Yaron Weiss responds to the statement of the Rabbinical Center of Europe

Israeli activist and analyst on South Caucasus affairs Yaron Weiss responded to the recent statement issued by the Rabbinical Center of Europe on the ongoing conflict in Artsakh.

“As a grandson of Holocaust survivors, a remnant of a family that was almost completely exterminated, I condemn the cynical self-appropriation of the memory of the Holocaust victims by that group of rabbis. The tragedy of our people should have been instructing this group of rabbis about the commitment of supporting other nations who are in danger.

The government of Azerbaijan violates the agreements it signed and decrees starvation on a population of 120,000 Armenians (Including 30000 children), with the intention of wipe out the Armenian population of Artsakh. It is distressing that the CER – ‘Conference of European Rabbies’ chose to hold a conference next November in Azerbaijan, a country that is known to be a serial human rights violator, ranks 168 out of 180 on the press freedom index, persecutes LGBT, harms freedom of worship, is involved in war crimes and is now carrying out a policy of closure and starvation against the Armenian population of Artsakh.

It is important to mention that this conference of rabbis is taking place as long as the government of Azerbaijan refuses to condemn and apologize for the acts of mass murder committed during the Holocaust by the soldiers of the Azeri Legion. It is distressing that the same group of rabbis didn’t condemn in their letter the crimes of the Azeri Legion during the darkest period of history. As well as their avoidance of condemning the ongoing discriminatory attitude of the Azeri authorities against ethnic minorities and members of other religions,” Weiss noted.