11 05 2007 - Douglas Frantz Conspire to Undermine Freedom of Speech In America

(Jabarian's column)-Turkey & L.A. Times'( A. Melikian )
Turkey & L.A. Times' Douglas Frantz Conspire to
Undermine Freedom of Speech In America

By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor USA Armenian Life Magazine

During the last few years, the activists of the
Armenian Cause have accomplished noticeable progress
in internationalizing their quest for justice. Ali
Birand, the influential Turkish columnist, foresaw
this "Armenian Tsunami."

One must acknowledge that he was accurate in his
political forecast regarding the Armenians and the
Turks. However, it remains unclear whether he ever
imagined the frequency and magnitude of the victories.

Another question remains unanswered: Did he anticipate
how much the denialist Turks and their cronies would
unwittingly contribute to the furtherance of the
Armenian Cause?

One more question: Do the denialists in Ankara realize
the enormity of the blowback that their misguided
strategies are engendering? Day by day their
international standing is waning. Denial,
assassinations, bribes, threats, and boycotts have
lost their punch. The world is recognizing the real
character of Turkey.

Here are some examples of Turkey shooting herself in
the foot:
-PBS' April 2006 scheduling of the insulting panel
discussion that was to follow the airing of the
documentary "The Armenian Genocide," was cancelled in
many regions. Turkey had worked very hard to add the
insulting post-show. It backfired. To their credit,
more than 40,000 viewers showed a high level of
activism and unity. They petitioned PBS not to show
the panel. Across the United States, independent PBS
stations agreed not to air it. As a result, over 80%
of the national audience was spared from seeing the
post show discussion. Also, highly controversial
Jacoba Atlas, Vice President of PBS, who scheduled the
broadcasting of the controversial panel discussion was
eventually let go;

-The denialist leaders in Ankara conspired to insert
500,000 DVD's under the cover of "promoting tourism in
Turkey." The conniving Turkish denialism backfired.
Harut Sassounian, the Publisher of the California
Courier who had uncovered the PBS post-show, also
unmasked the Turkish ploy at TIME Europe. As a result
of the first-ever transatlantic cooperation among
Armenians and friends, TIME Europe donated a full
color, full-page ad and 550,000 DVDs featuring a
professionally acclaimed documentary on the Armenian
Genocide produced by the internationally known
European director Laurence Jourdain;

-Dogu Perincek, a Turkish political leader from
Ankara, while in Switzerland a few years ago, had
openly denied the Armenian Genocide. His was an
affront to the authority of Swiss government. Mr
Perincek was backed in his act by the denialist
Turkish leaders. Again, the denialists' act backfired.
Switzerland slapped Mr. Perincek (and his cohorts)
with a just sentence penalizing him.

The Armenian activists and friends everywhere realize
that through united efforts they can hold accountable
the key cronies of the Turkish denialists in the West.
Yesterday's infamous "hero" was Jacoba Atlas of PBS,
and today's "persona non grata" is Douglas Frantz, the
notorious denialist Managing Editor of the Los Angeles
Times.

The public fury over Frantz's discrimination against
Mark Arax continues to grow. The Armenian National
Committee of America, ANCA, a grass-roots political
action organization, has already initiated a massive
campaign by issuing an action alert against Frantz.
This fury is fueled by the awareness that Turkey and
the L.A. Times' Douglas Frantz are actively conspiring
to undermine the freedom of speech in America.

According to Sassounian, as of Monday May 8, 2007,
"more than 4,000 e-mails were sent to Hiller, O'Shea
and Managing Editor Leo Wolinsky."

Let's increase the 4,000 to tens of thousands.

Vigilance on the part of the Armenians is of utmost
importance. Armenians and for that matter the general
readership of the Los Angeles Times in Southern
California and beyond, can not afford to let Frantz
undermine freedom of expression: the bedrock of the
American Constitution.

Strategically, denialist Ankara is struggling to
create for itself a choice between two self-serving
scenarios:

a)- The Armenian victims and their descendants will
disappear, and their Cause will be "solved" i.e. will
cease to exist;

b)- If the victims do not go away, then they will be
lured into a cheap settlement: A simple lip service of
"recognition" of the Armenian Genocide by genocidal
Turkey without the returning of the Turkish-occupied
lands of Western Armenia.

The Armenians have proven them wrong and shall
continue to do so one battle at a time.

I therefore urge our readers to do one of the
following:

E-mail your protest letter to Publisher David Hiller:
David.Hiller@latimes.com and Editor Jim O'Shea:
James.Oshea@latimes.com; or

a)Type the following link on your computer web
screen's e-address field:
http://capwiz.com/anca/issues/alert/?alertid=9700496&type=CU
then follow the easy instructions; or

b)Visit: www.anca.org. Then see "Current Action
Alerts." Then click on: "*
2007-05-01 Fight Los Angeles Times Discrimination."
Next, scroll down to "What You Can Do."

V.V