On Wednesday, a group of Israeli police officers entered an area of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City known as the Cows’ Garden and began dismantling outposts set up there by members of the Armenian community.
This is far from the first incident pitting law enforcement and settler groups against Jerusalem’s Armenians, who for more than six months now, have organized round-the-clock sit-ins in an effort to save the Cows’ Garden from a takeover by Israeli real estate developers.
Armenian community members say losing the Cows’ Garden would pose an existential threat to their community and would irrevocably damage Jerusalem’s multicultural and multireligious character.
CivilNet’s Mark Dovich sits down with Setrag Balian, co-founder of the Save the ArQ movement, to review the latest developments in Jerusalem and discuss the steps the city’s Armenians are taking to defend and preserve their homes.
Also watch:
“We are living in hell, 25% of our Armenian Quarter is gone” – PART 1 https://youtu.be/l6nJbBqx8Bw
“In 20 years, you may not find Armenians, Catholics or Greeks in Jerusalem” https://youtu.be/vfxWCw0OcwU
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Only recently the Armenian Patriachate in Jerusalem, in a public announcement, saw fit to describe the the Israeli occupation regime as a country of laws. Now, even former Friends of Israel recognize that the Miracle on the Mediterranean has one law and one law only: non-Jews are trash–kick them out of their houses, seize their land, kill them, and wipe them out if you can. Thanks to American tax dollars, the perpetrators of genocide in Gaza have impunity. No consequences for 75 years of atrocities. But what about Armenians? For more than five months, we’ve seen Palestinians resisting their oppressors in Gaza. For more than 18 years, 57 years, 75 years. They tenaciously hold onto their land as best they can. Meanwhile, Judases in the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem have handed over one quarter of our land on Mt. Zion to the settler surrogates of the occupation regime. And for a pittance. Here we seen the difference between Palestinian courage, on the one hand, and Armenian cretinism. Let us not pretend that the theft of our land in Jerusalem was unforseen: for years some of us have been warning of precisely the disaster that has taken place. And all the while, the Patriarchate denied it, and so did the establishment in the diaspora. Up until a year ago, they were still denouncing those of us who saw this coming. Meanwhile, the Friends of Israel in Yerevan were bending over backwards to reward those who were busy trying to wipe us out in the Holy Land. Meanwhile, in the face of the slaughter of thousands of unarmed Gazans (in 2005, 2008, 2014, 2020, 2023), Yerevan even sought fit to reward the Israeli mass murderers by opening an embassy in Tel Aviv–and then publicly apologizing for not having opened it in Jerusalem instead. And all in the name of pursuing our own narrow self-interest. How has that worked out for us? Soon we will be taking to the streets, yet again, to “remind” the dwindling number of people who bother to listen to us that a genocide took place more than 100 years ago. Meanwhile, we remain silent about the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Astonishing hypocrisy, towards a people who extended a hand of friendship to us in our darkest days. What sort of cleverness is this? What sort of Christian witness is this? On April 24, Armenians should show up with Palestinian flags and kufiyyehs.
Unlawful? The Miracle on the Mediterranean has one law and one law only: non-Jews are trash. Kick them out of their houses, seize their land, kill them, and wipe them out if you can. Thanks to my tax dollars, they have impunity. No consequences for 75 years of atrocities. But what about us? For more than five months, we’ve seen Palestinians resisting their oppressors in Gaza. For more than 18 years, 57 years, 75 years. They courageously hold onto their land as best they can. Meanwhile, Judases in the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem have handed over one quarter of our land on Mt. Zion to the settler surrogates of the occupation regime. And for a pittance. Here we seen the difference between Palestinian courage, on the one hand, and Armenian cretinism. Let us not pretend that the rtheft of our land in Jerusalem was unforseen: for years some of our compatriots have been warning of precisely the disaster that. has befallen us. But the Patriarchate denied it all, and so did the establishment in the diaspora. Up until a year ago, they were still denouncing those of us who saw this coming. Meanwhile the Friends of Israel in Yerevan were bending over backwards to reward those who were busy trying to wipe us out in the Holy Land. In the face of the slaughter of thousands of unarmed Gazans (in 2005, 2008, 2014, 2020, 2023), Yerevan even sought fit to reward the Israeli murderers by opening an embassy in Tel Aviv–and then publicly apologizing for not having opened it in Jerusalem. All in the name of pursuing our own narrow self-interest. And how has that worked out for us? What sort of cleverness is this? What sort of Christian witness? What sort of people have we become? Soon we will be taking to the streets, yet again, to “remind” the dwindling number of people who bother to listen to us that a genocide took place more than 100 years ago. Meanwhile, we have remained pretty much silent about the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Astonishing hypocrisy, towards a people who extended a hand of friendship to us in our darkest days. This April 24, Armenians should show up with Palestinian flags and kufiyyehs.
Thank you for reporting the violations on the Armenian property in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday.
It is baffling that no one could identify the attackers who caused the destructions with the support of Israeli so called “police”.
Thank you also for the clarifications on the law suits against the illegal land deals, clearly identifying the ownership of the Armenian properties by the “Waqf” arranged for the protection of the Armenian lands.
Having lived in Palestine going back to the Roman
Legion, the Armenian community and the Armenian church will survive and last.
Thank you Setrag.