{"id":12963,"date":"2017-08-17T12:30:56","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T12:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=12963"},"modified":"2017-08-17T12:30:56","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T12:30:56","slug":"anca-glendale-demands-immediate-action-from-americana-at-brand-call-for-meeting-with-caruso-affiliated-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=12963","title":{"rendered":"Americana\u2019s Change of Heart Discussed At ANCA Glendale Press Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

(ASBAREZ) GLENDALE\u2013The Armenian National Committee of America-Glendale<\/a> chapter held a press conference at the Americana at Brand at 11 a.m. Thursday to update the community on the status of the the shopping center\u2019s refusal to provide space for an advertisement for the upcoming Armenian Genocide documentary, \u201cArchitects of Denial.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original purpose of the press conference was to announce an official boycott of the Americana at Brand and Caruso Affiliated due to their lack of sensitivity toward the Armenian-American community, their decision to reject the \u201cArchitects of Denial\u201d billboard and the claim that the billboard was \u201ctoo political.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, all that changed hours before the press conference when Caruso Affiliated Executive Vice President of Operations Jackie Levy sent a letter to ANCA-Glendale addressed to the Glendale Armenian community announcing that the Americana at Brand would allow advertising and screening of the film at no cost to the producers, ANCA-Glendale decided not to move forward with the boycott, but decided, nevertheless, to hold the press conference.<\/p>\n

Speakers included Co-Executive Producer of \u201cArchitects of Denial\u201d Dean Cain, California State Senator Anthony Portantino, Glendale Mayor Vartan Gharpetian, ANCA-Glendale Chair Artin Manoukian, former Chairman and current board member of the Armenian Bar Association Garo Ghazarian, Esq. and former Executive Director of the ANCA-Western Region (ANCA-WR) Elen Asatryan. Also in attendance were Glendale City Council members Zareh Sinanyan, Paula Devine, Vrej Agajanian and Ara Najarian, Glendale Unified School District Board Members, Armenian Youth Federation members, among other elected officials and community leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a first step in the healing process in appropriately advertising a movie about the Genocide, but it\u2019s also a lesson to all of us for why we have to continue to educate the public because the Genocide happened,\u201d Portantino said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a disputed historical fact, and California says so, and the businesses in California should be on the same page with the State of California, which appropriately recognizes the Genocide. But, it underscores that we have to continue to educate the non-Armenian community as much as possible, and that\u2019s why movies like \u2018Architects of Denial\u2019 are so important and why they need to be publicized.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like Little Armenia here, and the fact that they wouldn\u2019t let us advertise here because it was \u2018too political\u2019 is what really set us off because this is not a political issue,\u201d Cain said. \u201cGenocide is not a political issue, it\u2019s a human rights issue, it\u2019s a documented historical fact that took place. Denying it is ridiculous, and that\u2019s what they were, in a sense, doing. So, they were complicit in denying that this took place in calling it \u2018political,\u2019 and they realized the error of their ways because there was so much community and grassroots action against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

ANCA-WR<\/a> board members, interns and staff were also present at the event. ANCA-WR Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian echoed Cain\u2019s emphasis on the importance of grassroots activism as an effective way to combat genocide denial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful for our grassroots for coming out and making our collective voice heard on this issue,\u201d Hovsepian said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy that Caruso Affiliated has agreed to meet with us and has agreed to advertise the \u2018Architects of Denial\u2019 film, which is an important Armenian Genocide documentary which should be seen by everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH ASBAREZ\u2019S LIVE COVERAGE OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE
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