The Armenians in Jerusalem
The Armenian Quarter, one of the four neighbourhoods of Jerusalem's Old City, is crucial to Armenian Christians. Motivated by the city's religious importance to Christianity, Armenian monks settled in Jerusalem in the fourth century CE, after the Armenian kingdom adopted Christianity as its state religion. It is believed to be the oldest Armenian diaspora outside of the Republic of Armenia.
Armenian cultural heritage in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter is integral to Armenian identity.
Before World War I
Until the early 20th century, this Armenian population remained small and stable. According to the Ottoman census, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 Armenians lived in Palestine before World War I, most of them in Jerusalem. According to British-mandated sources, such as census estimates, approximately 10,000 Armenian refugees entered Palestine between 1915 and 1920, most settling in Jerusalem.
The provision of food, housing, and medical care administration for refugees falls to the Armenian Patriarchate, the ruling religious body located at St. James of Jerusalem, which is the de facto administrator of the neighbourhood.
As the refugee situation in Jerusalem stabilized, both the population, known in the local Armenian dialect as kaghakatsi ("townsmen"), and the refugees, or zuwwar ("travellers"), believed that the refugee stay was only temporary.
Ottoman Empire's Falling
The fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the fledgling League of Nations revived hopes for an independent Armenian state stretching from eastern Anatolia to the Caucasus Mountains.
By 1923, however, the Turkish War of Independence had claimed much of this territory, thus prolonging the purgatory of the refugees.
Armenians in Jerusalem today In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, Jerusalem became a refuge and a new home for thousands of Armenians. However, the conflict over the establishment of the State of Israel once again claimed thousands of lives.
Today, many Armenians in Jerusalem and elsewhere want to see Jerusalem become an independent space where Jews, Christians, and Muslims can coexist equally.
The Garden of Cows and Mount Zion
In 2021, a land lease was signed between the Armenian Patriarchate and a private company owned by an Australian-Jewish investor for the area called Cows' Garden.
Details of the contract were only revealed last year, raising concerns among the Armenian community. The 99-year lease covers 11,500 m2 and covers nearly 25% of the Armenian district.
The agreement was finalized without receiving the approval of the Synod, a local assembly of church leaders, or the General Assembly, which constitutes a violation of the Charter of the Patriarchate of Armenia. This is one of the reasons why Armenians consider this agreement illegal.
The Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem said it sent a letter to the partner company, Xana Gardens Ltd., informing it of its intention to cancel the agreement and sending the documents requested by it to the Israeli court where the case took place.
work is currently pending. Since then, Armenians patrolling the area have been attacked several times by armed Israeli settlers.
The Cows' Garden is located on historic Mount Zion, in the southwest corner of Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter.
The loss of land threatens to sever the connection between the Armenian Quarter and the Christian Quarter, thus posing a serious risk to the continued Christian presence in the Old City.
Mount Zion is both a holy site for Christians and a holy site for Jews. It is no coincidence that the Jewish nationalist movement is called Zionism and aims to unite Jews around Mount Zion.
