During the years 1991-1994 a full scale war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The ceasefire that was signed in 1994 left 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory under Armenia’s illegal occupation and over 800,000 Azerbaijanis displaced, but provided two decades of relative peace between the two countries. That ‘peace’ has significantly deteriorated due to the fact that Armenia has increased its efforts to cement the status quo and occupy the Azerbaijani territories permanently, but without allowing the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, forcibly displaced to return to their ancestral lands. A four-day conflict escalation, in April 2016, became the deadliest ceasefire violation until the current 2020 crisis.
After illegally occupying 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory, after refusing to obey four United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, demanding of Armenia to evacuate the land it is illegally occupying, after refusing, for almost 3 decades, to arrive at a negotiated agreement with Azerbaijan, in regards to the land it is illegally occupying, Armenia decided to embark on a new adventure, attacking Azerbaijan again, on September 27, 2020.
However, from my perspective, I think that Armenia miscalculated this adventurous action and the fighting is fierce and lives are being lost on both sides.
While in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijani military is advancing to liberate its own land, Armenian expats, in the United States and Europe, are busy convincing the public that their homeland, which they left behind, is a victim of Azerbaijan’s aggression.
The large Armenian expat community in the United States has been protesting the escalation of war Armenia initiated. On display, to the extent of violence, Armenian expat protesters have also been exposing their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments.
In one of the signs, held by Armenian expats during a protest against Israel that took place in front of the Israel Consulate General offices in Los Angeles, on October 19, 2020, the transgression was brighter than ever.
As a Jew, I am compelled to break down the sign’s claim.
“By providing weapons to Azerbaijan, Israel is complicit in war crimes and genocide against Armenians and the ‘Republic of Artsakh’. You are not any better than the Nazi Germany.”
Indeed Israel sells some arms to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan purchases certain military equipment from Israel, as it does from other countries, in order to maintain a strong army that is able to defend the country. This is what countries do, they trade in services and goods. I guess the Armenian expats should also inaccurately complain about Britain that has approved exports for military equipment and ammunition to both Armenia and Azerbaijan in the past year. Will the Armenian expats call Britain Nazi too?
By comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, the Armenian protesters have brazenly cheapened the outcome of World War II and the 65 million people who died in that war. More so, they have denigrated the memory of 6 million Jews, among them my parental and maternal grandparents and a long line of family members, all who were slaughtered by the Nazis as well as were left to die a horrific death in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.
This protest was staged against Israel by the Armenian Youth Federation – the radical Armenian Dashnak Party (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) youth wing – founded by Armenian Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh, based on his “race worship” theory “Tesaghkronism.” The Armenian National Committee of America, the major Armenian lobby organization in the U.S., is the lobbyist arm of Armenian-Dashnak movement, formerly pro-Nazi, meaning they are Holocaust supporters.
Armenia continues to openly glorify Nzhdeh as a “national hero while dismissing his crimes.” In 2016, the government of Armenia unveiled a grand statue of this Nazi collaborator in the center of the country’s capital city of Yerevan. A square and a metro station in Yerevan are also named after the Dashnak founder, and Armenian children are taught his “legacy” in school curricula.
Additionally, the Armenian protesters in front of the Israeli Consulate offices were lying. There is no genocide – the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group – in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Since this conflict escalation started, on September 27, 2020, the number of Armenian civilians killed amount to 40 while on the Azerbaijani side, 63 civilians lost their life.
I am sad to see the loss of life on both sides. My question to Armenia is, did you not take into account that escalating the conflict is deleterious? Did you not calculate the possible loss of lives when you fired first at Azerbaijani areas?
As for the “Republic of Artsakh,” it is not recognized by any country in the world. Renaming the Nagorno-Karabakh area, an Azerbaijani region Armenia illegally occupies, does not make it a state, a country, a republic. It does not give it the legal seal of approval.
The Armenian flag has been on display in Los Angeles where a large Armenian expat community resides. The Armenia flag has been seen on cars driving by, during protests and even during some of President Trump’s reelection rallies in other states. I understand the heartfelt support for the homeland which the Armenian expats left behind. Nevertheless, that support has turned excessively violent on several occasions.
In July, the Armenians protested in front of Azerbaijan’s Consulate General office, in Los Angeles. The protest turned violent, resulting in sending several peaceful Azerbaijani counter-protesters to the hospital, after the Armenians pugnaciously attacked them. The case is now being investigated as a hate crime by the Los Angeles Police Department.
In Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, California, pro-Armenia hooligans vandalized an Azerbaijani local community building with hateful graffiti. Such graffiti script reminds me, myself, a Jew, how anti-Semites vandalize Jewish houses of worship with similar expletives.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan will not be resolved with the outrageous behavior of Armenian expats, protesting miles away from the battlefield. It will be resolved only by Armenia conforming to the four UNSC resolutions demanding that Armenia withdraw its troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied territory. Or, Azerbaijan’s military will continue to advance, liberating one Azerbaijani village after another that has been illegally occupied by Armenia for three long decades, until the entire occupied territory is finally liberated and returned to its owners: the displaced Azerbaijani refugees.
Only then, hopefully, Armenia will be compelled to behave according to international law and come to the table to negotiate a sincere peace with its neighbor, Azerbaijan.
