A Jewish strategic advisor to the US Congress is warning of a “dangerous and ungrateful” rise in antisemitism among the Armenian community in the US, which he says is taking place under Iran’s influence.
An investigation conducted by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy revealed that Armenia has the greatest number of antisemitic publications among former Soviet Union countries.
Orthodox Congressional advisor Ezra Friedlander noted that this study is “also a reflection of ingratitude; the Armenian tragedy received recognition in the US thanks to Jewish efforts – the Iranian influence over Armenia is becoming dangerous for Israel and American Jews in particular.”
”I am deeply concerned over the rise in antisemitism in Armenia. As a result of Armenia’s alliance with Iran, the Armenian people are being influenced by Iranian anti-Israel, antisemitic propaganda that strives to sour Armenian-Israeli relations through the dispersion of tired anti-Zionist cliches,” Friedlander said.
According to Friedlander, "Iran seems to be succeeding as Armenia’s national attitude is growing increasingly hostile towards the state of Israel, a stance that’s reflected in the Armenian press and in the statements made by Armenian organizations and their affiliates.”
He added: “Armenia’s antagonistic views towards Israel are moving beyond criticism of the Israeli government and are evolving into a harmful, antisemitic stance against Israel and the Jewish Community as a whole, and constitutes a danger to Israel and US Jewry.”
Friedlander called attention to the mouthpiece publication of Armenian activists in the US, the Armenian Weekly, which accuses Israel of partnering with Azerbaijan “as an attempt to ethnically cleanse the Armenians from the Karabakh region – a separatist enclave on Azerbaijani territory. The same publication claims that ‘Israeli television broadcasts repulsive Azeri propaganda against Armenia and Iran.’ Further expressions of antisemitism were written in hate articles, were Azerbaijani-Israeli relations are portrayed as similar to prostitution, while Israel is ‘blinded by the almighty dollar.’”
The senior advisor further pointed out that “the influence of Iranian propaganda is most visible among the representatives of the Armenian American representative organization, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). A Twitter post by their programs director, Alex Galitsky, that identified with the Palestinian Nakba, referred to Jews as ‘colonizers,’ who forced out Armenians. Such slurs are taken directly from Iranian propaganda material.”
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy study stated that Armenia has the greatest number of antisemitic publications among former Soviet Union countries. Researchers at the institute also state that as a result of Iranian influence, there has been an increase of vicious antisemitic activity on Armenian social networks, especially on Telegram.
“This is also a reflection of ingratitude,” Friedlander said. “The Armenian tragedy received recognition in the US thanks to the efforts of Jewish organizations and the Jewish lobby. This pervasion of Iranian antisemitic influence in Armenian publications has occurred only a short time after American Jewish leaders brought about widespread recognition of the Armenian massacre in Turkey 108 years ago, in Congress and in the American administration.”