24-04-1915-24.04.2015
100th anniversary of Armenian genocide
· Musician Sebu Simonian appeared at El Camino High School in South San Francisco on Tuesday.
Musician Sebu Simonian appeared at El Camino High School in South San Francisco on Tuesday morning, performing solo renditions of his hit songs during an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
Every Armenian child grows up learning their people endured genocide, said Simonian, who is an Armenian-American and a member of the indie pop duo Capital Cities.
The mass killing of roughly 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire) began in April 1915, and is memorialized by Armenians worldwide on April 24. The government of Turkey, however, has not officially recognize the killings as acts of genocide.
Simonian noted that the U.S. government also does not officially recognize the Armenian genocide, but he praised the students and staff of the San Mateo County school for doing so much to shed light on the issue.
“It’s good that schools like this are taking steps to educate people,” Simonian said. “We need to make up for the fact that the Armenian genocide is not in textbooks as much as it should be.”
Simonian said he agreed to perform the mini-concert when the event’s organizer, teacher Sevana Panosian, reached out to him. Panosian, who is also Armenian-American, spearheaded an effort to incorporate lessons about the genocide into the school’s curricula.
A training program on racism had already been in place at El Camino. It was implemented throughout the South San Francisco Unified School District in response to an alleged incident of racial bullying at the school.
Panosian said that because the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum already included lessons about the history and causes of genocide, it was easy to incorporate information about the acts of ethnic cleansing perpetrated in Turkey.
These lessons included a “deep study” of witness poetry and readings of “The Sandcastle Girls,” a historical fiction novel by Chris Bohjalian that portrays a love story between an American nurse and an Armenian refugee from the genocide, Panosian said.
Poetry played a role in the Tuesday event, with student spoken-word artists Jose Ravelo and Desiree Orque collaborating on a performance that drew connections between genocide abroad and the everyday violence that some teens witness in their own neighborhoods.
The event also featured a performance by the school’s choir and a speech by student Marc Vasquez, who challenged his schoolmates to ask themselves what they can do to prevent future genocides.
“We do this through activism,” Vasquez said, “through arming ourselves with activism and critical-thinking skills.”
Not all of the audience members were students. Malcolm Catchatoorian is a retired Armenian-American who said his family’s history was shaped by the genocide when his great-grandmother fled with her family to Iran to escape the violence. And then when famine hit Iran years later,
Catchatoorian said his grandmother loaded her five sons into a caravan to Calcutta, India, which they viewed as a land of opportunity.
“We have to keep these stories alive, because this is what goes into the archives,” Catchatoorian said.
The centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide will be commemorated at 7:15 p.m. Friday at City Hall in San Francisco. Another related event is “Witness and Rebirth: An Armenian Journey,” a concert at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Visit
www.rememberanddemand.org for more information.
Armenian Genocide survivor shares her story
(Evaneet Sidhu/Daily Bruin)
Armenian Genocide survivor shares her story from
"Armenian-Genocide-Story.mp3". by
The UCLA Armenian Students’ Association hosted Yevnige Salibian, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Thursday night so she could share her story and reflect on the 100 years since the genocide. Listen to Salibian and her granddaughter Talin Bahadarian share their thoughts on the journey and survival of the Armenian people.
TRANSCRIPT:
Ma: A hundred years ago this week, the Ottoman Empire, centered on present-day Turkey, began the mass killing of Armenians. Though known today by many historians as the first genocide of the 20th century, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths, Turkey firmly denies that genocide occurred. In memory of the victims, the Armenian Students Association here at UCLA hosted a conversation with Yevnige Salibian, one of the few remaining survivors of the Armenian genocide and her granddaughter Talin Bahadarian.
Bahadarian: There is no denying it, the denial is purely political.
Ma: That was Bahadarian. Bahadarian states that many countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, also currently do not recognize the killings as genocide. With many western forces stationed in Turkey, leaders tread carefully in referring to what happened, not wanting to anger their Turkish allies. Bahadarian explains further
Bahadarian: It was a systematic wiping out of a million and a half Armenians, purely because they were Armenian and they were Christian Armenian.
Ma: Because of this disconnect, many Armenians are still unable to come to terms with the Turks. Bahadarian draws upon the interaction between the Jewish community and Germany after the Holocaust, to relate to the situation Armenians are currently facing
Bahadarian: You don’t have the same level of animosity between the Jews and Germany, as you do between Armenia and Turkey and the Armenians and the Turks. The reason for that is because Germany admitted what they did. They asked for forgiveness in as sense by recognizing it. They made reparations so they made restitution. And that has opened the door for the healing to move on.
Salibian: He was seventeen years old, he was going to graduate from high school and be a doctor. I was crying and I was fighting with him. I loved him so much
Ma: Salibian, a first-hand witness of the brutality that occurred, recounts the tribulations that she faced during this time, including the death of her son. Despite the many sorrows she experienced, Salibian advocates for a Christian approach in dealing with the Turks
Salibian: I pray for the Turks to know Jesus. The one who accepts them. He gives peace, love, heavenly love.
Ma: Salibian has chosen to forgive the Turks as a whole despite there being no recognition. Whether to adopt a policy of forgiveness or to match grief with resolve is still up in the air. For many Armenians though, the massacres have left a scarring wound that has yet to be healed, let alone recognized by those who inflicted the mark. Until Turkish officials extend their hand for forgiveness though, the Armenian community continues to call on the nations of the world to bring justice for what was done. For Daily Bruin radio, This is Austin Ma.
...... There got that off my chest.
