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22 The Armenian Reporter | November 8, 2008EditorialA new chapter beginsWith the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden as president and vice president of theUnited States, a new chapter begins in the relationship of the Armenian-American communitywith the executive branch. Not unlike previous chapters, this one carries the provisionaltitle, “Working Hard, Together.”As a candidate, Mr. Obama repeatedly reached out to Armenian-Americans. He pledgedthat as president he would3 recognize the Armenian Genocide and work to end genocide;3 support a settlement of the Karabakh conflict “based upon America’s founding commitmentto the principles of democracy and self-determination”;3 “help foster Armenia’s growth and development through expanded trade and targetedaid”3 “strengthen the commercial, political, military, developmental, and cultural relationships”between the governments of the United States and Armenia; and3 “continue his active engagement with Armenian American leaders.”Mr. Obama’s campaign commitments are a starting point. Now Armenian-American activistsand Armenian-American advocacy groups, in consultation with our friends in Congress,need to work together to help the Obama administration carry out these commitments in amanner that is consistent with the best interests of the United States.Working with his transition team, Mr. Obama has already started appointing theofficials and advisors who will develop and carry out the policies he has espoused inprinciple. We know we will be pleased with some appointments and concerned aboutothers. Be that as it may, it will be our job to reach out to the members of the new administrationand help them shape a foreign policy in which America is true to its mostbasic values: standing firmly for democracy and self-determination; opposing ethniccleansing and genocide; and favoring cooperation on the basis of common interests overconfrontation and war.In so doing, we will continue to need the friendship, advice, and cooperation of ourfriends in Congress. We take this opportunity to congratulate those friends who prevailedon Election Day and thank again those who did not, above all our very good friendRep. Joe Knollenberg, Republican of Michigan, co-chair of the House Caucus on ArmenianAffairs.We will need to continue our outreach to newly elected members of Congress, educatingthem about our issues and showing them our firm commitment to the principles we espouse.We will need to continue to build up the House Caucus on Armenian Affairs.If we continue our advocacy work with the same enthusiasm with which we supported theObama-Biden campaign and our friends in the Congressional elections, we can be confidentthat the new chapter now beginning will have a happy ending.Tapping into communitiesIn his election campaign, Mr. Obama made remarkable use of the tools we use daily to communicatewith each other: text messages, video clips, Facebook – all ways one supporter canquickly spread the word to dozens of his or her friends and acquaintances. Using these andother methods, he also organized supporters to do something very old-fashioned: talk tofamily, friends, and neighbors face-to-face.the armenianreporterThe methods would count for little, however, if the substance of Mr. Obama’s messagewere not appealing.The message Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden delivered repeatedly to Armenian-American votersreached us, and it inspired us to support his campaign wholeheartedly. Our advocacy organizationsand mass media – the Armenian Reporter prominently among them – endorsedMr. Obama and urged that our community help him prevail. Across the nation, Armenian-Americans volunteered and organized and contributed.The popular Facebook group Armenians for Obama was one way Armenian-Americansgot the message out. But it went beyond that, as Election Day interviews carried out by ourcorrespondent Lory Tatoulian show (see p. 13): Armenian-Americans of a certain age, someof them new citizens, chatting with each other around their tavloo boards in the parks andcourtyards of Southern California, were enthusiastic in their support of the Obama-Bidenticket.Mr. Obama’s victory was made possible also by the immense unpopularity of the presidenthe will replace, George W. Bush. There is no need to enumerate yet again the missteps of theBush administration; we have discussed those missteps, particularly in foreign policy, onmany previous occasions. We would simply recall that Mr. Obama, as a member of the SenateForeign Relations Committee, and Mr. Biden, as that committee’s chairperson, spokeout thoughtfully and firmly against those missteps as they related to issues of concern toArmenian-Americans.And they have promised repeatedly and unequivocally to pursue a different course. We willwork with them as we have in the past to help ensure that happens.A historic, inspiring victoryOnly a few generations ago, men and women brought from Africa in shackles were boughtand sold as property in the United States, as were their children and grandchildren. In livingmemory, African-Americans were lynched for daring to assert themselves, while racialdiscrimination, segregation, and everyday humiliation were the norm.The history of the United States – from its inception, through the Civil War, through thepresent – is, in many ways, the history of a struggle for civil rights and equal opportunities.For African-Americans and others of goodwill who organized and marched and struggledand went to prison as part of that struggle, this election is a vindication of sorts.Mr. Obama’s election can serve also an inspiration to Armenian-Americans, as immigrantsand children or grandchildren of immigrants, to become more involved and aspire togreater responsibility in public service.It was not that long ago when Armenian immigrants to the United States felt they had tochange their names to make it in America. And now, in 2008, a black man with a father fromKenya, a childhood in Indonesia, and the name Barack Hussein Obama won the votes of over60 million Americans to be elected president of the United States.In the face of widespread cynicism and frequent setbacks, the struggle for equal opportunityhas broken new ground. This election has confirmed our faith that America can be aland of equal opportunity, and that merit can overcome prejudice.Our faith renewed, we know that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We look forwardto it.fThe Obama administration: What’s next for the Armenian-American community?by Ross VartianArmenian-Americans are acutely awareof the negative consequences of the Bushadministration’s unilateral and provocativeactions impacting the Greater Middle Eastgenerally and the South Caucasus specifically.The peoples of Armenia and the Nagorno-KarabakhRepublic have been harmed bythe Bush administration’s approaches to theso-called frozen conflicts, to the primacy ofoil and gas over all other considerations, toArmenia being the object of ongoing borderclosures in violation of international and U.S.law, to Azerbaijan’s preparations for the nextwar in the South Caucasus, and of course tothe administration’s capitulation to Turkey’sdemands to oppose American reaffirmationof the Armenian Genocide – thereby underminingAmerica’s crucial role in ending thescourge of genocide.This is why the freely given, multiple commitmentsby candidate Barack Obama on aThe author is the executive director of the U.S.-ArmeniaPublic Affairs Committee (USAPAC).full range of core Armenian-American issueswere so welcome and energizing to our community.President-elect Obama offers thepossibility of a new approach to the SouthCaucasus that will enhance the security, freedom,and prosperity of all the region’s inhabitants.It is incumbent upon the entire Armenian-Americancommunity to remainas vigilant and active during the crucialmonths ahead as we were during the historiccampaign – as the Obama administrationselects its foreign policy team andprepares to govern. This team will continuethe work done by the campaign’s extensivecadre of foreign policy advisors, whoexamined America’s foreign policy challengesaround the world.Of course, Congress will have its role toplay as well.Our community must seek and support alliesin the administration and Congress tofight for a new U.S. approach to the SouthCaucasus. We must remind both:3 that the South Caucasus is incrediblycompact, diverse and tension filled;3 that the region is a major north-southand east-west crossroads linking Europe,Russia, the Middle East and the Far East;and3 that, for centuries, this region hasserved as a both a buffer and zone of conflictamong the Russian Federation (the CzaristEmpire and the Soviet Union), Turkey (theOttoman Empire), and Iran (Persia).Since the welcome demise of the SovietUnion, the United States, China, and theEuropean Union are now, together with thetraditional mix of contiguous states, directlyand increasingly interested and engaged inthe South Caucasus.As the Russo-Georgian five day warshowed, no outside power will be allowedto dominate this increasingly vital regionor succeed in promoting its South Caucasusproxy to prevail over others. The onlyhope to end the recurring cycle of externallyinstigated competition, tension, andrecurring wars is a new international approachto the South Caucasus that is drivenby regional security, cooperation, andenlightened self-interest. The Obama administrationcan be the catalyst to bringtogether all these interested and alreadyactive external parties for a collaborativeapproach to the South Caucasus – an approachbased on the exclusively peacefulresolution of all remaining conflicts, openborders within and through the South Caucasus,and robust international support forconfidence-building measures among thepeoples of the South Caucasus.Specifically, an Obama Administrationshould:3 ensure that each state within the SouthCaucasus disavow and end any preparationsfor war3 select a high-level special envoy reportingdirectly to the Secretary of State to dealexclusively with the so-called frozen conflictswithin the region (Nagorno-Karabakh, SouthOssetia, and Abkhazia)3 catalyze robust international policyand financial support for intraregionalconfidence-building actions to create publicsupport for regional cooperation, integra-Continued on page 23 mArmenian Reporter (ISSN 0004-2358), an independent newspaper,is published weekly by Armenian Reporter llc.Gerard L. Cafesjian, President and ceoPublisher Sylva A. BoghossianOffice manager Lisa KopooshianCopyright © 2008 by ArmenianReporter llc. All Rights ReservedPeriodicals postage paid at Paramus, N.J., andadditional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PO Box129, Paramus, NJ 07652-0129.The views expressed, except in the editorial, arenot necessarily those of the publishers.Editor Vincent LimaWestern U.S. Bureau Chief andArts & Culture editor Paul ChaderjianWashington editor Emil SanamyanAssociate editor Maria TitizianAssistant to the Editor Seda StepanyanCopy editor Ishkhan JinbashianArt director Grigor HakobyanLayout assistant Nareh BalianThe Armenian Reporter is your newspaper. We urge you to send us your news and yourviews.News. Please send your news to .Letters. Please send your letters to Letters should be no morethan 250 words long and may be edited for clarity. Please include your mailing addressand daytime telephone number.Commentary. Please send your essays to Essays and articlesnormally should be no longer than 900 words.Photos and artwork. We require high-resolution originals. All photos and artworkmust include a credit to the photographer and a signed statement granting us permissionto publish.Advertising and subscriptions. Please direct questions to orcall us.Our officesPO Box 129Paramus NJ 076521-201-226-1995 phone1-201-226-1660 fax2727 West Alameda BlvdBurbank CA 915051-818-955-9933 phone1-818-955-8799 fax1 Yeghvard Hwy Fl 5Yerevan 0054 Armenia374-10-367-195 phone374-10-367-194 fax
The Armenian Reporter | November 8, 2008 23CommentaryLiving inArmeniaDecember 7, 198820 years onby Maria TitizianIt had been a long and grueling federal electioncampaign. We had worked tirelessly forweeks to elect the first Canadian-Armenianto Canada’s parliament. We had canvasseddoor to door throughout the riding, placedcampaign signs, organized town hall meetings,made thousands of phone calls, mobilizedvolunteers, and tried to get out the voteon Election Day. I had been at the campaignoffice every day, working sometimes till lateat night along with hundreds of other volunteers.The year was 1988. Unfortunately allour efforts had been in vain and our candidatehad been forced to concede defeat.I was disappointed and exhausted. I wasalso five months pregnant, and my mother’sconstant phone calls over the course of thecampaign, begging me to go home, had finallysunk in. So once the campaign signs had beencollected and the office cleared away, underthe pretext that I needed to rest, I asked myfellow volunteers from our community tokindly leave me alone and not call me. In realityI needed a break from all things Armenian.The very next day, early in the morning, Ireceived a call from one of our communityleaders. His voice was strained but my annoyanceat being called early in the morningprevented me from immediately sensing thatsomething was wrong. I was half listeningto what he was trying to tell me, mutteringunder my breath that hadn’t I asked to beleft alone? Sensing my tone, he came straightto the point. “There’s been an earthquake inArmenia,” he said. “You have to come.” Hedidn’t need to continue. I was at the center ina matter of minutes.When I walked into the Armenian CommunityCenter in Toronto, the gravity andmagnitude of what would become one ofArmenia’s greatest tragedies was written onevery face. I remember sitting around a largetable with my fellow Armenians listening tothe news reports flooding in and watchingthe images of devastation, feeling helplessand terrified. The homeland, that ephemeralplot of land that we only knew as Soviet Armenia,was somewhere far away, dreamlikeand not within reach. But on this day, weall felt her in our blood. Ten months earlier,when the Karabakh movement had burstonto the pages of our lives, it had broughther closer to us. But this, this unspeakableunkindness of Mother Earth, had knockedthe wind out of us and made our knees buckle.But not for long.My community, like every single Armeniancommunity throughout the globe, came togetherthe day the earth moved under thefeet of our homeland. Men, women, children,Armenian, non-Armenian, religious, agnostic– it didn’t matter. At 11:40 A.M. on December7, 1988, every Armenian on the planet felt thetremor. Ramgavar, Hnchak, Dashnak, Marxist,liberal, socialist, communist – it didn’t matter.We all came together in the form of onesoul, one spirit, one streak of determination.The day the earth moved is the day we putaside our provincial differences and mobilized.We collected money, food, clothes, medicine,equipment, anything that could potentiallysave a single precious human soul. The kindnessof humanity, of our humanity shone theday the earth under Armenia moved.The days and weeks that followed are nowa distant memory to most of us. But I wouldbet my life that there isn’t a single Armenianwho doesn’t remember where they werewhen they heard the news. For it was a littlemuch – wasn’t there a quota on tragedy andhadn’t we fulfilled ours in the 20th century?Once again, we were all in the service ofour community. Just days earlier we hadfocused all of our time and energy workingon an election campaign, thinking that ourlives depended on it. And now? Now we wereworking to save the lives of our compatriots.How the world changed overnight. Eachmorning I would rise, drive to the communitycenter and work with fellow volunteers makingphone calls, asking large corporationsto donate whatever they could – everythingfrom peanuts to pudding to dried milk tocanned goods. Soon, the small piles of donatedclothes turned into mountains. VolunteersThe day theearth movedcouldn’t keep up with people walking into Armeniancommunity centers throughout thecity donating whatever they could.We were driven by a need to do the impossible,for the death toll kept rising. First itwas hundreds, and then thousands, and thentens of thousands. How much more couldwe afford to lose? Every time we heard ofsomeone being pulled out of the rubble alivewas cause for momentary celebration, clappingand laughing intermingled with tearsthat kept flowing.On a particularly tiring and difficult day, Iremember standing in the doorway to oneof the offices in our center that had beenconverted into earthquake command central.At this point, I was not only showing but wasclearly pregnant, wobbling from one end ofthe center to the other. My mother had givenup calling to tell me to go home; she knewthat anything she said would ring emptynext to the reality of the number of thosewho had died. That day one of our older communitymembers, overcome with emotion,boldly and unexpectedly placed his hand onmy belly and said, “Thank God you are hereeveryday beside us. The life growing insideyou gives us hope, makes us believe that aftereverything that was lost, there will be newlife after all.”Somehow my unborn daughter, unbeknownto her and me, had traveled to theland of her grandparents that summer, Ainjarand Kessab; had suffered along with amost stubborn mother during a federal electioncampaign; and now was being asked toendure the emotional strain that her peoplehad been asked to bear, all before she was allowedto come into the world.Carrying her, despite the fatigue and exhaustion,gave me strength and hope, whichshe bravely continues to do every single dayof her life. Her courage, determination, andlove for her motherland is so innate and sonatural that I am convinced her travails whilestill in the womb undoubtedly infected hersubconscience with all things good and allthings Armenian. For me, my daughter, allof our daughters and sons who were bornafter the earth moved, are the symbols of ourcountry’s future.I first came to Armenia ten years after theearthquake. I went to the earthquake zone. Isaw the remnants of the devastation. I sawthe homeless families still living in domiks. Isaw the rows of homes donated by differentcountries. I saw the church, hastily erectedin Spitak, made of tin, to allow mourners tobeseech their Lord and ask for the will to goon living. I saw all of this. I recalled all thatwe had done to help – the days and weeksof sleepless nights. I realized it had been likea drop of water in the ocean. I wondered ifall those things we had collected and senthad made a difference to those who sufferedso much loss. Whether it did or not, I don’tknow. What I do know is that it made a differencefor us. The earthquake became realonly after I saw with my eyes, even after tenyears the unfairness of it all.As the 20th anniversary of the earthquakeof 1988 creeps closer, it should give us all timeto pause and not only remember those whoperished, but also those who survived andcarried on despite their unspeakable loss andpain. We should pause to remember all thosewho came to the aid of our nation. We shouldremember all those young children whocollected coins in faraway countries, thosegrandmothers who knitted sweaters, andthose people who gave all of their energy andcourage and assistance and humanity to theirfellow man. Out of misery and sorrow onemust search for a light. Those lives will neverbe replaced. Those left behind will never forgettheir loss. Those who tried to help willalways wonder if they could have done more.All I know is this is who we are and this iswhat fate has handed us. We have suffered,we have experienced devastation, but wehave been loved and we are lucky, each andevery one of us, to be alive to cherish ourhomeland which is slowly and painfully risingup against insurmountable odds – fromearthquake to war to nation building. Twentyyears on, I also know that being here onthis soil, which is unstable, unsteady, and soprone to tremors gives me strength. fRemember December 7, 1988?A devastating earthquake struck the ArmenianSoviet Socialist Republic 20 yearsago on December 7. Do you rememberthat day? What were your reactions?What did you do in the hours, days, andweeks that followed? What did your familyand your community do? Were youamong the hundreds of thousands whogave what you could and prayed? Wereyou among the thousands who reachedout, collected donations, and sent themforward? Were you among the hundredswho flew to the earthquake zone to volunteer?Share your stories with us! And perhapsyou have an album or box of photographsfrom those days, gathering dust somewhere.Share your pictures with us! We will poststories and photographs on our website,www.reporter.am, and include a selectionin the newspaper.You don’t have to be a great writer, andthe photos need not be masterpieces. fThe email address to use is quake@reporter.amIf you have many pictures, you might postthem to flickr and use the keyword “armenian-reporter”tion, and exclusively peaceful conflict resolution3 include each and every South Caucasusself-governing entity in all American-inspiredmultilateral efforts and in all bilateralcontacts, including Nagorno-Karabakh,South Ossetia, and Abkhazia3 include all of the traditional contiguouspowers (Russia, Turkey, and Iran) in allSouth Caucasus normalization approaches inaddition to the EU and China3 end the Bush Administration’s unequaltreatment of the principles of territorial integrityversus self-determination, which inthe South Caucasus is tantamount to Americansupport for Stalinist border manipulationsthat are the core of extant territorialconflictsThe exact time that the earthquake struck.Photo: Photolure.The Obama administration: What’s next forthe Armenian-American community?n Continued from page 22LettersAbp. Derderian is a true“Tower of Strength”Sir:Your article featuring Archbishop HovnanDerderian, Primate of the ArmenianChurch of America, Western Diocese, was anoutstanding tribute to an outstanding servantof God.Ishkhan Jinbashian was able to catch thetrue essence of the personality, the spiritualand physical being of His Eminence.I am one of those fortunate individualswho had the honor and the privilege to workwith him on his outreach and service programsfor almost a decade.A “Tower of Strength” is a fitting term for3 treat Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgiaequally with visiting U.S. officials, by includingeach nation in every regional tour,thereby reinforcing the essential concept ofan inseparable and indivisible South Caucasusat peace internally and moving forwarddevelopmentally without destabilizing winnersand losersAnd to restore America’s proper leadingrole in ending genocide, the Obama Administrationmust reaffirm the fact and extractthe enduring lessons of the Armenian Genocide.During his term in office, PresidentObama can formally and irrevocably recognizethis crime against humanity. By sodoing, he will fulfill his multiple campaignpromises and serve as a credible bridge betweenthe governments and peoples of Armeniaand Turkey.fthis spiritual leader. He has a charismaticand a larger-than-life presence wherever hehappens to be. Inspired by the life and worksof his spiritual father, His Holiness VazkenI, of blessed memory, he served the faithfulin Canada with compassion, dedication, andtotal commitment, at times risking even hishealth and well being.During these difficult times, this OxfordeducatedPrince of the Armenian Churchwill probably be entrusted with many difficulttasks and responsibilities concerningthe Church. I wish His Eminence ArchbishopHovnan Derderian all the best in all hisendeavors.Very truly yours,Haig MisakyanTorontoTrustee contributions to the AGMMFinancial contributions by former and current members of the Board of Trustees of Armenian Genocide Museumand Memorial (AGMM) for the benefit of the AGMM as of September 2006.
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