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[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

You zionists have truly shown me the light. The world really WOULD be a much better place if you all returned to your homeland where you belong

It’s giving Hezbollah.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

Please read!!!!

Link to the thread.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

*reblog this please!*

Armenia Struggles to Cope with Exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia is having problems integrating over 100,000 refugees who fled Nagorno-Karabakh when Azerbaijan took control of the enclave in September 2023. Yerevan has tried to be generous, but it lacks funds and a long-term plan, leaving the displaced people exposed and facing an uncertain future.

Lusine had intended to raise her fourth child in the large, comfortable home that her family built over ten years in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave in Azerbaijan. Since the early 1990s, ethnic Armenians had controlled the area, in defiance of Baku, but in September 2023 that de facto autonomy came to an end – and Lusine’s plans along with it. When Azerbaijani troops rolled in, she quickly gathered her family and packed up everything she could carry, fleeing along with 100,000 others to seek refuge in Armenia. January found her in a teeth-chatteringly cold, half-built house lent to her by local Armenian authorities.

(Above) Lusine and her family members inside the house where all twenty of them now live. (Below) The exterior of the house, with the truck they arrived in parked out front. November 2023.

Azerbaijan’s offensive on 19 September led to the exodus of almost the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh in just a few days. The pregnant 34-year-old Lusine travelled with her children in the bed of an old construction truck. The attack had been preceded by a nine-month Azerbaijani blockade of the region that left residents undernourished, lacking medical supplies and deeply distressed. As Azerbaijani troops advanced, the de facto authorities, who had governed the region with Armenia’s support since seizing it from Azerbaijan in the 1990s, quickly surrendered. Thus ended a long, violent struggle for control of Nagorno-Karabakh that fuelled three wars in as many decades and left a legacy of mass displacement of both ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

Over 100,000 people have had to flee to Armenia since September 2023. Source: UNHCR as of 14 February 2024. Mapcreator, OSM, Copernicus.

Like other refugees, Lusine and her twenty relatives sheltering in the sparsely furnished and unpainted dwelling they now call home are too fearful to return even if they could. While a few refugees from the enclave have moved on to Russia or Europe, making a new life in Armenia is the only option for most. Lusine’s new neighbours gave them some old beds and a wobbly table; charities provided food and clothing; and the family has installed a wood stove in one room. “It is still cold, and the wood is so expensive”, Lusine said. “We had to leave in one day. And now we have nothing. What will be our future?”

A similar question faces the Armenian government. It has pledged to fully integrate Karabakh refugees – whose plight has evoked sympathy among the Armenian citizenry – but the resource and planning challenges that lie ahead are substantial.

Lusine’s family members inside the house they all share, November 2023.

A Generous Start

By most accounts, Armenia has been as generous as its resources allow with Nagorno-Karabakh’s former residents. The government registered arriving refugees and helped them find shelter in population centres rather than guiding them into refugee camps. All are eligible for Armenian citizenship, of which some have already availed themselves. Every adult has received a one-off payment of $250, followed by a $185 monthly stipend – the minimum wage in Armenia where people on average earned $668 per month in 2023 – to cover rent and basic needs. In towns throughout the country, refugees have been getting by on this support, stretching it by banding together to live with several people under one roof. But the aid has strained the state budget, and it is not clear how long Yerevan can sustain the payments. It is a huge burden for a country of some three million people, a quarter of whom were already living below the official poverty line. At least one in every 30 people now living in Armenia is a refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh – as many as the inhabitants of the country’s second-largest city, Gyumri.

Unless the government gets more funds to help it cover refugee-related costs, poverty and social frictions look set to mount. “You will start seeing real problems in three to four weeks if the government starts lacking money to cover the bills”, said an international expert who came to Armenia in the wake of the crisis, warning of a surge in homelessness. Armenians’ solidarity with refugees has been remarkable to date, but fatigue could kick in. Resentment may take root among locals if they see refugees being helped into jobs and housing that others might struggle to find, or bringing down wages, local officials and international experts said. Inadequate support for refugees now could lead to even costlier long-term social problems. “The local government would have to hire more social workers”, the head of an international humanitarian organisation said. “The same is true for police, doctors and teachers”.

Ellada, 54, has been displaced three times: from Baku as a teenager, in 2020 when Azerbaijani forces took over parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, and now. She lives in a kindergarten. November 2023.

Yerevan has sought international aid, but the amounts received have been insufficient. The European Union pledged over €17 million ($18 million) in budgetary support for Armenia’s cash payments to refugees, but disbursement of the funds has been delayed, seemingly by bureaucratic hurdles. International and local organisations, including UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, have also provided humanitarian support, but they say they are having trouble raising funds so that they can give more. In October 2023, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that the government would need $97 million to cover refugees’ essential needs through the end of March. Together, 60 international and local organisations have collected 47 per cent of this amount (which is separate from the EU’s pledge). To bridge the gap, Armenia has taken out a loan from the World Bank, and it is sounding out other international lenders as well. Armenian diaspora organisations from Europe and the U.S. are preparing to help the government organise a conference to raise additional funds from states and private donors, but no date has yet been set

To the extent Yerevan seeks funding for more than cash assistance and humanitarian aid, however, it will need to make clear what precisely it is asking donors to support. Since October, the government has been working on coordinating several programs to support longer-term integration, but it has announced no overall plan and offered no cost estimate.

Making Housing a Focus

The government says housing will be the main focus of its efforts. In September, as Karabakh residents flowed into Armenia, it moved fast to register and dispatch them to parts of the country where local authorities had housing available. But the vast majority of refugees gravitated toward the capital, despite the higher rents, thinking it would be easier to find work there. Almost half settled in Yerevan and another 30 per cent in the vicinity, where local authorities say there are far more refugees than available housing. In the town of Masis, a twenty-minute drive from the capital, many local officials had to temporarily vacate their offices so that refugees could move in. Kindergartens, libraries and schools have been repurposed as living spaces. Locals estimate that 11,500 people – almost 10 per cent of Nagorno-Karabakh’s previous Armenian population – have arrived in Masis, nearly doubling the number of residents. The former de facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh flag now flies beside Armenia’s over the town hall.

Alina, 35, at the former sports school which is now home to her and others displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. Masis, November 2023.

The Armenian government will eventually have to find places for these refugees in temporary housing to go to. Many, like Lusine and her family, have found shelter in unfinished or abandoned houses – some the vestiges of households who left the country for economic reasons. Many still have legal owners. “Some may agree to sell, but some may not”, said a municipality leader. He and officials in other regions said they were talking to private companies and wealthy individuals about donations to build new housing. In Kotayk, a central region north of Yerevan, they estimated the cost to be at least $20,000 per family to build a small house near the main town.

The entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Over 100,000 displaced Armenians fled this way last year. Now, it is barely used. November 2023.

There are cheaper options in sparsely populated regions – though few refugees want them. Vardenis, which borders Azerbaijan, is cheapest of all, with a village house ready to move into going for some $5,000. But one reason the prices are low is that, over the past three years, it has become the most dangerous area along the border, with frequent skirmishes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries. Many residents have already left, and many more are eager to sell their homes and relocate. Among people from Nagorno-Karabakh, still suffering from the trauma of forced displacement, Vardenis is hardly a draw. “Refugees would get off the buses halfway when they learned the government was sending them to Vardenis”, said a town official. “No one wanted to live at gunpoint again”. Some 800 Karabakh Armenians have arrived in the region, only a tenth of the number local officials had made plans for. “These are the poorest, who had no choice”, a humanitarian worker said.

Samvel, 53, has been displaced twice. He now lives in Sotk, just outside Vardenis, in a border area which is encircled by military positions. December 2023.

State housing policy is set to change in March, with rent subsidies shrinking in favour of longer-term support for buying or building homes. In the coming weeks, the government is planning to offer around $7,400 per person to each family with more than two children to buy or build a house. The aim is for refugees to put down roots in one place, an official said. It remains unclear what other subsidies the other refugees will continue receiving and for how much longer. While the new policy may help refugees find more stable and sustainable housing solutions, municipal leaders are steeling themselves for a new crisis if rent support dwindles.

The Employment Challenge

As concerns employment, the government and civil society made quick first moves. In January, Yerevan began a special support project offering to reimburse companies paying refugee salaries for a certain period, in the hope that the firms would extend this arrangement into longer regular contracts. Over 5,000 Karabakh Armenians started working in their first six months in Armenia, official data shows. “The main question is how many will retain these jobs”, an Armenian businessman said. “I bet the numbers will be small”. Some locals organised job fairs for Karabakh Armenians. At one of these events, held at Yerevan’s main university, company representatives met with a group of job seekers, predominantly men – a scene consistent with the gender employment gap among this population. Tigran, a taxi company representative, brandished a list of over twenty refugees he had interviewed for drivers’ jobs. The bespectacled 21-year-old, who himself fled Nagorno-Karabakh in September, has been managing cab drivers for several weeks. “The main thing is to stop thinking we are refugees”, he said. “Armenia is not foreign to us. We must start a new life here”.

But it will be a long road for all the displaced people who want jobs to find them. At best, it will take an estimated ten to twenty years, according to an independent economists’ report for the government that Crisis Group has seen. That could undo some of the progress Armenia has made in tackling joblessness as the economy has grown in the past five years, raising unemployment from its current level of 11 per cent to 15-17 per cent. The above-referenced report calls for an ambitious plan to create up to 25,000 new jobs and reskill up to 4,000 people in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, construction and retail. Without these measures, it suggests, thousands of displaced families may be compelled to flee once again. (Russia is a major destination for Armenian workers who send remittances home and over 6,400 people from Karabakh have already moved there, Armenian officials say.)

Some foreign development experts agree on the need to think big. They have recommended to the government tax breaks and special projects to attract job-generating investments in construction and infrastructure. A Western development agency representative suggested that Armenian diaspora groups in the West could act as liaisons to get major U.S. and European construction and other companies to establish offices in those Armenian regions hosting significant refugee populations. In the past, successful Armenian émigrés have invested in Armenia, helping generate jobs and provide communities an economic boost, especially in places distant from the capital. The government should look for ways to collaborate again with the diaspora in support of the new wave of refugees.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable

Not all the Karabakh refugees will be able to work. The new arrivals include 30,000 children and 18,000 people aged over 65, according to the UNHCR. There are also several thousand disabled people. Men with missing limbs, from war injuries and landmine explosions, are a not-infrequent sight in areas where Karabakh refugees have moved. Stepan, 49, sleeps on an iron bed in the corridor of a kindergarten, where renovations were halted to accommodate dozens of refugees. He lost his right hand and left eye during the first war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s but nevertheless cares for an elderly aunt. They get by on his wife’s meagre salary from a cleaning job at a school, but they have received a notice telling them to vacate the kindergarten in March. “I don’t want to think about the future”, Stepan said. “We have nowhere to go. Here, I am nobody. Who will help us?”

Samvel, 53, has been displaced twice. He now lives in Sotk, just outside Vardenis, in a border area which is encircled by military positions. December 2023.

Armenia should expand existing support programs to ensure that disabled people have the support that they require. Armenian non-governmental organisations say around 9,000 people with disabilities lived in Nagorno-Karabakh before the 2020 war, but only about 2,000 had officially registered as persons with disabilities upon arrival in Armenia. State institutions caring for elderly and disabled people have seen a 25 per cent rise in residents since the refugee crisis, said Mushegh Hovsepyan, who heads an NGO called Disability Rights Agenda. Arpenik, 84, is waiting for a spot in one such care facility. At first, she stayed back when people began fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. “I got worried when I stopped hearing even the sounds of dogs barking”, she said. She stopped a passing Azerbaijani police car, which took her to the Armenian border, where she found temporary housing. “I’ve lived such a long life, all of it in one place”, Arpenik said. “If only I could have a bit more certainty about where I will spend the last days of my life”. The Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner has urged Armenia to accelerate reforms that will help people with special needs to stay at home rather than move into institutions where possible.

People who feel stigmatised by their special needs in light of prevalent social norms – such as those with HIV or drug addiction – face even greater challenges. Armenian NGOs spent over a month tracking down over 100 people among displaced Karabakh Armenians, who were previously in databases to receive HIV medications. Even then, some placed in sports halls and other collective centres refused treatment, fearing their neighbours would find out and make them outcasts, said Zhenya Mailyan, head of the NGO Real World, Real People. For drug addicts, she said, Armenia runs a special treatment program, but it is available for free to only a handful – around 600 people – and getting help of any kind outside Yerevan is almost impossible.

The Need for a Plan

Armenia absorbed a wave of refugees from the Karabakh fighting in 2020, but this challenge is far bigger. As it struggles to pull together the strands of an integration plan, Yerevan is under pressure – not only from Karabakh Armenians, who wonder what the future holds for them, but also from the citizenry and potential donors. A fully articulated plan must address housing and employment, make full partners of local authorities who will be implementing its directives, and consider the impact that it will have on the locales where it will be put into practice. In some places, bolstering service providers such as schools, police and hospitals can help meet the needs of recently arrived refugees, but well-designed programs would seek to boost support to entire communities – not just new arrivals.

Meanwhile, refugees like Lusine, grappling with their recent loss, are still coming to grips with a new and challenging reality. Her husband recently found a job building roads – albeit in another region of Armenia. “The kids still occasionally see our house in Askeran in their dreams”, Lusine said. “It will take years, probably decades, until we start living a normal life again”.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

Please reblog this!

These are testing times for Armenian-Israeli relations, but we should navigate these rough waters to harness our many shared assets.

Last week, Armenia became the 145th country to recognize the state of Palestine – even as Israel continues its difficult fight against Hamas in Gaza. Last year, Armenians suffered a terrible ethnic cleansing at the hands of Azerbaijan, which was armed to a significant degree by Israel. You’d think two nations are at odds – and indeed a Jerusalem Post editorial presented things that way. But look beneath the surface and a different story appears.

There is a deep sense of shared history, affinity, and like-mindedness between Armenia and Israel, which endures despite Israel’s military dealings with Azerbaijan and Turkey. There is no underlying antisemitism in Armenia, just as there is no inherent Armenophobia in Israel. Both nations have faced persecution and genocide, defining themselves not territorially but through a duality that exposes them to tough choices during international crises.

These are testing times for Armenian-Israeli relations, but we should navigate these rough waters to harness our many shared assets. Our global communities collaborate in combating extremism and in developing innovations, such as vaccines created at Moderna, a company with Armenian roots. The significant Israeli-Armenian community can serve as a bridge for mutual understanding and cooperation. There is also a growing Jewish community in Armenia, consisting of Russian and Ukrainian citizens who have fled hostility and military drafts. Many of them are contemplating settling down in welcoming Armenia and starting their new lives.

Strategically, Armenia is undergoing a dramatic geopolitical reorientation, moving closer to the United States and contemplating EU membership while joining regional integration and transport projects that will shape the future Eurasian trade. Israel should consider supporting US policies in this region to help Armenia strengthen its democratic institutions and contribute to reshaping its security strategies. This cooperation will enhance both countries' footprints in the region and beyond, including in India and the Gulf states.

So why did Armenia recognize Palestine?

This recognition came after decades of similar acknowledgments by former Soviet and Warsaw block countries, all of Armenia’s neighbors, and several EU member states. While this move may seem ill-timed, especially for those who have long advocated for closer ties with Israel, it is essential to understand the underlying principles guiding Armenia's decision.

Armenia emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Empire as an independent nation in a challenging and hostile neighborhood. Historically, Armenia has struggled to ensure its survival and preserve its distinct identity as a representative of Western civilization in the Middle East. Poor in resources and militarily outpowered by regional rivals, Armenia has heavily relied on international legitimacy - the right to self-determination, the prevention of genocide, and the non-use of force in disputes as cornerstones of its foreign policy.

Last September, Azerbaijan attacked and invaded the ethnic Armenian-populated enclave of Artsakh, ending the self-government which had been in place since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and indeed was in effect during the communist period and indeed was in effect during the communist period and before. Heavily reliant on Israeli weaponry, the Azerbaijani forces compelled the exodus of the entire population of over 120,000 people.

But the tragic even is not, despite what Israelis might suspect, the reason for the recognition of Palestine.

Rather, this had to do with the country’s self-declared obligations regarding internationally recognized self-determination cases, including Palestine, and potentially Kosovo, South Sudan, and others in the future.

The timing of Armenia's recognition of Palestine has stirred controversy both at home and in Israel. Many perceive that the act during the Gaza conflict sends wrong signals to the belligerents. If this is the case, it is a regrettable externality not anticipated by Armenian policymakers. Armenia's decision might have been influenced by powerful regional actors, highlighting her increased susceptibility to pressures from invigorated neighbors like Turkey after the 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan war.

The reaction in Israel has been particularly vehement, with media backlash and stern warnings from the Israeli MFA about potential deterioration in bilateral relations. This reaction contrasts sharply with the responses to similar recognitions by Spain, Slovenia, and Belgium. It raises the question of why Armenia's recognition is perceived as less forgivable than that of the 144 other countries.

Armenia’s recognition of Palestine aligns with its long-standing principles and should not be viewed as a detriment to future Armenian-Israeli relations. Instead, both nations to reaffirm their shared values and work towards a more stable and prosperous future together.

*once again please reblog!*

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

How sethrogansmohel felt after defending people saying Jews shouldn’t pray in Hebrew.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

I also need leftists to stop bringing Israel into this for the love of fucking God.

Literally the only reason people on here care about the second Armenian Genocide is because of Israels arms deals with Azerbaijan, which are terrible but people need to focus on the fact that Azerbaijan wants weapons to ethically cleanse Armenians.

Also the arms deal is more complicated than the simple idea that Israel is a big blood crazy meanie.

They also treat the genocide of Armenians now so wimpy and so much lesser than the do what’s happening in Gaza, that isn’t a genocide.

Don’t even get me started on the inversion of the Armenian Genocide.

Something that strikes me about the falsehood of western leftist concern for possible genocide in West Asia is the cricket chorus when it comes to Armenians.

Last year Azerbaijan expelled it's Armenian population, a successful genocide against a population living on land that has been Armenian since before there was a Roman Empire, before the conquest and colonisation by Turks when the rival Ottomans and the Safavids divided the Armenian territory as colonisers often do... And because the CSTO abandoned their treaty obligations to protect the Armenians in Artsakh they were forced to flee to National Armenia.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

People might be wondering why this is tagged with the jumblr and jewblr tags well this is why:

Our plight, our history, our genocide is being weaponized against the Jewish community, against the only Jewish country in the world.

I am Jewish as well as Armenian. I will not let some non jews or non Armenians divide our groups because they want to ride their white hero high horse.

The Armenian plight is the Armenian plight alone.

Just like any other minority we are not a piece that you can use when you want us.

You do not get to use the term “it’s like the Armenian genocide,” when your referring to anything that’s not the senseless killing of Armenians for the fact that we are Armenians. Nothing is the Armenian genocide except the Armenian genocide.

Also our plight should not be used against other people. You do not get to use our plight to dismiss that of the Jewish people, or the Palestinian people.

No minority is a piece. We are people with a plight.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

I don’t ever want to hear a word about genocide or ethnic cleansing from turkey or Qatar until they return “their” land back to the original owners.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

In case anyone needed a little reminder.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

@xclowniex, no it’s okay, you’re totally not overstepping. If you see someone hurting a minority, you have to call it out.

But also you are totally correct. The current situation with Israel, Azerbjian, and Palestine has (while not as bad as others) kinda fucked Armenians over.

At first when people knew about the situation with Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, they cared on the basis of the fact that turks are attempting to wipe us out again, but after October 7th and the west learning that Israel gave weapons to Azerbaijan which Azerbaijan used to cleanse the area, has instead of setting them on the question of why Israel or Azerbaijan would do this, it has just given them for more fuel for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people by extension.

While this not excuse the arms sells, it is a much more complicated geopolitical answer to why Israel gave arms to Azerbaijan than just “Israel is a big meanie who hates anyone that’s not Jewish.” To put it in a simple way, since Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran, Israel does to kinda threaten Iran. If Armenia shared the border with Iran we would get the weapons. It’s still a anti Armenian action but not anti Armenian in the way it would to attack an Armenian in the street.

Also there’s a bit of a difference between denying and not recognizing. Israel doesn’t recognize the Armenian genocide so that they have another war, Azerbaijan denies the Armenian genocide because they hate Armenians and want us wiped out.

Also another theory of mine is that Azerbaijan hangs there Jewish community over Israel’s head. You see Armenia has a very small Jewish community only about 500 at the very very most, but Azerbaijan the last time I saw had about 8,000 Jews in their country. So I wouldn’t past them in some form or way to hang there Jews over Israels head in some way, same way they use antisemitism in Armenia as propaganda against Armenia, which they might use to try to have better relations with Israel. But this all just my personal theory.

That’s about all I can say for now, but I would also like to add that this is also obvious for the other reason because they are acting like they’re have never been protest in Israel by Armenians and Jews against Israel not recognizing the Armenian genocide and their arms trade.

Pro palis take the names of other peoples genocide out of your mouth, level: impossible.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

The Armenian plight is the Armenian plight alone.

Just like any other minority we are not a piece that you can use when you want us.

You do not get to use the term “it’s like the Armenian genocide,” when your referring to anything that’s not the senseless killing of Armenians for the fact that we are Armenians. Nothing is the Armenian genocide except the Armenian genocide.

Also our plight should not be used against other people. You do not get to use our plight to dismiss that of the Jewish people, or the Palestinian people.

No minority is a piece. We are people with a plight.

Check reblogs!

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

More pictures of Armenian Israelis protesting in Israel.

From top left to right

1. In an undated photo members of the Armenian Jerusalesm community protest outside the Knesset, demanding Israel recognize the Armenian Genocide.

2. Protest against the contentious land deal in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalesm on June 30th 2023.

3. Jerusalesm, Israel, April 23rd, 2018. Armenians march through the Armenian Quarter from the St. James Cathedral in the Old City towards St. Gregory the Illuminator Church carrying flags and protest signs commemorating the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottomans in World War I against the Christians of Anatolia.

4. Members of the Armenian community attend a memorial march marking the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces, Jerusalem's Old City, April 23, 2015.

5. An Armenian priest walks in Jerusalem’s Old City during an event on 24 April, 2015

6. Armenians march with Armenian flags, signs, and torches from the Armenian Quarter of Old City to the Armenian Church in the German Colony, Jerusalem, as they mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, on April 23, 2015

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

Not a single ask in my inbox about having to donate to some random go fund me.

Not a single teary eyed post about Ukraine invading Russia and muh civilian casualties and muh DISPLACEMENT jshafdbjhsadb it really is No Jews No News!! lmao

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

I love hate posting.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

I don’t know this feels like antisemitism to me.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

Pro palis take the names of other peoples genocide out of your mouth, level: impossible.

[daughterofthetwopomegranates]

Photography has always been a passion of mine and I have always loved it and hope to study it so I was just wondering,