Surprise for Hakobkokian

[…] On Thursday, former amateur world and European boxing champion Israel Hakobkokhyan publicly appealed to President Robert Kocharyan for help in “trading” his hard-earned medals for 8 million drams (about $26,500) to pay the candidate’s bond required for submitting nomination documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC). His intention, the boxer pledged, is “for the sake of the people”.

According to political analysts, “such nominations” make the elections ridiculous, however, according to different predictions, will not have any influence on the election process.

http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2644&CID=2613&IID=&lng=eng

Israel Hakobkokhian’s behavior could, in fact, be described in a radically different way. He is a boxer–a warrior–someone who actually gets in a ring with another very tough guy and proceeds to beat him, physically. I’m certain that if you ever got into the ring with him, some people would find your flailing limbs, pummeled face, and instantaneous kissing of the canvas with swollen lips about as funny as you find him, petitioning the “king.”

It takes a certain, mythic courage to step into the ring, like he’s done many times, and do battle. My cousin, a US a marine, now deceased, used to have a tattoo on his arm that incorporated the red, blue, and orange along with a portrait of Vartan Mamikonian. It gave life a death a meaning to him.

The fact of the matter is that men who go into battle need meaning far more than middle-class 9-5ers going about their routine, pressing the garage door-opener button. Bourgeois belittlements of such men are nothing more than a display of the raw ignorance and complacency that flourishes in comfortable lives. Ultimately it is a sign of how completely oblivious they are to what life is like for the working class, in general.

Israel Hakobkokhian’s life is mythical: He is a warrior petitioning a king. The issues at stake for him are of such import that they necessitate him going on a hunger strike. [deleted by administrator because of direct personal attack on others commenting on this site]

I’ve said this before, and I will say it again: Everyone in this Armenian diasporan echo chamber needs to sit down and seriously reconsider his or her values.

2007-11-29 17:33:00 Known Armenian sportsman to suggest Russian president to buy his medals won earlier

ArmInfo. The known Armenian sportsman, three times champion of Europe and six times champion of the USSR, champion of Kind Will Games Israel Hakopkokhnyan is going to run for president
of Armenia.

He recalled at today’s press conference that according to the legislation of the republic he has to pay 8 mln drams election pawn. If he does not manage to gather this sum, he is going to sell his medals and to resolve the problem in such a way. ‘There is quest for the medals’, - the sportsman said and did not rule out that they will be offered to the Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy. Nevertheless he applied to the Armenian President Robert Kocharyan with a request to lend 8 mln drams to him and give him his medals as a pawn. He also added that he was given an inquiry of his permanent living in Armenia for 10 years. This gave him an opportunity to run for president. Hakopkokhyan said that he does not have an electoral team and the “United Motherland” will become the programme of his electoral campaign which supposes unification of Karabakh with Armenia and introduction of free medical service and education.