Latest from writer Ara Baliozian

[Fadei]

Ara Baliozyan, your point of view on armenian diaspora is partly true. It's seems to be not complited Saroyan's approach of this problem. Could you send some of you translations of armenian writers?

Edited March 25, 2004 by Fadei

[Guest arabaliozian]

i read armenian but not russian.

also my computer does not have armenian letters, sorry. /ara

[Guest arabaliozian]

Thursday, March 25, 2004

*********************************

When something goes wrong in a democratic environment (9/11 is a recent case in point) there are public hearings in which all sides of the issue are examined carefully and dispassionately by a panel of experts. But when a catastrophic event like our Genocide happens, we put the blame on others and we assume our own conduct to have been beyond reproach and criticism.

Result? We learn nothing from history.

And when someone like Sarkis Izmirlian writes a book in which he catalogues and documents the blunders committed by our leadership, he is ignored.

But when an amateur historian like Peter Balakian produces a book in which he puts the blame on others, he becomes a best-seller.

Which may suggest that we value assigning blame more than acquiring wisdom.

*

It is to be noted that Turkish conduct might as well be a carbon copy of ours (or is it the other way around?): they too put the blame on others - Armenians to begin with and the machinations of the West - and they reject all responsibility for the Genocide.

Result? They continue to operate on the assumption that the only legitimate reaction to dissent is oppression and violations of human rights.

*

The opening lines of a memoir I may never write: "Allow me, gentle reader, to introduce myself. I am an Armenian who may not always think as you do perhaps because having lived my own life, I have acquired a set of experiences different from yours. Please, do not consider this fact a capital offense."

#

QUOTATIONS FROM KAREKIN NEJDEH (1886-1957)

********************************************************

The morally depraved can also voice noble principles.

*

Life is constant and endless renewal. Only the morally irresponsible refuse to understand this.

*

Without renewal, a nation dies every hour, every minute. Our political parties either don't understand this or they have no

desire to understand it.

*

A nation that fails to do what it can and must do has no right to expect foreign assistance.

*

Nations that are unwilling to defend their own interests condemn themselves to death.

*

When dealing with foreign powers and issues, our press adopts a permissive, forgiving, and subservient tone. With our own internal problems, however, it becomes arrogant, vindictive, vicious.

#

Friday, March 26, 2004

*****************************

Nobody likes to be criticized and I have at no time heard anyone say: "I deserve the criticism." Which may suggest that, most of the time, most people think they are beyond criticism. This is true of individuals as well as institutions. Hence, the necessity, popularity and prevalence of propaganda.

*

A nation that believes its propagandists and rejects its critics is a nation that values charlatanism above honesty - present company suspected. Such a nation lives on the edge of the abyss.

*

I have several faithful readers who enjoy reminding me more or less regularly that reading me is a waste of time. To them I can only say: "Thank you for reading me."

*

Never argue with someone who knows better, or is an expert on any given subject, or may well be in a position to silence you. To put it briefly: Never argue with an Armenian.

*

On first reading Oscar Wilde's confessional DE PROFUNDIS, an English critic wrote in his review: "Not so are souls laid bare." Immediately the word spread that this critic had used the words "are souls" in the sense of "assholes."

*

And speaking of puns: Whenever I point out the fact that the Armenian word "aghber" is a pun that means both "brother" and " garbage," I am told I am mistaken and I don't know what I am saying. Some even become defensive and angry, and urge me to say nothing further because I may run the risk of shattering our solidarity. The implication being that our solidarity is so fragile that it may be shattered by a single word which is not a pun but may be perceived as one by some misguided souls. May I also add that the word "aghber" is used as a derogatory term by native Armenians in reference to Armenians of the diaspora and, more particularly, refugees who repatriated after World War II.

*

Why should a beautiful word like brother be an insult, unless of course it was intended as a pun?

*

A lie and a contradiction should be exposed not hidden from view, because only when it is exposed it may be resolved.

*

The purpose of civilization, psychologists tell us, is to make the unconscious conscious. Please note that I said civilization, not syphilization.

#

Saturday, March 27, 2004

*******************************

Whenever I say Armenians are smart, adaptable, musical, no one objects. But when I say anything remotely critical, I am accused of reverse racism.

"Not all Armenians have been Ottomanized or Sovietized," a reader informs me. "It is wrong to generalize about people. Armenians are individuals and they deserve to be treated as such, especially by their own kind."

*

We know that Russians, like Germans and French, or Italians and Americans, share in common certain character traits. I suggest speaking of these national traits is not the same as engaging in racism.

*

If I generalize about Armenians it's because we are one people and we have one history and one destiny.

*

We say Turks massacred Armenians, we don't say some Turks massacred some Armenians.

*

When I say subservience is one of our national traits and that if we are not subservient to a sultan or a commissar we are subservient to a political boss, bishop or benefactor, am I being a reverse racist?

*

When Aghbalian said we are "tribal," when Raffi said "treason and betrayal are in our blood," and when Zarian said "Armenians survive by cannibalizing one another," were they engaging in reverse racism? I don't think so. It seems to me, they said these things because they valued objective assessment and analysis above flattery and chauvinist propaganda.

*

[Guest arabaliozian]

Ara Baliozyan, your point of view on armenian diaspora is partly true. It's seems to be not complited Saroyan's approach of this problem. Could you send some of you translations of armenian writers?

you will find my translations (some of them anyway) on the internet:

go to

google.com

and search for

"ara baliozian"

all of my translations will be listed there.

good luck!

if you have any problems, let me know. /ara

[Fadei]

Paron Baliozyan

Gitek es kuzenai vor duk sovoreik sirel martkants!!! Mik bajanek Hay-vat, vorovhetev.....Americatsi lav, vorovhetev....

Ete duk iskagan groghek u grumek sovorakan martkants, ov tsnvume tesnume mangutyun, heto arachi [email protected] u chka nra mech tsangutyun steghdzel zenk mart sbanel, mik bajanek nrants vat u lav ughaki gtek dzer mech en vor sirek bolorin ev vaty ev lavi hamar. Ete duk uzumek asel vor hay petutyun@ vate varve groghnery het, so hayastan@ ev bolor haer@ chen gnahatum irants arjekner@. Gitetsek orinak Russasanum Amena medz groghner@ ihaid ekan Sovety amena Boz jamanak, erb daje Parajanovin nstatsrin, Boris Pasternak@ stipvats hrajarvets Nobelyan mrtsanakits...Iharge nrank chein sirum

Bolsheviknerin u komunistnerin, baits hents ed komunistner@ nrants mech Ser@ depy Russastan... ujeghatsrin. Vahan Totoventsin gitek petker vor nran shkegh dghyakner tain parkevadrein????... Voch nran petker ughaki Hayastan@ nra vatov ev lavov. Duk chek tsnvel hayastan, duk chek tesel mangutyun hayastanum, duk dzer srty khorkum chek taktsnum hayastan...Ed amot chy, dzer nmanner@ arten shaten ov hayastani masin menak kartalov e imanum, da mer djbakhtutyunne. Che Iharge kan Martik ov chnayadz vor tsnvumen otarum, hayastani u reborning of Armenia kyank chen apsosa. U vertsrek dzes hamar mi surb orenk

KYANKUM KEKHTOT DZERKEROV CHKPNEL FIDAINERY ANUNIN1915-I U BOLORY OV PASHTPANELE, kap chuni chishten eghe te voch da urish hartse. u GITETSY ETE DU HAES DU PATKANUMES ARMYANSKI IMPERIAIN VOR@ IR POKRUTYUN@ ANTESELOV CHVAKHETSAV LINEL TEI VERCH TRUE. Isk ete du uzumes parzapes mi bokr Kaidz hanes nranov vor

TESEK HAY GROGH@ BATSAHAYTETS ES KEKHTOT HAYERY EUTYUN@ NRANK CHEN SIRUM IRENTS GROGHNERIN, NRANK ABORIGENNERY PES VAIRENIEN....EV ED MINCHEV ERB, duk shat shut kmoratsvek martkants hishoghutyunits

Edited March 27, 2004 by Fadei

[Phrygian]

Chem karcum vor ink@ kez haskana, bariz bun imastov.

[Fadei]

Na Aseler vor hayeren giti

[Guest arabaliozian]

dear friend:

i do not write to be remembered;

i write what i feel and think based on my own experiences and life.

i don't expect everyone to agree with me.

but you will be surprised how many do ...and more often than not, i repeat or rephrase what many of my own predecessors said -- Raffi, Baronian, Odian, Massikian, Charents, Bakounts (you say Pakonts?), Zarian...even Khorenatsi and Yeghishe -- our historians of the golden age.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

********************************

Men of faith don't listen. They can't listen. Neither do they argue. They prefer to preach and they preach because they need converts to dispel their own doubts. Because, according to an Italian proverb, "Even the Pope of Rome doubts his faith seven times every day." And according to Sartre, "We believe that we believe but we don't believe." In the dictionary of a man of faith the word dialogue is defined as monologue.

*

Men of faith view all men as potential converts. They have no interest in someone else's thoughts and experiences - that is to say, life.

*

To those who ask me why I refuse to answer some of my critics, I say: I ignore only men of faith or critics who speak in the name of a god that legitimizes hooliganism.

*

All men of faith view a fraction of mankind as infidels, or giaours or even infidel dogs who deserve to die or burn in eternal hellfire for the greater glory of the Almighty.

*

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against faith so long as it remains a private affair between a person and his god. But faith that is organized and becomes militant will inevitably legitimize intolerance and ultimately terror, war, and massacre.

*

All belief systems or -isms have a history. It is their historic context that defines their modes of conduct and not the words in their pious sermons.

*

Sometimes I am dismissed as a writer simply because I happen to be an Armenian writer. Who would want to be an Armenian writer in this day and age? Not that being an Armenian writer at any time throughout our millennial history has been a smart or even safe career move. Which is why I am always careful to identify myself only as a concerned citizen, the implication being: if I think as I do, there must be others (that is, concerned citizens). You may ignore me all you want, you may even silence and starve me, but you cannot ignore a fraction of the community because doing so would mean damaging the integrity of the nation.

#

Monday, March 29, 2004

******************************

Propaganda brainwashes the average citizen so thoroughly that it becomes impossible to expose its lies. Consider the difficulty we are having in our efforts to expose the lies of Turkish propaganda.

*

To those who say our own propagandists speak the truth and those who attempt to expose their lies are liars, I say: That's what I thought too, when I was ten.

*

To those who see something objectionable in comparing Armenian propaganda with its Turkish counterpart, may I cite a variant of Lenin's celebrated dictum: "A bourgeois is a bourgeois regardless of national origin." So is propaganda.

*

Propaganda promotes the interests of the ruling elite and uses the people as a means to that end. The aim of propaganda is to deceive and mislead by means of flattery and such transparent big lies and morally bankrupt notions as "the Chosen People," and "the Superior Race."

*

If the Jews (surely, one of the most victimized people in the history of mankind) and the Nazis (one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty) share the same grandiose illusion, can the rest of mankind (including ourselves) be immune?

*

Sometimes I am asked: "How do you explain the fact that there aren't too many writers who write as you do?"

My answer: Because most of them were brutally silenced in the Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Union, followed by censorship in the Diaspora. Or, if you prefer, by legal means (de jure) under criminal regimes, and de facto in the Diaspora.

*

If you are wise, you will be insulted by fools.

If you are honest, you will be hounded by charlatans.

If you promote tolerance, you will be torn to shreds by bloodthirsty fanatics.

And if you are objective, you will be buried alive by chauvinist propagandists.

#

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

**********************************

God does not compromise. Which is why men of faith divide mankind into two: believers and infidels. The same applies to our ideologues and partisans who divide their fellow Armenians into yes-men and enemies.

*

I will never forget the partisan leader who once, in my presence, assuming I too was a member of the club, said: "Our enemies, our greatest enemies, are non-partisan (chezok) Armenians…." And I thought of my father: a non-partisan and a survivor of the Genocide, a refugee who lost everything he owned twice, first time during World War I in Turkey, second time during World War II in Greece. He an enemy? He who spent most of his life trying to survive in a hostile environment? A perennial victim who harmed no one?…

*

To our bishops and bosses, disagreement means either heresy or treason. Which may explain why, consensus reached by means of compromise remains an alien concept to our leadership.

*

I welcome criticism but I don't consider insults delivered by brainwashed individuals who cannot read and understand simple sentences in the English language criticism.

*

What I find most offensive about us (and all tribal people in general) is the disparity between our rhetoric and our actions. We pretend to be smart but we behave like political morons, constantly dividing and subdividing ourselves as if the ego of our petty little sultans were more important than the survival of the nation.

*

Once in a while I am taken to task for ignoring my critics. Nonsense! Everything I write -- including commas and semi-colons - is a reply to one of them. Where would I be without my critics? Luckily, writing for Armenians means never to run out of them because every Jack S. Avanakian is a self-appointed pundit or a commissar of culture with a highly developed spirit of contradiction.

*

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

********************************

Armenia is the site of the Garden of Eden but in the original Garden people outnumbered reptiles….

*

We are better at praising the Lord than at passing the ammunition - except when the ammunition is intended for our own kind.

*

When they can't disagree with me, they accuse of me of plagiarism.

*

Like progress, patriotism can be a misleading word.

In the same way that there is the progress of a disease,

there is the patriotism of a fascist hooligan.

And then there is the patriotism of the rascal

who uses the flag to cover his nakedness.

Some of the most ardently patriotic speeches

I have been exposed to were delivered by bloodsuckers.

*

Nobody has ever won an argument with commissars because arguing with them is a one way street at the end of which stands a killer (where commissars are commissars) or a barrage of insults (where ex-commissars are hooligans).

*

If I were to echo your sentiments and thoughts,

why would you waste your time reading me?

If I were to say "Yes, sir!" to whatever

our mini-sultans and neo-commissars say,

who would have any use for another brown-noser?

[Guest arabaliozian]

Gitek es kuzenai vor duk sovoreik sirel martkants!!! ]

i love human beings;

i loathe swine!

in armenian:

ke sirem martkants baits gadem khozere!

[Fadei]

ke sirem martkants baits gadem khozere!

Hargeli Ara.

Es hamadzainem vor antaneli bane khoz mart@, baits aveli vat bane adel martun, vochte nra khozutyun@, kekhtotutyun@.

W.Saroyan

"Hishek amen mart da dzer nman mi kentanie , Adek charutyun@ u kekhtotutyun@, baits voch martkants char ev kekhtot''Portsek gtnel ain khor imast@ vor ka ais togheri mech.

Isk ete uzumek vor lriv imanak im uzadz@, khtrumem kartatsek Selingery "freny" patmutyun@. Aintegh Frenin dzer nman cher uzum hamakerpvel markants shnutyan, agahutyan u tsutsadraganutyan het... Na khortakveler depressiai mech u ira ekhpair@, mi hnaramit ev hyurahatuk derasan Zuin, asats vor, ches gtnum vor ko anverch ditoghutuun@ u karozner@ da ko egoizmne...

-Du asumes vor nrank egoizmov kutakvats tsngachoken linum tsadzr hajuykneri u anmarkainutyunen pashtum, baits che vor ko aradznele egoizm, du uzumes vor nrank darnan ko uzadzi pes...

Es havatumem vor-

"-Amen inch mer patcharove-@ntadets nran Zuin.

-Menk urodnerenk, sranov asvadze amen inch. En erku ailandakner@ vertsrin mez, sirun manuknerin, u kandakin mezanits erku urodner, vokeshnchin mez urod printsipner uprdz

Menk erku tatuirovann(nakolkanerov lih) tsigan paravi pessenk dartse, u minch kyanki verch chenk unena mi rope hangis minchev tei verchi mart@ tatoo(nakolkaev ch@) patenk..."

Abstract from Selinger"Freni".

Hnaravore aidkan hajogh chem tarkmanel kani vor tarkmanutyun@ russerenitser, baiyts imast@ vstahem pahpanadze..

Es hamadzainem amen tegh kan lav ev vat martik, baits haeri mech chka miasnutyan, hamategh gaghapar@, amen@ uni ir arandzin shaher@ vor @ gnahatume bartsre ameninchits...

Apsos vor duk aidkan lav haeren kam russeren chgitek vor anglereni pes tchgun pataskhanek...

I hope you dont find me a men who "in the name of a god that legitimizes hooliganism".

I advise you to write word God with G, vochte g.

Edited April 2, 2004 by Fadei

[chachanak]

To those who ask me why I refuse to answer some of my critics, I say: I ignore only men of faith or critics who speak in the name of a god that legitimizes hooliganism.

Dear Mr. Baliozian,

Unfortunately I have not read your books, and I'm not familiar with your work, which is something easy to fix.

However, I'd like to say, that just the fact that you got criticized by your reader, intrigued me a great deal, hence I truly believe that a writer has not reached his audience, if he hasn't successfully communicated with them by raising passion, curiosity or even anger.

I am yet to find out my reaction to your work, but one thing is certain, being criticized is one of the best rewards a writer can get.

[TS133T]

Fortunately he lives close to Toronto so you can visit him someday and read his books.

[chachanak]

Fortunately he lives close to Toronto so you can visit him someday and read his books.

I don't live in Toronto, I'm in US

[Fadei]

". Who would want to be an Armenian writer in this day and age? Not that being an Armenian writer at any time throughout our millennial history has been a smart or even safe career move. "

If you write only for prosperos career and rich future, you should be a jurnalist in "times""BBC""CNN"..., as for me real poet or writer never minde to achive big money. There are rich without it!!!

Armenia always were kept down by neigbours, partly tere wre ours foult, but it doesn't matter, so if you know "pyramid of hyuman needs" Maslo you shuldn't blame Armenia for having so few famous writers. For ex. Saroyan always used to sey "I'm armenian", ofcause he always used to add "But I don't find real reason to determine peopl by nationality

Edited April 2, 2004 by Fadei

[Fadei]

"Our revolutionaries operated on the assumption that the West would not allow the Turks to massacre us. Our revolutionaries were dead wrong. They made a mistake. We all make mistakes. But their mistake was so immense and appalling that to this day they refuse to acknowledge it because acknowledging it would shatter their infallibility." Ara Baliozyan

All of this were your words, and you are wrong totally. Why?

1. Dzer kardzikov mer dashnakner@ piti toghnain vor kekhtot Turker@ ughagi gain mer patmekan hogheri vra u mer mairerin, kurerin... Ed depkum duk tghamarkutyunits zrkvadzek.

2.

"Krvits heto mets terutyuneri nakhararutyunner@ davajanetsin Andranikin u Hayastanin, baits hayots pashtpanner@ ch@tsangatsan davajanel irenk irantas. Da hanaki ban cher. Nrank asumein:" Lav klini mahanal, kan sepakan gitaktsutyan@ tuil tal mech ktsel mez nor Kabala!!!" Sharnakel kriv@ animaster baits @ntadel@ nshanakumer varkabegel sepagan [email protected] nrank gnumein vstah inknaspanutyan, kani vor ashkharum chunein el @nkerner......

....

Ed pashtpanner@ dashnaknernein u natsinalistner@. Nrank krvumein i prkutyun hayastani u azgi, kani vor chgitein urish michotsner, inchpes karelie pashtpanel kyank@, arjanapatkutuyun@ u hairenik@. Urish dzevy chy linum ais anirav Ashkharum .Menak zenkov. Divanagetner@ chunein jamanak sbaghvel hayastani apahovutyunov. DASHNAKNERY @NTRATS TCHANABAR@ VATNER, ANKAZMAKERBVADZERER, BAITS NRANK HRCHAGAVOR,METS MARTEN U ARELEN NRANK INCH PARDAVOREIN KATAREL. U AIN HAY@ VOR ADUME NRANTS, MEGHADRUME NRANTS, KAM ANGETE, KAM EL DAVAJAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nrank tuil tvin mahatsu skhal, es gitem, da mets skhal er, BAITS DA MIAK HNARAVOR ELKNER IRAVIJAGITS. kARJ ASATS, KRIV@ NRANK(DASHNAKNER@) SHAHELEN. Hamenaindeps sagh azg@ ch@ vochinchatsav. Bnakchutyun@ aprav satsamaniki mech arants hats u jur, baits zinvorner@ mer HAKHTELEIN IRANTS KRVUM, U HAYASTAN@ DARAV ANKAKH ERKIR IR NAKHARARUTYAMP U KAGHAKAKAN PARTIAOV-DASHNAKUTYUNN.

EN TCHAKDAGRAKAN, BAITS AZNIV SKHALER, VOR@ TUIL TVETS HAYASTANIN DARNAL HAYASTAN, vochte kurderi pes, kochvor tsegh

Edited April 4, 2004 by Fadei

[Guest arabaliozian]

Sunday, April 04, 2004

******************************

A Turk massacring defenseless women and children in the name of Allah, and a faceless Armenian insulting a fellow Armenian in the name of patriotism, belong to the same species of cowardly swine. And it was Gandhi (whose compassion knew no limits) who said: “A coward does not deserve to be a member of the human race.”

*

Am I overstating my case? I wish I were! The only reason a cowardly and faceless Armenian does not massacre today is that, unlike his Turkish counterpart, he lacks the support of a friendly regime.

*

Consider what happened in our homeland in the 1930s (barely two decades after the Genocide) when this type of cowardly swine tortured and murdered some of our ablest writers, among them Axel Bakounts whose famous last words scratched on the wall of his cell were: “They are tearing me to shreds like savage beasts!”

*

Who were these “savage beasts” tearing to shreds a defenseless writer? They remain faceless and nameless to this day.

*

The Turks massacred giaours in the name of Allah. Our killers massacred their own brothers not in the name of God (they were atheists) or Country (they viewed nationalism as a bourgeois aberration), but in the name of Bolshevism. That’s the way it is with swine: they will use any excuse to kill. If it’s not Bolshevism, it will be Bullshitism.

*

Let bygones be bygones? We don’t forgive the Turks for massacring Armenians; why should we forgive and forget Armenians who massacred Armenians?

*

All nations produce their share of swine, why should we be different? Why should we pretend they don’t exist?

*

Elsewhere the one-eyed may be king among the blind. Among us, the blind, given the opportunity, will gang up against the one-eyed and tear him to shreds, all the while pretending to be patriotic heroes acting in the name of a higher principle, very much like Turks massacring defenseless women and children in the name of Allah.

[xes]

All nations produce their share of swine, why should we be different? Why should we pretend they don’t exist?

*

No one says they don't exist among us.

It's just some of us endlessly and quite obsessively bitch about it for having nothing

else to say or do, it seems.

we do get your point Ara, "armenians are the filth of the earth" worthy of

extermination or selfextermination (you decide)... it gets too boring to read you,

don't you get it.

at first, I was reading every line you posted in this forum, and now, after reading a

few lines I stop, just because it looks like an endless recycling of one obsessive

thought, over and over.

...Take some rest

Edited April 5, 2004 by xes

[Fadei]

Paron Ara "ya prekrashayu diskussiyu s vami u vas golyutsinatsii" Stanislav.P

[SAS]

Paron Ara "ya prekrashayu diskussiyu s vami u vas golyutsinatsii" Stanislav.P

Fadei,

неужели до сих пор не поняли, что Ара по-русски НЕ ПОНИМАЕТ. Так у кого были галлюцинаций?

[Fadei]

Ara govoril, chto ego komp ne schitivaet Russki, a o ne znanii Russkogo rechi eshe ne bilo. Odnako vi Sas pod etim podtekstom pitaetes' zashitit' cheloveka, kotori za vsyu svoyu jizn' tak i nichego putnogo ne napisal, a pitalsa najit sebe literaturni kapital na chesty i dostoinstve tekh lyudei, pri otsutsvii kotorikh mojet ne bilo bi ni menya, ni tebya ni mnogikh?

P.S. Poka chto ya ne videl ni strochki napisannoi im, chto on ne znaet Russkogo, tak chto ne krichi Gop Poka ne Prignul, ostin

[Karmir]

I migharelots, parzvum e, vor inq@ "Azdarar" amsagri glkhavor heghinakn e.

Aha hghum@: http://www.armenia.ru/azdarar/

[Guest arabaliozian]

Sunday, April 04, 2004

******************************

A Turk massacring defenseless women and children in the name of Allah, and a faceless Armenian insulting a fellow Armenian in the name of patriotism, belong to the same species of cowardly swine. And it was Gandhi (whose compassion knew no limits) who said: "A coward does not deserve to be a member of the human race."

*

Am I overstating my case? I wish I were! The only reason a cowardly and faceless Armenian does not massacre today is that, unlike his Turkish counterpart, he lacks the support of a friendly regime.

*

Consider what happened in our homeland in the 1930s (barely two decades after the Genocide) when this type of cowardly swine tortured and murdered some of our ablest writers, among them Axel Bakounts whose famous last words scratched on the wall of his cell were: "They are tearing me to shreds like savage beasts!"

*

Who were these "savage beasts" tearing to shreds a defenseless writer? They remain faceless and nameless to this day.

*

The Turks massacred giaours in the name of Allah. Our killers massacred their own brothers not in the name of God (they were atheists) or Country (they viewed nationalism as a bourgeois aberration), but in the name of Bolshevism. That's the way it is with swine: they will use any excuse to kill. If it's not Bolshevism, it will be Bullshitism.

*

Let bygones be bygones? We don't forgive the Turks for massacring Armenians; why should we forgive and forget Armenians who massacred Armenians?

*

All nations produce their share of swine, why should we be different? Why should we pretend they don't exist?

*

Elsewhere the one-eyed may be king among the blind. Among us, the blind, given the opportunity, will gang up against the one-eyed and tear him to shreds, all the while pretending to be patriotic heroes acting in the name of a higher principle, very much like Turks massacring defenseless women and children in the name of Allah.

#

Monday, April 05, 2004

****************************

At one time or another I have been accused of a great many aberrations, among them: ignorance, bitterness born of failure, hatred, reverse racism, intolerance, ignorance, inability to communicate and prejudice. Some of these charges may well be mud slung indiscriminately in the hope that some of it will stick.

*

Speaking of the charge that I write as I do because I am a failure as a writer, I will say this: There are a great many failures in this world. As a matter of fact, failures have outnumbered successes at all times and everywhere. If I speak as one of them, I speak in the name of the majority and what I say may well be relevant to those who wish to enhance their understanding of their fellow men. The same applies to hatred, racism, ignorance and so on.

*

Not all of us are qualified to be role models and I have at no time pretended to be one. And if we are lesser men, part of the fault may lie with our self-appointed and self-assessed role models or their total absence.

*

Some writers write to acquire new fans. I write for the opposite reason: to lose them. Because I have every reason to believe we all share a common enemy - the truth. I don't claim to have sole possession of the truth. The difference between my critics and me may be the fact that I refuse to settle for a pleasant or comfortable lie. I also refuse to believe that rejecting all lies makes me public enemy number one.

*

I don't believe in insulting even those who insult me. What I prefer to do is place their sentiments and thoughts in a historic context. If the context is offensive to some, why blame me? If I hold a mirror up to you and you don't like what you see there, why blame the mirror?

*

A final note to my critics: If I misunderstand you, I apologize. And if you misunderstand me, I apologize too. Please bear with me. I promise to do better next time - to make myself more accessible, readable, clear, concise and impossible to misunderstand. This process may entail some degree of repetition. Even then, I may fail to convince all of you. For which reason, I beg for your patience and forgiveness.

#

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

******************************

"You stress the negative," I am told again and again.

Even from a critic they want flattery. Even from a dissident they want agreement.

*

I stress the negative? So does medicine. Is it possible to speak of charlatanism in a positive light? Not everyone is a charlatan, granted. Not everyone is a crook or has cancer either. Does that mean we should shut down police stations and jails, or glorify quacks and silence doctors?

*

Ignorance is the source of all evil, Socrates believed. Combine ignorance with the crocodilian fraction of the human brain and the result will be a commissar of culture, a terrorist, and a cold-blooded killer without conscience.

*

Some of my critics speak as though most of the time most Armenians agreed with them. It is this imaginary majority that allows a fool to think he is a smartass, or a smartass to think he is wise, or a phony (whose sole contact with an educational institution is a walk by an elementary school) to pretend to have a university degree.

*

You are a writer when even those who call you unreadable continue to read you. You are on your way to achieving immortality even when those who hate you love reading you.

*

Who benefits if we don't wash our dirty linen in public? The bloodsuckers or their victims?

*

If you speak of honesty to a crook, he will call you a crook, a liar, and an enemy of the nation on the grounds that attack is the best defense.

*

If I were to choose a single sentence that sums up our present situation, it would be, "In troubled waters, scum rises to the top."

*

When a writer uses three clichés in his first paragraph, it is safe to assume that reading what follows will be a waste of time.

#

[Guest arabaliozian]

to all my russian, armenian, and anglophone critics:

thank you for reading me. / ara

[Guest arabaliozian]

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

*********************************

Every religious person believes his religion to be the only true religion. In a world where everyone is convinced to be right, I'd rather be wrong, if being right leads to arrogance and intolerance, and being wrong leads to the opposite dispositions.

*

To an Armenian writer, the alliance of a bishop or even a priest, is more valuable than the friendship of a fellow writer.

*

There is a type of reader who makes dogmatic assertions on the grounds that once upon a time when he was a child and had not yet acquired the skill to think for himself his schoolteacher or parish priest said so, and it goes without saying that both teacher and priest happen to be infallible even when they express views on subjects outside their narrow field of expertise, such as history.

*

There is also a type of dupe who repeats what he has read somewhere as if there were one and only one source of truth and that source happens to be what he has read. It doesn't even occur to him that there are as many theories or versions of the past as there are historians and to choose the version that is most agreeable to him is the least reliable criterion.

*

When it comes to God, I like to identify myself as someone who does not believe in the god of our priests. When asked if I believe in any god, including a god of my own definition, I can only say that what I don't know and don't understand about my god far exceeds what I know and understand, and I have so many doubts about the little I know that I might as well identify myself as a skeptic, an agnostic, or a non-believer, provided this is interpreted only as an expression of my own inadequacy.

*

It is the height of arrogance and ignorance to claim that a man, any man, is in a position to know God or to understand Him and to be qualified or authorized to speak in His name.

*

#

Thursday, April 08, 2004

**********************************

To those who accuse me of hating Armenians I say: Take a good look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: "Am I lovable?" I am not suggesting you are hateful, only asking what if? Because if you are in fact hateful, why put the blame on me? Why not shoulder part of the responsibility?

*

The Arabs today refuse to be dominated by the Americans. And yet, we allowed the Turks to dominate us for six centuries. You may now consider the kind of havoc this historic fact wrought on our collective character, image, and worldview.

*

I count among my acquaintances gifted writers who after an unpleasant experience with an unfriendly Armenian critic, they gave up in disgust, they quit, they walked out on the community, the nation, and their identity as if every Armenian were a bastard.

*

"Keep buggering on!" and "Don't let the bastards grind you down!" are two popular English slogans.

*

We brag about survival and the Anglo-Saxons brag about their world conquest. As I see it, we either brag about survival or humble ourselves about our high death rate.

*

Bragging might as well be synonymous with asserting superiority; and superior people don't feel the need to learn and do better - why fix what ain't broken? Which is why they keep repeating history and making the same mistake over and over again.

*

The Melkonian School in Cyprus is closing down and selling out. One possible reason: its name is Melkonian rather than Manoogian.

#

Friday, April 09, 2004

****************************

Convincing a man with a closed mind to open it is the hardest thing on earth.

*

There are those who join a political party because they can't think for themselves. There are also the unprincipled, the useful idiots, and the bum-sucking riffraff who consider themselves beyond criticism on grounds of infallibility.

*

When I speak of swine I don't expect to have their affection.

*

I ignore critics who try to make me the central issue of their criticism, as if my own failures and problems were more important than the problems of the community and the failures of our leadership. I cannot be the problem if only because our problems existed long before I was born. Anyone who is remotely familiar with our literature knows this. But leave it to our self-appointed and self-assessed pundits to ignore this simple fact.

*

I also ignore critics whom I consider potential commissars of culture. To them I will only say that they make me feel as though I were the luckiest man alive if only because this is not the USSR and I am not at their mercy.

*

If some day the Turks recognize the Genocide and accept their responsibility, they will have taken a step in the right direction. Sometimes we forget that our genocide is not our moral problem but theirs. This may explain why Saroyan felt sorry for them.

*

Recycled crap is not conducive to dialogue

and recycled Armenian crap is no exception.

#

Saturday, April 10, 2004

*******************************

Brendan Behan: "Why do I ridicule my country? The first duty of a writer is to let his country down." And: "The dangerous politicians are the ones who call for sacrifice and duty to one's country. They are entitled to six ounces of lead between the eyes - not in the brains, because they have none."

*

Somerset Maugham: "I know that we were the dupes of the incompetent fools who ruled the nations. I know that we were sacrificed to their vanity, their greed and their stupidity." (It is to be noted that Maugham and Churchill were good friends.)

*

Hemingway: "I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice…."

*

Our partisan editors demand that I recycle their propaganda line. Result? Even dedicated partisans find their weeklies unreadable. And then there are our dupes who have not published a single line worth reading who demand that I echo their sentiments and thoughts as if the function of a writer were to be the parrot of jackasses.

*

In one of his essays Aldous Huxley says one can learn a great deal about style by watching the movements of a cat.

I have learned a great deal by watching my fellow Armenians, not so much about style as about what not to do.

*

In his latest work of fiction titled YELLOW DOG Martin Amis speaks of "high-IQ morons." We have them too. Also low-IQ morons and single-digit hooligans who assess themselves as experts on any given subject.

*

If an Armenian hates like a Turk, can he love like a human being? What if Ottomanism is a virus that attacks the whole system rather than only isolated organs?

*

Sometimes an answer's value is dependent on where it is found: on a printed page or within us?

*

Am I a good or a bad Armenian? Frankly, I am too busy trying to be an honest human being to worry about such meaningless and undefinable labels. But I don't mind admitting that I am a marginal writer of a marginal nation most whose citizens don't read because they are too busy trying to survive in a hostile environment, which includes their own homeland.

#

[Guest arabaliozian]

Sunday, April 11, 2004

*****************************

In his memoirs, titled HOLLYWOOD ANIMAL, Joe Eszterhas writes: "A few blocks south of us was a ramshackle little seafront house where William Saroyan once lived, collecting stones. So many stones that when he moved away, he needed two houses to store them."

*

One reason I prefer to emphasize Armenian blunders as opposed to Turkish crimes is that, if we remind ourselves of our own blunders, we may be less prone to repeat them. Whether the Turks will ever learn that killing innocent civilians or violating their fundamental human rights is wrong is up to them. I for one do not care to make a contribution to their moral progress.

*

Besides, by reminding ourselves constantly of the massacres, we may succeed only in reinforcing our image as perennial victims - and victims not only of our enemies and "friends" (like the Great Powers"), but also of our own incompetent and corrupt leadership.

*

We think of miracles as events. We could also think of them as non-events - things that don't happen. Consider the fact that so far we have not been hit by a giant asteroid or drowned in a tsunami or buried beneath the ashes of a volcano. Consider also the number of terminal diseases that we have avoided so far, not to say the drunk drivers, the crazed terrorists, or the deranged serial killers….

*

The Jews have a special prayer for such non-event miracles, one of them being: "Thank you Lord for making me a man rather than a woman." This prayer may well have been a contributing factor to the American feminist movement masterminded (mistressminded?) mostly by JAPs (Jewish American Princesses).

*

May I confess that not being a chauvinist, I have at no time thanked the Lord for making me an Armenian, but perhaps you have….

*

Monday, April 12, 2004

*****************************

When it comes to understanding the past, one of the worst mistakes a Turk can make is to read only Turkish historians. The same applies to all nations.

*

When two nations use the past as a source of documenting unsettled scores, it is safe to assume they have read only one side of the story. In Greece, where I was born, and in Italy, where I completed my education, I was taught two irreconcilable versions of the same events.

*

I have never read a Turkish historian myself but I have read several non-Armenian sources and I have learned more from them not because odar historians know and understand more but because they have no interest in settling scores and in emphasizing the interests of one side at the expense of the other.

*

It would be relatively easy to establish permanent peace on earth if nationalist historians were labeled as enemies of the people and promoters of prejudice, hatred, and war.

*

Armenian anti-Semitism is as repellent to me as Turkish anti-Armenianism.

*

Readers who accuse me of repeating myself are probably the kind of people who go to church every Sunday in the hope that the sermon will be in favor of sin for a change.

*

One reason I don't always read and reply to my critics is that it is a formidable challenge confronting a hostile chorus of pundits. As a concerned citizen I am more than willing to admit error. Why bother arguing the point? Who has ever won an argument with a commissar, a bishop, a mullah, a Jehovah's Witness, a partisan, or for that matter, a self-appointed Armenian pundit or a stone wall?

*

In their recently published OCCIDENTALISM: THE WEST IN THE EYES OF ITS ENEMIES, Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit write that, to a brainwashed Muslim, a city like New York, London, and Paris is seen as "a zoo of depraved animals consumed by lust." Which is why I feel justified in asserting that Armenian pro-Arabism might as well be synonymous with pro-Jihadism, pro-terrorism, anti-giaourism, and inevitably, pro-Ottomanism. Raffi was right when he observed: "Treason and betrayal are in our blood."

#

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

*******************************

Do you want to make a contribution to the welfare of the community? Be honest. Be objective. Leave propaganda to the politicians. And leave the massacres to the partisans, academics, and lawyers, all of whom are amply compensated for their work.

*

And speaking of compensation: next time you receive a "panchoonie" letter (with the inevitable final line that says: "mi kich pogh oughargetsek" = send us a little money) ask yourself if in the past this particular organization has been accountable. If the answer is no, demand accountability. Don't be afraid to ask questions, such as: How much of your contribution will go to administrative costs? Accountability is not an ugly word. It is, as a matter of fact, a beautiful word.

*

Ignore an Armenian who knows how to sermonize and speechify but doesn't know how to listen.

*

If you observe any irregularity, spread the word, share it with friends, write a letter to the editor. Remember, sunshine is the best disinfectant.

*

All nations produce their share of parasites and we are no exception. Reserve your sympathies for their victims.

*

One reason I reject all claims of moral superiority

is that it is an illusion. To those who say, if it is an illusion,

surely, it is a harmless one; I say, there is no such thing as a harmless illusion. All illusions are harmful if only because

they distort and sometimes even obstruct our understanding of reality. Because if we are morally superior,

it means we must also be nearer to God,

and with Him on our side we can safely assume

to be less vulnerable to the enemy.

But history, reality, and even the scriptures seem to suggest that the Good Lord does not favor those who rely too much on Him and less on themselves.

#

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

*********************************

Historians may not agree on much but they are unanimous on this: no matter how much we know about the past, we will never know everything. Which means that our understanding of history is based on partial ignorance. The question is: What if what we don't know exceeds what we know? What if our ignorance covers a larger area than our knowledge?

*

Last night, on TV, when asked to apologize for 9/11, Bush put the blame squarely on Osama. I was reminded of our revolutionaries who blame 1915 on the Turks.

*

Though more than willing to admit fallibility in general and in the abstract, politicians hate to admit specific failures and blunders. And history repeats itself because they refuse to learn. Think of Nixon and Watergate. Think of Clinton and Monica. By refusing to plead guilty on a minor charge, they paid a disproportionately heavy price.

*

I have a type of anonymous critic whose vocabulary does not go beyond four-letter words. Not all my critics are hooligans, granted. But the problem with my non-hooligan critics is that their criticisms are disguised insults, and their insults, like all insults, are recycled clichés based on hearsay. So much so that I look forward to the day when I will be demolished by a real critic. As a matter of fact, when it comes to criticism, I am like the Belgian virgin during World War II. On the day the Germans occupied Belgium, she was heard saying: "When to the atrocities begin?"

*

Armenians are smart? Maybe - when it comes to selling Oriental rugs. But criticism? Don't make me laugh.