An Excerpt:
"Even though ties between Israel and Turkey are the determining factor in decision-making in the Jewish community, there is also some weight to the matter of definition. The American term proposed in the resolution refers to "genocide" of the Armenians, while the Nazis' acts against the Jews during World War II are defined as "Holocaust." The distinction does indeed exist, but according to many Jewish activists, there are some who feel discomfort over the mention of the Armenian genocide alongside the Jewish Holocaust, for fear of cheapening the concept of a holocaust.". Imagine that! Haaretz International Thu., August 12, 2004 Av 25, 5764 Armenian lobbyists are facing a lost cause By Nathan Guttman Activists again failed to obtain U.S. congressional recognition of the Armenian genocide. The obstacles they face include America's ties with Turkey and the Jewish lobby. WASHINGTON - For a moment it seemed to Armenian activists in the U.S. that they had made progress toward obtaining U.S. congressional recognition of the massacre perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenian people 98 years ago. U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, succeeded on July 15 in getting approval from the House of Representatives for an amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which would bar Turkey from using the annual American aid it receives to hire political lobbyists in Washington to lobby against the decision recognizing the Armenian genocide. Ostensibly, a marginal amendment and not terribly important, but in the eyes of supporters of the Armenian cause in the U.S., even approval of a minor amendment is considered an achievement. The battle to gain recognition of the Armenian genocide by the U.S. Congress is transformed annually into a fight between the small group of Armenian supporters in Congress and the rest of the world - the Turkish representatives and the lobbyists working on their behalf, the administration, the supports of the administration in Congress, and also several of the large Jewish organizations. When the U.S. tries to maintain good relations with Turkey, the price is paid by those who want to see the American Congress include the Armenian genocide in the decision denouncing such actions, Resolution 193, which also recognizes the Armenian genocide as such, approval of which has been delayed. The minor achievement in Congress, which is now referred to as the Schiff Amendment, did not last long. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives - Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - issued an especially sharply worded statement the day after the amendment was approved, in which they made it clear that the amendment was unacceptable to them and that they would seek to annul it when the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill came before the conference committee that attempts to bridge the gap between the Senate and House of Representatives positions, before a bill is sent to the president for his signature. When the House leadership mobilizes to kill a bill, chances are the effort will be successful and therefore it seems that despite the Schiff Amendment, no one will deduct from U.S. aid to Turkey the sums it uses to finance activities against the resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide. `The resolution is dead': http://www.noplacefordenial.com/2007/08/haaretz-international-thu.html Recommended Resources <http://www.kpfk.org/> http://www.kpfk.org/ <http://www.commondreams.org/> http://www.commondreams.org/ Ara [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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