Friday, November 17 2023 10:19

ArmInfo. France is concerned by tensions in the Armenian quarter of Old City of Jerusalem.  

"France is following with great concern the ongoing tensions in the  Armenian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem where violent pressure  is being exerted by Israeli settlers against residents. They must  stop without delay", reads an X post by the Consulate General of  France in Jerusalem. 

Police in Jerusalem has demanded local Armenians to vacate the area  of "Armenian Gardens"-known as the "Cows' Garden" in the Old City of  Jerusalem- and accused them of misappropriation of property.

The alarm was sounded by local attorney and activist Daniel Seidemann  who, in a post on X, also added that the Armenian community of  Jerusalem is resisting.

Since November 12, a large group of Jerusalem Armenians, in  cooperation with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, are on duty  in protest in the area of "Cows' Garden" and have barricaded the  access to the wall, with cars and fences, in order to impede any  further illegal construction on the Armenian property.

The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian,  had leased the area of "Cows' Garden" to a Jewish businessman for 99  years. This decision, however, caused a lot of uproar; but after a  long battle, the deal was canceled.

The Movement for the Protection and Preservation of the Armenian  Quarter of Jerusalem has released a statement, according to which  there is a tense situation at the "Armenian Gardens."

It is noted that at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a convoy of vehicles  presumably belonging to Jewish settlers entered the "Cows' Garden,"  after which the Armenian residents of Jerusalem gathered there and  surrounded the barricaded border.

The Israeli police have arrested three Jerusalem Armenians, one of  whom is a minor.

The Israeli police allowed some settlers to stay at the "Cows'  Garden," whose objective, according to the aforesaid statement, is to  appropriate that area.

In response, the local Armenian residents formed a human shield and  peacefully urged to vacate the area of the "Cows' Garden."

The situation remains tense, the statement added.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has warned that it is facing  the "greatest existential threat" in its history.

In a statement, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the  developer who sought to lease some 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter  of Jerusalem has ignored a letter by the Armenian Patriarchate of  Jerusalem cancelling the controversial real estate deal and has  started demolition works, and moreover police now demand that all  members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest  existential threat of its 16-century history. This  existential-territorial threat fully extends to all the Christian  communities of Jerusalem.

Instead of providing a lawful response to the cancellation, the  developers attempting to build on the Cows' Garden have completely  disregarded the legal approaches of the Patriarchate toward this  issue, and instead have elected to use provocation, aggression, and  other harassment and incendiary tactics including destruction of  property and deploying heavily armed instigators.

In recent days, the vast destruction and removal of asphalt on the  grounds of the Armenian Quarter has been done without the permits  from the municipality by neither the developer nor the police.

Despite this fact, the police have chosen in the last few days to  demand that all members of the Armenian Community vacate the  premises.

"We plead with the entirety of the Christian communities of Jerusalem  to stand with the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times  as this is another clear step taken toward the endangerment of the  Christian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land," the Armenian  Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.