Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Jerusalem (Agenzia Fides) - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted a commemorative event to commemorate the centenary of the planned extermination of the Armenians which took place a century ago in Anatolia, at the presidential residence in Jerusalem.
The ceremony, on Sunday, April 26 saw the participation of representatives of the local Armenian community and President Rivlin recalled that the Armenian people were "the first victims of the modern mass murders", but avoided using the word "Genocide" to indicate the massacres that killed more than a million and 500 thousand people. This was reported by Armenian sources, such as the Armenpress website.
The choice of words by President Rivlin comes at the end of weeks of rumors and comments in which many analysts suggested the possibility of a presidential pronouncement in favor of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
"In 1915, when members of the Armenian nation were massacred - said among others, the Israeli Head of State - the residents of Jerusalem, my parents and my family members, saw thousands of Armenian refugees arrive. In Jerusalem they found shelter, and you - he added - continue to live here today. No one in Jerusalem has ever denied the massacre that took place". Now that "the fundamentalist viper again raises its repellent head" warned President Rivlin, "we must remember that evil is not an exclusive property of a single religion, as it is not an exclusive attribute of a single Country or group ethnic". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 27/04/2015)
