Center for Armenian Culture and Education in Israel appeals to  country`s leaders to prevent nationalist attacks against Armenians

ArmInfo.The Center for Armenian Culture and Education in Israel "Noyan Tapan" addressed an official letter to the Israeli leadership over the latest attacks  against Armenians in Jerusalem. 

The letter reads:  "Greetings,

"We are writing this letter since recently a worrying trend is taking  place in the State of Israel when nationalism raises its head against  the ethnic and religious minorities in the country.

"The same factors that are infected with the scourge of racism and  intolerance towards the other, focus on the Armenian Christian  minority as a victim of repeated attacks, it can be proven that the  same cases of violence happen on a regular basis in the Armenian  quarter of Jerusalem or near it.

"We are following with great concern what is happening in the  Armenian quarter of Jerusalem, when during the last two months  several incidents happened:

"1. Physical assault and spitting on the cross during a religious  procession of the Armenian clergy by uniformed IDF soldiers (Givati  Brigade).

"2. contempt inscriptions on the walls of the Armenian monastery in  Jerusalem "Surb Akop" (Saint James):

"Death to the Armenians, death to the Arabs, death to the Christians.

"3. The last case in which a group of young people caused heavy  damage to an Armenian restaurant located in the Christian quarter of  Jerusalem (miraculously no injuries were caused, only to the property  of the restaurant).

"Apart from the mentioned above, the Armenian residents of Jerusalem  suffer violence against them daily when the same extremists waiting  for the Armenians near the quarter recognize them and attack them.

"The last assault that occurred while writing this letter was the  pepper spray of an Armenian priest and his believers near the Church  of the Holy Sepulchre.

"We would like to draw attention to the legal basis of the State of  Israel:

" The Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel: "The State  of Israel . will maintain full social and political equality of  rights for all its citizens without distinction of religion, race or  gender.

" The Human rights and dignity law:

"Section 2 of the law: No one harms the life, body, or honor of a  person, regardless of who he is.

"Section 4 of the law: Every person is entitled to the protection of  his life, body and dignity.

"The Law on the Preservation of the Holy Places:

"Section 1 of the law: The holy places shall be protected from  desecration and any other harm and from anything that may harm the  freedom of access of the members of the religions to the places  sacred to them or their feelings towards those places.

"Section 2 of the law:

"(a) Whoever desecrates a holy place or harms it in any other way,  his penalty is seven years imprisonment.

"(b) Anyone who does anything that may harm the freedom of access of  religious people to the places sacred to them or their feelings  towards those places, shall be sentenced to five years in prison.

"In all the cases mentioned in this letter, there are violations of  all the laws and the mindset of the Declaration of Independence of  the State of Israel.

"This appeal is, as stated, an official document on behalf of the  Center for Armenian Education and Culture in Israel "Noyan Tapan" to  all government officials in the country to act immediately to stop  the criminal behavior on the part of those radical groups and  individuals who act for nationalist reasons and hatred on an ethnic  and religious basis.

"For this reason, we chose to contact the following parties:

"1. The Honorable President of the State Mr. Yitzhak Herzog please  act at the state level in front of the religious leaders in the  country about education for tolerance and acceptance of the other.

"2. The Honorable Minister of National Security, Mr. Itamar Ben-Gvir,  please allocate the necessary resources to prevent this type of  violence.

"3. The Honorable Mayor of Jerusalem Mr. Moshe Leon please make every  effort to preserve the cultural- religious mosaic in the city while  giving respect to all the city's residents regardless of religion,  gender, and race.

"4. The Honorable Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Baruch Lao,  please give emphasis to the congregation of your believers on the  need to avoid harming others in accordance with the spirit of  Judaism.

"5. The UN Offices in Israel (Arbel Department 3) in charge of human  rights in the State of Israel, please monitor on cases in which there  is a major violation of human rights on a religious-national basis.

"Sincerely,

"The Center for Armenian Culture and Education in Israel - "Noyan  Tapan".

"Signed:

"The chairman of the center, Mr. David Galfayan

"The spokesperson of the center, Mr. Mendel Korsunsky."