3628) Discourse Control In Genocide Studies And The Imagined Raphael Lemkin by Tal Buenos

Discourse Control In Genocide Studies And The Imagined Raphael Lemkin

Tal BUENOS
University of Utah

“We know that when Raphael Lemkin (Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, 1944) coined the term genocide, he had the massacres and deportations of 1915 in mind.” This was stated by the majority judges in the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Perinçek v. Switzerland. Their ruling was in favor of Perinçek, and yet there is something quite troubling about the confidence with which the judges thought they knew something that is not known to be true.

If careful attention is given to what kind of “knowledge” about 1915 is produced and consumed, there is plenty of room for concern that no state but Turkey would oppose the introduction of legal components to the genocide accusation regarding 1915. These judges displayed that they are informed by the controlled discourse on genocide; that history is drowned out by the genocide scholar’s ability to disseminate misleading information. This was even more the case in Switzerland. The existence of a biased and dominant field of study – genocide field of study – has demonstrably affected the perspective of these judges to the point where they think that they know something that actually is not known to be true. . .

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3614) Olympics Politics And The Abuse Of Genocide

Tal Buenos
July 25, 2016

Genocide is currently a gimmick of American soft power. A consideration of Olympics politics indicates that the term genocide is in the company of theories about mosquitos as a tool of American cultural influence on attitudes and behavior worldwide

Ever since the term genocide was first invented in Washington during World War II and promoted in New York immediately after the war, it has been largely redefined and applied according to American interests. Even though genocide is a legal term that was articulated in an international convention, its use had been dominated by American soft power for decades before judges could lay eyes on a case of it being charged in a competent tribunal. An abundance of American-produced cultural material, spread around the world by political actors who are independent of the U.S. government such as activists, entertainers, experts, journalists, lobbyists and religious leaders had affected public opinion on genocide before impartial judges could..

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3609) Making Of Genocide Memory, On Road Of Denial You Only Find Darkness, Right To Refute, Abraham Foxman, Convenient Noise On Armenian Tragedy, Difference Between Genocide And Denationalization

• The Making Of Genocide Memory , Tal Buenos
• On The Road Of Denial You Only Find Darkness, Vartan Matiossian
• The Right To Refute, Tal Buenos
• Abraham Foxman’S Good Name, Tal Buenos
• Convenient Noise On The Armenian Tragedy, By Tal Buenos
• The Difference Between Genocide And Denationalization, Tal Buenos

As the common use of the word 'genocide' became a feature in the cultural environment of New York, it was natural for some Armenian-Americans to characterize the Armenian suffering in World War I as genocide

Genocide obsession might seem like an inherent part of Armenian national memory. Currently, most Armenians are convinced that it is disrespectful or even dishonest to remember what happened to their ancestors in the final period of the Ottoman Empire without placing genocide at the center of one's thoughts and expressions. In genocide discourse, sentences are being crafted as if genocide is . . .

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3604) Review Of Armenian Studies, Special Issue: Centenary of the Armenian Resettlement 31 - 2015

ARTICLES
• A General Appraisal of the Armenian Issue Prof. Dr. Sina AKSIN
• Historiography and the Future of Multiculturalism in Europe: Perinçek v. Switzerland, Tal BUENOS
• Lawfare Against Turkey: A Case Study On Armenian Claims On Insurgencies and Ottoman Counter-Measures During the First World War , Prof Dr Sadi ÇAYCI
• From Sevres to Lausanne: The Armenian Question (1920-23)Assoc. Prof Dr Sevtap DEMIRCI
• The Armenian Forced Relocation: Putting an End to Misleading Simplifications, Maxime GAUIN
• The Rise and Fall of ASALA and Armenian Revolutionary Federation Terrorism, Assist Prof Dr Christopher GUNN
• A Century Later: Towards Turkish-Armenian Rapprochement?, Prof Dr Michael M GUNTER,
• The Malta Tribunals, Uluç GÜRKAN
• Armenian Terror During the Change in the Perception of and Reaction Towards Terrorism ,Prof Dr Birsen KARACA
• Droshak Newspaper: A Newspaper That Openly Supported Terrorism, Prof Dr Jean-Louis MATTEI
• The Perfect Ethnocide: A Review of Bas Kromhout's De Perfecte Genocide' Armand SAG
• A Look at the Perinçek v. Switzerland Case: Examination of a Lawsuit to Understand the Current State of the Armenian-Turkish Dispute And Prospective Developments, Dr Turgut Kerem TUNCEL
BOOK REVIEW
• A Lawyer's Blundering Foray Into History, Jeremy SALT . . .

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3592) Historiography And The Future Of Multiculturalism In Europe: Perinçek V. Switzerland

Historiography And The Future Of Multiculturalism In Europe: Perinçek V. Switzerland

Tal BUENOS,
PhD Candidate
University of Utah

Abstract: The case of Perinçek v. Switzerland, seen at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), serves as an indication of a civic-integration crisis in parts of Europe. Since 9/11, the academic debate on multiculturalism has become highly politicized and has shifted away from previous postcolonialist sensibilities. The significance of historiography to national identity is currently understated in the relevant studies. Similarly, even though the ECHR recently ruled in favor of Dogu Perinçek, stating that there was no pressing social need to convict him because his speech was of a historical, legal and political nature, the Court did not consider, however, whether there is a pressing social need to ask how historiographical differences due to difference of national heritage stifle civil integration in Europe. The main argument in this paper is that historiographical adjustments toward a harmonious consolidation of historical narratives among groups of different national and ethnic background are a prerequisite for civil integration in Europe. It is a major misconception to think that multiculturalism is the reason for the failing integration of Muslims in Europe, while there are in existence irreconcilable narratives of national and religious history that are foundational in the formation of group identity. The conflicting characterizations of the events in 1915-16 provide a major example of this challenge.

Keywords: Perinçek v. Switzerland case, European Court of Human Rights, multiculturalism, integration, historiography . . .

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3581) Buenos, Naidoo, Gauin, Salt, Kirlikovali, Sassounian, Aya, Walsh, Demirmen, Cheterian - 01Dec2015

1. Video: Tal Buenos Interview on Turkey-Armenia 100th Anniversary , Anand Naidoo
2. Russia Using the ‘Armenian Card’ , Turgut Kerem Tuncel
3. Robert Fisk, Between Francophobia And Turkophobia ,Maxime Gauin
4. ECHR Confirms Freedom Of Expression In Armenian Case , Jeremy Salt
5. The New Revenge Of Law On Politics , Maxime Gauin
6. ECHR Grand Chamber Verdict Of October 15, 2015 : Pros & Cons , Ergun Kirlikovali,
7. Top European Court’s Decision Should Make Pope Francis Blush, Ferruh Demirmen
8. The Puppet Pope , Tal Buenos
9. To Ban Genocide Denial, Court Incites Armenians to Commit Violence, Harut Sassounian
10. Counter Comments for Harut Sassunian by Sukru Server Aya
11. The European Court of Human Rights Violates My Rights , Vicken Cheterian
12. Cheterian on EHCR human rights Response by Sukru Aya
13. Amal And The Armenians: The Power To Attract, Tal Buenos
14. Dadrian: An Armenian Name In An American Game , Tal Buenos
15. The Neocolonialist Tactics Of The New York Times, Tal Buenos
16. Were The Armenians ‘Über-Jews’? By Dr Pat Walsh
17. Our “Genocidal” Allies (Again) By Dr Pat Walsh
18. James Bryce – A Fatal Philanthropist Dr Pat Walsh
19. Armenian Spin Machine: Peddling a Humiliating Defeat as Victory, Ferruh Demirmen

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3549) Genesis Of The Genocide Accusation / The Armenian Issue And The Public Figure Effect

Genesis Of The Genocide Accusation

The Armenian Issue And The Public Figure Effect

by Tal Buenos . . .

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3533) US Government Has Given Turkey A False Sense Of Cooperation On The Genocide Accusations For Years - How the US government ‘nudges’ its Armenians

Soft Power, Samantha Power And Soft Intellectuals
Tal Buenos*

While using the Armenian issue as a political leverage against Turkey, the U.S. government has given Turkey a false sense of cooperation on the genocide accusations for years

Power considerations explain the lingering genocide accusation campaign against Turkey. In international relations, power means the ability to get another state to do what it otherwise would not do. From the perspective of the U.S., how does it try to get Turkey to do things that Turkey would otherwise not do? The fact that the U.S. and Turkey have been enjoying mutually beneficial military and economic cooperation has two clear meanings. One, it would not be rational for the U.S. to threaten Turkey through military action or economic sanctions and two, there is a strong incentive for the U.S. to find ways to maintain this high level of cooperation either through obvious rewards or through a semblance of them.. . .

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3517) The Year Of An Anglo-American Apology To Armenians And Turks

Tal Buenos

Expectations of the year 2015 have much to do with the roundness of the number of years since 1915. They also have much to do with the political purpose that the historical Ottoman-Armenian conflict serves to this day and how such purpose has guided the phenomenon that is the field of genocide study. The study of genocide in Western academia is at its core a form of American soft power that has introduced a dominant language on genocide. This language has been disseminated internationally through top-down organization and is controlled according to American interests.

. . .

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3510) "Genocide Denier Attacks Shark in Australia"

I am not a big-time barrister in London, I am not even a recording artist. This is not a gig for me. I am committed to studying facts. I am finding them.

This is my first time here in Australia.

Upon arrival yesterday, I heard some stories about sharks.

Considering the media here, I imagined how interesting it would be for a headline to read “Genocide denier attacks shark,” and

in the story the “genocide denier” would be quoted as saying “what shark?”

Israeli scholar of international politics, Tal Buenos, has taken aim at celebrity barrister, Geoffrey Robertson QC, and other media personalities who have jumped on the genocide “recognition” bandwagon.

Tal, in a recent speech over lunch to NSW Parliamentarians, in the Parliament House, called into question the accusation of genocide and denial against Turks. In a wide ranging, and well researched presentation, Tal also debunked the comparisons made between the Armenian experience and the Holocaust, and pointed at the politicisation of history that is inherent to such comparison.

The term “denier” is part of an attempt to silence any dissent on this topic, and to delegitimise any scholarly work on the topic that does not conform to the established orthodoxy. Tal drew a clear distinction between those who question whether the events of 1915-1916 could be called a genocide, and the very real menace of Holocaust denialism. Unlike Holocaust deniers – denialists in the true sense of the word – the Turkish Government is not denying the factual events.

Tal studies how the term genocide – its origin and current misuse – is tied with political purpose. Contrary to accepted wisdom, he asserts that promoting the events of 1915-1916 as a case of genocide is in fact a political game, aimed at keeping pressure on the Turkish Government.

Tal also canvassed the material facts of the events themselves. He presented a fresh, original view of what has become, at times, a tired and sterile debate.

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3490) A Piece Of China For A Piece Of Turkey

By Tal Buenos 29.09.2014

World historiography and politics have yet to catch up with post-colonial times. However, the following discovery may push further toward international recognition of political realities that are strongly linked with a history of Western imperialism: there is documentation to show that the ones who sought to tear up the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century are the same people who spoke freely of carving up China.

The crossing paths of Western imperialism in China and Turkey are exposed in a letter that was sent on May 16, 1895 to James Bryce in London from Robert Stein of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington. . . .

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3486) Many Genocides of Raphael Lemkin

by Tal Buenos *, 11.09.2014

As Raphael Lemkin's studies on the concept of 'genocide' acutely reveal, political motivations often overshadow the integrity and impartiality of academic endeavors. This fact has recurred in many case studies including the Turkish- Armenian conflict . . .

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3402) 1915 Events: Critique & Exposition Of How Facts & Falsifications Mixed Up, Stirred & Served On A Golden Platter

Buenos’ Review Of Üngör Article by Sadi Dinlenc

Tal Buenos’ review (15 Characteristics Of The Armenian Narrative by Tal Buenos of yet another historical falsification of the 1915 Events, by Ugur Ümit Üngör, titled ‘ The Armenian Genocide, 1915, is an excellent critique and exposition of how facts and falsifications mixed up, stirred and served on a golden platter, as happened many times before.

The review by Buenos clearly describes 15 points where Üngör manipulated previous writings, historical facts and ignored realities to suit his pre-determined purposes.

The important issue here is not how Buenos has literally destroyed Üngör’s article but Buenos’ 15 famous points about destortion, ignorance and falsifications common to all articles written earlier by Armenians and/or their sympathizers, including some Turkish Apologizers recently, regarding the false claims of genocide. These articles, books and brochures commonly : . . .

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3401) 15 Characteristics Of The Armenian Narrative by Tal Buenos*

 

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Related Post: 1915 Events: Critique and Exposition Of How Facts and Falsifications Mixed Up, Stirred and Served On A Golden Platter

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8 May 2013 /
Following the outpour of media material on April 24 in memory of the dreadful events of 1915, it is important to take a step back and evaluate how this reflects on the Turk.

A recently published chapter by Uğur Ümit Üngör, titled “The Armenian Genocide, 1915,” in “The Holocaust and Other Genocides: An Introduction,” edited by Maria van Haperen et al. (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012), is perfect for such an analysis. It does not introduce new aspects to the Armenian narrative of 1915. It unfolds the same story already told by scholars such as Vahakn Dadrian, Richard Hovannisian, Taner Akçam and Peter Balakian. It is not prototypical by any means; rather, it is perfectly typical. It stands out for its typicality, for being representative of the effort to strengthen the familiarity and acceptance of this Armenian narrative. Upon close inspection, one may glean certain overall characteristics of the Armenian narrative. The following 15 main characteristics point to a general theme: Turcophobia. . . .

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