Armen Sarkissian: Israel will not win the battle against antisemitism  until it recognizes the Armenian Genocide

ArmInfo. Israel will not win the battle against antisemitism until it recognizes the Armenian Genocide, Armenia's President Armen Sarkissian told The Jerusalem  Post.

Sarkissian said that most of the Armenian population does not  understand the logic behind Israel's refusal to officially recognize  the mass killing of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and  children by the Ottoman government between 1915 and 1917.

The Armenian Genocide is recognized by more than 30 countries,  including the United States as of October 2019, but Israel has  resisted formally naming the genocide for what it is.

"A lot of Armenians ask, 'Why on earth would Israel, a country whose  people have seen their own huge tragedy, not recognize the Armenian  Genocide?'" Sarkissian said. "There is no logical answer. I cannot  say that Israel has relations with Turkey and that is why - I cannot  say that." But he acknowledged that Israel-Turkey relations, which  were formalized in March 1949, are likely the catalyst for Israeli  silence.

He said that recognizing human tragedy is a matter of morality more  than anything else, and he can only hope that one day Israel will  recognize the genocide and that "human values, moral values and the  importance of history will prevail. Recognition will not be connected  with this or that interest of the State of Israel or something else  that is important only in the moment."

But he also believes that Israel's failure to commiserate with  Armenia over their comparable tragedies - the Holocaust and the  Armenian Genocide - is harming Israel and the Jewish people's efforts  to combat an ever-expanding epidemic of antisemitism.

Sarkissian believes that Turkey has not recognized the genocide  because it would be "inconvenient: millions of people lost their  lives; a culture was destroyed; and Turkey is probably afraid of  claims - material and moral claims.

"Maybe they are afraid because for years they didn't tell the truth  to their children and grandchildren in their schools," he continued.

"It does not matter to me personally whether this country or that  country will or will not recognize [the genocide]. It will not change  my life or the lives of the millions of Armenians who lost their  homes and are scattered all over the world in the Armenian diaspora.  But it is going to backfire."

He said that a country's recognition of the genocide or not will  decide if that country is able to build for itself a tolerant  society.  A country that does not recognize the genocide, he said, is  a country that will ultimately lack tolerance for other people's  religion, nationality, faith and culture.

"The biggest disease of humanity today is not a virus in Hong Kong,"  Sarkissian said. "It is not AIDS or cancer. With new technologies we  are learning more and more how to fight cancer and defeat viruses.  But technology will not teach us how to cure the disease of  inhumanity.

"No medicine can be taken with water to help you become more human,  more tolerant - this is much more problematic," he explained.  And he  said that only in the moment that Israel recognizes the genocide will  it truly be able to move into its rightful role as the worldwide  leader in the fight against antisemitism and extremism.

 "It will make Israel's case much stronger when it partners with  Armenia, Rwanda, Cambodia," Sarkissian stressed. "Then, we can come  together and say, 'This is enough.' If we don't do that and everyone  plays the game on their own, we are going to lose the battle."

Sarkissian said that he attended the World Holocaust Forum because he  does not think "it would have been right for any Armenian to connect  the remembrance of the Holocaust tragedy" with whether the Israeli  parliament recognizes the Armenian Genocide or not.

"There is no way that, as president of Armenia, I would ever consider  not being here," he said.