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Author Shelomo Alfassa's web site, where the insightful
articles featured on this page were taken from, offers words by Ataturk on the
home page (at the time of this writing):
“They don't let us inside... they don't give us a chance to put our case.
They forget those of the Turkish nation killed by Armenians.”
Mr. Alfassa describes himself as "a passionate lover of Judaism and
Jewish history," living in "the great Sephardic community of
Brooklyn, New York." The biography on his site further informs us that he
is an international advocate for Sephardic Jewry. Among other credits, he is
also "the Director of the U.S. Campaign for the International Rights and
Redress Campaign seeking Justice, Rights and Redress for Jews from Arab
countries." An Israeli citizen as well as an American, "Mr.
Alfassa's family is from the Island of Rhodes and Ottoman Adrianople (Edirne),
Turkey."
A second article follows, "Armenian Propaganda
Campaign Alive and Well in Jerusalem."
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Turks Unfairly Remain a Hated People
By Shelomo Alfassa
May 22, 2007
The Ottomans experienced their highest point of strength during the 16th century, as
Turkey was trampling across Europe gaining victory after victory. As the Ottoman soldiers
pushed into new areas of the continent, the Europeans increasingly became fearful of the
Turks. Yet, even after the Ottoman Empire lost its great status and became the "Sick
Man of Europe," a hatred and dread for the Turkish people remained. This was a
lingering of ethnic and religious loathing against a people of unknown background; It was
a vile revulsion by Christians against the Muslim Turks — a people that did not profess
a belief in their man-god. "The Turk is a great barbarian," stated 16th century
German humanist John Adolph Muelich. In the German language, türken ("to
Turk"), still means "to hoax, to deceive."
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Shelomo Alfassa |
The 18th and 19th centuries witnessed Christian missionary
adventurers roving the Orient probing for new victims to entice into their fold. In
addition, Western intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals traveled to Asia in search of
undiscovered ancient worlds, and throughout their voyages into Ottoman lands, wrote
profusely about the Turks — the less than human savages. In an early account about
Palestine, an American wrote that the Turkish army provides a "severe beating"
to its new soldiers, including those which were "sick." He documented that
"some of the new recruits die" and that "the whip of soft, flexible,
stinging leather, which seldom leaves the Turkish officer's hand, was never idle."
In a popular 19th century British travelogue, the Protestant author calls the Turkish
people both "savages" and "cunning misbelievers." In this same volume,
the office of the Sultan is referred to as "faithless." The author writes,
"The Turks abated nothing of the cruelty in which their race has always taken in
delight." This Christian author also uses the term "stubborn." The term stubborn
is one that was frequently used by Christians against non-Christians. It is essentially a
slur, which dictates that there is something wrong with the non-Christian for not
accepting the Christian faith. We repeatedly see the use of the word stubborn used against
the Turks, as well as the Jews for not believing in Jesus. This word has been employed by
Christian missionaries both in centuries past, as well as present. Hugh Latimer, the
chaplain to King Henry VIII wrote in one of his sermons, that the Turkish people were not
only stubborn, but he wrote, "It is a great ignominy and shame for a Christian man to
be bond and subject unto a Turk." Reformist Martin Luther himself wrote extensively
about the "Turkish problem" and considered the Turkish people "servants and
saints of the devil." Turkish people were so vilified and associated with negativity,
that the term Turk was (and is) itself used as a slur, even when not talking about Turkish
people.
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"The world must also recognize that the
Republic of Turkey, although principally a nation made up of people born into the
Muslim faith, is not an Arab nation with discordant goals and attitudes like those
that fester inside the Arab world."
The Republic of Turkey is a nation that over the past sixty years has become a truly
modern nation. And as their society seeks entrance into the European Union, it
continues to struggle because of persistent age-old negatives. For Turkey to be
viable as a member state of the EU, the civilized world must expunge old
stereotypes. The world must also recognize that the Republic of Turkey, although
principally a nation made up of people born into the Muslim faith, is not an Arab
nation with discordant goals and attitudes like those that fester inside the Arab
world. In April of 2007, when over one million Turks marched in the streets against
a potential pro-Islamic Turkish government — we were once again assured that
Turkey remains a free and modern nation.
As Turkey aims to enter the EU, the other major obstacle it faces, are claims by the
so-called Armenian genocide lobby. Because the Turks deny there was an
organized attempted genocide against the Armenians, Turkey remains a villain among
international political circles. This begs the question, why should the modern
government of the Republic of Turkey accept blame for the result of warfare between
the Ottomans and the Armenians anyway? And, since it has been established that this
was a brutal and tragic war, and that both sides suffered greatly, why are the
Armenians fostering a political claim? Even without answering these questions, the
never ending ranting by the Armenians against the savage Turks has fallen upon the
ears of the Western world and has been responded to in knee-jerk fashion. The
Armenians have not only gained the support of the Christian world, but also the main
stream Jewish establishment. Even when esteemed historians with no Ottoman or
Turkish allegiance, such as the late Prof. Stanford Shaw (UCLA), Prof. Bernard Lewis
(Princeton University), and Justin McCarthy (Univ. of Louisville), all agree that
the so-called Armenian genocide was no genocide, the Christians continue to support
their fellow Christians, and the Jews — as usual, blindly support the
self-declared victim.
It is the erroneous Jewish position that remains the saddest truth in this whole
matter. Without deep investigation or analysis, the secular Ashkenazim that make up
99% of the Jewish establishment have emotionally and completely sided with the
Armenian Christians against Turkish Muslims. If you are part of the Jewish
community, and you outwardly go against this thinking, you risk losing your
employment, being censured or risk marginalization by the bully establishment; it is
for this reason that almost no Jewish organization has visibly come out to counter
the forged claims of the Armenians. Recently, a (Jewish) US Congressman spoke at a
pro-Armenian rally in New York City, where he claimed the Jewish people "all
supported" the recognition of the alleged genocide; this was not the first time
a Congressman spoke out on the issue, nor the first time a Congressman was mistaken.
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In 1989, as Armenian lobbyists were making headway in the Congress for the US to recognize
their genocide claim, Los Angeles based Rabbi Albert Amateau (1889-1996), an orthodox
rabbi, attorney and social activist, told that as a young man in Turkey, he was mistakenly
considered a Christian because of his French name. Because of this, Armenian students felt
that they could freely discuss their membership in Armenian secret societies around him,
and openly discusse[d] their active participation in secret military exercises to prepare
themselves for military duty in their planned subversive war against the Ottoman Empire
and nation, in alliance and collaboration with Tsarist Russia. In a sworn statement,
Amateau told that he was:
…Amazed that intelligent and politically astute gentlemen, such as
Senator Robert Dole, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, and others…have been
importuned to sponsor [a] resolution without any proof of the veracity of the Armenian
claims...They have been duped to believe the Armenian allegations as true.
The Jewish establishment should not allow their communal emotions dictate their responses.
They must realize that because a group of Armenian Christians accuse Turkish Muslims of
committing genocide, it does not mean that it actually happened.
Combining a lack of knowledge of Ottoman and Balkan history with the deeply entrenched
pro-victim attitude existing on modern university campuses, allows the leftist university
professors to continue to teach that the Armenians experienced a genocide. As stated
earlier, even though there was a war between the (now long gone) Ottoman Empire and the
Armenian people — and we know it was a universal tragedy — there is no reason to blame
the government of the modern Republic of Turkey. War, is war — one side wins, and
another loses. Because there is no Sultan to defend himself against Armenian allegations,
does not mean that those allegations are now established as factual.
Western cultural arrogance combined with a limited world-view contributed toward the
initial hatred of the Turkish people, and their subsequent slanderization over the
centuries. British Professor Richard G. Cole summarized the problem in one sentence; he
wrote in 1972 that a stereotype of the Turk was, "frozen into print culture in the
late 15th and early 16th century and remained there." Today, in 2007, Christian
elitists with pro-European attitudes and a hatred for all Muslims, remain focused against
the Turkish people.
Turks do not deserve to wear the title of savage or ethnic cleanser.
Historic descriptions of the Turkish people are remarkably biased and inaccurate and
remain a blight among all decent and civilized people. Modern society must scrub away the
vestiges of a lingering harmful and unfair typecast.
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Armenian
Propaganda Campaign Alive and Well in Jerusalem
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Armenian Propaganda Campaign Alive and Well in
Jerusalem
23 September 2003
By S. Alfassa
for the Assembly of Turkish American Associations
I have just returned to the United States after spending a few months in Israel. As
many people know, the Old City of Jerusalem has been subdivided into defacto ethnic
divisions. There is the Jewish Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the very large Muslim
Quarter, and the small Armenian Quarter. The Armenian quarter is small, but it's
auspicious location allows for it to be used as a island of propaganda as the
tourists walk right through their area on the famous descent to the Western Wall
plaza.
The walls we see around the Old City were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
in the sixteenth century, roughly following the course of the walls built by the
Romans in the 2nd century. To enter the Old City there are several gate, including
the Jaffa Gate and the Zion's Gate. The Jaffa Gate lets you into a mixed Arab and
Armenian area, and the Zion's Gate lets you into the Armenian quarter proper. These
two gates, especially the latter, is a primary entrance for tourists arriving in the
Old City. Tour buses holding tourists from nations across the globe park outside the
Zion's gate, then walk their groups up the hill, through the gate Suleiman
constructed to defend the city, then walk these tourists into the arms of the
Armenian propagandists.
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Zion
Gate
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Zion's gate (Bab Nabi Daud) was built for
Sultan Suleiman in 1540 so that he may visit the Tomb of Kind David which is nearby
outside the city walls. On the stone walls which make up the gate, as well as on the
walls throughout the Armenian quarter are large white posters, entitled 'Map of the
Armenian Genocide.' They are more than an eyesore, they are revisionist history at
its finest. Measuring almost a meter long, and ¾ of a meter high printed in black
and red, these ubiquitous posters usually gather large crowds which stand reading
their misinformation. On both sides of the map (which contains cities colored with
blood-red circles) are photos of dead bodies. After tourists see these signs, which
would catch anyone's attention, they then go to the store owners, the locals, who
then get to reinforce their version of what happened during the war years of
1915-1923.
The Armenians and their church in Jerusalem act as if they were saints during the
war, equating their plight to the Jews during the Holocaust. What they don't tell
you is that witnesses saw truck loads of arms and ammunition taken out of their
churches in 1915. I quote the respected Turkish-born Albert Amateau. A descendant of
Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 and settled in the Ottoman Empire, his
grandfather later rose to hold the post of Hahambashi of Palestine. Before he died
at the age of 106, Amateau documented his personal observations in his: "Sworn
Statement of Albert J. Amateau on the allegations that Armenians suffered
"genocide" by the government of the Ottoman Empire:
"If 1.5 million Armenian lost their lives during that war,
they died as soldiers, fighting a war of their own choosing against the Ottoman
Empire which had treated them decently and benignly. They were the duped victims of
the Russians, of the Allies, and of their own Armenian leaders."
These placards proclaiming "Map of the Armenian Genocide" have been posted
for many years now, and they are replaced when they fade or occasion[al]ly are torn.
Though the posting of these signs in the Old City are illegal, they are put on with
a sticky substance which does not allow for their complete removal. The police and
the city of Jerusalem do not enforce their own sign ordinances in regards to these
illegal postings, and thus a new generation of people are getting a daily dose of
dishonesty and revisionism.
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Note: Albert Amateau's complete statement is located at sephardicstudies.org/aa3.html
(Holdwater: and also here at TAT.)
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