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Obituaries from page 57

ELIZABETH
BODEK WEES,
91, of Novi, died
July 6, 2016.
She was a
member of
the Holocaust
Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills and
of the National Holocaust Center
in Washington, D.C. She also gave
to a wide variety of charities.
Mrs. Wees is survived by her
son and daughter-in-law, Dr.
Steven and Joye Wees of Omaha,
Neb.; daughter, Barbara Wees of
Novi; grandchildren, Shoshana
and Corey Friedman, Joshua and
Kori Wees, Joe Wees and fiancee,
Natalie Duque, Tamar and Ian
Yellin, Julie and Tamas Makany,
Benjamin Schiller, Daniel
Schiller; great-grandchildren,
Jocelyn Friedman, Lila Friedman,
Tyler Wees, Colton Wees, Maeve
Yellin, Adara Makany, Asher
Makany; other loving family
members and friends.
Mrs. Wees was the beloved wife
for more than 40 years of the late

Abraham Edward Wees; devoted
daughter of the late Helen and
the late Samuel Bodek; loving
sister and sister-in-law of the late
Lou Bodek, the late Bumi Bodek,
the late Olga and the late Mickey
Hern.
Contributions may be made
to Yad Vashem, P.O. Box 3477,
Jerusalem, Israel, 91034.
Services and interment were
held at Hebrew Memorial Park.
Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.

Correction

• The obituary for Sydney Geller
(July 28) should have included
among the predeceased releatives:
sister-in-law, the late Claire (the
late Harry) Schall.

Knesset Education Committee
Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Marissa Newman | Times of Israel

T

he Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports
Committee on Monday announced it rec-
ognizes the Armenian genocide and urged
the government to formally acknowledge the 1915
mass slaughter of 1.5 Armenians as such.
“It is our moral obligation to recognize the
Armenian genocide,” said committee chair Yakov
Margi (Shas Party) at a committee meeting.
Margi expressed regret that the State of Israel
does not currently recognize the genocide by
Ottoman Turks 101 years ago and called on Knesset
Speaker Yuli Edelstein to do so.
Israel’s refusal thus far to formally recognize the
Armenian slaughter as genocide is based on geopo-
litical and strategic considerations, primary among
them its relations with Turkey, which vehemently
denies that Ottoman Turks committed genocide.
Israel and Turkey signed a rapprochement deal
in June, upgrading their diplomatic relationship
after years of frosty ties worsened by a fatal melee
between IDF soldiers and Turkish activists aboard a
Gaza-bound ship in 2010.

During Monday’s meeting, Meretz MK Zehava
Galon, Zionist Union MKs Zouheir Bahloul and
Nahman Shai, and Joint (Arab) List MK Dov
Khenin voiced support for the measure.
Earlier this month, Edelstein (Likud) urged Israel
to recognize the Armenian genocide, despite the
friction it might cause with Turkey.
“We must not ignore, belittle or deny this ter-
rible genocide,” Edelstein declared as the Knesset
marked the 1915 mass killing. “We must disconnect
the current interests, bound to this time and place,
from the difficult past, of which this dark chapter is
a part.”
President Reuven Rivlin, who was one of the
most outspoken advocates for recognition of the
genocide during his time as Knesset speaker,
eschewed using the term during the centenary
commemoration last year, disappointing Armenian
leaders. He used it, however, several weeks earlier at
a different event.
Israel’s ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide
has thus far survived several debates in the Knesset
and even efforts by a former education minister to
add the topic to school curricula.

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58 August 4 • 2016

Obituaries