On November 8, writer, publicist Zori Balayan presented the RA Ministry of Diaspora with 500 copies of Jewish writer Yair Auron’s book The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian Genocide, which will be distributed to Diaspora Armenian communities. RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan also took part in the book presentation.

Jewish writer Yair Auron’s main goal was to present readers with facts about the Armenian Genocide and the attitudes of the Jewish community of Palestine and leaders of Zionism towards the massive elimination of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20^th century.

Presenting Yair Auron’s book The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian Genocide, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan mentioned that even though readers had had copies of the book since the late 1990s, only this year was the Armenian version of the book released through the efforts of writer, publicist Zory Balayan.

Hranush Hakobyan stressed that the book is the best gift to all Armenians ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial since there are committees in Diaspora Armenian communities coordinating the events leading up to the Armenian Genocide Centennial that are waiting for signals from the Homeland, and this book serves as a signal.

The book is valuable because it is written in Hebrew by a representative of the Jewish nation that has experienced genocide and because the book has been translated into English and Armenian.

The minister praised Zory Balayan’s preface for the book, as well as the great design of the book by Director of Amaras Publishing House Arkadi Asryan.

Yair Auron has been studying the Armenian Genocide and has been revealing unknown facts for more than a decade. The author hoped to find facts about the world’s sympathy for the suffering of the Armenians, but instead, what he saw was the banality of indifference.

In this sense, there is a lot of work to do to present the book to the international community. Hranush Hakobyan also attached importance to the translation of the study into Turkish and Western Armenian.

“I would also like to thank Karen Baghdasarov for translating the book into Armenian and Russian and sponsoring the publication, as well as the book’s Armenian translator Anna Safaryan for the best translation,” the RA Minister of Diaspora added.

Talking about the content, Zory Balayan mentioned that the book has been distributed to libraries and military units and 50 copies have already been sent to Artsakh. Copies of the books have also been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for distribution to Armenian embassies abroad.

The writer mentioned that after the release of this book, Yair Auron continued to gather facts and already has thousands of documents related to the Armenian Genocide and the comparisons between the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide at his disposal, allowing him to publish another book.

Leader of the Jewish community of Armenia Rima Varzhapetyan assured that this publication is not enough and that there is a need to talk about the book and distribute it everywhere.

In the introduction, Yair Auron mentions that his study devoted to the Armenian Genocide was more for the Jewish people than the Armenian people. “I’m certain that by denying the genocide perpetrated against another nation, we are hurting the legacy of our own Holocaust. That’s why I had a greater desire to see the book translated in Armenian more than any other language. Now, that is a hope that has been fulfilled and even a dream that has come true.”