The Armenian Revolutionary Federation  of Lebanon (ARF- Tashnagtsoutioun) came up with a press release, yesterday, eight days after the shocking attack by still unidentified individuals on the loose of Raffi Doudaklian, in a parking lot, in the heart of Bourj Hammoud, next to the Aztag Daily Newspaper located in Shaghzoyan Building.

I read the press release in Armenian only. I am not sure if it has been published in English.

I will try to respond to some of the points of the press release to clarify, on the one hand, that Monday's strike is a criminal act and therefore can not be referred to simply as "the matter of Raffi Doudaklian's attack"* (Raffi Doudakliani hartsin kedzov...). 

Also, the press release should not read as an apologia of a political party that feels wrongly accused and misrepresented due to the felony that has taken place in its own backyard, in its own jurisdiction, two steps away from its very headquarters.

The assault on Raffi Doudaklian happened a stone's throw away from a high security building, the Shaghzoyan Building. This is very surprising if not all together totally absurd!

I have walked into the premises at various times for interviews at Radio Voice of Van (Vanatsayn) on its second floor; to attend Hamazkain meetings; to visit the bookshop and the adjacent art gallery on each side of the building's entrance, at street level.

The edifice and its surroundings are heavily guarded by men who keep an uninterrupted watch, in shifts, well equipped, at all times.
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The statements provided by ARF in the press release come off at best as incomplete, defensive, insensitive except towards its own self image, and mostly disingenuous.
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Point b) in the release reads: "The incident has no relation whatsoever with ARF."*

Just because ARF says so, this can not count neither as evidence nor as a reassuring attempt to conclude the issue.

Point c) reads: "To relay the responsibility of the act to ARF is an irresponsible behavior and an unacceptable accusation."*

This is a poor and indeed irresponsible response by ARF.

The local highest authorities' attempts to find out what really happened remain to this day of utmost disappointment to all of us who expect more command of the situation in hand.

Point d) points out that the attention to the proximity of the Shaghzoyan Building to where the attack occurred as well as to its timeline fall into the trap of anti-ARF warring designs!*

This may be true! If so, why isn't ARF more active in finding out who are the culprits of this kind of anti-ARF propaganda campaign?

On the other hand, it is ironic that the ill-doers would choose Raffi Doudaklian as the target for such a cabal against ARF! What explanation can ARF provide about the choice of the casualty?

I can go on with each point but it feels like a pointless effort on my part to reveal the ridiculous nature of the argumentations used by a party that claims know-how in governance and protection of its community in Lebanon.

To present the attack as an effort pointed towards ARF bashing, is neither an explanation nor justification. It's a tactic of paranoid and conspiratorial strategies turning the attention on itself,- a self-pitying pathetic attitude, instead of looking where the harm has actually, in real terms, occurred.

This is not about ARF. This is about Raffi Doudaklian's treatment in ARF's vicinity.

Beyond paying lip service with a commonplace statement such as "what happened is unacceptable and should be condemned, naturally"*, the party should put all efforts and energy in finding out the guilty entities.

In other words, what is expected from ARF, at this point in time, is to engage in a serious pursuit trying to find out why, how and by whom this violent act of criminal nature took place on a well respected individual by his community for his engagements and the well being of his people.

Clearly, this abominable act is not about ARF nor an anti-ARF story. No need to hijack the circumstances.

This is about a man who has suffered critical injuries, a man who now needs to hear, see and know from his very own party leaders that they take what happened to him extremely seriously.

That they are ready to go the extra mile to find out that his beating, if not a question related to freedom of speech, if not a punishment of sorts, then what it really is about.

Short of taking upon itself the duty and full responsibility to find out what was the real intent of the attack, there is no press release, no words of self-defense, no orders, no apology that can be good enough, regretfully, to let ARF off the hook.

Right now, ARF appears to all of us as a careless and passive witness of a crime that took place in its own house. Therefore, ARF is held accountable until otherwise proven.

We are not demanding patronizing expressions of sympathy for Raffi Doudaklian.

We are asking that the Central Committee of Lebanon's ARF along with other present authorities in Bourj Hammoud respectfully get their act together and search for the reasons and doers of this heinous act of violence against Raffi Doudaklian.

* my translation

Photo by Arsinée Khanjian at camp Sanjak. Car reads in Arabic "Municipality of Bourj Hammoud" (January 2016)