Category Archives: News
Armenian Church of South West Florida Raises Funds for Children in Need
By Carole Meghreblian
FLArmenians Naples Contributor
Last month, the Armenian Church of Southwest Florida (ACSWFL) mission parish collected $1,067 as part of the Diocese’s Department of Mission Parishes food drive for children in need.
(Also on FLArmenians: Florida Mission Parish Update from ACSWFL)
The funds were donated to the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Ft. Myers, in memory of the children who were victims of anti-Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan (1988-89) and the war in Nagorno-Karabagh (1991-1994).
Meg Madzar, Campaign Project Coordinator, Harry Chapin Food Bank & Carol Meghreblian, ACSWFL Parish Council Chairwoman
The Harry Chapin Food Bank serves five counties in southwest Florida: Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee. In 2011, they distributed 15 million pounds of food and other grocery items valued at $24.9 million, to more than 160 non-profit partners who serve more than 30,000 people monthly. This is a first-time collection for the ACSWFL, and they intend to make it an annual event.
Armenian Genocide Billboards on Display in South Florida, Massachusetts
By Rosario Teixeira
Executive Director, Peace of Art, Inc.
During the month of April 2013, Peace of Art, Inc., will be displaying Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide, calling for recognition and condemnation of the genocide. Peace of Art, Inc. is a nonprofit educational organization that uses the universal language of art to address human concerns and to promote peaceful solutions to conflict. In Massachusetts, the billboards will be located in Foxboro, Watertown, and Cambridge.
(Also on FLArmenians: 98th Anniversary Armenian Genocide Commemorations in Florida)
One 10′ x 30′ digital billboard is on display now on Route 1 in Foxboro, MA, 1/4 mile south of the main entrance to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place. A second 11′ x 27′ billboard will be on display on April 1st in Watertown, on Mount Auburn Street in the heart of the Armenian community, close to the Armenian cultural centers and churches. In addition, a third 11′ x 27′ billboard will be on display on Cambridge Street, near Lechmere Station, East Cambridge. This area, with high traffic and high visibility, is the gateway between Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville.
The artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, president and founder of Peace of Art Inc., said that “with these billboards we are honoring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, calling upon the international community to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and to condemn the perpetrators. He added, “98 years have passed but the bloody hand prints of the horrible events of 1915 stained the pages of the world history, when 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives.”
The 2013 billboard depicts the bloody hand prints on the words ‘Armenian Genocide’ over a black background. Since 1996, Mr. Hejinian has been calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In 2004 Peace of Art, Inc. began to sponsor the commemorative billboards honoring the victims and calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This year’s message further calls for the condemnation of genocide.
To date, the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by over 20 countries and 43 U.S. states. However, in spite of his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide, in the last four years President Obama has failed to use the term genocide in reference to the slaughter of Armenians, which took place almost to a century ago. Once again we urge the President on his second term, to honor his first campaign promise.
The Armenian Genocide is not a matter of concern for Armenians alone but to everyone. Genocide is a crime against humanity. Without recognition and condemnation, the Armenian Genocide remains a wound that continues to bleed, under the hand prints of the culprit.
In a separate and ironically unrelated event, genocide billboards are being displayed in South Florida. Paid for by “Individuals concerned about the plight of Armenians,” and displayed in South Florida are four 14′ by 48′ Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards on heavily traveled freeways to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and to thank the countries that officially have recognized the Armenian Genocide. The billboards can be seen on I-95 in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties and on the Florida Turnpike intersection with Interstate-595. Peace of Art, Inc. is not involved in the Florida Armenian Genocide billboards.
This article originally appeared on Peace of Art, Inc. and is reprinted with the permission of the author.
CORRECTION: This story was updated Tuesday, April 23 at 2:10 pm to clarify that the Massachusetts billboards are separate and unrelated to the South Florida billboards.
University of Florida Hillel Raises Genocide Awareness
By Gillian Stoney
Alligator Contributing Writer
The opening ceremony of the “From One Witness to Another: Genocide Awareness Series” began Sunday on Bo Diddley Community Plaza at the University of Florida (UF).
The series will continue through Wednesday as UF Hillel recognizes Genocide Awareness Month.
(Also on FLArmenians: 98th Anniversary Armenian Genocide Commemorations in Florida)
Genocide is traditionally defined as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, particularly those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
Rabbi Daniel Wolnerman, of UF Hillel, lights a candle at a memorial ceremony commemorating genocide victims on Bo Diddley Community Plaza on Sunday. April is Genocide Awareness Month. Photo courtesy Tony Sadiku, Alligator
During the opening ceremony, UF students Sarah Pila, a 22-year-old psychology senior; Kimmie Klaiman, a 20-year-old economics and family, youth and community sciences senior; and Stefani Pila, a 22-year-old history major; read testimonies of survivors from the Armenian genocide, the Rwandan genocide and the Cambodian genocide. UF Hillel Rabbi Daniel Wolnerman spoke about being the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
The series is an effort to inform the community of the acts of hatred that have occurred in 43 countries, Sarah Pila said.
“I think it’s very special that here at the University of Florida, we’re able to not only acknowledge the Holocaust, which affected predominantly the Jewish population, but also able to incorporate that into the larger scheme of genocide awareness,” Wolnerman said.
Five candles were lit to commemorate the billions of deaths. White ribbons were handed out to represent people lost to genocide.
“It’s important because we always say, ‘Never again,’ and it’s still happening,” said Katie Gillen, a 21-year-old UF telecommunication senior.
This story originally appeared in the Alligator and is reprinted with the permission of the author.
Florida Armenians 