The state of New Jersey for its dual efforts in recognizing and raising awareness of the Armenian Genocide. In Trenton, the General Assembly voted 79 to 0 yesterday to approve a joint resolution commemorating the 90-th anniversary of genocide, while the state-appointed education commission announced a comprehensive curriculum on the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Assembly of America reported. The resolution, which was sponsored by State Assembly members Joan Voss (D-38) and Robert Gordon (D-38), honors the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by the Ottoman Turks. It states in part, “This joint resolution recognizes the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and acknowledges the criminal mistreatment of the Armenians by the governments of the Ottoman Empire as an issue of international and historic significance.” The Assembly also commended New Jersey public officials for the state’s pioneering role in human rights education that since 1982 that has now led to the inclusion of Armenian Genocide studies as part of the statewide curriculum. The action, announced yesterday by the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education (NJCHE) marks the first time in the United States that a stand-alone curriculum on the Armenian Genocide will be incorporated in public and private schools. The Assembly, together with the Armenian National Institute, initiated and proposed the new curriculum to then governor James McGreevey who convened a meeting of Armenian-American community leaders in late 2003. Following the meeting with the governor, NJCHE Chair Dr. Paul Winkler assembled a committee of educators and specialists to draft a new curriculum. The new curriculum consists of the resource book on the Armenian Genocide developed by the Facing History and Ourselves Foundation (FHAO) entitled “Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: the Genocide of the Armenians, “which will be distributed to middle and high schools throughout New Jersey, along with a guide to teachers prepared by the N.J. Commission on Holocaust Education. The guide was prepared by the Commission in cooperation with the Armenian National Institute.
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