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Rena Murshud

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This year, Baku is celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, one of the most terrible pages of modern history, a tragedy perpetrated by the Armenian fascists against the civilian population of Azerbaijan.

The events in Khojaly have been recognized as a massacre in 20 US states and several states, including Israel and Pakistan. Memorials have been built in Turkiye and Germany in memory of the Khojaly tragedy.

But despite all this, the perpetrators of this tragedy have not yet been held accountable for it. This topic is still relevant today since the representatives of the French Jewish community preferred to support the Armenians, but at the same time hush up the events of the Khojaly massacre. In general, most of the rest of the world chose to support Armenia, ignoring what happened in Khojaly.

Azerbaijan has liberated Karabakh from the Armenian occupation and is even ready to live in peace with the Armenians living there. However, even when peace is achieved with Armenia, Azerbaijan will not be able to put up with this pain that has fallen on its people.

In Israel, a series of events are planned to mark the anniversary of the tragedy. With the support of the AzIz Association, the Justice for Khojaly organization, and the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora, requiem concerts will be held in the Jewish state with the participation of the famous pianist Narmin Rzayeva.

- February 26, 19.30 Kibbutz Jezreel, tel. 052-375-6323;

- February 27, 18.00 Jerusalem, st. Moshe Dayan, 135, matnas "Pisgat Zeev", tel. 054-499-8680;

- March 2, 18.30 Rishon Lezion, st. Zadal, 3, matnas "Beit ha-am", tel. 052-869-0862.

Israel has always supported Azerbaijan.

"613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children in Khojaly were killed with extreme cruelty: they were burned alive, scalped, parts of their bodies and heads were cut off, their eyes were gouged out, pregnant women's stomachs were ripped open with bayonets. Another 1,275 people were taken prisoner, and many of them were raped and subjected to the most brutal torture," Rabbi Yisrael Baruk wrote in his book Khojaly: A Crime against Humanity.

Similar to the Jewish people, Azerbaijan's history is rife with tragedy. Azerbaijan was a democratic nation and the first in the Muslim world to grant women the right to vote in 1919, one year before the United States did the same. However, Azerbaijan joined the Soviet Union in 1920. Repressions against the Azerbaijani people reached their culmination with the massacre in Black January 1990. The Khojaly massacre and the occupation of a fifth of Azerbaijani territory were outcomes of the conflict with Armenia. The US Congress and the Joe Biden administration both denounced the Azerbaijani people's recent ability to reclaim their lands.

Famous Jewish writer Elie Wiesel said: "When human lives are threatened when human dignity is threatened, national boundaries and interests become irrelevant. No matter where in the world a man or woman is persecuted for their race, religion, or political beliefs, this place should be the center of the universe."

Former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told the UN General Assembly in 2015 the following.

"On this day, we must honestly ask ourselves, is our fight, this Assembly's fight against genocide, effective enough? Was it effective enough in Bosnia? Was it effective in preventing killings in Khojaly? I am afraid that the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has remained only a symbolic document. The unprecedented challenge is not to be content with statements, but rather to continue decisive action," he said

If the international community had heeded his advice, the world would be a better place today for Azerbaijanis, Israelis, and everyone else.

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