"A Problem From Hell" by Samantha Power

"The United States had never in its history intervened to stop genocide and had in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred," she writes in this impressive book. Debunking the notion that U.S. leaders were unaware of the horrors as they were occurring against Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Iraqi Kurds, Rwandan Tutsis, and Bosnians during the past century, Power discusses how much was known and when, and argues that much human suffering could have been alleviated through a greater effort by the U.S. She does not claim that the U.S. alone could have prevented such horrors, but does make a convincing case that even a modest effort would have had significant impact. Based on declassified information, private papers, and interviews with more than 300 American policymakers, Power makes it clear that a lack of political will was the most significant factor for this failure to intervene. Some courageous U.S. leaders did work to combat and call attention to ethnic cleansing as it occurred, but the vast majority of politicians and diplomats ignored the issue, as did the American public, leading Power to note that "no U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on."

"Beast On The Moon"

I recently saw "Beast On The Moon".  It's currently running in NYC. I really didn't know what to expect I thought it would be really sad.  It was very emotional and sad  yet very funny at the same time. If you are in the New York area make sure to go see it, it;s one of the best plays I have ever seen.

It takes place in 1921  U.S. in Milwaukee. It's about an  Armenian immigrant newlywed couple , Aram and Seta , played by Omar Metwally and Lena Georgas. Both are magnificent, brilliant actors.

Aram is a photographer, whos whole family was killed during the Armenian Genocide who  has just arrived in America to start a new life. Seta is his 15-year-old mail-order bride. She also survived the genocide and has no family.  Aram, is a macho  traditionalist, he very much wants to have a family to replace his own that was murdered. He keeps a photo in their dining room of his whole family that was killed with their heads cut out to remember what happened.  Seta, to Aram's bitter disappointment, is  very naive and childish. There are so many funny parts in the play where Seta is being childish and Aram is being fed up with his macho attitude.

Throughout the play Aram remains cold and distant to Seta, hardly ever talking ot showing emotion to her. He refuses to talk about what happened to his family and the genocide. He is emotionally tortured by what happened to his family so he is very withdrawn.

Seta does everything she can to get him to open up to her and share his emotions, he never does. So Seta withdraws from him and Aram practically begs to win her back, which is very funny.

In the second act, a tough little orphan boy, befriended by Seta, enters their lives, the boy brings Aram and Seta closer together.

Aram thought he would be able to forget about the genocide and start a new life and family in America. As hard as he tries, he is emotionally tortured by what happened. He can't forget and struggles trying to. I think most people who go through a terrible tragedy like that try to forget but never can.

The play has recieved  worldwide acclaim. This is the first time its run in New York.

Beast On The Moon Website Click Here

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Ancient Medieval Armenian Cemetery/Momnuments destroyed by Azerbaijani soldiers

Azerbaijani soldiers are destroying Christian monuments in Old Jougha ( at the Azerbaijani-Iranian border ) .On December 14, 2005, an Armenian film crew on the Nakhichevan border documented the systematic destruction of the historic Armenian cemetery and stone crosses. The video  reveals the attempt of the Azerbaijani government to erase every trace of the Armenian memory in Nakhichevan, a historic Armenian region that was annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan by Russian dictator J. Stalin’s order

“Almost 100 Azerbaijani servicemen penetrated the Armenian cemetery near Nakhichevan at the bank of the Araks [Aras] River and using sledgehammers and other tools, began to crush Armenian graves and crosses, that were saved by a miracle in the attacks of 2002,” the Armenian prelacy told Regnum, a Russian news agency.

Old Jougha was a famous Armenian cemetery with hundreds of years old stone-crosses ( khachkars ). The cemetery included tens of thousands of stone-crosses, each of them a unique architectural monument. A few years ago the Azerbaijani government destroyed most of the Armenian monuments of Old Jougha, but stopped the vandalism after UNESCO’s protest. As of now, no international organization has protested the recent vandalism.

Click Here to watch the 12 minute clip of the destruction

Click here to send a an email/fax to Secretary Rice to stop this

THE NEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DOCUMENTARY by Andrew Goldberg aired April 17th in the US. You can watch it right here. If the film does not play below  CLICK HERE

SYSTEM OF A DOWN TO LAUNCH THREE-DAY WASHINGTON, DC CAMPAIGN FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Band Members to Join Rally at Turkish Embassy; Screen New Genocide Documentary; Meet with Media and Key Congressional Officials on Pending Armenian Genocide Legislation

Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan of the Grammy Award-winning band System of a Down will travel to Washington, DC on April 24th for a three-day campaign to urge Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and other Congressional leaders to end their complicity in Turkey's ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide.

On the evening of Monday, April 24th - starting at 5:00pm - the multi-Platinum-selling group members will join with the Armenian National Committee of America and Armenian Youth Federation in leading a grassroots demonstration outside the gates of the Turkish Embassy at 2525 Massachusetts Ave, in Northwest Washington, DC. The Turkish government, through its Embassy in Washington, spends millions of dollars each year to bully, threaten, and blackmail the U.S. government not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The band members will devote Tuesday, April 25th to providing interviews to the political media in Washington, and, in the evening, hosting a Congressional screening of "Screamers," a new documentary by filmmaker Carla Garapedian about the band's worldwide campaign for Armenian Genocide recognition.

System of a Down's John Dolmayan performing performing at the 9:30 Club in DC. Photo Credit: Arsineh KhachikianOn Wednesday April 26th, System will meet with key Members of Congress to urge them to allow a vote on legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and - at 5:30pm - will participate in the annual Capitol Hill commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. This event, now in its 11th year, is regularly attended by over 30 Members of Congress, diplomats, ethnic community leaders, human rights activists, genocide prevention advocates, and Armenian Americans from across the country.

Beginning on April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began a centrally planned and systematically executed campaign to annihilate the Armenian people from their ancient homeland. By 1923 over 1.5 million Armenians were killed and hundreds of thousands deported, in what constituted the first genocide of the 20th century. Congressional legislation recognizing this crime (H.Res.316 / H.Con.Res.195 / S.Res.320) has broad bipartisan support, but has been blocked from coming to a vote by Congressional leaders, despite the fact that, five years ago, U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert promised to allow Members to vote on this human rights measure.

In September of last year, Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan from the band traveled to the Speaker's hometown of Batavia, Illinois to lead a rally urging him to allow a vote on the Armenian Genocide legislation. During the rally, Tankian delivered a personal and powerfully worded message calling on the Speaker to do the right thing, and stressing that "historical truths should never be denied in a democracy - especially one with such a proud heritage of freedom."

Speaker Hastert has it in his power to accomplish one of System's goals - official U.S. recognition of Turkey's destruction of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. By allowing Congress to vote on this legislation, Speaker Hastert can end U.S. denial of this crime and open the doors to justice - to the restoration, reparation, and restitution owed to the victims of genocide. By continuing to block a vote on this legislation, Hastert effectively joins in the denial of this crime against humanity, and the denial of justice to an entire nation.

The members of System of a Down, Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian, who are of Armenian descent, all personally lost family members and family history to the Armenian Genocide. "Because so much of my family history was lost in the Armenian Genocide," said Malakian, "my grandfather, who was very young at the time, doesn't know his true age. How many people can say they don't know how old they are?" Tankian, Dolmayan and Odadjian all identify their grandparents' memories as the only links they have to their respective family heritages, as most of their families were obliterated during the Armenian Genocide.

"It's important for people to be aware of the Armenian Genocide," explained Tankian, "and that those actions continue to be covered up by the Turkish government, the U.S. State Department, Turkey's allies in the defense and oil industries, and by our present U.S. Administration. Had the Armenian Genocide been acknowledged as a Crime Against Humanity as it was, Hitler might not have thought he could get away with the Jewish Holocaust. History does and will repeat itself, unless we stop that cycle."

More Info: http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=930

April 24th 2006 marks the 91st Anniversary of Armenian Genocide. There are events going on worldwide that you can participate in. To find events in your area, please visit- GenocideEvents

To find graphics and posters to spread the word and post on your web page, etc.

Go here- GenocidePosters

Watch this historical documentary Peter Jennings did on the Armenian Genocide

"The Armenian Genocide" Produced by Peter Jennings for ABC World News (1999)

For more Information on the film CLICK HERE