World
Kim Kardashian Israel visit hides an ugly battle over Armenian antisemitism
April 14, 2015 09:51
By, Anshel Pfeffer
2 min read
ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer
On Monday morning, US mega-celebrity Kim Kardashian together
with her husband Kanye West and their daughter, North, landed
at Ben Gurion Airport in a private jet. For many, the visit to the Holy Land by the world’s most famous Armenian is a sure sign that all is well with Armenian-Jewish relations.
But probe below the gossip articles and you will find op-eds warning about
rising antisemitism in Armenia and how the country is a member of the Axis of
Evil.
So does little Armenia have a problem with the Jews?
If the global survey published last year by the
Anti-Defamation League is anything to go by, the answer would seem to be yes.
According to the poll, 58 per cent of Armenians harbour what are described as
antisemitic views, second only in countries with a Christian majority to
Greece. On the other hand, whatever Armenians may think about Jews, the tiny
Jewish community in Yerevan seems relatively secure, suffering from only a few
acts of vandalism in recent years.
So why has the issue of Armenian antisemitism been pushed
into the spotlight?
A year ago we were hearing similar kinds of warnings, coming
from Russian sources, about “neo-Nazi” parties in Kiev preparing to carry out
pogroms. And while there are some very worrying nationalist tendencies among
some of the political groupings in Ukraine, very little of the violence was
aimed at Jews. Underlying this is a belief in some parts of the world that the
West’s deference towards the Jews is so strong that antisemitism is the best
stick with which to beat your opponent.
Since receiving independence, Armenia has been in a struggle
with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno Karabach. Both sides
have tried to drum up support for their territorial claims. Armenia also yearns
for recognition of the genocide carried out by the Turks in 1915 in which
800,000 Armenians were killed, while newly oil-rich Azerbaijan has aspirations
to be a regional power.
Israel and the Jewish diaspora play a role in the Caucasus
rivalry. For decades, the Jewish state refused to recognise the Armenian
genocide, largely due to its strategic alliance with Turkey. Under President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that alliance is over, but now the Azeris, who view
Turkey as their brother-nation, is Israel’s main source of oil and a useful friend
to have on the border of Iran.
Azerbaijan is predominantly Shia-Muslim but also largely
secular. Its overture to the West, which included
hosting a Eurovision contest in 2012, has only been partly successful. Oil
companies are eager to do business but the dismal human rights record of the
kleptocratic Aliyev family, which rules the country, has stained its image. The
Armenians have turned to the Russians and the Iranians as their patrons but as
a nascent democracy, would prefer to be embraced by the West and maintain
diplomatic relations with Israel. The country has courted US Jews, with little
success.
The Aliyevs are worried that it may be losing the PR battle
with its neighbour, and that is likely to be the reason for the rash of
articles on Armenian antisemitism, rather than a genuine concern for Jews.
