Robert Fisk Discusses Genocide In Michigan

[Johannes]

Armenian- and Arab-American Communities Attend Lecture

Dearborn, MI- Communities from around the Detroit-metro area attended a lecture by world-renowned journalist Robert Fisk at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, reported the Armenian National Committee of Michigan.

The event, co-hosted by the Armenian National Committee of Michigan, The Armenian Research Center (ARC), and the Center for Arab American Studies (CAAS), out of the University of Michigan-Dearborn allowed for collaboration amongst the different organizations. Introducing Mr. Fisk was the Chancellor of the University, Dr. Daniel Little, who offered a warm welcome, followed by opening remarks from Ara Sanjian of the Armenian Research Center, as well as Rabab Ibraham Abdulhadi from the Center for Arab American Studies.

Fisk made headlines in The Arab American newspaper, headquartered in Dearborn as he was interviewed prior to his lecture and touched upon sensitive issues regarding the Middle East and Lebanon. His lecture, entitled “The Middle East: The Roots and Realities of Enduring Conflict(s),” discussed the war in Iraq, the conflicts in Lebanon, and the Armenian Genocide. Fisk had an opportunity to show and discuss his own personal footage from his experiences in the Middle East. Following the lecture, members in the audience engaged him in a substantial question and answer period.

Devoting a portion of his lecture to the Armenian Genocide, Fisk read accounts from eyewitness survivors of what he calls the First Holocaust of the Twentieth Century. Fisk expressed an inability to understand the reasoning behind the Turkish Government unwillingness to accept what the Ottoman Turkish Government had done and to acknowledge that they committed genocide towards the Armenians in the empire.

Discussing his own experiences, as chronicled in his new book The Great War For Civilisation, Fisk spoke of his time spent in the Syrian Desert where he found hundreds of skulls, bones, and remnants of the victims of the 1915 genocide. He also touched about Article 301, Orhan Pamuk, and Taner Akcam’s new book, A Shameful Act, explaining that immediately following WWI in Turkey, no one denied that Turkish officials massacred Armenians.

The Armenian National Committee of Michigan worked to help promote the lecture within the community and also helped to sell books during the event. Following the event, ANC chair Narses Gedigian commented: “This was a great opportunity to hear not only Robert Fisk speak, but to collaborate with the University as well as other organizations there. We look forward to organizing more events with these groups in the future.”

As one of the world's best known journalists through his distinguished work as Middle East correspondent for the UK based The Independent, Robert Fisk has informed the world about the Armenian Genocide more widely and thoroughly than any other journalist. In his latest book, The Great War for Civilization, Fisk dedicates an entire chapter to the Armenian Genocide, which he titles “The First Holocaust.” He provides the historical details of the genocide, reveals interviews with survivors in Lebanon and decries the Turkish and U.S. governments’ complicity in denying the genocide today.

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.

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