Genocide: The power of a word
As part of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide today, Seth Wright calls out the University of Utah for offering a class that he says is part of the systematic effort to downplay the extermination of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children in the early part of the 20th Century.The Turkish Coalition of America and the University of Utah have announced a class soon to be taught titled, “The Origins of Modern Ethnic Cleansing: Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Emergence of Nation States in the Balkans and Caucasus”. In this class they will be using a text book titled, “The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide”.Calling the death marches, starvation and mass killings of the Armenians is, of course, a sensitive subject to U.S. ally Turkey. President Barack Obama today dodged the issue by using the Armenian term for the killings, "Meds Yeghern" — which translates into English as "The Great Calamity" or "Great Disaster."
Not using the word “genocide” in regards to what the Ottoman Turks did to the Armenians is akin to not using the word “holocaust” when referring to what happened to millions of Jews during World War II.
Genocide deniers like to substitute the words “massacres” or “disappearances”, rather than say “genocide”. How about we stop calling the “Jewish Holocaust”, “Holocaust”? How about we call it, “The Jewish Massacres”?
10 Comments:
Genocide is Genocide. The U needs to recognize it as such and not be influenced by nay-sayers.
It's illegal in several countries to deny the holocaust and yet the Armenian Genocide often gets ignored/softened.
Ridiculous....
I found Seth’s blog and Warchol’s article a siren challenging all revisionists who truckle the historical facts. The power of a word is rooted in the idea it represents. Just look at how the sycophant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad portrays the Jewish holocaust. Revisionism starts with words and turns into ideas that drive behavior. Lets hope the framing of these words and ideas by the University of Utah uphold the truth behind their meaning. Let’s remember that the word “genocide” is racial murder and extermination.
"The Armenian Genocide of 1915 still hurts and haunts us today. It is an open wound for every Armenian and for humanity."
How can we stop ethnic cleansings that are going on in others countries if we still can’t even accept and recognize what had happened to Armenians, while rest of the Europe watch. Chances are that if this Genocide was recognized, it would have prevented the Jewish Holocaust. I believe that by denying Armenian Genocide and letting parties responsible go free, we side ourselves with people who came up with that horrific idea and who made it happen. Recognition of Armenian Genocide after nearly 95 years will become the most effective protest to genocide worldwide.
Armenians had not stopped and will never give up calling out to the world to wake up and call things by their names.
I am Armenian and am a graduate of U. I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed to hear about the allowing a class that attempts to deny the Armenian Genocide. I sincerely hope that whoever made this arrogant mistake will correct it. This class should not be allowed to be taught no matter how powerful the Turkish Coalition is.
As a U student, I can testify to the excellent and very civil, yet frank, discussions of the events of 1915 we have here. I have seen Turks and Armenians here sitting down and calmly presenting different, but well-informed, views to diverse audiences. The U has a right, and an obligation, to provide a free and open forum where various interpretations can be presented. And to be frank, I don't care how we label the events of 1915. I care that we are not ignorant of the fact that it was a tragedy for everyone, not just the Armenians but also the Turks, the Kurds and the Greeks, among others. I care that we inform ourselves and not allow anything like that occur again. I care that academic freedom is protected, and that my (increasingly expensive) university presents many points of view, even if some people are offended. The truth has nothing to fear from scrutiny. This is a bold and controversial move on the U's part, but the right thing nonetheless.
LOL...I bet the last comment is from the professor of the genocide denial class. Let's discuss and debate, with the foundation that genocide as committed. Usin the word makes a tremendous difference- just ask France.
France has committed too many crimes in history for their opinion about this to matter.
Oh really? and the US has not? come on!
"where various interpretations can be presented"?
Sure, discussion and debate is great. Regarding the Armenian genocide issue, however, let's just let history speak for itself. It is very well documented. One needs to conduct a simple Google search to find out the scholarly work that has been produced confirming that the Armenian genocide was in fact a genocide (not to mention the primary sources from non-Armenian individuals in Armenia while it was taking place). This, from an unbiased, neutral body of scholars should be of interest: http://www.genocidewatch.org/TurkishPMIAGSOpenLetterreArmenia6-13-05.htm Let's not mince words and try to "interpret" history in convenient, albeit revisionistic, way.
“The Origins of Modern Ethnic Cleansing: Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Emergence of Nation States in the Balkans and Caucasus”. What a title! At first I thought it sounded like a very informative project and if I was a current student at the University of Utah, I would definitely have considered being involved and learning from it. I’m Armenian and it seems like this class would teach a lot of the history that my grandparents and parents have told me about.
But after further research, I’ve come to realize that this project has several embedded objectives not otherwise known to the general public. According to the University of Utah news center, this class is funded in part by the Turkish Coalition of America. If one visits their website, http://www.historyoftruth.com/news/interviewee-professor-of-utah-university-hakan-yavuz.html, it becomes clear in a matter of minutes that this website promotes anti-Armenian propaganda.
My concern is that, one of the underlying objectives of the project is to promote anti-Armenian propaganda, especially in regards to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, which the Turkish Coalition has blatantly stated no such genocide has ever occurred.
The University of Utah instructor, Hakan Yavuz, which will be leading the project, stated that he “has established an impressive project partnership board composed of recognized experts and leaders in Turkish history and affairs.” The interesting thing about all the names mentioned in the partnership board is that all the individuals within the board have at one time or another strongly expressed their views that the Armenian Genocide never occurred.
I believe this project will be very subjective and I for one feel sorry for the University of Utah’s ignorance on this matter. This project should not be implemented, period.
Call genocide what it is instead of tying it up in liberalist propaganda! Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it!
Post a Comment
<< Home