(Washington, DC, April 19, 2015) — The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) the largest umbrella group of mainstream Muslim American organizations is aware of the painful history of over 30 nations fighting for over 4 years and the loss of over 37 million lives in World War I, including those of the Armenians.

As April 24 comes near, we share the pain suffered by Armenians during this period. We also believe that any acknowledgment by religious or political leaders of the tragedy that befell Armenians should be balanced, constructive and must also recognize Turkish and Muslim suffering.
In this respect, characterizing the events of 1915 as genocide without proper investigation of these events by independent historians will not only jeopardize the establishment of a just memory pertaining to these events, but will also damage the efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.
As Americans, we are concerned about alienating a key ally, Turkey, through one-sided declarations that political and religious leaders have made on this subject. The events of 100 years ago should be based on a consensus among historians and academicians with access to archives and documents from that era.
As the only Muslim-majority member of NATO and current President of the G-20 Summit, Turkey has taken on a unique regional and global leadership role in ensuring peace and prosperity for all. Our government has been closely cooperating with the Turkish government on defeating ISIS while also alleviating the suffering of Syrian refugees.
While Muslim Americans sympathize deeply with the loss of Armenian lives in 1915, we also believe that reconciliation must take into honest account the broader human tragedy of World War I. Muslim Americans expect our leaders to act accordingly to ensure that American-Turkish strategic relations are not damaged by a one-sided interpretation of the 1915 events.

Media Contact:
Oussama Jammal
Secretary General
202-683-6557
708-288-1914
ojammal@uscmo.org

We must make sure there is a Turkish solidarity presence throughout the nation at all rallies on April 24.

We must resist Islamophobic demonization spread by the Armenians

If Armenian-American college students felt betrayed in the past day, I would not blame them. So many of them came out to support student resolutions at several universities across the country demanding divestment from the Israeli occupation. And yet, one of the largest American Palestine solidarity organizations in this country just told these students that their grandparents’ stories still need to be verified. If you do not know what I am referring to please read this statement put out by the United States Council of Muslim Organizations.

In this statement, member organizations of the USCMO, including American Muslims for Palestine, make the case that President Obama should not refer to the “events of 1915” as a genocide without further investigation. They call for a more “balanced” approach through academic consensus based on Turkish archives that Turkey refuses to open to establish a “just memory.” The statement also refers to the importance of Turkey as an ally in the fight against ISIS. What is even worst is that it was released on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the genocide.

The fact that this statement came from every major Muslim organization in America is outrageous in itself. The fact that American Muslims for Palestine signed on to this statement is doubly heinous.

How American Muslims for Palestine does not recognize the moral hypocrisy of such a denial is beyond me. Palestinians as a people have spent decades demanding the world recognize our ethnic cleansing from our homeland. For years, it was the stories of our parents and grandparents against the denial of the entirety of Israeli society. Even after the opening of Israeli state archives (that only Israeli academics had access to) confirmed what we have always known to be true, we still fight to have the Nakba and our right to return recognized. On top of all this, AMP must have forgotten that there are Armenian-Palestinians who survived this genocide.

What kind of logical acrobatics did AMP have to undertake to avoid seeing the moral hypocrisy of this statement?

To fully appreciate the self-deceit required for AMP to be a co-signor to this denial of history, one only need replace ‘Turkey’ with ‘Israel,’ ‘Armenians’ with ‘Palestinians’, ‘genocide’ with ‘ethnic-cleansing,’ and ‘ISIS’ with ‘Islamic terrorism.’ These are some of the sentences you would be reading:

‘…characterizing the events of 19(48) as (ethnic cleansing) without proper investigation of these events by independent historians will not only jeopardize the establishment of a just memory pertaining to these events, but will also damage the efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation between (Israelis) and (Palestinians).’

‘As Americans, we are concerned about alienating a key ally, (Israel)’

‘Our government has been closely cooperating with the (Israeli) government on defeating (Islamic terrorism)…’

The writers of this statement could work for the US State Department.

Thankfully, progressive Muslims, Palestinians, and solidarity activists across the country are expressing their outrage:

shameful of Muslim American orgs @CAIRNational @AMPalestine @mas_national @MLFA @icna pic.twitter.com/qx9UVNWiqc

— Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) April 19, 2015


.@AMPalestine Armenian student orgs publicly supported divestment resolution on US college campuses. You repay that with genocide denial?

— broad transcription (@lughawiyat) April 20, 2015


@UmAlMa7rama I'm especially disturbed by @AMPalestine endorsing this statement on the expense of our Armenian fam in Palestine.

— Izzaddine عز الدين (@Zaytawy) April 20, 2015


Feeling incredibly ashamed in front of my Armenian family for the statement by @CAIRNational @AMPalestine @MLFA @icna @mas_national

— Nadoosh (@UmAlMa7rama) April 20, 2015


@TheYB92 @ramahkudaimi @CAIRNational @AMPalestine @mas_national @MLFA @icna this language was mimeographed from Israel lobby boilerplate

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 19, 2015


AMP responded to this backlash and released a terribly unsatisfying statement stating that it takes “into serious consideration — without denial or alteration — charges of genocide.” Oddly enough, the statement was only released on the private Facebook account of an AMP employee and is not viewable on the AMP website:

I got to "CAIR" and all of a sudden had an overwhelming urge to take a dump.

AT UCLA, SJP got us to stand with them by claiming Israel denied the Armenian genocide- little did we know we were being manipulated and used. Little did we know that they too, denied our suffering and our history.

Disgusting and shameful. So much for their so called "solidarity"

When asked for comment, Oussama Jammal, the Secretary General of USCMO wrote, "this is a deliberated position and a collective decision. We can't please everyone. We just hope that the most recent atrocities against other people unfolding before our eyes can be raised with the same furious fervor shown by the critics."

Another useless slogan? Seriously, is that all you people have?