Armenian Genocide Square And The Haifa Armenian Community

As the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy, I do everything in my power to raise awareness about what the Armenians did to Khojaly and other areas of Karabakh, as well as Iran’s repression of Southern Azerbaijanis and Armenia’s oppression of Western Azerbaijanis. At every available opportunity, I discuss how Armenia ethnically cleansed one fifth of Azerbaijan of Azerbaijanis in violation of four UN Security Council Resolutions. 

Due to such efforts, there is a great awareness about the Khojaly Genocide in the Jewish state, as well as Armenia’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Azerbaijanis. In his 2015 address to the United Nations, former Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin proclaimed: “[I]s our struggle, the struggle of this Assembly, against genocide, effective enough? Was it effective enough then in Bosnia? Was it effective in preventing the killing in Khojaly? Of Afghans by the Taliban? Is it effective enough today in Syria? Or in the face of the atrocities of Boko Haram in Nigeria? Are we shedding too many tears and taking too little action?” 

However, while efforts to raise awareness about the Khojaly Genocide in Israel have been successful, Azerbaijan’s struggle against Armenian activists in Israel is not just political. It is also cultural and historical. More recently, this year, the Taste of Azerbaijan Bakery was opened by Saadat Sukurova Israelov and her husband Erez. In an exclusive interview, Sukurova stated: “Armenia produces national dishes belonging to Azerbaijan under its own name. We have witnessed such situations many times. Even in the books published by them, almost all the dishes are Azerbaijani. We are witnessing the promotion of Armenian cuisine through these books published in different languages. Today, I am proud to say that A Taste of Azerbaijan has created a small place to counter this trend. Israeli Jews often come to this place, showing an interest, tasting Azerbaijani food, and saying that it is delicious. A Taste of Azerbaijan is now familiarizing Jews with this cuisine.”

However, will such efforts be enough to counter the present Armenian campaign to recognize the Armenian Genocide in Israel?   I ponder whether it will be. While the present Israeli government is sober and understands the strong need for strong Azerbaijani Israeli and Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, this sentiment does not trickle down to the rest of the country.  Several years ago, I visited the Nili House in Zikhron Ya’akov, a local landmark highlighting how a group of Jewish spies worked for the British against the Ottoman Turks, and the local Israeli museum guide was convinced that what happened in 1915 was a genocide against Armenians.