{"id":466,"date":"2024-04-16T16:28:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T23:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/?p=466"},"modified":"2024-04-16T16:28:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T23:28:29","slug":"pan-armenian-council-of-western-usa-condemns-and-urges-investigation-into-recurring-arsons-at-fresnos-historic-ararat-armenian-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/?p=466","title":{"rendered":"Pan Armenian Council of Western USA Condemns and Urges Investigation into Recurring Arsons at Fresno’s Historic Ararat Armenian Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pan Armenian Council of the Western United States (PAC-WUSA) is profoundly dismayed by and strongly condemns the recent destructive arson<\/a> at the Ararat Armenian Cemetery in Fresno, where eight trees near the cemetery\u2019s historic gates were set ablaze in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 13th. Ararat holds the distinction of being the oldest Armenian cemetery in the United States, serving as the final resting place for hundreds of Armenians since the 19th century including renowned figures<\/a> Soghomon Tehlirian and William Saroyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year on April 24th, the cemetery is purposed as a safe gathering place for the community at large to solemnly commemorate the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, during which more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically massacred and displaced from their ancestral lands by Ottoman Turks. Beyond remembering the victims, these annual gatherings also function as demonstrations, urging the global community to recognize the genocide that both Turkey and Azerbaijan actively deny to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s deeply concerning that this recent fire occurred just eleven days before Ararat Cemetery observes this year’s Armenian Genocide commemoration\u2014and more disturbingly, that it\u2019s the sixth incident of its kind since January<\/a> of this year. These repeated acts of arson have set aflame nineteen trees so far, causing significant and costly damage to the cemetery\u2019s oldest sections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ignoring this recurring pattern would be gravely irresponsible. The Pan-Armenian Council strongly urges federal, state, and Fresno’s local authorities to immediately undertake a comprehensive investigation and act decisively to apprehend the responsible culprit(s). We emphasize that the frequency, severity, and similarity of these incidents at the Ararat Armenian Cemetery necessitate a serious consideration of these crimes as deliberate acts of vandalism and hate crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listed below are the member organizations of the Pan Armenian Council of the Western United States (PAC-WUSA).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-Armenian Student Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Assembly of America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Bar Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg of North America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar) Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Educational Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Evangelical Union of North America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian General Benevolent Union, Western District<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian International Women’s Organization<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Missionary Association of America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Relief Society of Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Rights Council of America Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Society of Los Angeles \u2013 Iranahay Miutyun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Youth Association of California \u2013 Irakahay Miutyun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Youth Federation of Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society of the Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homenetmen Western USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iraqi Armenian Family Association of Los Angeles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kessab Educational Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organization of Istanbul Armenians<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service Employees International Union \u2013 Armenian Caucus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern California Armenian Democrats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tekeyan Cultural Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unified Young Armenians<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published April 16, 2024<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pan Armenian Council of the Western United States (PAC-WUSA) is profoundly dismayed by and strongly condemns the recent destructive arson at the Ararat Armenian Cemetery in Fresno, where eight trees near the cemetery\u2019s historic gates were set ablaze in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 13th. Ararat holds the distinction of being the… Read More »Pan Armenian Council of Western USA Condemns and Urges Investigation into Recurring Arsons at Fresno’s Historic Ararat Armenian Cemetery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacwusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}