After 'Beef' with 'Hadids', now with 'Kardhasians'
Armenian Quarter settlement will have a devastating impact on the small and challenged Armenian community. And will be yet another erosion of the Christian presence in Jerusalem.
Gaza - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem 8.49am
The situation gripping the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem is more than distressing—it is an urgent call to safeguard cultural heritage and defend the rights of the Armenian community within the Holy Land. The ongoing destruction using bulldozers within the Cows Garden in the Armenian Quarter not only wounds the local fabric, but also strikes at the heart of global heritage.
Armenian Quarter settlement will make any future political agreement inordinately more difficult. Also will have a devastating impact on the small and challenged Armenian community. And will be yet another erosion of the Christian presence in Jerusalem.
The demolition of this property, steeped in centuries of history and the use of force against those protecting it, sends shockwaves. The Armenian Quarter falls under the UNESCO World Heritage Site status of the Old City, thus demanding an immediate and thorough investigation into the motives behind this grievous act—especially when the entire region is currently embroiled in a major conflict.
It is non-negotiable that the rights of the Armenian community be not just acknowledged but fiercely defended.
The Armenian Quarter, representing 1/6 of the Old City, has been inhabited by Armenians since the 4th century during the inception of Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem, adding to its historical and cultural richness. Preserving such heritage is not just a matter of local importance; it holds global significance, contributing to the collective history of humanity. The situation demands a thorough investigation into the motivations behind this illegal destruction and a respectful acknowledgment of the Armenians’ rightful connection to this invaluable piece of history.
On November 4, 2023, Armenian residents peacefully protested illegal construction within their Quarter. Things turned confrontational when armed settlers arrived, prompting police intervention. The next day, Xana Gardens Ltd, linked to the controversial deal, showed up with Danny Rothman (aka Danny Rubenstein)—the Australian owner of Xana Gardens Ltd and allegedly demanded the Armenians’ expulsion.
Reports suggest Rothman aimed to purchase 13-percent of the Armenian Quarter for a luxury hotel, endangering many Armenian homes. However, after intense scrutiny by the members of the Armenian community of Jerusalem, the clergy, and Armenian lawyers from the United States, the deal was found riddled with discrepancies and declared invalid in Summer 2023.
The presence of armed settlers in the Armenian Quarter, owned by the Armenian Patriarchate, intensifies tensions between local Armenian community of Jerusalem and Xana Gardens Ltd. Despite the Armenian Patriarchate nullifying the lease on October 26, 2023 in writing, Xana Gardens Ltd. is resorting to aggressive tactics, including property destruction, hiring armed agents and other provocations, leading to recent widespread destruction in the Quarter, including demolishing a stone wall. Already five members from the Armenian community have been arrested and put in house arrest.
The Israeli Police arrested November 15th three Armenian Jerusalemites, including a 17-year-old minor. Two adult arrestees received a 15-day stay-away notice forbidding them to be within 50 meters of the Cows’ Garden. This followed a peaceful attempt by members of the Armenian community to stop attempts by an Australian-Israeli investor and people he appears to have hired to create facts on the ground in the Armenian quarter.
The Armenian Patriarchate published an “urgent communique” calling for support for Christian presence in Jerusalem and accusing the Israeli police of bias in their treatment of the Armenian community. The communique calls the current crisis over one-fourth of the Armenian quarter “an existential threat” of its 16-century history.”
The communique says that the Israeli police is supporting the efforts to destroy the parking lot by a controversial investor who has no permission from the municipality for his work. The communique says that the investor uses provocation instead of responding in a legal way to the decision by the Patriarch to cancel the land deal. See below the full communique
An incident report from the Save the ArQ movement noted that troubles began on November 15, at around 4:30 PM, when a motorcade of settlers on 4×4 vehicles and motorbikes, which were by all accounts sent by the Xana Capital representative George Warwar, encroached on the Cows’ Garden premises (Goverou Bardez).
The report said that “the entire Armenian community of Jerusalem surrounded the barricaded perimeter in order to stop the trespassers. The Israeli Police and IDF arrived on the scene and the settlers scattered, with only a few remaining on-site, in a malicious attempt to change facts on the ground.”
The outraged Armenian community attempted to peacefully – with neither any intention nor any directive to resort to any violence from community leaders — demand that the trespassers vacate the property belonging to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Instead of removing the trespassers, the Israeli police permitted a few settlers to continue their presence intended to possess the Armenian property. In response to the incursion, our community members — despite being asked to disperse — formed a human shield and peacefully urged the aggressors to vacate the Cows’ Garden.
In a related matter, the investigative unit at the New Arab has exposed the identity of one of the radical Israelis who participated in an earlier confrontation on behalf of the Australian-Israeli investor to be an associate of the racist Israeli minister of interior Itamar Ben Gvir. In a report published in the New Arab the investigative unit states:
“One individual present at the confrontation is an active member of the Israeli settlement movement. This individual is a US citizen who, in the past, has been put in ‘administrative detention’ in the aftermath of the Shefa-Amr terror attack of 2005.
Today, he describes himself as a “hilltop settlement activist”, and is involved in Israeli-proscribed settlement activities in the West Bank. The presence of armed settlers on the Armenian Patriarchate’s leased land represents a substantial escalation between the local residents and Xana Gardens Ltd, the company owned by Rothman which allegedly intends to build a hotel. It is noteworthy that the Armenian patriarch has submitted legal documents to the Israeli courts declaring that the controversial deal has been unilaterally canceled.
The Armenian Patriarchate had announced on November 3rd that “a letter was sent on October 26, 2023, to Xana Gardens Ltd”, informing the latter that the July 2021 lease agreement was canceled.
Three days later on the night of November 4, confrontations between local residents opposed to the construction work and “armed guards” drew in a couple of hundred individuals, requiring police intervention.
Below is the incident report by Save the Armenian Quarter movement
Call upon the international community and the media to shed light upon and intervene in this ongoing conflict that is endangering the physical as well as the spiritual presence of the Armenian Patriarchate and the Armenian Community of Jerusalem, one of the oldest communities in the Holy Land. Failure to take such actions will have severe repercussions on the beleaguered Armenian community of Jerusalem who is standing on its last breath.