MKs support Edelstein’s Armenia call

After Knesset Speaker Edelstein urged Israel to “reconsider” its position on the Armenian genocide – essentially calling for recognition of the mass killing as an act of genocide, several MKs voice their support for the move.

Meretz leader Zahava Gal-on says: “I adopt the Knesset speaker’s call and think his words are immensely important, especially coming from the speaker of the Knesset. This issue cuts across political positions; it is not a political but rather a human issue. Regrettably, for too many years this issue was a pawn in the hands of Israeli foreign policy, which chose to sacrifice truth and memory at the altar of interests.”

Last month, MKs Nachman Shai (Zionist Union) and Anat Berko (Likud) represented the Knesset in Armenia during events marking the centennial of the killing.

Shai said in the Knesset today: “At the official ceremony in Armenia they also mentioned the Holocaust. There is no place where people discuss the Armenian genocide that our Holocaust does not get mentioned. There is similarity and there is difference between the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, and we don’t mix the two. What happened in Armenia is genocide; we have come to the conclusion that after 100 years the time has come for humanity to wake up. We returned feeling that we must carry this on and we will do so at every opportunity.”

MK Berko said that “the Armenian tragedy is not like Holocaust of the Jews of Europe and there is no place to compare the conflict between the Armenians and the Turks with the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe. As we stand facing the Armenian historic memory we still feel that the wound is wide open.”