Sunday 11 January 2015

Armenian News...Prepare for the 100th - Your Participation is crucial !


The objective of this series of emails is to inform you of developments relating to the forthcoming centenary of the Armenian Genocide. We are just over three months away.

It is to be hoped that there will be significant newspaper, online and radio publicity at around April. We should all be ready to provide accurate answers to questions that may come our own way from whatever, in particular non-Armenian, source. These responses need subsequently to stand up to scrutiny otherwise they will add to material that deniers and cynics already use.

The Armenian Genocide Centenary Committee will eventually publicise its program that is likely to mainly consist of commemorative occasions. We a individual Armenians can complement their activities with our own efforts in our own circles and local communities. We should believe that we can have an impact on the UK’s general awareness of our history and position.

Here are some suggestions:

1      1 Click on Google to set the Google Doodle, a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepage, on April 24 


2      2 Distribute selected content of the emails to your Facebook friends. The most powerful can be the survivor testimonies.  Here’s another of one, that of our late leading member of the London community. You may want to highlight his point that in addition to the wide-spread cruel huge loss of life, the survivors “lost their childhood”


3      3 The Armenian Church is taking the unprecedented step of canonising all the victims of genocide as martyrs. This should excite specific interest. Take advantage of this by requesting your local church to offer prayers to these departed, say at the first Sunday after 24 April. Ensure you are present to receive the prayers on behalf of the Armenians.

4      4 Offer to give a talk in your own words to your local club or group.

5      5 Write a letter to your local newspaper to disseminate the significance of the anniversary.

6      6 Buy copy/copies of Geoffrey Robertson QC’s recently published book “An Inconvenient Genocide: Who now remembers the Armenians?” (Biteback Publishing ISBN 978-1-84954-778-9) and donate it to your local library, and/or your university/college, and/or your school. This provides a complete historical and legal perspective

7      7 Printed copies of the legal opinion that preceded the book are available – just send an email to this address. There is no charge but there is a firm condition to send it to a non-Armenian.

Let me know of any other suggestions for action that could be taken up by others.  Appropriate ones will be circulated later.

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