Armenian Christians in Jerusalem feel the walls closing in as wars rage around them

(18 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerusalem, Mideast - 22 November 2024
1. Armenian priest tapping on wood as call for prayer
2. Seminarians entering
3. Various of Armenian mass being held
4. Various of worshippers at mass
5. Painting with Armenian quarter in old city of Jerusalem
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Setrag Balian, activist and resident of the Armenian Quarter
“It's our home, you know, we have two homelands. Armenians, we always say, we have two homelands. We have our homeland in Armenia as a nation state, but we also have our spiritual homeland, which is the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. And we will do everything to protect it, to safeguard it, to protect this rich and intricate history of the Armenian presence in Jerusalem.”
7. Armenian quarter alley
8. Entrance to convent, sign reading in French and Armenian “Armenian Convent St Jacques”
9. Armenian cross in mosaic
10. Various of Armenian gardens
11. Activists in tent
12. Poster reading (English) “11500 square meters were leased illegally, 25 percent of the Armenian quarter is in jeopardy.”
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Hagop Djernazian, activist and resident of the Armenian Quarter:
“For centuries, for hundreds of years, this property was called the Armenian Gardens, or the gardens of the Armenians in different languages, in French, in English, in Hebrew even, in Arabic. So we decided to put these maps in order to show people that it was always called the Armenian Gardens, and there was no doubt that it belongs to the Armenians.”
14. Old map of the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem on wall
15. Various of cross and Armenian flag on sold parking lot
16. Little train passing by street of Armenian quarter
17. Various of mosaic on ground of convent
18. Priest walking in convent
19. Painting on the wall
20. Walking shot of paintings on wall
21.SOUNDBITE (English) Father Aghan Gogchyan, the patriarchate’s chancellor:
“One of the Jews, we were on our way to the Holy Sepulchre, close to the Jaffa Gate, he told us: 'Are you Christians?' I said, yes, we are Christians, I said. 'You know that you don't have a future here in the Holy Land. You're not going to continue to live here. This is our country. We are going to eradicate you'. This is the word he used, 'we are going to eradicate you from our country.'”
22. Various of Armenian mass
23. Armenian flag in old city
STORYLINE:
As the war in Gaza rages, Syria is liberated, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank seethes, Armenian residents of the Old City of Jerusalem fight a different battle – one that is quieter, they say, but no less existential.

One of the oldest communities in Jerusalem, the Armenians have lived in the Old City for decades without significant friction with their neighbors, centered around a convent that acts as a welfare state.

Now, the small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten them and the multifaith character of the Old City.

From radical Jewish settlers who jeer at clergymen on the way to prayer, to a land deal threatening to turn a quarter of their land into a luxury hotel, residents and the church alike say the future of the community is in flux.

Walk through the narrow passageways of the Armenian Quarter, past a perpetually manned guard post and into an open lot with a towering pile of shrapnel crested with the Armenian flag. You’ve arrived at the headquarters of the “Save the Arq" movement.


The land under threat is where the community parks their cars and holds group dinners. It also includes parts of the patriarchate itself.






















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