Obama's Broken Promise To Armenians--A Lesson On The Importance Of History

Promises, promises...

Remember back in April when Obama publicly backed away from his promise to Armenians?

President Obama on Monday declined to repeat his claim that the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I was a "genocide," stepping back from his campaign pledge to Armenian Americans that the "widely documented fact" would be fully commemorated during his presidency.

During a joint news conference alongside Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Obama said he did not want to "focus on my views" or in any way interfere with delicate negotiations between Turks and Armenians on what the president called "a whole host of issues."

Obama sidestepped the issue -- a key tension point between Turks and Armenians and a rallying cry among Armenian-Americans -- saying he was trying to be as "encouraging as possible."

A friend tells me that in today's Maqor Rishon, Pazit Ravina has a 2-page article about the Armenian genocide, along with a photo of a "death march" of Armenian prisoners led by Turkish troops.

In the article, an Armenian historian says that Jews should learn from Obama's broken promise to Armenian-American voters that he would call the genocide what it was--to use the actual word "genocide" and support a congressional resolution that would recognize the Armenian genocide.

In the article, Armenians told Ravina that Israel made a strategic mistake not to recognize the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman empire.

History is a very live issue today. Consider how so many attempts are made by the Arabs and other enemies of the Jewish People to rewrite history. It is deplorable that people, even in Israel, are so ignorant about such events as the Armenian genocide, the expulsion of the Greeks from Anatolia in 1922, the Smyrna Affair in 1922 and how the Western powers--together with the former Soviet Union--helped the Turkish forces against their supposed Christian brethren, Greeks and Armenians.

There is a parallel in how Obama treats Jewish history--not that he denies or downplays the Holocaust, but how he re-interprets modern Jewish history and the role of the Holocaust in it. Obama refers to the State of Israel as a purely 20th century phenomenon, describing it as merely a refuge for Jews from the Holocaust and persecution. In an interview last year with Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama said:

I know that that there are those who would argue that in some ways America has become a safe refuge for the Jewish people, but if you’ve gone through the Holocaust, then that does not offer the same sense of confidence and security as the idea that the Jewish people can take care of themselves no matter what happens. That makes it a fundamentally just idea. [emphasis added]

Obama presented the Holocaust as the reason for the existence of the State of Israel--which is exactly how Obama framed the issue again in his Cairo speech:

America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied. [emphasis added]

Now, one could perhaps defend Obama's distortion of Jewish history along the lines of this comment from a reader of The Atlantic, who defends Obama on his broken promise to Armenians:

Most analysts see Obama as capitulating on the Armenian issue due to real-world foreign affairs. I see it differently. If you watch Obama's behavior patterns in the controversial arenas (torture, anyone?), he seems doggedly determined to not let emotionally charged issues (however valid) derail far more important agendas.

In the case of the Armenian genocide, Turkey and Armenia are making real, substantial diplomatic progress on their relationship, and the Turkish prime minister has acknowledged the role of historians in reaching some type of conclusion (however complex). While I realize that Obama does not mind dodging a bullet for now, I also believe that he is even more reticent to inflame passions and risk setbacks while the Turkish and Armenian governments build new bridges. The real question is, "What action (or inaction) at this moment will help us reach the goal (Turkish-Armenian rapprochement) in the shortest timeframe and with enduring results?"

I do not know what affect Obama's broken promise is having on resolving differences between Armenia and Turkey, but when it comes to the talks between Israel and Palestinian Arabs, the Washington Post argues that Growing Rifts, Abbas's Crisis Dim Hope for Talks--

A political crisis for the Palestinian Authority and growing doubts about American mediation have deeply undercut chances that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume in the near future, according to officials and analysts on both sides.

Downplaying Jewish history and rewriting Muslim history have done nothing for the 'peace process'--if anything, prospects are unchanged or worse than during the Bush administration.

Yes, history is a very live issue today: and those who think they do not need to learn from it, or at least recognize it, are sadly mistaken.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Armenian Genocide and Obama.