Armenian Quarter in al-Quds faces 'existential threat' amid attack

By Al Mayadeen English
29 Dec 2023 12:59
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Thirty armed men attack the Armenian Quarter and the Armenian Patriarchate Of Jerusalem explains that the clergy, indigenous Armenians, and the historical Armenian culture in al-Quds are faced with a real 'existential threat'.

Members of the Armenian community protest a contentious deal to hand over a large section of the Armenian Quarter in the occupied Old City of al-Quds, occupied Palestine, May 19, 2023. (AP)

The Armenian Patriarchate Of Jerusalem issued an "urgent communique" confirming that "a massive and coordinated physical attack was launched on Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Seminarians and other Armenian community members" in the Armenian quarter of occupied al-Quds.

The communique explained, "Over 30 armed provocateurs in ski-masks with lethal and less-than-lethal weaponry including powerful nerve-agents that have incapacitated dozens of our clergy broke into the grounds of the Cow's Garden [in the Armenian Quarter] and began their vicious assault," adding that the assault resulted in serious injuries of "several priests, deacons and students of the Armenian Theological Academy along with indigenous Armenians."

SETTLERS CONTINUE THEIR ATTACKS ON THE ARMENIAN QUARTER. A group of 30 violently attacked Armenians as israeli settlers have been attempting to seize 25% of the Quarter. A dozen Armenians were attacked and two were detained for defending themselves. pic.twitter.com/LFdn3nf4xu
— Մէջ🇵🇸🇦🇲֎ (@syriahay) December 28, 2023

Attack is response for lawsuit filed by Patriarchate

The Communique highlighted that this comes after the Patriarchate had filed a lawsuit for the Cows' Garden in the Armenian quarter against Australian-Israeli businessman Danny Rothman (Rubenstein) and George Warwar (Hadad), noting that this attack is the "criminal response we received" for filing the lawsuit.

Moreover, the Patriarchate stressed that the "existential threat is now a physical reality," and that the Armenian church in occupied al-Quds, alongside the clergy and all indigenous Armenians, "are fighting for their very lives on the ground."

In turn, the Save the ArQ Movement also released a statement calling the situation a "series of alarming incidents targeting the peaceful Armenian community," in the Old City of occupied al-Quds. The statement highlighted that the attacks have been taking place repeatedly "in the past two months" as part of a "broader campaign" by Xana Capital, a company, to "illegitimately and illegally seize control of the historic Cows' Garden [Armenian Gardens in the Armenian Quarter]."

These attacks, according to the statement have also been "placing the safety and integrity of the community and all Christians in the Old City at severe risk."

UPDATE: Communiqué by The Save the ArQ Movement https://t.co/3cewQLH0hM pic.twitter.com/ZzvSd4dpVu
— 301🇦🇲 (@301arm) December 28, 2023

In its update, the Save the ArQ movement underscored that following the attack, the Israeli occupation forces showed up at the scene but "rather than addressing the aggressors solely, they arrested two innocent members of our community, Paul Djernazian and Bedig Giragossian."

Armenians in occupied Palestine said "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" and demanded the "immediate release of unlawfully detained community members...and those responsible for the violent acts" to be held accountable.

"Make no mistake, this is an existential threat and requires immediate and decisive action from everyone," the statement said.

Today, a new statement by the movement announced that the two Armenians who were arrested earlier have been released.