Ajc-La Leadership Visits The Diocese

The Primate welcomed members of the Executive Committee of American Jewish Committee Los Angeles (AJC-LA) to the Headquarters of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church on Wednesday, May 18. Among AJC guests included AJC-LA President Dean Schramm, Board Member Eli Ibrahimzade, AJC Vice President and Co-Chair of the Public Policy Committee, Ira Handelman, AJC-LA Past President Fredrick S. Levin, AJC Co-Chair of Inter-religious relations Janna Weinstein Smith, and AJC-LA Director Marcie Goldstein. The AJC-LA leadership congratulated the Primate on his re-election wishing him continued success in his pastoral ministry.

His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate of the Eastern Diocese in Washington, D.C. OIA and Diocesan Legal Committee Chairman Edvin Minassian, Esq., and the Executive Director of the Western Diocese Mr. Harout Markarian participated in the meeting.

Archbishop Derderian reflected upon the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust, some of the darkest pages of history faced by the Armenian and Jewish people. Given the shared historical struggle, Archbishop Derderian urged the AJC leadership to remain steadfast in their efforts to educate people about the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.

The recent military aggression by the Azerbaijani Army was also discussed during the meeting. As stated in the international media, Israeli-made artillery were used by the Azeris to carry out hostile and aggressive military attacks against peaceful civilians living in the bordering villages of Nagorno Karabakh. Archbishop Derderian shared his concerns with the AJC-LA leadership, who in turn, pledged to the pass on the concerns of the Armenian-American community to higher levels of leadership in the Jewish Diaspora and Israel.
 
As a result of the meeting both communities pledged each other continued friendship and mutual cooperation that has existed over millennia among the two nations.