Armenian Christians of Jerusalem say their centuries-old community faces an existential threat    

Hagop Djernazian has been standing guard over a parking lot in shifts along with a small group of activists in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. 

Members of the group, called “Save the Arq,” have maintained a presence here, day and night, over the past year — to protect the land from demolition, they say.   

Like many places in this part of the world, the parking lot is more than just a parking lot.

“This entire area is called the historical Armenian garden,” said Djernazian who grew up in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter. 

“The Armenian presence in Jerusalem dates back to the fourth century and this plot of land that we are standing in is under ownership of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem for more than 700 years.”  

Djernazian pointed to the ancient walls of the Old City, the Cathedral of St. James and several residential homes, including the home of the Armenian patriarch — who’s the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.   

Armenian Christians here say their community is currently facing an unprecedented threat. It stems from an ongoing legal dispute over a real estate deal signed three years ago. 

But this isn’t just a real estate squabble, they say. Members of the small minority community of Armenians, that have lived in Jerusalem for centuries, are fearful about their future in the holy city.

“If we don’t win this struggle, it will put the Christian presence in Jerusalem in great danger,” Djernazian said. 

The Armenian patriarch, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, signed off on a secret deal to sell part of the parking lot and surrounding areas to a Jewish businessman in 2021.

When the details of that agreement later became public, Djernazian explained that people in the Armenian Quarter were not happy about it. 

“The community, (along with) local Christian leaders, international Armenian leaders, organizations and communities, pressured the Patriarchate to cancel the deal. And, we succeeded,” Djernazian said.

Last summer, the patriarch renounced the real estate deal. Manougian said he was misled by his own real estate adviser — an Armenian priest himself who’s since been defrocked and fled to the US. 

Manougian said the agreement to sell property in the heart of the Armenian Quarter should be nullified. But the buyers have refused to back down. 

One night in early November 2023, a group of Jewish men with guns and dogs showed up in the parking lot to confront local Armenians who had come out to stop a bulldozer used to dig up some of the parking lot and knock down a stone wall. 

Since then, the situation has remained in a stalemate of sorts. There’s an ongoing legal battle in Israeli courts, and the Armenian activists have been trying to attract international attention to their fight to prevent the property deal from going through.  

Karnig Kerkonian is an American attorney based in Chicago, and part of the legal team representing Jerusalem’s Armenian community in Israeli court. He said that this fight is about a lot more than a real estate deal gone bad. 

“This particular property that’s at stake right now is fundamental to the ability of Armenian Christians to live as Armenian Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem,” Kerkonian said.

One part of their argument in court is based on a centuries-old document. It was drawn up during the days when the Ottoman Empire ruled over Jerusalem. 

“What we have is a trust that was created in the late 1500s by an Armenian priest, which essentially bequeathed this property to his descendants,” Kerkonian said. “And, if there are no other descendants, then, to the Armenian community. Those are the words that are used in the trust with the church being the trustee.” 

Kerkonian said the old document shows definitively that the Manougian, the Armenian patriarch, never had the proper authority to sell property in the Armenian Quarter. Kerkonian pointed out that Ottoman-era documentation has been used successfully in Israeli courts before. 

Usually, this involves Jewish Israelis claiming ownership over property inhabited by Palestinians. 

Beyond the legal strategy, though, Kerkonian said that this dispute is about maintaining the unique religious diversity in one of the holiest places on Earth. 

“This is what Jerusalem stands for. Particularly given the fact that we [Americans], our tax dollars, invest so much money into the region to try to preserve some sort of peaceful coexistence in a region that is, quite frankly, inflamed right now.” 

The company that is trying to buy land in the heart of the Armenian Quarter is called Xana Gardens. Kerkonian said that Xana was only founded in 2021, right after the now-disputed real estate deal was signed. 

A lawyer for Xana Gardens told The World that his client would not allow him to do an interview for this story. 

The company is allegedly connected to far-right Jewish activists who’ve been trying to help Israeli Jews buy properties in the Old City and other parts of East Jerusalem, where most of the city’s Muslims and Christians live. 

Arieh King has been active with this kind of effort. He is also the deputy mayor of Jerusaelm. 

King told The World that the buyers involved with this transaction in the Armenian Quarter asked him to get involved in the legal case. But King said that he refused to do so. 

“I say ‘no’ because I’m not sure about the legitimacy of the deal, and my name is important to me. I prefer not to be involved,” King said. 

King added that this dispute should be settled by the courts, not by politicians and not the municipal government. And in any case, as he sees it, the fears expressed by Armenians about being driven out of Jerusalem are overblown. 

Armenian Christians living in Israel are safer than those in other parts of the Middle East, King said.  

But this is a population that is small and getting smaller. Some estimates put the number of Armenians living in the Old City of Jerusalem at about 2,000. But a census from 2006 found fewer than a thousand Armenians living in the Armenian Quarter. 

Jerusalem City Councilmember Laura Wharton told The World that she has been suspicious about this real estate deal, and that she worries it’s all part of the Israeli far-right’s goal to push non-Jews out of Jerusalem. 

But she said that she’s also confident that the Armenians will win their court case and will be able to hold on to this highly valued piece of property in the Old City.  

“There is an Israeli law about protecting the holy places and it explicitly says that Israel is responsible for protecting the holy sites of all religions and protecting freedom of religion,” Wharton said. 

Israeli authorities are also required by law to protect “the dignity and rights of the different peoples and different religions,” Wharton added. “And I think most Israelis are — an overwhelming majority — are supportive of that.” 

Back in the parking lot, Armenian activists say they are not going anywhere until their legal battle is settled. That could be many months, or even years, away.  

Using some of the rubble created by that bulldozer, they built a barrier across part of the lot, along with a makeshift shelter to sleep in at night, and welcome visitors during the day.