Politicians’ statements and community commemoration of the Armenian genocide were the subjects of articles under the Paperweight last week.
The Armenian diaspora waited in suspense through the week to discover whether President Barack Obama would honor his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide as President of the United States. In this April 23 Armenian Weekly interview, scholar Dr. Dennis Papazian believed he would.
On April 24, the same newsite published Obama’s statement on “Armenian Remembrance Day” which avoided the word genocide and also published “Why Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Matters”. The ANC expressed “sharp disappointment” at Obama’s language.
The Hill Blog reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) used ‘genocide’ in her April 24 statement, “unlike Obama.” Seta’s Armenian Blog has the video link to Pelosi’s statement along with a published report. The TimeTurk English language site also published excerpts of Pelosi’s statement, strangely alongside a photo of Hillary Clinton.
Local Congressman Adam Schiff, sponsor of this year’s Congressional Genocide Resolution, received a standing ovation at the Alex Theatre Genocide Commemoration Friday. He told the audience he was disappointed in President Obama’s statement. Schiff’s comments and those of Assemblyman Paul Krekorian and Glendale Councilmember Ara Najarian, were reported in the weekend edition of the Glendale News Press.
California Governor Arnold Schwarznegger’s official proclamation of April 19-26, 2009, as “Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide” was also published verbatim on a Turkish news site.
The Glendale News Press reported on Assemblyman Paul Krekorian’s proposed new bill requiring California-based companies to certify that they do not “wrongfully hold” assets that belonged to victims of genocide.
Krekorian led the California Assembly in a tribute recognizing the 94th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on Thursday, April 23. The Assembly convened with an invocation from Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, then voted on Assembly Joint Resolution 14 designating April 24, 2009, as a “California Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.”
“Like so many of my brethren, I have been personally touched by the horrific events that befell our ancestors nearly a century ago,” Assistant Majority Leader Krekorian said. “As a member of the Assembly, it is not only my job, but my personal responsibility to shine a light on those events. But we, as Americans, also need to reflect on other atrocious acts – from Rwanda to Darfur and beyond – that have stricken the globe.”
On April 22, the rotunda in the state capitol featured photographs, videos and interactive exhibits from acclaimed artists focusing on the Armenian genocide. That night, Krekorian hosted a screening of “Screamers” – which follows the rock band System of a Down as they tour Europe and the U.S. pointing out the horror of genocide.
Finally, at the local level, Sunroom Desk will review Glendale’s April 2009 program of commemoration in the next post. Other notable local links: a youtube video of the march to the Turkish consulate, an LA Times report on the march, and a Wall Street Journal article on Glendale’s Armenian community and local genocide commemorations that strangely starts with a report and photo from Montebello instead and listed our Congressional representative as “John Schiff” (in the print edition – the error has been corrected in the online edition seen in the link).