First International Conference on Armenian Genocide is taking place in Israel (video)
Yesterday, 02 Nov, the first international conference on the topic of the Armenian Genocide kicked off in Israel, Tel Aviv. The conference titled Marking one hundred years to the Armenian genocide, which is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide has been organized and hosted by the Open University of Israel, Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication.
The organizers of the conference are Dr. Yair Auron (Chairman), Dr. Isaac Lubelsky and Dr. Denis Charbit – professors who teach in a course on Genocide Studies at Open University of Israel (the only genocide course in Israel).
At the opening ceremony of the conference the President of the Open University Prof. Jacob (Kobi) Metzer, Dr. Yair Auron and Dr. Isaac Lubelsky made introductory speeches.
They said that the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was an important date for them; they spoke about the fact that Israel does not recognize the Armenian Genocide and emphasized that it is imperative for Israel to officially recognize it.
“It is my dream that Israel recognizes the Armenian Genocide. It won’t come soon but it will come… Almost 30 years I was struggling to have this event and because it is happening today, part of my dream is coming true. We are planning to make this an annual conference from now on”, - said Yair Auron to Panorama.am.
“The aim of the conference was to discuss the Armenian Genocide issue with academics in an open way… Overall the Open University deals with the issue of Genocide very seriously, that’s why this conference is important for us”, - Dr. Lubelsky told Panorama.am.
The conference also showcases exhibition Jewish Voices about the Armenian Genocide, which presents collections from the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.
The opening ceremony was remarkable also because an Israeli choir conducted by Tomer Heiseg (Piano: Noam Ziggon) performed three songs for the audience one of which being famous Armenian song Erebuni Yerevan sung in the Armenian language.
At the end of the first day famous film Ararat about the Armenian Genocide by Atom Egoyan (starring Charles Aznavour) was shown.
The conference will last two more days. The participants include Jewish scholars as well as scholars invited from abroad (among them Turkish scholars as well).
On Wednesday a meeting of conference participants with President of Israel Reuben Rivlin is scheduled.
By Nvard Chalikyan
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