As Mideast fighting rages, Iran’s Jews steer clear
AP Worldstream; Jul 31, 2006
BRIAN MURPHY
Nothing in the office of Iran’s sole Jewish lawmaker calls attention
to his faith _ no Star of David, no menorah or other symbol of
Judaism. But like nearly every public building in Iran, it has a
portrait of the Islamic Revolution’s patriarch, Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini.
Moris Motamed’s political headquarters highlight the well-practiced
survival skills of Iran’s remaining 25,000 Jews _ caught again in
a political no man’s land by the fighting between Israel and the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Any public expression of sympathy for Israel would invite a sharp
crackdown from authorities and hard-line Islamic groups.
“We are Iranians. We work for what’s best for Iran. The fighting,
fortunately, does not affect the Jewish community in Iran,” said
Motamed, who holds the single parliament seat reserved for Jews. Other
seats are set aside for the Christian Armenian and Assyrian minorities
and followers of Iran’s pre-Islamic Zoroastrian faith.
But Iran’s Jews have undeniable bonds with Israel _ most notably
Israel’s Iranian-born president, Moshe Katsav. Thousands of Iranian
Jewish families have relatives in Israel. The historical links between
Persia and the Holy Land go
back to antiquity and are celebrated each year with the festival
of Purim.
In January, the leader of Iran’s Jewish community, Haroun Yashayaei,
issued a rare challenge to Islamic authorities after President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a “myth.” He said Ahmadinejad was
questioning “one of the most obvious and saddening incidents in
human history.”
Israel, however, presents a red line no one will cross. Iran’s Jews
have remain publicly silent as Iranian leaders have called for Israel’s
destruction, including Ahmadinejad’s call last year for Israel to be
“wiped off the map.”
Last week, Jews in the southern city of Shiraz held a pro-Hezbollah
rally that was covered by state-run television _ a sign that the march
was likely overseen by the Islamic regime to reinforce the idea of
national solidarity.
The Web site of the Tehran Jewish Community includes statements
opposing Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip and praising
uranium enrichment by Iranian scientists. The U.S. and many of its
allies, including Israel, believe Iran is using its nuclear reactor
project as a cover for a weapons program.
“For Iranians, there is a distinction in their mind between Zionism and
Judaism,” said Motamed. “This is a very important distinction for us.”
Iranian Jews face no restrictions on their religious practices,
but they must follow Islamic codes such as head scarves for women in
public. The same rules apply to the larger Christian and Zoroastrian
communities.
But the Jewish population in Iran continues to shrink from emigration
to Israel, the United States and elsewhere. Before the 1979 Islamic
Revolution, nearly 100,000 Jews lived in Iran, Motamed said.
Anti-Semitic acts are rare, but Jews often are the target of degrading
caricatures in the Iranian press. Tensions rose considerably in 2000
when 10 Iranian Jews were convicted of spying for Israel and sentenced
to from four to 13 years imprisonment. An appeals court later reduced
their sentences under international pressure and eventually freed them.
Iran’s Persian ancestors, meanwhile, figure prominently in Jewish
lore and tradition.
Hebrew canons and the Old Testament recount the story of Persia’s
King Cyrus allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon and
rebuild the temple nearly 2,600 years ago.
Iran also is the site of one of Judaism’s most important sites:
the shrine of Esther and Mordechai in the western city of Hamedan.
The Book of Esther tells the story of how she was raised by her
relative, the royal adviser Mordechai, and became a Persian queen. She
saved her fellow Jews from slaughter by persuading King Xerxes to
call off a plan to attack the community on a date that was to be
decided by lot, or “pur.” The change of heart is marked each year by
the festival of Purim.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE: The AP’s Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran contributed to
this report.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Robert Mardian: Watergate lawyer whose conviction was overturned on appeal
The Guardian – United Kingdom
Jul 31, 2006
Robert Mardian taking the oath before testifying to the Senate
Watergate Committee in Washington in July 1973
Of the “Watergate Seven” advisers and aides to US president Richard
Nixon indicted in March 1974, only government lawyer Robert Mardian,
who has died of lung cancer aged 82, had his conviction overturned on
appeal. Mardian always insisted on his innocence, and a 1995 book –
Watergate Victory: Mardian’s Appeal, by Arnold Rochvarg, who worked on
the appeal team – proclaimed that appeal decision a triumph of justice.
Others disagreed. In 1972 Mardian was “coordinator” of the Committee
to Re-Elect The President, whose acronym was the tellingly apposite
Creep. When the Watergate burglars were caught at the Democratic Party
headquarters, the White House needed to prevent them being traced
back to Creep. They did well enough that Watergate was a non-issue
in Nixon’s 1972 re-election, but its pursuit by the press, and the
discovery of the White House tapes, led to Nixon’s resignation in
August 1974, the Watergate hearings and criminal charges.
Although Mardian claimed to have been unaware of the activities of the
so-called “plumbers” and not to have been involved in any cover-up,
he was convicted in January 1975 of obstruction of justice. Convicted
on more serious charges were Nixon campaign chief and former attorney
general John Mitchell, White House aides HR Haldeman, John Ehrlichman,
and Gordon Strachan, and White House counsel Charles Colson, who
pleaded guilty to organising a separate break-in, at the offices
of the psychiatrist for Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon
Papers. Mardian’s defence hinged on his being at a fundraising
event in California on the night of the burglary. But Jeb Magruder,
who had been promoted over Mardian’s head as Mitchell’s number two,
testified that Mitchell had ordered Mardian to telephone G Gordon
Liddy and put the cover-up in motion.
Liddy then claimed he had been briefed by the turncoat
Magruder. However, Mardian admitted meeting Liddy three days later
to organise hush money for the burglars. He also shredded papers
linking Creep with them, but claimed he did not understand that the
White House budget for “dirty tricks and black advance” was aimed at
political opponents.
Mardian’s appeal made finer legal points. First, that as “coordinator”
for Creep, and counsel for the civil suit filed by the burgled
Democrats, his actions were covered by lawyer-client privilege, and
second, the details of his participation in the cover-up revealed in
Nixon’s infamous White House tapes were inadmissable as hearsay. But
when, in 1976, the appeal court quashed his conviction, they ruled
on far narrower grounds, that his case should have been severed from
the other defendants when his lead counsel fell ill during his trial.
Mardian’s proclaimed innocence flew in the face of his zeal, as an
assistant attorney general for internal security, for wiretapping
and prosecuting anyone, including journalists, opposed to the
Vietnam War, or indeed to Nixon. He headed the government’s team
prosecuting Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971, and led
other prosecutions of dissenters while colluding with the FBI to keep
details of their own agent provocateur secret.
Like many of Nixon’s inner circle, Mardian’s zeal was cultivated in
California politics. His parents had fled the Turkish massacres of
Armenians and settled in Pasadena. His three older brothers ran a
construction business, and were drawn to rightwing politics. Mardian
graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara and
served in the navy in the second world war. There he met his wife
Dorothy. After his discharge in 1946, he took a law degree from the
University of South California and went into private practice.
Apart from a brief spell on the Pasadena school board, Mardian
stayed out of active politics until the 1964 presidential campaign of
conservative Arizona senator Barry Goldwater. His eldest brother, who
was mayor of Phoenix, was a major Goldwater backer, and Mardian became
the campaign’s regional director. He was chairman of the advisory
committee when Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California in 1966,
and in 1968 was western co-chair of Nixon’s successful presidential
campaign. Appointed general counsel to the department of health
education and welfare, Mardian came up with a plan which would
secretly relax federal guidelines on Supreme Court-ordered school
desegregation. Although it was not implemented, Mardian was appointed
head of the cabinet education committee. In 1970 he was named assistant
attorney general, though he had expected to become Mitchell’s deputy.
He left government after the 1972 election, returning to the family
construction firm in Arizona. Apart from his trial, Mardian’s only
public appearance was at John Mitchell’s funeral. He retired in 2002,
and died at his summer home in San Clemente, California, not far from
Nixon’s Western White House. He is survived by his wife and three sons.
Michael Carlson
Robert Charles Mardian, lawyer, born October 23 1923; died July 17 2006

OSCE MG Believes Status Should Be Decided By People of Karabakh
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-chair Matthew Bryza
described the meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharian as
“encouraging”. “I think there is political will here definitely to
keep the process going. There have been public statements that the
framework and principles proposed by the Minsk Group are agreeable for
Armenia,” Mr Bryza said in an interview with RFE/RL. The U.S. mediator
said there still remain unsettled problems referring to the Kelbajar
and Lachin regions as well as the status of Nagorno Karabakh. Bryza
confirmed that the mediators believe the status should be decided
by the “people of Karabakh” “But the question is how do you define
the people of Karabakh? And there were residents there in 1988 who
wish to participate,” he added in a clear reference to the region’s
displaced Azerbaijani minority. “All these things have still to be
worked out as part of a broad package,” he said. In his words, the
principles that are on the table don’t constitute an agreement. “They
are principles, suggestions. So it’s not possible for anyone to
walk away from an agreement, if there isn’t an agreement,” said the
U.S. administration official.

Historical Reconciliation of Peoples in Region Will Ensure Karabakh Settlement
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2006 13:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ July 29 NKR President Arkady Ghukasian received
the delegation of human rights activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia and some European states. Welcoming the guests Arkady Ghukasian
noted the importance of presence of the Azeri delegation what, in
his words, is a positive example for constructive dialogue between
the two publics divided by the war.
Coordinator of the Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki
Citizens’ Assembly Azru Abdullayeba remarked that the Baku-based
Public Council on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict Settlement stands
for immediate participation of the Karabakh side in the talks and
for establishment of constructive relations.
She said the Armenian, Azeri and NKR non-governmental organizations
enjoy warm relations and mutual understanding. “We would like this
atmosphere to transfer into the official circles,” she said.
When answering the guests’ questions the NKR President remarked that
achievement of historical reconciliation between the peoples of the
region will ensure the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
and establishment of peace. “Without reconciliation it will be hard
to implement any agreement, liquidate the consequences of the war
and open the way towards regional development,” Ghukasian said.

Armenian Diaspora Youth Can Contribute to NKR Development
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2006 14:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NKR President Arkady Ghukasian met
with the delegation of the Summer Internship Program
launched by the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA). As
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter came to know from the AAA
office, the American students of Armenian origin have
arrived in Karabakh with a familiarization visit.
During the meeting Arkady Ghukasian expressed
satisfaction with the increasing interest of the
Diasporan youth towards Karabakh. The interlocutors
discussed possible ways of solving the conflict with
Azerbaijan, the role of the Armenian Diaspora in
solving the conflict and in the economic development
of NKR, the main directions of economic development of
NKR and de-mining operations.
The NKR leader proposed to enlarge the Student
Internship Program to NKR and remarked that the new
generation of the Armenian Diaspora can make a
considerable contribution to the cosio-economic
development of Nagorno Karabakh.

Ankara: Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku Railway Project to Be Implemented By Any Means
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2006 14:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway is
an economic project and with time economic projects can overcome
political obstacles, Turkey’s 9th President Suleyman Demirel said. In
his words, the project will be implemented by any means. Touching
upon the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline construction he said it
will yield good benefit.
“Turkey becomes an economic terminal and a part of the transported
natural gas will satisfy Turkey’s needs.
In future European states will also have the possibility to use
the Caspian energy resources. Thus, the Silk Road project will be
implemented,” Demirel said.

MEMBERS OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CONTINUE TO DODGE MILITARY SERVICE
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JULY 31, ARMENPRESS: A deputy chief military prosecutor said
29 Armenians males were placed on the list of wanted persons after
they all refused to take either alternative military or alternative
labor mandatory services, envisaged by the law for persons who refuse
to serve in the regular army on religious grounds.
Mnatsakan Sarkisian, the deputy chief military prosecutor, said all
29 men are members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization,
which encourages its male members to dodge the obligatory military
service.
He said unlike in the past, now the law envisages criminal prosecution
for such people. “Every male citizen of the Republic of Armenia must
know that he must have its mandatory military service, set by the
Constitution,” he said.
He said 656 cases of dodging military service were registered in the
first six months of this year, down from 877 from a year ago.
Under the law, those who want to have alternative military (in the
army units) or alternative labor service (mainly in hospitals and
old-people’s houses) have to file an application beforehand, Sedrak
Sedrakian, from the defense ministry said no applications were received
so far from those males who are to be called this autumn.
The law on alternative military service was enforced in 2004
March. The term of alternative military service is 36 months and that
of alternative labor service is 42 months, while the term of service
in the regular army is 24 months.

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
CHRI STIAN EDUCATION
ANTELIAS PUBLISHES NEW RELIGION TEXTBOOKS
The Catholicosate of Cilicia recently published new textbooks in religion
and the history of the Armenian Church, fulfilling the long standing need of
Armenian schools in this respect.
The need for modern and contemporary religion textbooks has always been an
important issue on the agenda of the Religious Council. An initiative for
special courses in the history of the Armenian Church for more senior
students has also featured with high importance during the Council’s
discussions.
As such, the Christian Education Department of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
worked on publishing these textbooks under the high sponsorship of His
Holiness Aram I.
The first two volumes of modern religion textbooks for Armenian schools have
already been published. Prepared specially for the students of fifth and
sixth classes, these textbooks include pictures, activities, exercises and
detailed explanations on the Armenian Church’s traditions.
Although these books are considered for the students of the fifth and sixth
classes, they can be used for students of lower or higher classes according
to the corresponding literacy in Armenian language in the schools of various
dioceses.
Each pair of textbooks also has a teacher’s guidebook, which explains the
teacher’s room in the classroom and the lively method by which these topics
should be taught. The textbooks of the seventh and eighth classes and their
teacher’s guidebooks are also in the course of preparation and will be
published soon in the Antelias headquarters of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
A brief record of the history of the Armenian Church, its rites and rituals,
its traditions and its differences in principle and ritual from other
churches, has been prepared by the late Ms. Manoushag Boyadjian, with the
aim of introducing the senior students of Armenian Schools to the history of
their church.
This volume is published today following the decision of the Armenian
Pontiff and with the funding of the Department of Armenian Affairs of the
Gulbenkian Foundation, both as an appreciation of Ms. Boyadjian’s dedication
to the Holy See of Cilicia and as a fulfillment of the need for such
textbooks in Armenian schools.
In addition to these projects, a special Bible for teenagers is underway in
cooperation with the Bible Society. The Bible will be published soon,
filling yet another need in the Christian education of the new Armenian
generation. A special Bible for kindergarten students is also being prepared
to encourage the students of Sunday schools.
The Catholicosate’s Christian Education Department has formed a special
committee to embark on publishing, educational and musical activities to
achieve the projects of Sunday Schools and their corresponding bodies.
##
View the book covers here:
es88.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
jurisdiction and the Christian Education activities in both the
Catholicosate and the dioceses, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW FUND CREATES NEW CULTURAL AND CHARITY PROSPECTS
FOR THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA
By Fr. Krikor Chiftjian
It was a pleasure to find out from the media about the establishment of the
“Khatchig Babikian” Fund under the sponsorship of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia. This fund creates new cultural and charity prospects for this Holy
See that fulfills its existence as a mission for serving.
Charity and the fulfillment of the needs of the faithful are the most
sincere and just mission of the Christian Church and particularly our
national church. This is how the Son of God has grasped his earthly mission
and passed it on to his followers.
The church established by Christ is today obliged to achieve the mission it
inherited from its Head, combining to it the essential job of reaching out
to the concerns and difficulties its believers and current times. The
spiritual mission of the church includes the educational, cultural and
social problems of its believers, which, now more than ever, have come to
challenge all churches and nations.
Referring to the Church’s mission, His Holiness Aram I says: “The Church,
the body of Christ, finds its being and achieves its true calling when it
reaches out to people in the life of service. This is the church: service,
not the building, not an authority. It is with this realization that we try
to guide our church towards our people through the service of Catholicosate
of Cilicia.”
Established under the sponsorship of our Holy See, this fund was founded by
the name and wish of Khatchig Babikian, Esq., former chairman of the Central
Executive Council. Shortly before his death, the late Babikian held long
discussions with His Holiness Aram I to establish the basis of this fund,
the rightful sponsor of which is the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
A special committee has been formed to manage the income resulting from the
interests of the fund’s capital, a sum of five million US Dollars. This will
be done under the direct supervision of the Pontiff.
In the cultural field, the fund’s income will be dedicated to publishing
works. The publishing work will mostly focus on books related to the
Armenian Cause, political thought and international law. This also rightly
forms part of the church’s mission, because being a spiritual house that
fights for justice and peace, the Church should, in the name of God, raise
its voice bravely defending the violated rights of those abandoned and
deprived. There are individual and collective rights of people and nations,
the defender of which is the church with all its potential and moral
authority.
In the educational field, the fund will support the Armenian National
Schools of Lebanon with annual donations, contributing to the Armenian
education of new generations.
These are charity, educational, cultural and national struggle prospects
that have come to life during the last decades on the Catholicosate of
Cilicia’s path of service. But today, with thus fund, these prospects shine
with new excitement in the minds of people with vision, will and commitment.
When someone donates money earned with his sweat to this Holy See, we return
it to our nation as dedication and service.
##
Visit or website at

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
&quo t;ISRAEL MUST STOP ITS MASSACRE OF LEBANESE PEOPLE”
Stated His Holiness Aram I
“What has happened this morning in Kana, South Lebanon by Israel, is
outrages, inhuman and against the international law and conventions” said
His Holiness Aram I in a statement made to the international press. “I
simply don’t understand how Israel describes as ‘a technical error’ the
shelling with his advanced and sophisticated war machine a building where
children, women, seek and disable people have taken refuge. All sorts of
justification or clarification provided by Israel are unacceptable in the
face of this human tragedy” said His Holiness.
Speaking about the Israeli attack on Lebanon of the last three weeks, Aram I
said: “Was it a ‘technical error’ the shelling by Israel the UN observer
post in South Lebanon, which took the lives of four UN observers? Was it ‘a
technical error’ the pounding of the civilian cars, ambulances, and trucks
carrying humanitarian aid to the refugees? Was it ‘a technical error’ the
destruction of roads, bridges, electricity supplying centers and
infrastructures? Was it ‘a technical error’ of bombarding buildings which
housed hundreds of families?”
Then His Holiness emphatically stated: “This war must stop. It must stop
immediately and without any condition. Innocent people are being killed,
families are being destroyed; Lebanon is on the brink of collapse and people
are still dealing with diplomacy. One cannot remain indifferent before human
slaughter. Life is sacred. It is a gift of God. We must protect human life
by all means. The UN and the powers of this world must act on this firm
basis. This is the realistic way of dealing responsibly with this complex
and critical situation. First protection of life and only then creation of
proper conditions for diplomacy and for the settlement of the conflict.
Therefore, I join my voice to that of the Spiritual Leaders, both Moslem and
Christian, of Lebanon, to appeal to the international community, for an
immediate cease-fire”, said His Holiness.
In his concluding remarks Aram I said: “We pray for these innocent people,
the new martyrs of Lebanon. May God accept them in His heavenly Kingdom”.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.