Justice Organizations and Activists Call on Biden to Recognize the Armenian Genocide

by Staff

April 24th is the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide that saw over 1.5 million Armenians, Assyrians & Pontic Greeks killed from 1915–1923 and displaced from their homeland. This marked a foundational moment in the making of the modern Middle East, that is often erased by scholars and organizers in the West. There are 10-15 million Armenians and Assyrians who continue to live in forced diaspora around the world today because of these events. The government of Turkey and the government of the United States historically have claimed the Genocide never happened and work together to deny these atrocities. Thanks to generations of community organizing, the US House and Senate finally passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 2019. Now it is up to President Biden to make recognition of the Armenian Genocide official U.S. policy.

Letter to President Biden: 

We, the undersigned justice organizations and organizers, call on President Joseph R. Biden to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide this year in his annual address on April 24th. 

Armenian-American community organizers have been calling on the United States to be on the right side of history and affirm the truth of these historical crimes, for decades. As organizers for justice, dignity, and freedom we join these community calls and add our voices to them. It is time for the United States to fully recognize the Armenian Genocide as historical fact and be committed to building futures free from racism, injustice, family separation, deportation, and violence. 

We fight today against oppression and know that we have the ability to join together to struggle against these forces wherever and however they appear. No longer can the U.S. give excuses because of geopolitical interests and power, to deny justice for the Armenian Genocide and to the global diaspora that was forced into exile around the world because of it. 

Justice cannot wait. President Biden, we call on you to Recognize the Armenian Genocide. 

Signed,

Organizations 

Armenian-American Action Network

Adalah Justice Project

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

Arab American Civic Council

Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC)

Armenian Youth Federation - Western United States

Association of Raza Educators, Los Angeles

Borderlands for Equity

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Coordinating Committee on Armenian Nonviolence (CCAN)

Elmahaba Center

Electoral Justice Now

Ethnic Studies Now Coalition

Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition

Jews for Racial & Economic Justice

Jewish Voice for Peace

Justice for Muslims Collective

Majdal: Arab Community Center of San Diego

Malcom X Grassroots Movement

MuslimGirl

Muslim Student Association West (MSA West)

National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP)

Nikkei Resisters

Palestinian Youth Movement

SAYRAN

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

SGV LGBTQ+ Center

The Feminist Front

War Resisters League

Yerazad Coalition

Zoravik Collective

Individuals (Note: Organizations used for identification purposes only)

Sophia Armen, Co-Director, Armenian-American Action Network

Dr. Suzie Abajian, Co-Director, Armenian-American Action Network

Lara Kiswani, Executive Director, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC)

Sharif Zarkout, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC)

Kifah Shah, Activist

Isabella Leon-Chambers, Chair of Operations, The Feminist Front

Mejgan Afshan, Borderlands for Equity

Donna Farvard, National Iranian American Council (NIAC)

Ramah Kudaimi, Syrian-American Activist

Lydia Yousief, Elmahaba Center

Neda Maghbouleh, Professor & Author of “The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race”

Samia Assed, Human Rights Activist

Amani al-Khatahtbeh, Founder, MuslimGirl

Cassie Rubio, Co-Chair, The Feminist Front

Sanyika Bryant, Malcom X Grassroots Movement

Loubna Qutami, Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Asian American Studies

Azadeh Shashahani, Legal & Advocacy Director, Project South, past President, National Lawyers Guild

Siroun Kaloustian, Activist

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University

Shiyam Galyon, Activist

Tallie Ben-Daniel, Director of Special Projects, Jewish Voice for Peace

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Activist

Ahmad Abuznaid, Activist

Angelica Isai Becerra, Artist & Activist

Clarissa Bitar, Musician & Activist

Omar Offendum, Poet, Rapper & Activist

Rashad Al-Dabbagh, Arab American Civic Council

Khadijah Abdulmateen, Muslim Student Association West (MSA West)

Sarah Farouq, The Feminist Front

Dilkhwaz Ahmed, Activist

Remi Kenazi, Poet & Activist

Rafael Shimunov, Activist

Dr. John Fernandez, Coordinator, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition

Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, Ethnic Studies Now Coalition

Darakshan Raja, Co-Director, Justice for Muslims Collective

Yetvart S. Majian, Independent Scholar

Sayran B., Artist/Designer

Kenneth Rotter, SGV LGBTQ+ Center Board of Directors

Massoud Hayoun, Writer

Mohammed Khader, Policy Advisor and Political Analyst

Miya Sommers, Nikkei Resisters

Ammad Rafiqi, Kashmiri lawyer and activist

Thomas Simsarian Dolan, PhD Candidate, American Studies, George Washington University

Carene Rose Mekertichyan, Artist & Activist, Yerazad

Joel Weisel, Queer Trans-nonbinary SWANA writer and organizer

Arya Jemal, Yerazad

Kohar Avakian, Scholar at Yale University

Yasmeen Obeid, Majdal Center

Karine Eurdekian, Founder and Executive Director, Kooyrigs 501c3

Michael Kusiak, Castro Valley Unified School District Trustee

Parvin Ahmadi, Superintendent of Schools Castro Valley and Education Advocate

Nancy Kricorian, Writer and Organizer

Miya Sommers, Nikkei Resisters

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