Fallout From the Armenian Genocide Vote

Yesterday I mentioned the Faustian bargain the Jews had struck with Turkey--coming to its defence in the Armenian genocide non-controversy in exchange for Turkey maintaining strong ties with Israel. Now that the deal is off (because of Turkey's Islamist government), the Jews are being blamed for congress's finally acknowledging that what happened almost a century ago is a "genocide". From Haaretz:

Jewish lobbyists contrived a U.S. congressional vote that labeled the World War One-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces as genocide, a London-based Arabic-language newspaper claimed on Saturday.

Pro-Israel lobbyists had previously backed Turkey on the issue but changed tack in retaliation for Turkish condemnation of Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily said in an editorial, according to Israel Radio reports.

Israel and Turkey are traditional allies but ties took a downturn in 2009 when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza, in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

A crisis in diplomatic relations came to a head in January when when Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon publicly humiliated Turkey's ambassador in front of press cameras.

In his leading article, Al-Quds Al-Arabi editor Abd al-Bari Atwan curged Erdogan not to give in to the Jewish lobby's "extortion" tactics.

Erdogan on Thursday recalled Turkey's ambassador to Washington after the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it for consideration by the full House.

The measure could harm Turkish-U.S. ties and efforts by Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia to end a century of hostility, Erdogan said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said the vote was a boost for human rights...

And, of course, the vote puts President Rodney King in a tough position--having to possibly do or say something that could jeopardize his "can't we all get along" ingratiation policy aimed at coddling testy Muslims:

The vote calls on President Barack Obama to ensure U.S. policy formally refers to the massacre as genocide, putting him in a tight spot.

In a telephone call with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday, Obama emphasized his administration had urged lawmakers to consider the potential damage to efforts to normalize Armenian-Turkish ties, a senior administration official said..

"Normalize" the relationship, huh? How is that going to work exactly when, for Islamists, the only believer-infidel relationship they can accept as "normal" is one which sees the infidels as dhimmis and the believers and their law on top? Anything else--anything even-steven--simply ain't "normal," at least as far as sharia-heeders are concerned.