Los Angeles, CA – The ANCA-WR this week welcomed a letter authored by Jewish World Watch in support of H. Res. 106 (the Armenian Genocide Resolution). The correspondence, addressed to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), urges her to support the passage of H. Res. 106, which affirms the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew Kzirian welcomed Jewish WorldWatch’s letter in support of the Armenian Genocide resolution. “Jewish WorldWatch’s letter to Speaker Pelosi is timely and important,” Kzirian commented. “Timely, because the genocide resolution is awaiting action by the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). Important, because this letter is proof that a large coalition of support, from Armenian, Jewish, Rwandan, Greek, Cambodian and other communities across America are coming together to rally behind H.Res. 106,” added Kzirian.

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis and Janice Kamenir-Reznik, co-founders of Jewish World Watch expressed the critical importance of holding perpetrators of genocide accountable for their acts of inhumanity. Janice Kamenir-Reznik noted, “Accountability is a seminal factor in deterring future genocides. As Hitler was designing his final solution he was asked why he thought he would be able to murder millions of Jews. Only twenty years after the Armenian genocide, Hitler responded by noting that no one cared and no one remembered the Armenian genocide. We all know what happened next. Our humanity and collective conscience demand that we care and our very existence requires that we remember and hold perpetrators responsible. We are proud to stand with the Armenian community and with all people of conscience to insist that their suffering and their history be acknowledged by the civilized world.”

Jewish World Watch is a project of a coalition of synagogues working together to mobilize synagogues, their schools, members and the community to combat genocide and other egregious violations of human rights around the world. Earlier this year, the organization held a screening of the genocide film Screamers at Valley Beth Shalom in California’s San Fernando Valley. Although Jewish World Watch currently focuses on ending the genocide in Darfur, the organization’s letter to Speaker Pelosi states that “it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge and commemorate past genocides, in particular, the Armenian Genocide, which has been denied for almost a century – we cannot criticize those who are committing genocide today, without acknowledging and commemorating the unacknowledged genocide of the Armenian community in 191[5].”

In October of 2006, then-Representative Pelosi stated that, “I have supported legislation, including H. Res. 316, that would properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative that the U.S. recognize this atrocity and move to renew our commitment to eliminate genocide whenever and wherever it exists. This effort enjoys strong bipartisan support in the House, and I will continue to support these efforts in the 110th Congress.”

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.