The Christian Post is perhaps the most neoconservative Christian media outlet, and with that it has an inability to critically process world events. Azerbaijan was recently added to the Religious Freedom Special Watch List by the State Department due to its persecution of Armenian Christians in a disputed border region. The Israeli government has played a key role in this by arming the Azerbaijani government. Recently, in response, the Armenian government recognized Palestine as a state.
Dan Harre, the Deputy Director of Save Armenia: A Judeo-Christian Alliance, decided to help the Armenian cause by highlighting how the Israelis arming the Azerbaijanis makes the latter the antisemites. In an aptly named article titled, “No, Armenia is not antisemitic. But Azerbaijan certainly is, Christian Post attempts to do what only memes can describe.
News broke last Friday that Armenia had decided to formally recognize Palestine as an independent state. This news was shocking for Armenia observers, as the decision seemed to come out of the blue. Media outlets in Azerbaijan began circulating stories about Armenia’s clear antisemitism despite the fact that Azerbaijan has recognized Palestine as an independent state since the 1990s.
It is in this context that this article was written in response.
Perhaps the most pressing question in light of the announcement is whether Armenia, the first and oldest Christian country in the world, is actually anti-Israel. While Armenia’s decision to recognize Palestine is concerning, it is important to note that it is quite literally the last country in the entire Middle East to do so, and it likely came as a result of external pressure. Armenia is an ancient biblical nation, and it most certainly does not identify with the values of radical Islam.
The Christian Post patronizes the Armenian government by stating that they are caving to foreign pressure, however, other Jewish outlets are honest in recognizing the Armenian government’s actions as retaliatory, or that the Armenian government has humanitarian concerns. But the infantilizing treatment of Armenia is also then extended to Israel for their complicity in Azerbaijan’s actions.
Armenia does have its qualms with Israel. First, it feels betrayed by the fact that Azerbaijan imports nearly 70% of its weapons from Israel. These weapons are routinely used against Armenians, including in the ethnic cleansing of 120,000 Armenian Christians from Artsakh. Additionally, while Armenia recognizes and mourns the Holocaust, Israel does not recognize the Armenian Genocide. While these matters amount to frustration, Armenians also understand that Israelis are not inherently anti-Armenian and that, like Armenians, they are trying to survive in an extremely hostile neighborhood.
While Armenians are preoccupied with fending off attacks from Azerbaijan, Israel is preoccupied with confronting the Iranian threat. In fact, the Iranian threat is the pretext for the entire Israeli-Azerbaijani relationship. Azerbaijan’s proximity to Iran has made it an important base of operations for Israeli intelligence operations against Tehran. To be clear, Azerbaijan’s relationship with Israel is a matter of geopolitical calculation and not one of religious pluralism.
Despite representing an organization tasked with caring about Armenians, Dan Harre prioritizes Armenia’s enemies instead. Israel can do no wrong where Armenians are concerned because Iran is such a threat to them. Also, the reason the Israeli government does not recognize the Armenian Holocaust might not surprise you. But these are just “qualms.”
In addition to gaining access to advanced Israeli weapons, Azerbaijan also uses its relationship with Jews to create a façade of tolerance while waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the region’s Armenian Christians. For example, following the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh that saw 120,000 Christians driven from their ancient homeland, Baku reflexively pointed to its positive relationship with Jews as evidence of its “tolerance” for religious minorities.
A deeper investigation of Azerbaijan’s relationship with Israel is one of manipulation and not genuine affinity for the Jewish people. First, as previously mentioned, Azerbaijan recognized Palestine as an independent state back in the early 1990s, 30 years before Armenia recognized Palestine. Second, according to UN Watch, Azerbaijan has a 100% anti-Israel voting record at the UN. For context, this means that Azerbaijan has voted against Israel on 153 resolutions at the UN. This is hardly the behavior of a nation that loves the Jewish people.
In a shocking twist, the Azerbaijani government is manipulating the Israeli government, per the Christian Post.
Despite Azerbaijan’s antisemitic tendencies, it knows that it can not afford to lose Israel as a strategic partner. To that effect, it works diligently to paint its chief rival, Armenia, as being antisemitic in order to isolate Yerevan from Israel. Shortly after Armenia announced that it would recognize Palestine, Azerbaijani went on a media blitz to tout its support for the Jewish people and decry Armenia’s supposed antisemitism.
The article proceeds to list examples of Jews being attacked in Armenia and peddles the unfounded claim that it was Azerbaijani agents trying to make Armenia look bad.
While Armenia’s decision to recognize Palestine is troubling, it is not indicative of a deeper antisemitism. Azerbaijan, which touts itself as one of Israel’s most stalwart defenders, made the very same decision 30 years ago. Armenia certainly has reservations about Israel, but that does not change the fact that it has been a safe haven for Jews in the Middle East. Even so, Azerbaijan will continue to work diligently to portray Armenia as an enemy of the Jewish people to preserve its ties with Jerusalem. Let’s hope that the world can see through the façade.
Way to care about Armenians, Dan Harre. This article looks like a desperate attempt for a Judeo-Christian to lie in order to save face with donors of his organization which so clearly cares more about Israel than the world’s oldest Christian nation.
