Rima Varzhapetyan-Feller | |
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Born | Rima Varzhapetyan |
Nationality | Armenian |
Occupation | Mechanical engineer |
Known for | President of the Jewish Community of Armenia |
Rima Varzhapetyan-Feller ( Armenian: Ռիմա Վարժապետյան-Ֆելլեր, Russian: Римма Варжапетян-Феллер) is an Armenian Jewish woman who has been the president of the Jewish Community of Armenia since 1996, [1] [2] a community which currently stands at 1,000 people, despite Jews being present in Armenia since the days of Tigranes the Great. [3] She is also a member of the European Jewish Parliament, representing Armenia.
She has campaigned for the recognition of the Armenian genocide, [4] [5] especially by Israel, even sending an open letter to the Knesset in 2012. [6]
Organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and some media outlets in the United States [7] have reported that Armenia is probably the most anti-Semitic member of the former USSR countries, with over half of the population harboring anti-Semitic attitudes, according to some sources. Varzhapetyan has refuted those sources. [8]
On Apr. 28, 2015, Arye Gut, an Israeli of Azerbaijani origin, accused Varzhapetyan of not denouncing the publication of antisemitic books in Armenia and the glorification [9] of Drastamat Kanayan, leader of the Armenian Legion and collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II. This letter prompted a response sent to the Jewish Journal by Varzhapetyan [10] and moreover, Varzhapetyan has come against Israeli and U.S. Jewish newspapers [11] [12] where these anti-Armenian articles have been published, as well as criticizing the leadership of Azerbaijan [13] for whitewashing the image of Azerbaijan in the eyes of Israel and the U.S. Jewish community. [14]
Varzhapetyan-Feller is a mechanical engineer, [15] married and has two sons. [16]