RAG MAMOUL an ADLP PUBLICATION Official Organ of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Article of the Day My 24 April 1915 JOUMANA HADDAD recounts her family's trauma from the Armenian Genocide Thursday, 1 May 2014 Volume # 9, Issue # 79 Page 1 RAG MAMOUL receives material from around the world and in many languages. Our Liberal principles advocate ‘Freedom of speech’ as a mainstay of our beliefs; consequently the subjects and ideas presented will not necessarily reflect our point of view. All published material is reviewed, however, we rely on the kind understanding of our audience when grammatical and spelling mistakes are missed. And in some rare cases, correction of submitted material is purposely not addressed, if it changes the implied context of the author. “I love your sorrow, which is mine as well/My grief of grieves, all other woes above; I love your shattered breast, where still your love/sings on and on – a skylark wild with love.” – Daniel Varoujian My grandmother survived the Armenian Genocide. Well, almost. She was born in 1912 in Antep (also known as Aintab or Gaziantep), situated in southeastern Turkey, the fifth child of the Markarian family, one of many families forming the city’s large Armenian community back then. On that ominous day of April 1915, Ottoman soldiers killed her father in front of her eyes. They forced her family and thousands of other Armenians to abandon their homes and go to Aleppo. They all marched through the deserts, without food or water, and were harassed, tortured, and massacred. Millions died. On the road, my grandmother also lost her own mother and three brothers. www.facebook.com/RAGmamoul ADLP News Vancouver, Canada The Unveiling of the 3 rd Armenian Genocide Monument in Canada (See on page 4) News from Armenia Building with Integrity: How Armenia Fund Gets the Job Done (See on page 6) Armenian Diaspora News Tbilisi, Georgia Genocide Memorial Unveiled in Tbilisi (See on page 9)
RAG MAMOUL’s aim is to produce, broadcast and publish a digital communication journal that will be distributed throughout a vast network of 25,000+ qualified Armenian recipients, in Armenia and the Diaspora. Articles from well-known authors, issues affecting Armenia and Armenians, reports of events organized in Armenia and the Diaspora, press releases and general commentary/viewpoints will be the mainstay basis of this undertaking. By taking advantage of modern technology, we will be disseminating acceptable (Edited) information, in as many languages as possible, and will endeavour to publish at least one article per day at the minimum. This massive and growing digital reach, should be very attractive to concerned columnists, readers and advertisers as it will be prepared and presented in a visually simple, easy to read and attractive format.
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RAG MAMOUL an ADLP PUBLICATION
Official Organ of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party
Article of the Day
My 24 April 1915 JOUMANA HADDAD recounts her family's
RAG MAMOUL receives material from around the world and in many languages. Our Liberal principles advocate ‘Freedom of
speech’ as a mainstay of our beliefs; consequently the subjects and ideas presented will not necessarily reflect our point of view.
All published material is reviewed, however, we rely on the kind understanding of our audience when grammatical and spelling
mistakes are missed. And in some rare cases, correction of submitted material is purposely not addressed, if it changes the implied
context of the author.
“I love your sorrow, which is mine as well/My grief of grieves, all other woes above; I love your shattered breast, where still your love/sings on and on – a skylark wild with love.” – Daniel Varoujian
My grandmother survived the Armenian Genocide. Well, almost. She was born in 1912 in Antep (also known as Aintab or Gaziantep), situated in southeastern Turkey, the fifth child of the Markarian family, one of many families forming the city’s large Armenian community back then. On that ominous day of April 1915, Ottoman soldiers killed her father in front of her eyes. They forced her family and thousands of other Armenians to abandon their homes and go to Aleppo. They all marched through the deserts, without food or water, and were harassed, tortured, and massacred. Millions died. On the road, my grandmother also lost her own mother and three brothers.
www.facebook.com/RAGmamoul
ADLP News
Vancouver, Canada The Unveiling of the 3rd Armenian Genocide Monument in Canada (See on page 4)
News from Armenia Building with Integrity: How Armenia Fund Gets the Job Done
(See on page 6)
Armenian Diaspora News
Tbilisi, Georgia Genocide Memorial Unveiled in Tbilisi
Grandma never spoke to us about any of this. I understand why. So I often close my eyes and try to imagine what she went through on that gloomy day when the genocide started, when she was merely a three-year-old child. I put myself in her shoes, and start talking: “I am afraid. I am afraid and hungry and thirsty. Why did we leave dad behind? Why is my mom not answering me and not moving? Is she asleep? Why are my brothers not teasing me or picking flowers for me like they used to? I am walking on people, and I hate it. But they are everywhere; the road is made of motionless bodies. Is this a game they are playing? But if it’s a game, why is everybody else crying? Walking on people is not a fun game. Come on, stand up, all of you. Enough playing already. I see soldiers with rifles. Everywhere. They are angry. They hate us. Why do they hate us? What did we do to them? Why are they shooting at us? Why are they ripping women’s clothes and asking them to lie down on the ground? The women are screaming, but the soldiers don’t seem to mind. Is this a game too? When are we going back home?
She, her older sister Lucine, and a younger brother, born in 1913, were the only survivors, thanks to the help of a family who took them along, watched over them, shared with them whatever food they were managing to find, and carried the two babies most of the way. They all grew up in an orphanage in Aleppo, where my grandmother later met my grandfather Efraim, who was a Syriac Catholic from Mardin. Efraim’s family had also been driven out of their hometown by the Turks during the massacres, which included Christian minorities alongside the Armenians. A few years after their marriage, they moved to Beirut.
Today I ate grass. It’s not good. It was covered with dust and I think there was a dead insect too. I miss mom’s food. I miss mom’s kisses, mom’s lap, mom’s smile. Why did we leave her behind? Is it because of me? Did I do something bad? Is she with dad now? It is so hot. I am tired. I am tired and afraid. I am hungry and thirsty. I think I will sleep a little. Lucine, wake me up when mom comes back.”
*** My grandmother committed suicide in Beirut in 1978. She was sixty-six; I was seven. She drank rat poison. I saw her lying on the kitchen floor, white foam coming out of her mouth. Every time I think about her, that is how I see her: not holding me in her arms; not telling me a story; not stroking my hair or giving me a thousand kisses, the way a grandparent should be remembered. No, I just see her lying on the ground, dead, and screaming all her unsaid, painful words in my head. So, you see, my grandmother did not really survive the Armenian Genocide. Like many other sufferers, she was killed, only with a bit of delay: a time bomb was planted in her heart and soul on that sinister day of April 1915, and it exploded decades afterwards. Here I am, here we are – the innumerable children and grandchildren of the victims – 99 years later, still waiting for justice; still waiting for the murderer to say, “I am sorry”. Let it be known we won’t quit waiting anytime soon. Whether we will forgive him or not when he apologizes is another story.
*JOUMANA HADDAD is a columnist at NOW, the cultural editor of An Nahar newspaper, university instructor and the author of many books, including “I Killed Scheherazade.” Her latest work is “Superman is an Arab – On God, marriage, macho men and other disastrous inventions.”.
The Unveiling of the 3rd Armenian Genocide Monument in Canada
The 99th Armenian Genocide Commemoration in Vancouver was held with great success with over 300 people present. The unveiling of the 3rd Canadian Genocide Monument was blessed by both Archbishops. Members of Parliament and MLA’s were also present. The Armenian ambassador to Canada, Mr. Armen Yeganian was also present for this special occasion.
Well known Canadian Armenian director, Mr. Atom Egoyan was a special guest. After the unveiling, the procession entered the building and the ceremony continued indoors. Varto Papasian (ADL Rep.) and Jack Der Hagopian (ARF) were Master of Ceremonies in Armenian and English respectively. Varto Papasian opened the programme in Armenian and had a few opening remarks: “Today is a day of prayer Today is a day of mourning Today is a day of demanding justice on behalf of our innocent genocide victims 99 years ago. The responsibility to achieve that justice is on every single Armenian’s shoulder. And justice will prevail with our unified efforts. Today we have our Armenia…. Today we have our Karabagh… Tomorrow we will have our historical Armenia with Mount Ararat.”
ADLP News
Government officials read proclamations. Mr. Yeganian said a few words. Mr. Atom Egoyan read the open letter that he wrote to the Turkish people which was published in the “AGOS” newspaper. A cultural programme followed with music and songs. Plaques were handed to Matilda, the artist who designed the monument, Hasso Essmailian, responsible for the construction of the monument, and Mr. Glen Hodges, the manger of the site. The programme concluded with prayers from both Archbishops.
Plaques were handed to Matilda, the artist who designed the monument, Hasso Essmailian, responsible for the construction of the monument, and Mr. Glen Hodges, the manger of the site. The programme concluded with prayers from both Archbishops.
Varto Papasian Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Plaques were handed to Matilda, the artist who designed the monument, Hasso Essmailian, responsible for the construction of the monument, and Mr. Glen Hodges, the manger of the site. The programme concluded with prayers from both Archbishops.
The new khachkar is dedicated to the memory of approximately 1.5 million people who were massacred by
the Ottoman government during the Armenian Genocide at the turn of the 20th century.
Historians and many politicians consider the mass killings, torture, deportations, and ultimately displacement
of the Armenian population from its native homeland in 1915-1918 as genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman
Empire.
Every year on April 24, the Armenian community in Georgia holds rallies outside the Turkish embassy in
Tbilisi. They pay tribute to those who were killed and demand that the Georgian government recognize the
genocide.
The Turkish government categorically denies that the Ottoman Empire carried out a campaign of ethnic
cleansing against Armenians. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan said in an interview with the German magazine
Der Spiegel that there cannot be any conversation about any kind of genocide. He said he thinks that
assessing these events is a subject for historians and lawyers, not politicians. Erdoğan said Turkey is ready to
publish historical material and calls on Armenia to take the same step. He said he thinks it is a mistake when
journalists and politicians use the word “genocide.”
journalists and politicians use the word “genocide.”
The unveiling of the new memorial was held in connection with the April 24 commemoration and was
attended by representatives of different churches.
“It is a very important day for the history of the Armenian community in Georgia. This is a day when
a khachkar, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, was erected for the first time
in Tbilisi,” Vazgen Mirzakhaniani, head of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, said at the unveiling ceremony.
“We appreciate the attitude of Georgians to this day and we want this khachkar to also become a symbol for
Armenian-Georgian relations, which go back centuries.”
We are glad to inform you that RAG MAMOUL will have a “Letter to the Editor” section, where on every Monday we will publish your letters and opinions. Your letter should preferably refer to an article that has appeared within the last seven days, and must include the writer's full name, address and phone numbers. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.
Our main aim is to produce, broadcast and publish a digital communication journal that will be distributed throughout a vast network of 25,000 + qualified Armenian recipients, in Armenia and the Diaspora.
Articles from well-known authors, issues affecting Armenia and Armenians, reports of events organized in Armenia and the Diaspora, press releases and general commentary/viewpoints will be the mainstay basis of this undertaking.
By taking advantage of modern technology, we will be disseminating acceptable (Edited) information, in as many languages as possible, and will endeavour to publish at least one article per day at the minimum.
This massive and growing digital reach, should be very attractive to concerned columnists, readers and advertisers as it will be prepared and presented in a visually simple, easy to read and attractive format.