April: A Month for Genocide Remembrance & Prevention
Designate the month of April as Genocide Remembrance and Prevention Month
Commemorating Centennial of Ottoman Turkish Genocide of Armenians and Other Christian minorities
Dear Friends and Members of the Global Community,
We have started the petition “Barack Obama, United States Congress, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN General Assembly: Designate month of April as Genocide Awareness and Remembrance Month” and need your help to get it off the ground.
We appreciate any help with distribution and promotion of the petition. Please feel free to express your creative impulse that you might have to achieve the goal. Let’s unite to make a change!
Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Here’s the link:
http://lnk.nu/change.org/1e13f
Here’s why it’s important: The word genocide conjures fear and horror every time it is uttered. “Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of one group to another group.” This is genocide as it is defined by United Nation General Assembly in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948.
Genocide is methodical extermination and persecution. It is the deprivation of human dignity on an unimaginable scale. President Barack Obama has said that genocide is a “stain on our souls.” How can we stand for such atrocity? Yet, throughout history, we have seen this crime against humanity perpetrated over and over again: Indigenous People, African Americans, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Holocaust, Holodomor, Rape of Nanking, Herero and Namaqua of South- West Africa, Cambodian, Bosnian, Rwan1) da, Darfur… “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein The 100-year commemoration of Ottoman Turkish Genocide of Armenians, Greeks and other Christian minorities is in April, 2015. Every year, wounds are re-opened. Like so many others, the Armenian genocide is still not recognized by the international community. The world community can no longer turn a blind eye. We must not let the mistakes of the past be repeated. We must unite against all genocide. “Pain that is not transformed will be transferred to next generations.” Anonymous We have the power to promote dignity and break this shameful pattern. Let us educate one another and put an end to atrocities.
We propose:
1. To recognize April as genocide awareness month to promote public education about the devastating effects of genocides like those in Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Greece, China, Armenia, Rwanda, Germany, DR Congo, the United States and countless other countries (as was legislated in Minnesota, Texas, California, and New Hampshire states).
2. To establish April 24 in our calendars as a Remembrance Day commemorating all victims of genocide with deep commitment to prevention as a national and international holiday.
On behalf of those who are no longer with us to speak out against those atrocities, let us unite to transform our lives and open our hearts to lessons learned, to forgiveness, to empathy. Please dare to speak up. Let your voice join thousands of others. Sign the petition to reaffirm your love for humanity and peace. You can sign my petition by clicking here http://lnk.nu/change.org/1e13f. With Love, MeaningfulWorld “When one helps another, BOTH become stronger” “The healing can occur through forgiveness even in the absence of the perpetrator’s remorse, and through finding a deeper meaning in even the worst experiences, and mindfully being vigilant to prevent future Genocides.” – Dr. Ani Kalayjian (2008)