policy also enables Armenian professionals to explore career prospects in India. By granting employment visas, India welcomes skilled individuals from Armenia, allowing them to contribute their expertise to various sectors, including IT, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. Such collaborations foster economic growth while enhancing bilateral ties.

India’s diverse landscapes, vibrant culture, and historical heritage make it an appealing destination for travelers worldwide – including Armenian citizens. By enabling a streamlined tourist visa application process, India efficiently facilitates Armenian tourists’ visits, contributing to cross-cultural exchange, economic growth, and a strengthened global network.

While the Indian visa policy for Armenian citizens undoubtedly brings about numerous benefits, challenges persist. Continuous efforts should be made to simplify the visa application process, enhance consular services, and shorten visa processing times, ensuring a more visitor-friendly experience. Additionally, exploring opportunities for visa-free travel or visa-on-arrival provisions can further bolster bilateral relations

The Indian Visa for Armenia Citizens demonstrates the commitment of both nations towards fostering deep-rooted people-to-people connections. It aims to promote educational, cultural, and professional exchanges by offering a range of visa options to accommodate diverse purposes of travel. By continually evolving the visa system, both countries can unleash the true potential of their relationship, leading to greater collaboration, understanding, and growth on the global stage.

The head of the Armenian church in Jerusalem says a mob of more than two dozen men attacked the site of a local real estate dispute in what officials called a "massive and coordinated attack."

Over 30 "armed provocateurs in ski-masks with lethal and less-than-lethal weaponry" attacked clergymen and other members of the Armenian Christian community Thursday at the site of a controversial land sale in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

Known as the Cow's Garden, the site has been at the center of a dispute between the centuries-old Armenian Christian community and an Australian Israeli investor looking to build a hotel on the land. 

The patriarchate said that attackers used "powerful nerve-agents that have incapacitated dozens of our clergy broke into the grounds of the Cow's Garden and began their vicious assault."

Several priests, Armenian Theological Academy students and indigenous Armenians were "seriously injured," the statement adds. 

Patriarchate officials blamed the attack on real estate developer Danny Rothman's response to "legal procedures" involving the site. Announced in November, the land deal was criticized by the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, who expressed concern that such development could weaken the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

"This is the criminal response we have received for the submission of a lawsuit to the District Court of Jerusalem for the Cow's Garden," the statement read. "This is how the Australian-Israeli businessman Danny Rothman (Rubenstein) and George Warwar (Hadad) react to legal procedures."

"The Armenian Patriarchate's existential threat is now a physical reality. Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and indigenous Armenians are fighting for their very lives on the ground."

Police told The Jerusalem Post that arrests were made on both sides but no one was officially charged, saying the incident involved Muslim men. 

“There was an unfortunate incident where some Arab Muslim men and some men from the Armenian community got into a brawl in the old city of Jerusalem,” Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told The Post. “Police came promptly to separate the parties, and arrests were made on both sides.

“The city of Jerusalem will not tolerate any criminal activity, whether religiously motivated or otherwise, and the police will prosecute those responsible,” she said.

Video shared on social media showed attackers clothed in all black hurling stones at local Armenians and assaulting others. 

The patriarchate called on world leaders and the international media to help "save the Armenian Quarter from a violent demise that is being locally supported by unnamed entities."

The head of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem signed the deal in July 2021, but the community learned of it only when surveyors appeared earlier this year. The church leader claims he was misled and is pursuing legal measures to annul the contract. A priest involved was defrocked in May.

"The provocations that are being used by the alleged developers to deploy incendiary tactics threaten to erase the Armenian presence in the area, weakening and endangering the Christian presence in the Holy Land," officials said in a statement.

A statement released by the World Council of Churches (WCC) called the attacks a "distressing escalation of violence and [a] severe infringement of the rights and dignities of the communities in the Armenian Quarter."

"It is imperative to uphold the rights of all people and to prevent any forced displacements, ensuring the preservation of the diverse cultural and religious tapestry that defines Jerusalem and Palestinian territories," said WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. 

"The World Council of Churches stands in unwavering solidarity with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. We pray for a just peace and for the strength and resilience of the communities under threat." 

Home to about 1,000 residents, the Armenian Quarter dates back to the fourth century and is home to St. James' Cathedral. Armenians hold equal rights in Jerusalem's Holy Christian sites since Armenia is believed to be the first nation to adopt Christianity in 301.

Some of the quarter's residents trace their heritage back to those original pilgrims or refugees who fled the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/mob-attacks-armenian-christians-amid-jerusalem-land-dispute.html

Richard Hagopian’s family was one of thousands that escaped the Armenian Genocide in the early 1900s and forged a new path in the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

* This is the fifth in SJV Water’s series of videos called “Rooted in the Valley,” featuring small family farmers who continue to work the land in spite of all the challenges they face – especially water.

Small wonder that staunch supporters of Israel are now calling for paths to a sustainable ceasefire.

As Israel comes under growing international pressure to change its tactics and agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, its leaders have made clear they aren’t interested. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the shift would hand a victory to terrorism, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “proud” to have blocked the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seen by allies as the prerequisite for any sustainable peace.

Two examples from recent history – from Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan – warn that these could be catastrophic miscalculations for the state of Israel.

Ben Wallace, the U.K. secretary of state for defense until August, made the Irish comparison in an article published this month in the Daily Telegraph, a solidly pro-Israel U.K. newspaper. The Troubles, as more than three decades of sectarian bloodshed over Northern Ireland’s status are known, escalated dramatically, he recalled, after the British government tried to end them through a draconian combination of military force and a suspension of legal due process, called internment.

Internment involved the jailing without trial of thousands of people suspected of having connections to the Irish Republican Army. That in turn prompted the 1972 tragedy of Bloody Sunday, when British paratroopers shot 26 Catholics with live bullets at an anti-internment protest in the town of Derry, killing 14 of them. The result was a huge increase in membership for the Provisional IRA – a more radical splinter group of the Irish Republican Army – from a few dozens to about 1,000, funded by a boom in the group’s funding by sympathizers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“Northern Ireland internment taught us that a disproportionate response by the state can serve as a terrorist organization’s best recruiting sergeant,’’ Wallace wrote. Two decades of intensified terrorist attacks followed Bloody Sunday, with the IRA expanding its bombing campaign to the U.K. mainland. Nothing worked to halt the violence until the U.K. government did what it said it never would and publicly opened negotiations in 1994 with the IRA’s political wing, Sinn Fein.

The price of peace was a power-sharing deal together with expanded self-government for Northern Ireland, plus the right to an eventual referendum on the region’s status, among other concessions made on both sides. The consequences for the U.K. were greater still because the deal forced it later to grant similar rights of self-government and potential secession to Scotland and Wales.

For sure, Northern Ireland is a different and in many ways much simpler case than the one Israel faces, not least because the Palestinian question plays a role far beyond Israel’s borders. The bloodshed in Gaza risks spurring recruitment not just for Hamas, but for Islamist terrorist organizations across the Middle East and beyond.

Small wonder then that such staunch supporters of Israel as France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. are now calling for Netanyahu to change tactics and look for paths to a sustainable cease-fire. As if to underscore the counterproductive nature of Israel’s scorched-earth tactics, the Israel Defense Forces recently acknowledged mistakenly killing three of the hostages they were sent into Gaza to rescue, even though they were waving improvised white flags of surrender.

The example of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh should be still more sobering for Israelis considering the road that Netanyahu and his government are taking. More than 30 years ago, I stood with an Armenian general at the top of a plateau as he pointed toward Mount Ararat in Turkey and territories beyond as far as Syria, which had once belonged to the Kingdom of Armenia but were now controlled by Muslim enemies. He called his predominantly Christian nation “the Israel of the Caucasus,” surrounded by sometimes genocidal hostility and obliged to rely on arms for its survival.

That was 1992. War was raging in Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of neighboring Azerbaijan that for centuries had been populated mainly by ethnic Armenians. They were now contesting Azeri control as the collapse of the Soviet Union gave sudden meaning to the USSR’s once notional internal borders. Karabakh’s Armenians wanted either to be independent or annexed, and by 1994 they had won a crushing military victory, backed by Armenia and its security guarantor, Russia. The future seemed secure, even without a political settlement to accompany the cease-fire that Armenia had forced on its defeated rival.

The U.S. and some in Armenia, including then President Levon Ter-Petrossian, worried this wasn’t sustainable. They argued for negotiating a long-term deal with Baku while Yerevan held most of the cards. The idea was that Armenians, including in Karabakh, should recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the enclave, in exchange for Baku accepting international peacekeepers, a land bridge from Karabakh to Armenia, and strong political autonomy for the enclave.

Ter-Petrossian’s proposals for compromise contributed to losing his job. He drew the ire of nationalists, including a hawkish diaspora, for whom the history of Armenian expulsion and genocide – committed by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 – required relentless vigilance and force, to ensure it could never happen again. Besides, why negotiate when Armenia had comprehensively won and enjoyed the support of regional hegemon Russia?

The answer to that question became apparent this summer. Azerbaijan’s oil and gas fields had slowly transformed the balance of forces over the years, allowing it to build and equip a military far in excess of anything Armenia could afford. Russia, meanwhile, became disenchanted with Yerevan, just as a resurgent Turkey grew willing to throw its weight behind Turkic Azerbaijan, disregarding objections from Moscow or Washington. Azerbaijan struck back in 2020, recovering many of its losses. And this year, with Moscow busy invading Ukraine, a further offensive took just a day to force Karabakh’s total surrender.

Ethnic Armenians fled, fearful of the coming Azeri revenge, and by now few if any remain in their ancestral homes. This tragic turn of events came about because Armenia fell victim to the “illusion of absolute security,” according to Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus specialist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Times change, alliances change, and the military balance changes,’’ he said. And by the time that happens, it’s too late for diplomacy.

Getting to a settlement with Azerbaijan that was acceptable to both sides would have been difficult, even when Yerevan held the advantage. It took painful compromises for the U.K. to cut a deal with the former IRA commanders running Sinn Fein in 1998. And the hurdles to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine would be even bigger. Years of failed peace talks, rocket attacks and Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities have combined to harden views on both sides, including against the very concept of a two-state solution. Yet Israel, too, may not always be in a position of military dominance, enjoying the full backing of a superpower. Palestinians and Israelis have reason to despair of each other, but neither rage nor despair is a policy. After three-quarters of a century, nobody has come up with an alternative to the creation of two separate states that offers even the possibility of peaceful coexistence.

The much-derided two-state idea proposes not a utopian Shangri-la of cohabitation, but a divorce aimed at cutting short the fundamentally genocidal dreams of extremists. The terms of that divorce would need to guarantee the security of each state against the other, taking Gaza’s administration and policing out of the hands of both Hamas and Israel. That would not be easy, but the attempt couldn’t be worse than anything Netanyahu’s effort to crush not just Hamas, but Palestinian rights and hopes, can produce.