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Robert Fisk: Israel can no longer ignore existence of first Holocaust
Monday, 1 February 2010
While Israelis commemorated the second Holocaust of the 20th century this week, I was reading the records of the victims of the century's first Holocaust.
It was a strange sensation. The Armenians were not participating in Israel's official ceremonies to remember the six million Jewish dead, murdered by the Germans between 1939 and 1945, perhaps because Israel officially refuses to acknowledge that Armenia's million and a half dead of 1915-1923 were victims of a Turkish Holocaust.
Israeli-Turkish diplomatic and military relations are more important than genocide. Or were. George Hintlian, historian and prominent member of Jerusalem's 2,000-strong Armenian community in Jerusalem, pointed out the posters a few metres from the 1,500-year old Armenian monastery. They advertised Armenia's April 24 commemorations. All but one had been defaced, torn from the ancient walls or, in at least one case, spraypainted with graffiti in Hebrew.
“Maybe they don't like it that there was another genocide,” George told me. “These are things we can't explain.” More than 70 members of George's family were murdered in the butchery and death marches of 1915 — when German officers witnessed the system of executions, rail-car deportations to cholera camps and asphyxiation by smoke in caves — the world's first “gas” chambers.
One witness, the German vice-consul in Erzurum, Max von Scheubner-Richter, ended up as one of Hitler's closest friends and advisers. It's not as if there's no connection between the first and second Holocausts.
But the times, they are a-changing. For ever since Turkey began shouting about Israel's slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza a year ago, prominent Israeli figures have suddenly rediscovered the Armenian genocide. Who are the Turks to talk about mass murder?
For George and his compatriots — there are in all 10,000 Armenians in Israel and the occupied West Bank, 4,000 of them holding Israeli passports — they had indeed been forgotten until the Gaza war. “In 1982, the Armenians were left out of a Holocaust conference in Jerusalem,” he said. “For three decades, no documentary on the Armenian genocide could be shown on Israeli television because it would offend the Turks. Then suddenly last year, important Israelis demanded that a documentary be shown. We always had Yossi Sarid of Peace Now but now we've got right-wing Israelis.”
The Israeli press now calls the Armenian genocide a “Shoah” — the same word all Israelis use for the Jewish Holocaust. As George put it with withering accuracy: “We have been upgraded!!!”
Yet the most extraordinary irony of all occurred when the Armenian and Turkish governments last year agreed to reopen diplomatic relations and consign the Armenian Holocaust to a joint academic enquiry which would decide “if” there had been a genocide. As Israeli Professor Yair Oron of the Open University of Israel said: “I am afraid that countries will now hesitate to recognise the (Armenian) genocide. They will say: ‘Why should we grant recognition if the Armenians yielded?' Recognition of the Armenian genocide is a paramount moral and educational act. We in Israel are obliged to recognise it.” And American-Armenian UCLA Professor Richard Hovannisian asked: “Would the Jewish people be willing to forgo the memory of the Holocaust for the sake of good relations with Germany, if Germany were to make that demand?”
And glory be, if the tables haven't changed again! Turkey and Israel have made up and become good friends again. Yossi Sarid anticipated this. “Let us assume that Turkey will renew its ties with Israel. What then? Will we also renew our contribution to the denial of the Armenian Holocaust?”
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Mr. Fisk's honesty and courage are admirable.His article is a strong apeal to the leaders of the world who should recognize the Armenian genocide before military and finanacial interests.
CONGRATULATIONS MR. FISK
Posted by Krikor | 22.02.10, 00:31 GMT
To Jon: a small-minded, puerile little comment that rings very hollow, as there is little truth in it.
You see Jon, the Irish don't have a guilty conscience because, well, they have done nothing wrong.
For your information Jon, son, I revel in the fact that a large proportion of the world despise the British, while having great affection for the Irish.
In your heart of hearts you know you are wrong, but, due to your education, family upbringing, peers, etc, etc, you have been told differently.
Nothing lasts forever and, at the end of the day, everyone gets what they deserve. The Irish have waited a long time, they'll wait a little bit longer.
Now, go and have a long, hard look in the mirror, son.
Posted by Simply Boring | 21.02.10, 13:25 GMT
Paul - having read up extensively on the "Famine" I would agree with you; during the period in question there was a potato failure in Ireland, not a famine, as most other crops grown on the island flourished and were exported. However the potato was the staple food to the peasants and ordinary people of the land and as they were denied the other crops grown on Irish soil millions were deliberately starved out of existence. I think a better description of the mythical "famine" would be "constructive genocide."
Posted by Gerry | 16.02.10, 12:30 GMT
Paul you talk about the Irish famine as a British genocide , you are deluded.
The poor Irish people who lived and worked on the land were abandoned and refused help by their richer Irish neighbours.
Poor Irish men and women were turned away from the doors of richer citizens.
The Irish Famine was a terrible thing but lets not be historicall revisonists.
Posted by Steve | 13.02.10, 02:13 GMT
Jon, your just about wrong with every point and comparison you make. You obviously have no understanding or knowledge of Irish History past or present.
A famine by definition suggests that there isn't any food in a country. ]This was not the case in Ireland and anyone who has read any books about the period will readily agree that this was indeed the case.
Food grown on Irish soil was exported from all the Irish Ports.
This was Genocide of a peasant population by their masters who wanted them off the land so that they could take control of it.
Now what part of that don't you understand.
As for Ireland today - you are 100% wrong again.
Ireland is one of if not the largest giver of aid (per head of it's population) to the World's Poorest countries.
Next time you want to mouth off, do a bit of reading first Jon Loony Jon.
Posted by Paul | 12.02.10, 20:49 GMT
Robert Fisk. Resident of Lebanon humm Talk about stuck in a groove if there is a anti Israel stone that he has not turned, please let him know.
He might of asked why the Eu does not call the Turkish Armenian Genocide, a Holocaust. Or indeed why the Muslim council of Britain claims its non attendance of Holocaust memorial day is justified. As British Jewery does not recognise The Holocaust they claim for the Palestinians
Posted by lee balch | 09.02.10, 18:55 GMT
Paul - you're a loony bin. The famine was the famine. Yes, the Brits didn't cover themselves in glory, but they used the same economic/racist arguments that the West uses today to justify the state africa is currently in. Who makes your Nike trainers? Some nine year old orphan who works 12 hours a day in India? There are starving millions all over the world right now and guess what? The rich Ireland of the 21st Century does practically nothing to help the impoverished third world - which is only a few hours flight away. For the greedy English landlords of the 19th Century, read the greedy Irish consumers of the 21st Century.
Posted by Jon | 09.02.10, 11:11 GMT
Sorry to upset you Bob, but your memory isn't as good as you think. The Armenian Holocaust was not the first and was a long time after one which happened here in Ireland. Pre 1850 Ireland which had a population of 8 million people, were purposefully starved either to death or forced to emigrate on coffin ships to a foreign land. Barely 4 million survived to live a life of slavery to their British masters. At least 2 million died while ship loads of food were exported out of Ireland and local British Agents would send back reports to their British Masters detailing the amount of grain etc produced and the numbers of starving people in their area.
But of course good old Britain created a new name for Genocide, and even the Irish fell for it - they renamed it The Famine - surprise, surprise.
Posted by Paul | 06.02.10, 23:52 GMT
1st holocaust? That would be the systematic extermination of Indigenous peoples of north and south America. Tens of millions and that's a low ball estimation. These others just don't compare, tragic and vulgar but small potatoes in comparison. No monument for them that I know of. The National museum in DC doesn't even address the issue. Doesn't fit their positive image they want to convey. Same ol' same ol', sympathize with Europeans but forget about the worlds first nations. All to tragically typical. Nice article tho.
Posted by Jafo | 06.02.10, 20:45 GMT
I was taught as a youngster that the Turks committed 'atrocities' against the Armenians.
Truth is truth: always was, and always will be.
It is odd that Israelis are shy about their history as terrorists in the ME.
For example, the bombing of the 'King David Hotel' and other atrocities.
The US has the same problem with truth, and cannot decide whether drowning to almost the point of death is torture or not. They have decided that if they do it to you, it is not torture. But, if you do it to them, it is torture.
Posted by Ronnie Bray | 05.02.10, 20:49 GMT
Try though he may, Mr. Fisk can't escape the fact that Israeli opposition to the "genocide" label for the 1915 events isn't based on "diplomatic and military relations" as he asserts. Armenian insistence on the Genocide label generally ignores or diminishes the very serious provocation in the hour of peril. Armenian Revolutionary activity in the years leading up to 1915 involved many instances of brutal killings of non-Armenian Moslem Turkish civilians.
Posted by AlertAmerican | 02.02.10, 03:05 GMT
It is understandable perhaps that Israel overlooks the Armenian Holocaust as the memory of their own Holocaust still lingers in the memory. However, I feel that most countries also ignore the Armenian genocide - certainly neither Ireland nor the UK teach anything about it in schools, so perhaps Mr Fisk might like to stop making thinly veiled attacks against Israel and turn his attention closer to home? His attempts to belittle Jewish suffering become increasingly tiresome the more his columns feature in this newspaper. There is much to justifyably criticise Israel for - commemorating the Holocaust is not one.
Posted by Steve | 01.02.10, 18:28 GMT
Well done, Bob, you're clear enough here. I now know why the Armenian holocaust committed by the Turks is another reason to bash Israel.
Please can we have next your take on Israel's culpability on the Mrs Robinson affair, after all Simon and Garfunkel are hardly Ulster Scotch.
Posted by Av | 01.02.10, 10:43 GMT
There was a far bigger event in between. The near 20,000,000 Ukrainians murdered by the Bolsheviks, directly and by starvation. There are no edifices built to remember them.
Posted by Ram | 01.02.10, 00:20 GMT