VAZHA BARIDZE, FORMER DEPUTY PLENIPOTENTIARY OF PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA TO
JAVAKHK, FORMER HEAD OF BORJOMI REGION, ARRESTED
AKHALKALAKI, December 6 (Noyan Tapan). The arrests of
representatives of the former authorities are continuing in
Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to the “A-Info” Agency, Vazha Beridze,
former Plenipotentiary of the President of Georgia to Javakhk,
former Head of the Bozhomi region, was subjected to a three-month
preliminary detention by the sanction of the Javakhk Prosecutor
David Narimanishvili. According to the accusation, V. Beridze gave
land to an organization unlawfully, causing damage of 600,000 laris
to the state. But Vazha Beridze’s lawyer thinks that there are no
good reasons for Vazha Beridze’s arrest. In his turn, the Javakhk
Prosecutor made the detention conditional upon the considerations of
the effectiveness of the investigation.

“ONE SHOULD EXTEND A HELPING HAND TO THE ARMENIANS TO TAKE AWAY A TRUMP-CARD
OF THE GENOCIDE FROM TURKEY’S ENEMIES,” “TURKIYE” WRITES
ISTANBUL, December 6 (Noyan Tapan). Turkey should extend a helping
hand to Armenia and cease conflicting with the Armenians to take a
trump-card of the Genocide away from the Turkey’s enemies. Rakhim
Eir, the author of an article published in the “Turkiye” newspaper
on November 30, expressed such an opinion. According to the Istanbul
“Marmara” newspaper, reaction of the Americans on the Turks’ attitude
towards the events in Falluja, was the reason for the article. The
Americans said, “If you (the Turks) accuse us of the genocide in
Falluja, we won’t hamper the approval of the resolution concerning
the Armenian Genocide.” After noticing that this “diplomatic threat
reminds of the fact that the Armenian Genocide overhangs Turkey as
the sword of Damocles”, the author responses, “Till what time will the
West threat us with the trump-card of the Armenian Genocide?” “Turkey
should take this card away,” Rakhim Eir is sure. “We should establish
the dialogue with the Armenians and find resolutions both in connection
with the historical events and in connection with the events in Nagorno
Karabakh. The progress is registered in the Kurdish cause. Today is
the turn of the Armenian cause,” reads the article in “Turkiye”.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
12/06/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Californians Unite to Commemorate 90th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide 2) Armenian Museum in Istanbul 3) Russian President Talks Trade, Terrorism in Former Foe Turkey 4) Presidential Candidates Strike Deal in Abkhazia 5) Animal Diseases Hamper Turkey's EU Bid 6) BRIEFS 1) Californians Unite to Commemorate 90th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide The year 2005 marks the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The Armenian people, both in Armenia and the diaspora, will commemorate the most solemn event of our modern history, the genocide of Armenians on April 24, 1915. Ninety years have passed since this crime against Armenians, and all of humanity was committed, and mankind has entered a new century. For the Armenian people, however, that tragic event in history has not been resolved and cannot be forgotten. Almost 2 million Armenians became victims of a premeditated crime perpetrated by the Turkish Government. For decades on--even in the face of blatant denial of the genocide by the same government--successive Armenian generations have kept alive the memory of our martyrs, preserving their timeless message. And today, Turkey continues its attempt to revise history with its massive campaign against international recognition of that unforgettable event. The 90th milestone of the Armenian genocide, will therefore, not only be dedicated to the memory of our martyrs, but will also serve as an opportunity to internationally boost our public relations efforts. As such, religious, political, national, cultural, benevolent, youth, and other organizations operating in California have united to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. This move comes on the initiative of the three Armenian political parties, and under the auspices of the three Prelates of Western USA. We have already begun to outline and integrate the various observances and events that will take place in the coming year. The United Body to Commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian genocide will keep the public informed of planned activities, with the conviction that our public will bring their active participation. Armenian Church of North America Western Diocese Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Catholic Exarchate Armenian Evangelical Community Armenian General Benevolent Union Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western Region Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar) Western Region Social Democrat Hunchak Party Western Region Armenian Relief Society Western Region Knights of Vartan Tekeyan Cultural Association Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Society Nor Serount Cultural Association Armenian Society (Iranahay Miutiun) of Los Angeles Armenian Assembly Western Region American Armenian Council Western Region Hai Tad Council Western Region Armenian National Committee Western Region AGBU Young Professionals Armenagan Youth Movement Armenian Youth Federation Gaydz Youth Organization United Armenian Youth United Armenian Students 2) Armenian Museum in Istanbul ISTANBUL (AP/Andadolu)--Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially opened an Armenian museum in Istanbul on Sunday, saying he was committed to protecting the rights of minority Armenians. Turkey, which recognizes Armenians as an official minority, is under pressure to improve rights for minorities as part of its efforts to join the European Union. Turkey hopes that EU leaders will agree to open membership talks at a Dec. 17 summit. Erdogan joined Mesrob II, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, and other leaders of Turkey's Armenian Christian minority of 65,000 for the opening of the museum at the Sourp Pergich Armenian Hospital in Bolis. "Armenian citizens are an indispensable part of [Turkey]. Every artifact in this museum shows a past lived together,'' Erdogan said. "We are now protecting each other's rights, aware of our citizenship, and it will be like this forever.'' Housed in a 172 year-old Armenian hospital, the museum includes religious artifacts, antique medical equipment and an Ottoman decree that established the hospital in 1832. 3) Russian President Talks Trade, Terrorism in Former Foe Turkey ANKARA (AP)--Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Turkey on Monday on a rare visit meant to boost trade and counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, which have been rivals since the time of the czars and sultans. Putin arrived late Sunday on the first-ever official bilateral visit by a Russian leader--a record that reflects the troubled history between the nations. "We are here to take courageous decisions," Putin said at a dinner with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Sunday. "The visit will give the opportunity for both economic and trade relations between Russia and Turkey to open up to new horizons." On Monday, Putin met with Sezer after visiting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's mausoleum, a shrine honoring the father of the modern Turkish Republic. He was also scheduled to meet with Turkey's prime minister and attend a business forum intended to increase trade between resource-rich Russia and Turkey, a key route for delivering oil and gas to Western markets. The two-day visit is expected to produce six cooperation agreements on issues including defense, finance, and energy--and a largely symbolic friendship and partnership declaration. Repeated wars between the Ottoman Empire and Czarist Russia gave way to a cold peace after the collapse of both empires, with Turkey looming as NATO's easternmost Soviet-era outpost. The nations later fought for influence in Turkic states that gained independence in the 1991 Soviet collapse. Today, both governments are playing up the promise of economic cooperation. Compared with the first half of 2003, bilateral trade rose by 60 percent in the first half of 2004, reaching $4.6 billion, according to Russia. It may exceed $10 billion for the year. A recently built pipeline carries Russian natural gas beneath the Black Sea to Turkey, which relies on Russia for some two-thirds of its gas. Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom is interested in projects for gas storage and more extensive distribution in Turkey. Turkish companies are active in Russia's booming construction, retail, and brewing industries, while its Mediterranean resorts are a favorite among richer Russians, whose visits have fostered familiarity between the traditional foes. But Turkey's control over the Bosporus--the water route that connects the Black Sea and the Mediterranean--has been a sore point. Turkey says increasing Russian oil tanker traffic through the strait is hazardous, while Russia says delays cost its exporters hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The touchy subject of terrorism was also likely to be high on the agenda. Russia has urged Turkey to crack down on charities it claims channel money and weapons to Chechen rebels. It also says numerous Turks have fought alongside the militants. Many Turks trace their ancestry to Chechnya or elsewhere in what's now Russia's North Caucasus region, and many sympathize with fellow Muslims in Chechnya, where civilians have suffered gravely in nearly a decade of war pitting Russian forces against rebels. About a dozen members of a pro-Chechen group laid a black wreath at the entrance of the Russian embassy Monday, shouting "Murderer Putin! Get out of Turkey!" Similar protests were held in Istanbul on Sunday. But in an apparent gesture to Putin, who says Russia is battling international terrorism, Turkish authorities apprehended nine suspected Chechen militants and three pro-Chechen Turks last week. The Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday that police had linked them to al-Qaeda. At Sunday's dinner, Sezer said Turkey is determined to cooperate with Russia in the fight against terrorism. 4) Presidential Candidates Strike Deal in Abkhazia (Eurasianet.org)--A last-minute deal between opposition leader Sergei Bagapsh and former Prime Minister Raul Khajimba appears to have ended a two-month stalemate over the outcome of Abkhazia's presidential elections. Yet the pact's consequences for Abkhazia's relations with Georgia remain unknown. While mutual congratulations have flowed from Sukhumi and Moscow, Tbilisi has maintained a tight-lipped silence about the compromise. Under the terms of the December 5 agreement, brokered by Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov and Abkhaz Prime Minister Nodar Khazhba, Bagapsh and Khajimba will be running mates in a second presidential election to be held at an as yet undecided date. Plans for Bagapsh's inauguration, originally scheduled for December 6, were canceled following announcement of the pact. Since the October 3 presidential elections in which Bagapsh claimed victory, Abkhazia has teetered on the brink of all-out civil conflict. Bagapsh's and Khajimba's armed supporters both hold government buildings throughout the Abkhaz capital, Sukhumi, while Bagapsh's militias have taken control of broadcast facilities. Commenting on the compromise to Russian television, Khajimba stated that the deal should bring the violence to an end. "We have agreed that we will take all the necessary measures . . . in order to defuse the situation," Khajimba said. Bagapsh told the Russian news agency Interfax that a "cabinet of national unity" would be formed after the second round of elections and that additional legislation would be drafted to expand the powers of the Abkhazian vice-president. Unlike the disputed presidential election in Ukraine, Russia's intervention in Abkhazia appears to have played a major role in tipping the scales in favor of its preferred candidate, Khajimba. On December 1, with Bagapsh's inauguration just five days away, Russian presidential advisor Gennady Bukayev announced plans to suspend railway traffic with Abkhazia, terming the move necessary to end "instability" in the breakaway region. Already, border passage with Abkhazia had been restricted and agricultural imports from the sub-tropical region halted--a potentially fatal blow to the many Abkhaz farmers who depend on mandarin exports to Russia for their livelihoods. Since de facto independence from Georgia in 1993, Abkhazia has been largely dependent economically and politically on Russia for its survival. While Bagapsh had vowed to withstand pressure from Moscow, the pact, according to one independent political analyst in Tbilisi, "shows that Russia still has a tremendous amount of influence [in the region] and that even Bagapsh can't stand up against them." 5) Animal Diseases Hamper Turkey's EU Bid AMSTERDAM (Reuters)--Strengthening Turkey's porous south and eastern borders to prevent animal diseases from spreading to Europe is a key challenge in preparing the country's agriculture for EU membership, a report said on Friday. The report, prepared by an international group of agriculture economists, is based on the assumption that Turkey would join the EU in 2015, but says the country will need more time to attain food safety standards that would allow it to be part of a single market for animal products. The risk of disease outbreaks in the EU may increase and food safety and quality may become diluted by embracing a country with a poor record in these areas, unless effective border controls were in place from the moment of accession, the report said. "Some highly infectious animal diseases that have been virtually eradicated in western and northern Europe remain endemic in Turkey," said the report presented by the Dutch Wageningen University, which was the lead researcher. "The situation is complicated by the fragmentation of the livestock sector, Turkey's geographical location and its porous borders to the south and east," said the report, which focuses on the impact of Turkish EU membership on agriculture. Turkey, which borders Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia to the south and the east, hopes EU leaders will agree at a summit on Dec. 17 to open entry talks in 2005 and eventually join the current 25-member bloc. The EU has said that agriculture, accounting for half Turkey's territory and employing a third of its workforce, will be a key issue in its preparations for accession. Friday's report said highly infectious diseases including foot-and-mouth and sheep and goat pox had occurred in Turkey virtually each year since 1996. The country was also prone to outbreaks of anthrax and brucellosis, it said. Economic and political turmoil in the Middle East over the past decade has caused an extension of animal disease epidemics in the region, posing threats to Europe. The report said Ankara had shown progress in harmonizing veterinary legislation with EU standards but added the infrastructure, administrative capacity and commitment needed for effective law enforcement and border control remained weak. "Even with effective implementation of the acquis (EU's set of laws), it will be many years before Turkey reaches full disease-free status for all the most infectious diseases," the report concluded. "The greatest challenge for Turkey does not, however, concern policies. It is in fact to develop... effective control of external borders by the time of accession." It estimated that EU budget payments to Turkey under structural policies, including agriculture, would be between 9.5 billion and 16.6 billion euros in 2015, while Turkey's budget contribution would be 5.4 billion euros. Turkey, which would add more than 80 million consumers to the EU-25's total of 452 million, has been seeking membership since 1963. 6) BRIEFS Armenia Blasts African 'Rogue State' over Jailed Pilots YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Armenia lashed out at Equatorial Guinea on Monday for convicting six Armenian nationals of dubious coup charges, with a senior Foreign Ministry official describing the country as a hostage-taking "rogue state." In its most vocal condemnation yet of lengthy prison sentences given to the aircrew of an Armenian transport plane, official Yerevan held out little hope for the verdict's repeal by the west African nation's Supreme Court and pledged to concentrate on other possible ways of their liberation. According to Ambassador Sergey Manaserian, the options include amnesty, extradition to Armenia, and acquittal by an international court of justice. Doctors against Government Decision to Widen Medical Draft YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--The Armenian Medical Association, Armenia's leading medical body, criticized the government on Monday for scrapping exemptions from military service enjoyed until now by physicians with doctoral degrees. The government announced the decision on November 19, citing a lack of medical personnel in the Armenian Armed Forces. It expects to draft an additional 70 doctors for two-year service in military hospitals. They will swell the ranks of dozens of other medical university graduates that did not continue their studies at the post-graduate level and have to serve in the army. The Association said the decision is unacceptable and counterproductive. Women's Role Discussed at Simon Vratsian Center YEREVAN (Yerkir)--A seminar focusing on women's rights opened on Monday at the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Simon Vratsian Center in Yerevan. Titled "Women Can, " the three day seminar's goal is to advance the role of women both in the ARF and in the political arena of the country, said Chairwoman of the ARF Supreme Body's Committee for Women Maria Titizian. Sonia Local, representative of the Central and Eastern European Gender Cooperation, which operates in 21 countries, including Armenia, is presiding over the seminar. EP President Discusses Reopening of Armenian Border YEREVAN (Yerkir)--President of the European Parliament (EP) Josep Borrell discussed Turkey's accession to the European Union with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Borell stressed that if Turkey wishes to start full membership negotiations with the European Union, it must recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration. The reopening of the Armenian border was also discussed, with Erdogan remarking that Yerevan does not recognize the 1921 Kars agreement, which asserted the Turkish annexation of Armenian lands. Georgia's First Lady Meets with Students of Yerevan State University YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--On December 3, Georgia's first lady Sandra Roelofs met with the students of Yerevan State University during her 4-day visit to Armenia. During the question and answer session, the first lady promised the implementation of economic programs in Javakhk. She noted that President Mikhail Sahakashvili's promise to fight corruption in the political sphere will become a reality, though at a gradual pace. Commending Yerevan State University's centralized system of entrance exams, in use for the past 13 years, Roelofs said the system was just introduced to Tbilisi State University this year. Rossini Festival to Begin YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Yerevan kicked off a music festival dedicated to prominent Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini on December 4. Rossini occupied an unrivaled position in the Italian musical world of his time, winning considerable success relatively early in his career. Of Rossini's three dozen or so operas, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) is probably the best known. The festival began with The Barber of Seville, performed by the students of Yerevan Conservatory. Italian ambassador to Armenia Marco Clemente described the festival as "an exceptional" event, sponsored by the government of Italy, as well as Italian and Armenian businessmen. Police to Probe Bomb Attack on Editor's Car YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Armenian prosecutors announced on Friday the launch of a criminal investigation into the November 22 explosion that destroyed a car belonging to Nikol Pashinian's, editor of the "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily. Pashinian blamed the attack on Gagik Tsarukian, a business tycoon and parliament deputy, in retaliation for the paper's critical coverage of his economic and public activities. Tsarukian has dismissed the allegations as untrue. Armenia's Office of Prosecutor-General said in a statement that a forensic examination conducted at the scene has found that the car was burned down by "a source of open fire." The statement said this gave the Yerevan police grounds to open a criminal case into a possible "deliberate destruction of private property." Mayors Vow to Boost Moscow-Yerevan Trade YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Moscow's longtime Mayor Yuri Luzhkov ended a two-day visit to Yerevan on Friday, signing economic agreements which he said will dramatically boost commercial ties between the two capitals. Luzhkov and Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharian agreed to ensure more than $100 million in mutual investments in real estate development and business infrastructure within the next three years. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

Hye Sharzhoom (Fresno, California)
(The monthly newspaper of the Armenian Studies Program at CSUF)
December 2004
BOOK REVIEW: Stone Garden Guide to Armenia is Reliable, Comprehensive
By Alex Bunch
Staff Writer
For the everyday person, there has never been a comprehensive travel guide
to Armenia and Karabagh. Well, now there is.
In Matthew Karanian’s and Robert Kurkjian’s book, `The Stone Garden Guide:
Armenia and Karabagh,’ anyone traveling to Armenia or Karabagh can find
exactly what they need. `Armenia and Karabagh’ is very comprehensive and
you can find just about any piece of information that you are looking for.
If you are planning a trip to Armenia or Karabagh, this is an essential
book to read.
When you look at the table of contents, you can clearly see this book is
indeed as comprehensive as the authors claim. `Armenia and Karabagh’
includes sections such as geography, population, language, sites to see,
transportation, exchanging money, customs regulations, foreign embassies
in Yerevan, and even a very comprehensive section on ecology.
`Of special interest in Chapter Three, Ecology,’ says Robert Kurkjian. `We
felt this was important because we did not just want to promote
irresponsible travel to the region,’ he said.
This is exactly why their book is extremely helpful. It goes beyond the
basic information.
The book is also divided up by region, so one would know what to see with
respect to the area they are traveling to. These individual sections are
full of information, especially with respect to places of interest such as
museums, churches, landmarks and theaters.
What is also great about this travel guide is its structure. All the
information is neatly organized and the index is very helpful to find
information, as well. The entire book, even the maps, is in color. It is a
unique travel guide for the quality of the book, the design, and the
number of color photos.
Having this book as a guide, you cannot go wrong and you are sure to have
a great trip to Armenia and Karabagh.
Most of the information was obviously obtained first-hand by the authors
themselves, who have been traveling to and from Armenia for several years
no, so the information is very reliable. In fact, this alone makes the
book a better guide when compared to the other travel guides to Armenia.
The back cover of the book accurately states that this is an `Insider’s
Guide’ because both Karanian and Kurkjian have been living, working, and
traveling in Armenia since 1995.
If you are planning a trip to Armenia or Karabagh, then this book is a
necessity. When you look at the amount of information available in the
guide, you are sure to have a pleasant trip to Armenia and Karabagh.
End

Philippine Star, Philippines
Dec 6 2004
Fahsan plans secret for Manny
By Joaquin Henson

Fahsan 3-K Battery has a secret strategy that he will unravel to
surprise consensus world featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao in
their scheduled 12-round International Boxing Federation (IBF) title
eliminator in an open-air field at the Fort, Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig, this Saturday.
Both Fahsan and his manager Ekarat (Jimmy) Chaichotchueng are
tight-lipped about the plan which, they guarantee, will pull the rug
from under Pacquiao. All they’re saying is whatever the odds,
Pacquiao isn’t sure to win.
No doubt, Fahsan is a dangerous opponent. Pacquiao must dispose of
the Thai contender to keep his Feb. 26 appointment with IBF and World
Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Marquez in
Las Vegas.
New Jersey promoter Murad Muhammad envisions at least a P200 Million
windfall for Pacquiao next year as he’s lined up Marquez, Erik
Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera in a series of HBO fights that will
make the General Santos City southpaw the wealthiest Filipino athlete
ever.
But before the cash register starts ringing, there’s Fahsan to take
care of.
Fahsan is guaranteed $25,000 for the fight against Pacquiao. If he
defies the odds, the Thai stands to earn a fortune in his next bout
so he’s expected to let it all hang out in his chance of a lifetime.
Fahsan, 30, has the credentials to make life difficult for Pacquiao.
First, he’s a southpaw, meaning Pacquiao has no advantage being a
lefthander, too. Second, he’s a tough nut to crack-the fact that
Fahsan has never been knocked out is proof of his durability. Third,
he claims to be immune to Filipinos. Fahsan has never lost to a
Filipino and his list of victims includes at least 20. Fourth, he is
more experienced than Pacquiao. Fahsan turned pro three years before
Pacquiao and has logged 10 more fights, not counting his experience
as a Muay Thai kickboxer. And finally, he has the edge in the element
of surprise. There is little known about Fahsan unlike Pacquiao whose
fights have been shown all over the world on TV.
Whatever is Fahsan’s secret, he will not reveal it until the bell
rings on Saturday.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, who flew in from Los Angeles two
weeks ago, isn’t taking Fahsan lightly.
“This guy is getting an opportunity of a lifetime,” says Roach. “He’s
fighting the best featherweight in the world. He’ll give 100 percent
in this fight. He wants to be on a pedestal like Manny. If he beats
Manny, it’ll be an unbelievable future for him. Fahsan will bring his
A-game into the ring. But he’ll be fighting over his head. We want to
get this guy out of the way so we can think of the other fights
coming up.”
Roach expects the Thai to keep away from Pacquiao in the early going
because the Filipino is supposed to be deadliest in the first few
rounds. But Roach says Pacquiao is ready for the tactic.
“Fahsan has no tendency to run,” explains Roach. “When fighters start
exchanging punches, they get back to what they’re used to. Fahsan is
no exception. Once Manny moves in, it’ll be a war and Fahsan won’t
survive Manny’s speed and power.”
Roach says Pacquiao has his own surprise for Fahsan-a killer right.
While Pacquiao is known for his lethal left, he has been working on
his right to become more unpredictable in the ring. Roach confides
that the plan is to put Fahsan to sleep with a right hook or cross.
Muhammad predicts Pacquiao will win “in style” but he’s not counting
his chickens before they’re hatched. He says Pacquiao must stay in
focus to beat Fahsan convincingly.
Last May, Fahsan faced Art Simonyan of Armenia in a 12-round IBF
title eliminator in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. It was his first
fight outside of Thailand.
Chaichotcheung claims Fahsan had not enough time to prepare for
Simonyan and experienced difficulty in adjusting to US conditions.
Simonyan carved out a unanimous decision.
What was evident in the fight was Simonyan used his jab to dominate
Fahsan who never got his offense untracked. Simonyan was conscious of
Fahsan’s ability to slug so he kept the Thai safely stuck on the
outside. Pacquiao won’t fight Fahsan like Simonyan because he’d
rather mix it up toe-to-toe.
Boxing News writer Jim Brady, reporting on the Fahsan-Simonyan bout,
said the Thai fought from a “tight southpaw stance (with) chin
tucked.” He described Fahsan as “a veteran of Muay Thai fighting (who
is) used to getting whacked with bamboo poles and training on ground
glass.”
With 40 seconds to go in the ninth round, Fahsan landed a left cross
to Simonyan’s body then unleashed a “wicked” left counter that shook
up the Armenian. The attack, however, wasn’t enough to turn the tide.
Chaichotcheung says Fahsan is a fighter, not a boxer, and that’s why
he has problems facing stylists like Simonyan. That won’t be a
problem against Pacquiao because the Filipino shows up to slug not to
run in a fight.
Fahsan is ranked No. 6 featherweight by the IBF and Pacquiao, No. 3.
The winner faces Marquez in February.
Muhammad says IBF No. 1 contender Rocky Juarez may be squeezed in
Pacquiao’s calendar if Barrera delays their rematch until late next
year. After Marquez, Pacquiao hopes to fight Morales in July. If
Barrera plays hard to get, Pacquiao could meet Juarez in September
before taking on the Baby-Faced Assassin in November or December.
Barrera appears to be avoiding Pacquiao but Muhammad says the rematch
is inevitable because HBO and the fans demand it.
Fahsan, Chaichotcheung and knockout artist Chaiyong Distar arrive
here today from Bangkok. Chaiyong, who has registered 11 knockouts in
12 wins, will meet Cebu sensation Z Gorres in Saturday’s undercard.

Sunday Times, Australia
The Mercury, Australia
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Dec 6 2004
On this day
06dec04
1988 – Sources say ethnic violence kills at least three people and
injures six others in southern republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers island of Hispaniola, now
divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1534 – Spanish conquistadors establish presence in Quito, an Inca
city in the Andes.
1857 – British forces recapture Cawnpore in India.
1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates the first sound recording, reciting
Mary had a Little Lamb at West Orange, New Jersey.
1889 – Death of Jefferson Davis, first and only president of the
Confederate States of America.
1906 – Self-government is granted in Transvaal and Orange River
colonies in what is now South Africa.
1907 – Frontier between Uganda and East Africa is defined; In one of
America’s worst coal mine disasters, 361 die at Mononagh, West
Virginia.
1916 – Bucharest, capital of Romania, falls to German troops.
1917 – Republic of Finland is proclaimed; Collision between Belgian
and French ammunition ships at Halifax, Nova Scotia, takes 1600
lives.
1921 – Britain signs peace treaty with Ireland under which Irish Free
State is established and Ireland accepts Dominion status.
1925 – Libyan frontier agreement is signed between Italy and Egypt.
1929 – Women’s suffrage begins in Turkey.
1938 – France and Germany sign pact on inviolability of their
existing frontier.
1941 – US President Franklin D Roosevelt appeals for peace to Japan’s
Emperor Hirohito – one day before the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. He also authorises the Manhattan Project, which results in
the creation of the atomic bomb.
1957 – America’s first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit
blows up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1959 – UN General Assembly says Togoland should receive independence.
1961 – Heavy fighting erupts in Congo’s Katanga Province between
United Nations and Katanga forces.
1966 – Britain calls for United Nations sanctions against rebellious
Rhodesia, including ban on oil shipments.
1969 – A concert by The Rolling Stones at the Altamont Speedway in
Livermore, California, is marred by the deaths of four people,
including one who is stabbed by a Hell’s Angel.
1971 – South Korea’s President Park Chung Hee warns of danger of
invasion from the north and declares national emergency.
1973 – Gerald Ford is sworn in as US vice-president following the
resignation of Spiro Agnew over alleged financial irregularities.
1975 – Six-day Balcombe Street Siege begins in London when four IRA
gunmen take a middle-aged couple hostage; US President Gerald Ford
arrives in Philippines for talks on new terms for US air and naval
bases there.
1978 – Constitution returning Spain to democracy is approved in
referendum.
1982 – Eleven soldiers and six civilians are killed when a bomb
planted by the Irish National Liberation Army explodes in a pub in
Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
1984 – Death toll rises to 1600 from gas leak from US-built pesticide
plant in Bhopal, India.
1987 – Bangladesh government dissolves Parliament amid opposition
campaign to topple President Hussain Mohammad Ershad’s
administration.
1988 – Death of Roy Orbison, one of the greatest stars in American
rock and country music; Sources say ethnic violence kills at least
three people and injures six others in southern republics of
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
1989 – Gunman kills 14 women and wounds nine women and four men at
University of Montreal before killing himself; Car bomb believed to
be set by drug traffickers kills 59 in Colombia.
1990 – Iraqi President Saddam Hussein says he has asked parliament to
let all foreign nationals leave Iraq; General Hussain Mohammed
Ershad, who ruled Bangladesh for nine years after coming to power in
a coup, steps down at the height of a pro-democracy movement.
1991 – John Kerin is replaced as Australia’s federal treasurer after
five months, by Ralph Willis.
1992 – Hindu extremists destroy an ancient Muslim shrine in the
northern town of Ayodhya, India, that they believe Muslim invaders
built after destroying a major Hindu temple. Months of nationwide
Hindu-Muslim riots kill about 2,000 people.
1993 – Serb forces shell Sarajevo for five hours, taking aim at
shoppers bartering for food and mourners burying their dead. Five
people are killed and at least 27 wounded.
1994 – A 52-nation summit in Budapest charting a new strategy for a
more peaceful Europe ends in a deadlock over the Bosnian war.
1995 – A huge US transport plane lands at Tuzla, Bosnia airfield to
start the first concrete preparations for the NATO peace mission.
1996 – A mudslide kills at least eight workers repairing a dam in
north-western Japan.
1997 – A Russian Antonov-124 cargo aircraft with two fighter jets on
board crashes into an apartment block near Irkutsk; 49 bodies and 19
body fragments were recovered and 17 other people were unaccounted
for.
1998 – Six years after staging a bloody coup attempt, Former Lt Col
Hugo Chavez is elected president of Venezuela, dealing a blow to the
establishment that ruled the country for 40 years.
1999 – NASA says it has not detected a signal from the Mars Polar
Lander, two days after it began its descent to Mars. It is later
determined that the robot spacecraft was destroyed following a
software glitch; Georges Rutaganda, a leader of the Hutu militia
group, which led the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is convicted of
genocide by a UN tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2000 – Werner Klemperer, German-born character actor, dies.
Klemperer, who fled Germany in the 1930s with his father, Otto, a
distinguished conductor, won two Emmy Awards for his appearances in
the sitcom about World War Two allied prisoners of war, Hogan’s
Heroes.
2001 – The Taliban’s supreme Leader agrees to surrender Kandahar, the
militia’s birthplace and position of last stand in Afghanistan, to
tribal forces and puts himself under the protection of tribal
leaders.
2001 – Anti-Taliban forces capture the main base of Osama bin Laden
in the Tora Bora Mountains of eastern Afghanistan but fail to find
the Saudi-born militant.
2002 – Israeli forces kill 10 Palestinians, including two United
Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school employees, during a
pre-dawn incursion into the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
2002 – Exxon Mobil Corp says a federal court in Alaska has decided it
should pay $US4 billion ($A5.51 billion) in punitive damages for the
Exxon Valdez oil spill.
2003 – Miss Ireland, Rosanna Davison, daughter of singer Chris de
Burgh, is crowned Miss World 2003 in Communist China’s first
international beauty pageant.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Central Maine Morning Sentinel, ME
Kennebec Journal, ME
Dec 5 2004
Some pride has nothing to do with fads
I have never understood the pride fad.
The attraction of bumper stickers with statements such as “Proud to
be an Irish-American” (and I am one) escape me. My father’s father
came from Ireland, which makes me half-Irish, of which I am neither
proud nor embarrassed. It is just a fact.
A lot of people identify themselves as “a proud American” or a proud
Hoosier or march to express their pride in being gay, etc. They
insist on being prideful of something that is nothing more than an
accident of birth.
I can understand being proud of an accomplishment, say a baseball
player who is proud of throwing a no-hitter. But someone who is proud
of being, for example, a Red Sox fan has done damn little to earn
that pride. (OK, maybe that is a bad example. Red Sox fans do have
their suffering to point to, but, generally, fandom does not require
much more than a TV and time to spend in front of it.)
But an involuntary glow of pride popped into my head the other day
and really surprised me. I said, to myself, “I’m proud of America.”
It happened on Ellis Island, that former sandbar in New York Harbor
that is now a shrine to the American immigrant.
While there is much shameful in America’s treatment of immigrants,
such as turning a blind eye to many who tried to flee Nazi Germany,
there is also a history of generosity, decency and openness. And a
trip Ellis Island brings it all out, the good and the bad. You can
literally walk into the same rooms that 12 million immigrants entered
from 1887 to 1938, some of them perhaps your grandparents or great
grandparents.
The statistic that got to me was this one: Of those 12 million who
arrived at Ellis Island, only 2 percent were turned away. The main
reasons for rejection were contagious disease or proof that the
immigrant’s passage was paid by a U.S. employer in return for working
here as a virtual indentured slave. Everyone else was accepted, no
matter their country of origin, religion, language, social class,
etc. In fact, most were poor refugees, fleeing famine or political
and religious oppression.
Although their trip over, often in steerage, was harrowing, their
time at Ellis Island was made as quick and comfortable as possible.
Most were processed in five or six hours in a beaux-arts style
building erected just for this purpose and so beautiful it won
international design awards. Yes, the immigrants were herded through
various inspections process, checked for heath and mental capacity
and some had to stay longer if they were deemed seriously ill or
mentally deficient.
Those rejected had the right of review by a Board of Special Inquiry
and five out of every six cases were reversed and allowed into the
country.
Dormitories and hospitals were erected to care for those who were
ill. Some were eventually sent back to their country of origin, but
others were treated, cured and allowed into the country.
Visitors to Ellis Island can see the actual menus served to the
immigrants who had to stay longer. They got three meals a day,
nothing fancy, usually beef stew as the main meal, and Jewish
immigrants were offered a kosher meal.
The main building at Ellis Island is a museum now, with displays of
photos, clothing, artifacts and other items that represent the
experiences of different ethnic groups that made their way through
Ellis Islands.
Two million people a year make the trip via ferry from Battery Park
on the southern tip of Manhattan (the ferry also stops at the Statue
of Liberty). The wait for a ferry is often two hours or more, but
that does not dissuade many. Odds are that many of those in line are
descendants of immigrants who came here through Ellis Island. The
museum records show that more than 100 million Americans “trace their
ancestry … to a man, women or child whose name passed from a
steamship manifest sheet to an inspector’s record book in the great
Registry Room at Ellis Island.”
That included me. My grandmother (on my mother’s side) came through
Ellis Island in 1920, a 21-year-old refugee from Armenia. She walked
those wide steps up the Registry Room, was questioned and inspected
by the strangers in starched white shirts and admitted to the United
States of America. Her finance (also Armenian) was already here and
they were married right away, at Ellis Island.
They moved to Dover, N.H., and had six children. Shortly after the
sixth was born, her husband died and she raised her kids herself,
surviving the Depression as what we now call a single mother.
Now that is something to be proud of.
John Christie is publisher of the Kennebec Journal and the Morning
Sentinel. He can be reached at [email protected].

Media Monitors Network
Dec 5 2004
Anglo-American “democratic imperialism” and 0.9 billion infant deaths
by Gideon Polya
“The British, in addition to their invasive contributions in South
America, Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, the
Pacific and the Middle East, left the South Asian subcontinent
crippled by colonialism and helped impose a further burden of
militarization, economic exclusion, debt and war. The total post-1950
under-5 infant mortality in South Asia has been 281.5 million.”
An aggressive, militaristic, imperial US dominates the new world
order
There is a new world order that is dominated by one superpower, the
US. This US hegemony is backed by its Anglo-Celtic cousins, Australia
and the UK. It is vitally important for the world to consider the
human cost of this régime.
The Anglo-American Coalition commenced war against Iraq in 1991,
conquered Afghanistan in 2001 and finally occupied all of Iraq in
2003. The human cost has been horrendous – the `excess mortality’
(avoidable mortality) in Iraq has been estimated from UN data to be
1.5 million since 1991 and about 0.3 million since the US invasion in
2003, these estimates being consonant with estimates of under-5
infant mortality there totalling 1.2 million since 1991 and about 0.2
million since the final invasion. The `excess mortality’ and under-5
infant mortality in Afghanistan have been 1.2 million and 0.9
million, respectively, since the invasion in 2001.
The obscenity of such impositions by fabulously wealthy countries on
wretchedly poor, fragile countries is illustrated powerfully by the
following UNICEF statistics: in 2001 the under-5 infant mortality was
1000 in Australia (population 20 million), 109,000 in Iraq
(population 24 million) and 277,000 in Afghanistan (population 22
million). In 2002 these statistics were 1000, 108,000 and 283,000,
respectively.
What more can the world expect from this Anglo-American Coalition
that is evidently picking up from where the brutal British Empire
left off? A good guide can be obtained from an analysis of post-1950
under-5 infant mortality that is made possible by detailed statistics
publicly available from the UN and UNICEF. These statistics provide a
`smoking gun’ for an immense crime that has been committed over the
last half century – the largely avoidable death of about 0.9 billion
infants throughout the world. This effective mass murder of innocents
has gone unreported by Anglo-American-dominated world media.
Decent humans love kids
A commonality among decent human beings is affection for children.
Thus even in some relatively violent, male-dominated societies there
are conventions prohibiting male violence against other men in the
presence of women and children. Further, young children such as those
under the age of five are utterly blameless – they have not yet
developed the disagreeable attributes of so many adults. At the very
worst, such kids could be a nuisance by demanding too much love and
affection from their families.
The bottom line is that ill-treatment or murder of infants is utterly
unacceptable to decent humans. Historically, mass mortality of
infants was associated with the genocidal European invasions of North
America, South America, Australasia and the Pacific in which
introduced disease was more important than conventional violence in
decimating native populations. In the last century explicit, violent
mass murder of infants (as well as of adults) occurred repeatedly,
for example during the genocides applied to the Hereros of Namibia,
the Armenians of Anatolia, the Jews of Europe, the Tutsis of Rwanda
and the Cambodian civilian victims of the Khmer Rouge.
Whether a child dies a violent death or dies of deprivation or
malnourishment-exacerbated disease, the end result is the same.
Accordingly, to this list of infanticidal horrors of the last century
we should add the victims of enormous man-made famines in Russia (the
early 1920s), the Ukraine (early 1930s), British-occupied Bengal
(during World War 2) and China (during the Great Leap Forward). Major
wars such as the Japanese invasion of China, World War 1 and World
War 2 have been major killers of civilians through the accompanying
social and economic dislocation. Notwithstanding the creation of the
UN after World War 2, there has been immense avoidable infant
mortality over the last half century that is closely linked to First
World-derived militarization and war.
The global post-1950 under-5 infant mortality totals over 900 million
Using publicly-available UN and UNICEF data on populations, birth
rates, death rates and under-5 infant mortality rates, it has been
possible to simply calculate the total number of children under the
age of 5 years who have died in virtually every country of the world
since 1950. The results are horrendous – the global post-1950 under-5
infant mortality totals over 900 million.
In order to simply present and compare the data it is useful to use
some abbreviations and transformations. Thus for the major `overseas’
European colonies (the US, Canada, Israel, Australia and New Zealand)
the post-1950 under-5 infant mortality totals 5.3 million
(abbreviated as `5.3m’). The post-1950 under-5 infant mortality is
4.1% of the total mortality in these countries since 1950 (`4.1%
mort’) i.e. in these rich countries under-5 infant mortality has been
a very small proportion of overall mortality. Expressed as a
percentage of the total present day population of this grouping of
countries, the post-1950 under-5 infant mortality is 1.5% (`1.5%
pop’) or 1.5 dead infants for every 100 people alive today in these
countries i.e. very few people in this group carry the traumatic
burden of an infant death. For simplicity I will summarize the
post-1950 under-5 infant mortality statistics for this group as `5.3
m, 4.1% mort, 1.5% pop’.
With rounding-off of the data, the total post-1950 under-5 infant
mortality has been 912 million, this being made up of the following
components:
`Overseas’ European countries [5.3m, 4.1% mort, 1.5 % pop],
Western Europe [6.8m, 3.4% mort, 1.7% pop],
Eastern Europe [12.7m, 7.3% mort, 3.7% pop],
Latin America and Caribbean [51.9m, 32.0% mort, 10.0% pop],
East Asia [199.4m, 35.1% mort, 12.9% pop],
South East Asia [70.9m, 32.2% mort, 12.9% pop],
Turkey, Iran & Central Asia [40.0m, 46.2% mort, 17.1% pop],
Arab North Africa & Middle East [46.7m, 44.4% mort, 15.6% pop],
South Asia [281.5m, 42.8% mort, 20.0% pop],
Pacific [1.1m, 31.9% mort, 13% pop], and
Non-Arab Africa [195.9m, 52.9% mort, 29.1% pop].
You will immediately see that for the various groupings of European
countries the post-1950 under-5 infant mortality is on the average
about 3-7% of the total mortality within each group and less than 4%
of the current population. However for the non-European world the
post-1950 under-5 infant mortality is on average about 32-53% of
total mortality and 10-29% of total current population for the
various regional groupings.
Thus in European countries post-1950 under-5 infant mortality has
been a very small proportion of deaths whereas in non-European
countries it represents a very high proportion. Similarly, in
European countries on average only several under-5 infant deaths have
occurred for every 100 people alive today – whereas on average such
infant death has been tragically commonplace in the various regions
of the non-European world.
At this point a European neo-con will declare that surely such
elevated infant mortality is only to be expected for non-European
countries that are typically tropical or semi-tropical, fecund,
`backward’ and incompetently governed by authoritarian governments
i.e. that elevated infant mortality is `normal’ for such countries.
However many examples throughout the world demonstrate the fallacy of
such intrinsically racist assertions. Further, closer examination of
the data country-by-country reveals that the First World bears a
major responsibility for this largely avoidable infant mortality.
Many examples can be given to illustrate First World involvement in
this carnage and Anglo-American involvement in particular.
Anglo-American hegemony and militarism is linked to global mass
infant mortality
Latin America plus the Caribbean (i.e. the Americas minus Canada and
the US) has been dominated by the US for over a century. The
post-1950 under-5 infant mortality statistics for Latin America plus
the Caribbean [51.9m, 32.0% mort, 10.0% pop] present a dismal picture
but communist Cuba [0.3m, 9.6% mort, 3.1% pop] is a remarkable
exception because of high literacy and excellent primary health care
– notwithstanding 4 decades of US hostility, threats and sanctions.
It can be readily calculated that if the outcome for Cuba {3.1% pop)
is applied to the whole Latin America and the Caribbean grouping then
the post-1950 under-5 infant mortality would be reduced by 36 million
– US hegemony is thus a major factor in this appalling infanticide.
The British (as well as the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgians,
Germans and Italians) conquered, enslaved and exploited Africa for
centuries and left a crippled continent in a neo-colonial nightmare
of militarization, debt, economic exclusion, corrupt governments and
war that is presently compounded by HIV/AIDS. However the post-1950
under-5 infant mortality in peaceful, democratic Afro-Indian
Mauritius [0.08m, 21% mort, 6.3% pop] has been a lovely exception –
if the `6.3% pop’ stat is applied to all of non-Arab Africa then
notionally 153 million infants would have survived.
The post-1950 under-5 infant mortality in the modestly endowed but
peaceful and democratic Muslim country of Malaysia has not been too
bad [1.2m, 20.2% mort, 4.7% pop]. If the Malaysian stat of `4.7% pop’
is notionally applied to the Muslim countries of Turkey and Iran
(subject to massive US interference), formerly Soviet-occupied
Central Asia and Afghanistan (subject to UK, Russian and thence US
intervention) then we can calculate a `saving’ of 29 million infant
lives since 1950.
Similar country-by-country quantitative analysis indicates major US
contribution (through interference, threat, militarization and war)
to the horrendous post-1950 under-5 infant mortality in East Asia
(notably in China, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia), in South
East Asia (notably in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and East
Timor) and in Arab North Africa and the Middle East (notably in
Libya, Iraq and in Israel’s neighbours). The post-1950 under-5 infant
mortality in all of Israel’s immediate neighbours totals 16.6
million.
The British, in addition to their invasive contributions in South
America, Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, the
Pacific and the Middle East, left the South Asian subcontinent
crippled by colonialism and helped impose a further burden of
militarization, economic exclusion, debt and war. The total post-1950
under-5 infant mortality in South Asia has been 281.5 million.
Australia as a genocidal junior imperialist
Australia, having historically been involved in the decimation of the
indigenous populations of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and the
South Pacific, is proud of its 2 century record of military service
throughout the world for the British Empire `on which the sun never
set’. Since 1950 Australia has been militarily involved in UK and/or
US military adventures in Iraq, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Indonesia,
East Timor, Korea and Indo-China and hence complicit in the
horrendous infant mortalities in those countries.
The South Pacific is Australia’s `patch’ and the post-1950 under-5
infant mortality in the Pacific has been 1.1 million, with 0.9
million of this contributed by the former Australian colonial
possession of Papua New Guinea. The unilateral retention by Australia
of most of East Timor’s off-shore oil and gas reserves will ensure
continuing poverty and elevated infant mortality in that much-abused
country.
In 2004 the present Australian Government indicated that if deemed
necessary it would engage in pre-emptive strikes against neighbouring
countries and has refused to sign a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation
that bans such attacks and which is adhered to by the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and various East Asian powers.
Australia has certainly learned well from its big Anglo-American
cousins.
Boycotting the Anglo-American Coalition to end global mass
infanticide
Peace is the only sensible way forward. Indeed violent opposition to
the US has brought appalling civilian suffering. Thus the under-5
infant mortality in Iraq since 1991 and in Afghanistan since 2001
totals 2.1 million as compared to about 1100 US military deaths in
combat in those theatres – a death ratio of about 2000 Muslim infants
per US soldier. This arises because major Anglo-American casualties
are unacceptable in domestic politics and accordingly any target must
be bombed and shelled from a distance before occupation – but at the
cost of enormous civilian casualties. Thus Fallujah has been
`destroyed in order to liberate it’ with over 0.2 million of its
former citizens now refugees in their own land.
The world must apply sensible feedback to halt the carnage. The
military-industrial complexes of the US and the UK have benefited
enormously from massive global military expenditure that now totals
$800 billion per year (with half of this being that of the US alone).
The extra funding of the US military-industrial complex since 9/11
has been about $400 billion and it is evident that the endless `War
on Terror’ in response to jihadist atrocities (5000 Western deaths in
the last 20 years) will continue to be immensely profitable to the US
and UK war industries. Feedback through economic boycotts would seem
appropriate for stopping imperial wars fought for economic benefit.
The world can only respond sensibly to continuing Anglo-American
Coalition war crimes by exposure, condemnation, boycotts, sanctions,
legal actions and bans applied to Coalition countries – and by making
“ethical purchases” from and “ethical investments” in non-involved
countries such as China, France, and Germany. Already formal
complaints over Coalition war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have
been made to the International Criminal Court. The sheer magnitude of
the continuing Anglo-American crimes against the innocent must be
kept before the world – it is inconceivable that this mass
infanticide can continue unabated. Silence kills. Silence is
complicity. Inform everyone. Save the children.

The New York Sun
November 30, 2004 Tuesday
Off-Key Comparison
by Hillel Halkin
An American friend just sent me an e-mail containing an article that
appeared yesterday, in the November 29 British daily the Guardian.
Written by the Guardian’s Israel correspondent Chris McGreal, the
article deals with an incident that took place on November 9 and was
widely reported last week in the Israeli and international press. In
this incident, Israeli soldiers at a West Bank check post near Nablus
made a Palestinian violinist play his instrument in front of them
before giving him permission to pass.
Of all the recent revelations of the “routine dehumanizing treatment”
of Palestinians by the Israeli military, Mr. McGreal wrote, including
an Israeli officer’s “pumping the body of a 13-yearold girl with
bullets” in the Gaza Strip, “none so disturbed” Israelis as this one,
because of its associations with the Holocaust. As an example, the
Guardian cited the Hebrew writer Yoram Kaniuk, the author of a novel
about a Jewish violinist forced by the Nazis to play marches in
Auschwitz as Jews were taken to the gas chambers. Mr. Kaniuk was
quoted as saying:
“This story….negates the possibility of the existence of a Jewish
state. If the military does not put these soldiers on trial, we will
have no moral right to speak of ourselves as a state that rose from
the Holocaust.”
My concerned friend asked for my opinion.
It’s a bit complicated, my opinion. It’s actually several opinions.
There is no doubt that the phenomenon of Israeli soldiers brutalizing
and humiliating Palestinian civilians, let alone killing them without
justification, is shameful. What is even more shameful, as Mr.
McGreal rightly points out, is that in the vast majority of these
cases the perpetrators have either been lightly punished or have gone
scot-free Although, in the situation of extreme animosity that
currently exists between Israeli and Palestinian societies it is
impossible to avoid such incidents entirely, they could certainly be
decreased if the higher echelons of the Israeli army were determined
to prevent them. It is reprehensible that they do not seem to be.
At the same time, not every incident that is reported as a case of
brutality or humiliation is one, as we know from the infamous story
of Mohammed Durra, the Palestinian child whose supposed martyrdom at
the hands an Israeli sniper in the year 2000 turned him into an
international icon even after clear evidence showed that he was
killed by Palestinians. In itself, after all, there is nothing wrong
with Israel soldiers at a checkpoint asking a young Palestinian to
play his violin as a way of making sure it is not stuffed with
explosives. Palestinians have been caught in the past with explosives
in bags, in belts, in knapsacks, briefcases, in underwear, in what
appeared to be the pregnant stomachs of women. What makes a violin
above suspicion?
Nor, studying the photograph of the incident published in the Israeli
press, can one identify any would-be humiliators. Neither of the two
soldiers directly in front of the violinist, one talking on a cell
phone and the other checking documents, is even looking at him, much
less taking pleasure in the situation. Whoever it was who ordered the
young man to play his instrument certainly didn’t do it as a show for
their benefit.
Yet the facts of this specific case are perhaps beside the point. Are
Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints often treated badly? The answer
is yes. Should everything possible be done to stop this? Yes, again.
Are the checkpoints nevertheless necessary? Yes, once more. (They
have saved many Israeli lives, and Israelis will have to be excused
for thinking that a humiliated Palestinian is better than a dead
Israeli.) Is it legitimate to compare such incidents, or any other
aspect of the Israeli presence in the occupied territories, to the
Holocaust? Absolutely not. Under no conceivable circumstances.
Imagine, if you will, the following dispatch in The Guardian in 1943:
“As the German dehumanization of Eastern- 846 1078 919 1090European
Jews grows worse, a new height of sadism has been reached: Jewish
violinists have been forced to play their violins in front of jeering
German soldiers.”
Would that the Holocaust had been a matter of humiliated violinists.
Would that it had been a matter of humiliated Jews. Would that it had
been a matter of the occasional killing of innocent Jews by German
soldiers.
But of course, it was none of these things. It was the successfully
systematic murder of the Jewish people. Which is why, whenever
anyone, Jew or Gentile, Israeli author or English journalist,
compares Israeli actions in the occupied territories to those of the
Germans or their allies in the Holocaust, something vile and
intolerable has been done. The descendants of the victims of the
Holocaust have been turned into the perpetrators of another one.
In order to make such a comparison, one has to be either (1) totally
ignorant of what happened in the Holocaust; (2) totally ignorant of
what is happening in the occupied territories; (3) totally
indifferent, in one’s eagerness to bash Israel and Jews, to the
historical facts in either case. Compare Israeli actions, if you
will, to those of the French in Algeria. (The French were in reality
a hundred times worse.) Compare them, if you must, to those of the
Americans in Vietnam. (The Americans were incredibly more brutal.)
Compare them to anything you want – except the Holocaust.
This isn’t because the Holocaust isn’t comparable to other things. It
is. But it is comparable only to other mass exterminations: That of
the Armenians by the Turks in World War I, that of Cambodians by the
Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, that of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda in 1995.
It is not comparable, ever, to anything Israel has done or is doing
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Any such an analogy should
automatically be beyond the pale of acceptable human discourse.
That’s my opinion.
From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY’S ARMENIAN MUSEUM PROVES PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE – PREMIER
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
5 Dec 04
Istanbul, 5 December: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
on Sunday (5 December) that those who saw the artefacts in the Surp
Pirgic Armenian Hospital Museum would see that everybody had been
coexisting in peace in Turkey.
Erdogan, who inaugurated the Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital
Museum, which was renovated by the Armenian Foundation, said that the
hospital was established by the Armenians upon the statement of Sultan
Mahmud II 172 years ago, and continued to serve patients since then.
“As the children of this country, we have coexisted in peace for
centuries. Our literature, architecture, humanitarian values, trade,
songs and cuisines have intermingled,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan said that he read statements of hospital’s executive board
chairman and deputy chairman Bedros Sirinoglu, who said that they were
faithful to Turkey and were living in prosperity with their 33
churches and 13 schools. They also asked why they should be minority
in a country of which they were a citizen.
“These statements are explaining not only Turkey but also the Armenian
citizens who are an indispensable part of us. Every artefact in this
museum clearly shows coexistence,” Erdogan stated.
Thanking the Armenian citizens for their contributions to Turkey,
Erdogan said: “Let’s see how the message given here will be reflected
to the world? We will continue developing humanitarian values in the
light of universal criteria. Long live our unity in these
territories’.”