More than half of Armenia’s adult population holds anti-Semitic views, reads an article “Antisemitism in Armenia: Let’s talk facts”, published in Israel’s Ynet, Report informs.
“Armenian antisemitism is real and shouldn’t be ignored. It is clear that Armenian officials are trying to distort the picture and prefer playing a double game - supporting antisemitism inside the country and pretending it doesn’t exist on the international level. However, the facts are quite clear…,” reads the article.
“During the last year, we’ve been witnessing multiple antisemitic incidents in Armenia, some of them completely ignored by the authorities. Furthermore, the level of hatred and anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish speech online has risen significantly over the past year.
Since September 2023, the only synagogue in Armenia has been the target of three consecutive arson attempts. The group behind the last two arsons, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), threatened to attack rabbis and Israelis throughout the world and praised Hamas and Hezbollah.”
“This antisemitic environment that was established in Armenia during the last year was mentioned by the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism in its official reports, while the latest one was published on September 25, 2023.
In its paper, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs pointed out that Armenians continued to exploit the Holocaust for propaganda purposes, comparing the mass murder of Jews during World War Two to the situation in Karabakh.
Earlier that month, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs noted that when a well-known Jewish organization “The Rabbinical Center in Europe” asked Armenian officials to stop exploiting the Holocaust for propaganda purposes, “on the social networks of Armenia, there was a noticeable growth of antisemitic rhetoric, which included calls for violent actions against the Jews.”
These were just several examples of Armenian antisemitism over the last year. Many more cases have been documented by various professional media assets, Israeli government institutions, and think tanks.”
