When Netanyahu Remembers the “Armenian Holocaust”
Israeli has not only participated in denying the Armenian Genocide of the past, but also taken an active part of the ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. The spat between Israel and Turkey is taking place as the Israeli army is accused of committing war crimes and crimes of genocide, in its war in Gaza.
It was on March 9 when the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu published the following on his microblog account that can be translated as: “Israel, which adheres to the laws of war, will not receive moral preaching from Erdogan, who supports murderers and rapists of the terrorist organization Hamas, denies the Armenian Holocaust, massacres Kurds in his own country”.
The Israeli Prime Minister was reacting to an earlier speech in which the Turkish leader compared him to Stalin and Hitler. Erdogan accused Netanyahu of committing outright Genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza.
The curious part in Netanyahu’s tweet was his reference to the “Armenian Holocaust”. A similar tweet came from Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz on January 12, 2024: “The President of Turkey @RTErdogan, from a country with the Armenian Genocide in its past, now boasts of targeting Israel with unfounded claims. We remember the Armenians, the Kurds. Your history speaks for itself…”
The curiosity is that Israel itself has not recognized the Armenian Genocide as such. Israeli political establishment for decades fought against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, for two reasons: to preserve the exceptionalism of the Holocaust of European Jews during the Second World War by Nazi Germany, but also because of the age-long strategic alliance with Turkey.
Historian Yair Auron, in his book The Banality of Denial, Israel and the Armenian Genocide, explains this Israeli official very well, when he writes: “Over the years I have been troubled by a sense of oppressive discomfort and criticism of the evasive behaviour, verging on denial, of various governments of Israel regarding the memory of the Armenian Genocide”.
Israel is not only a genocide denialist government when it comes to the Genocide of the Armenians. It is also an active participant today in the recent wars Azerbaijan launched with the help of Turkey, against Armenia and Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Israel has actively armed Azerbaijan with high-tech weapons, enabling Azerbaijan in 2020 to breach the defences of Nagorno-Karabakh. Just before the Azerbaijani “final solution” of Nagorno Karabakh in September 2023 92 cargo flights carried arms and ammunitions from Israeli military bases to Azerbaijan. And in July 2023, two months before the assault, Yoav Gallant – Israeli defence minister was in Azerbaijan, praising the military collaborations between the two countries.
Israeli has not only participated in denying the Armenian Genocide of the past, but also taken an active part of the ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh.
The spat between Israel and Turkey is taking place as the Israeli army is accused of committing war crimes and crimes of genocide, in its war in Gaza. Israel- a once country built by survivors of the Holocaust, is today accused by South Africa in front of the UN’s International Court of Justice of committing “genocide” in Gaza. Israel is accused of not adhering to the “laws of war” contrary to what Netanyahu claims.
Then, what is Netanyahu saying when he remembers the “Armenian Holocaust”?
There are two ways to remember atrocities of the past: one way is to stop crimes in the future from happening. The slogan “Never Again!” is a first step to build a civilised order after war crimes and mass destruction.
But Netanyahu does not adhere to this. He adheres to a different slogan: “Never Again to us!” The memory of past atrocities justifies any crimes Israeli leaders decide to commit. Past crimes against humanity, past genocides are remembered to justify future crimes, not to stop them from happening.
When Netanyahu talks to Erdogan, he is taking power to power. He is saying: don’t interfere in my massacres against the Palestinians, as I do not interfere in your Armenian Genocide, Kurdish massacres, and help in ethnic cleansing of Karabakh Armenians!
On April 24 we will commemorate the 109th year of the Armenian Genocide. What was the lessons that we learned from the first modern Genocide?
The Israeli Prime Minister was reacting to an earlier speech in which the Turkish leader compared him to Stalin and Hitler. Erdogan accused Netanyahu of committing outright Genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza.
The curious part in Netanyahu’s tweet was his reference to the “Armenian Holocaust”. A similar tweet came from Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz on January 12, 2024: “The President of Turkey @RTErdogan, from a country with the Armenian Genocide in its past, now boasts of targeting Israel with unfounded claims. We remember the Armenians, the Kurds. Your history speaks for itself…”
The curiosity is that Israel itself has not recognized the Armenian Genocide as such. Israeli political establishment for decades fought against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, for two reasons: to preserve the exceptionalism of the Holocaust of European Jews during the Second World War by Nazi Germany, but also because of the age-long strategic alliance with Turkey.
Historian Yair Auron, in his book The Banality of Denial, Israel and the Armenian Genocide, explains this Israeli official very well, when he writes: “Over the years I have been troubled by a sense of oppressive discomfort and criticism of the evasive behaviour, verging on denial, of various governments of Israel regarding the memory of the Armenian Genocide”.
Israel is not only a genocide denialist government when it comes to the Genocide of the Armenians. It is also an active participant today in the recent wars Azerbaijan launched with the help of Turkey, against Armenia and Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Israel has actively armed Azerbaijan with high-tech weapons, enabling Azerbaijan in 2020 to breach the defences of Nagorno-Karabakh. Just before the Azerbaijani “final solution” of Nagorno Karabakh in September 2023 92 cargo flights carried arms and ammunitions from Israeli military bases to Azerbaijan. And in July 2023, two months before the assault, Yoav Gallant – Israeli defence minister was in Azerbaijan, praising the military collaborations between the two countries.
Israeli has not only participated in denying the Armenian Genocide of the past, but also taken an active part of the ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh.
The spat between Israel and Turkey is taking place as the Israeli army is accused of committing war crimes and crimes of genocide, in its war in Gaza. Israel- a once country built by survivors of the Holocaust, is today accused by South Africa in front of the UN’s International Court of Justice of committing “genocide” in Gaza. Israel is accused of not adhering to the “laws of war” contrary to what Netanyahu claims.
Then, what is Netanyahu saying when he remembers the “Armenian Holocaust”?
There are two ways to remember atrocities of the past: one way is to stop crimes in the future from happening. The slogan “Never Again!” is a first step to build a civilised order after war crimes and mass destruction.
But Netanyahu does not adhere to this. He adheres to a different slogan: “Never Again to us!” The memory of past atrocities justifies any crimes Israeli leaders decide to commit. Past crimes against humanity, past genocides are remembered to justify future crimes, not to stop them from happening.
When Netanyahu talks to Erdogan, he is taking power to power. He is saying: don’t interfere in my massacres against the Palestinians, as I do not interfere in your Armenian Genocide, Kurdish massacres, and help in ethnic cleansing of Karabakh Armenians!
On April 24 we will commemorate the 109th year of the Armenian Genocide. What was the lessons that we learned from the first modern Genocide?
