Jerusalem Commemorates the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Despite the rainy cold weather, on Monday, the 24th of April 2006, the Armenian communities from Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Petah Tikva gathered in Jerusalem to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the first premeditated genocide the 20th century has witnessed, the Armenian Genocide.

Over 400 people has taken part in a chain of events that were organized by the Hay Tad Committee of Jerusalem, with the participation of Homenetemen and H.O.M. branches.

The commemoration has started at 9am with a special Holy Liturgy at the Tsavakin Mor Catholic Armenian Church held by the newly appointed pastor, Bishop Rafael Minassian, and was dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians who perished under Ottoman barbarism. Following the Holy Mass, at 10:30am, all Armenians have gathered at the Turkish Consulate in East Jerusalem to protest against the denial of the Turkish government of the atrocities that its predecessor has perpetrated and called for the immediate recognition of the Armenian Genocide. After the protest, the crowd moved to the entrance of the St. James Convent where they were accompanied with more people, of whom it is worth to mention the former Knesset member and a minister Mr. Yair Saban and his Excellency Mr. Tsolag Momjian, the Honorary Consul of Armenia in Israel. At 12:30pm, the march from the Convent to the Holy Savior Armenian Cemetery on Mt. Zion has started moving slowly led by the trumpet and drums group of the Homenetmen scouts. Around 1pm, everyone was around the monument dedicated to the Armenian heroes of the Battle of Arrara, who together with the English forces fought the Ottoman Turks in the Holy Land. The ceremony has started with saying prayer and singing some hymns by father Avedis Iprajian which was followed by the laying of wreaths of flowers. Next was a moment of silence remembering the victims of the Genocide. Mr. Yair Saban, a friend of the Armenian community and a champion of justice, was next invited to the podium to make his words. Mr. Saban talked about the vitality of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Israeli authorities saying that sometimes "morality should be over geo-political calculations and strategy". Then William Saroyan's famous words were recited by Yeghp. Harout Baghamian followed by a melancholic music on traditional Armenian duduk preformed by Mr. Ashod Sahagian. The message of the day was uttered by Yeghp. Serop Sahagian, The Chairman of Homenetmen-Jerusalem, who talked about the importance of April 24 as a day of remembrance as well as a day of renewal and continuation of the active struggle for the final solution of the Armenian Cause and the strengthening of the Republic of Armenia. The ceremony came to its end with the chanting of Armenia's national anthem.

At around 2:30pm, at the main hall of the Homenetmen Centre within the Armenian Convent, coffee was served to all for the souls of the victims.

It is worth mentioning that all above mentioned events were widely covered by both local and foreign media, including the Turkish News Agency. Also worth to mention that most participants were bearing t-shirts that read on the front side "We are devoted soldiers till a united Armenia is created for all Armenians - Struggle, till victory is accomplished" and on the other side it read "Turkey Guilty of Genocide - Recognize. Condemn. Prevent."