Tweet
Armenians in Jerusalem: The Politics of Survival in the Holy Land
http://asbarez.com/86587/armenians-in-jerusalem-politics-of-survival-in-the-holy-land/
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 | Posted by Matthew Karanian
STORY & PHOTOS BY MATTHEW KARANIAN
The Armenians of Jerusalem form one of the oldest Armenian communities
outside of Armenia. The Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem may
be one of the most Armenian places in the world, too.
But this community is more than just old and Armenian. The community also
controls, through the Armenian Church, at least a part of every major
Christian Holy Site in the region, including the birthplace and crucifixion
of Jesus, and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary.
With such a rich cultural legacy, one might guess that the Armenians of
Jerusalem are strong and thriving. They are not. If the Old City were
divided up today, the Armenians might barely command one street. They
certainly would not lay claim to an entire Quarter, as they have for
centuries.
The survival of the community is today in peril. The population is
dwindling. Armenian property rights are under attack. Even Armenian
pilgrims are fewer in number.
Matthew Karanian - a Pasadena lawyer and the author of several books
about Armenia - traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a
research and photography project. Karanian is the co-author, with
Robert Kurkjian, of the best-selling travel guide Armenia and
Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This article is one in a series
about the Jerusalem Armenians that Karanian has written and
photographed for Asbarez.
POLITICS OF SURVIVAL IN JERUSALEM
Armenians have 17 centuries of history in the Holy Land, and they share or
own most of the major Christian sites, including the sites where Jesus was
born, crucified, and buried.
There's also a distinct geographical area in the historic walled city of
Jerusalem known as the Armenian Quarter.
This should be enough to make any Armenian feel proud. But after I had
spent several days living among the Armenians of this sacred Armenian
place, those 17 centuries of history instead felt like they were crushing
down on me. I felt as weary as if I had been breathing too much church
incense.
The Holy Land induces awe and inspiration for some. I felt this, too. I was
awed. And I was inspired.
But as I became increasingly aware of the greatness of the Armenian legacy
here, I also became increasingly aware that the survival of this legacy is
in peril.
George Hintlian is a Jerusalem historian and a prominent member of the
Armenian community. He had been my introduction to the Armenian community
when I arrived earlier this year.
He sensed that I had become weary, rather than uplifted, by all that I was
seeing and learning about the Armenians of Jerusalem. `This place doesn't
work only by prayer,' he said. `There's a lot of politics.'
Unfortunately, the politics appear to be working against the Armenians.
This `politics,' I feared, could one day turn the Armenian Quarter into
another Aghtamar - another sacred gem of Armenian culture that is now just
a
`museum' that's owned and operated by others.
WHAT'S AT RISK
The walled Old City of Jerusalem has a dense population of nearly 40,000
living in an area of less than one square kilometer.
The Armenian Quarter occupies one-sixth of this tiny walled-city, yet it
has a population of only about 500 Armenians. As a result, the Quarter is a
highly coveted piece of real estate. The other quarters are bursting with
residents who need more room. This is especially true for the Jewish
Quarter, which is adjacent to the Armenian Quarter.
`The Israelis want to take over the Armenian Quarter,' says Hintlian.
Worshippers headed to the Western Wall - sometimes also called the
Wailing Wall - often pass through the public streets of the Armenian
Quarter. `Every day they see what we have,' he says. `They want it.'
These worshippers frequently walk directly past the home and office of
Kevork Nalbandian, an attorney with a law practice in the Armenian Quarter.
Nalbandian says he is also concerned about the future of the Armenian
community. `We already live in a museum,' he says, alluding to the
dwindling Armenian population. `Twenty years from now, how many of us will
there be?' he asks.
There had been 35,000 Armenians - some say more - in the region prior to 1948.
There are about 2,000 in the region today, of whom 500 live in the Armenian
Quarter of the Old City.
The population decline has several causes. Finding work is difficult,
especially for educated professionals. This forces many of the most highly
educated Armenians to leave Israel. Job prospects are better for an
Armenian who wants to operate his own office, or work as a merchant.
So, an Armenian can make a living selling jewelry or ceramics, says
Hintlian, but careers in the professions are scarce. This is because the
politics of the region dictate that Arabs hire Arabs and Jews hire Jews, he
says.
There's also the intangible difficulty of simply living in Jerusalem.
`People are psychologically crushed,' says Hintlian. Israeli
policies - Hintlian calls it `harassment' - work to encourage Armenians to
leave. And, government policy also prevents immigration to Israel by
Armenians, he says. The `Law of Return,' the law that guarantees to Jews
anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel, also prevents
immigration by non-Jews. The result is a community that cannot sustain
itself, and that can only shrink.
ARMENIA'S LINK TO THE HOLY LAND
For centuries, groups have competed for control of the region's holy sites.
These groups, including the Armenian Church, have fought - sometimes
literally - for the right to hold religious rites at places such as the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and at the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. These are the sites where many in the Christian community
believe that Jesus was born, crucified, and buried.
In an effort to impose law and order on the religious groups, the Ottoman
Empire negotiated a so-called `Status Quo' agreement with them back in
1852. The Ottomans were sovereign over Jerusalem and much of the Middle
East at the time.
This agreement dictated that the ownership and rights status that existed
for each of the holy sites in 1852 would be the set of rights that would
exist in perpetuity. This agreement remains in effect today and is enforced
by the Israelis in Jerusalem, and by the Palestinians in Bethlehem.
Negotiating this Status Quo agreement was one of the benevolent acts of the
Ottomans during their four centuries of rule in the Holy Land. It has been
effective in allowing the Armenians to continue to control or share
ownership of most of the major Christian holy sites today. The Greek and
Catholic churches are the only other religious groups that rival the
Armenians in their extent of ownership and control of Christian Holy Land
shrines.
Father Goruin is a member of the St. James Armenian Brotherhood. He became
a priest in the Armenian church at age 23, and this year, at age 30, he was
elevated to the rank of Vartabed.
The Armenian Church is able to maintain control of these sites because it
has been strong over the centuries, says Father Goruin. `And the church can
only be strong if there is a large community,' he says.
There are today about 100 students enrolled in the Quarter's Armenian
elementary school. This school, Saint Tarkmanchatz, or The Holy
Translators, was established in 1929 and the success of its pupils is one
of the keys to the survival of the community, he says.
If the community survives, it will be able to help the Armenian Church
maintain its co-stewardship of sites such as the Tomb of St. Mary, as
well as the Church of the Ascension, the Church of the Nativity, and
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Each of these shrines is built upon the site of a significant event in the
life and death of Jesus.
The Tomb of St. Mary is where the Virgin Mary was laid to rest before she
ascended to heaven.
The Church of the Ascension is built on the hilltop outside the city walls
of Jerusalem where Jesus ascended to heaven.
The Church of the Nativity is built atop the site in Bethlehem where Jesus
was born.
And the Church of the Holy Sepulcher occupies the sites within the Old City
of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified and was anointed and laid to rest.
The Armenian Church either shares ownership of these sites, or shares the
right to hold religious services there, with either Greeks, or Catholics,
or both. `When you consider how few Armenians there are in the world, and
how many Latins [Catholics] there are, it's extraordinary that our rights
are the same or greater than theirs,' says Hintlian.
There are several additional significant religious sites that are
owned or controlled by the Armenian Church, as well.
At the moment, the more immediate focus of the community is on preserving
the building and the sacred relics of the St. James Cathedral, which forms
the heart of the Armenian Compound within the Armenian Quarter.
The current edifice of St. James dates back to the twelfth century, and it
contains a treasure trove of artwork and priceless antiquities. The
monastery of St. James is even older, having been established in the fourth
century by St. Gregory the Illuminator.
It was here, on a recent afternoon, that Archbishop Nourhan Manoogian of
the Armenian Patriarchate presided over the elevation of four priests - four
members of the St. James Brotherhood - to the rank of Vartabed. The cathedral
was alight only with the flames of candles and oil-fed lamps. The mood was
mystical, and the community had turned out in large numbers to witness this
rare and sacred rite of the church.
Thirty students from the St. James Convent, all of them young men, filled
the gallery and sang hymns from the pages of books that were lighted only
by candles. There was no other music - no organ, no choir - except the singing
and chanting of these 30 young men.
Back in the 1930s, the military governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, had
famously stated that the Cathedral of St. James `embodies the misery and
the glory of the Armenian nation.' On this evening, I understood only the
glory.
_______________
Matthew Karanian traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a
research and photography project documenting the Armenian community and the
Old City's Armenian Quarter. His Jerusalem photography will be included in
a large format photography book to be released in 2012 with co-author
Robert Kurkjian.
Karanian practices law in Pasadena, Calif., and is a former Associate Dean
and member of the law faculty at the American University of Armenia in
Yerevan. He is also the co-author with Kurkjian of several books about
Armenia, including the best-selling photo-based travel guide Armenia and
Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This book is available from Borders, from
Armenian booksellers in Glendale, and from the online bookseller Amazon.com.
Karanian's photography has appeared in such magazines as CNN Traveler,
Photo Life, and Photo District News (PDN). He has photographed leaders such
as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Robert Kocharian, in the Oval Office
of the White House, and several Miss Armenia beauty queen.
http://asbarez.com/86587/armenians-in-jerusalem-politics-of-survival-in-the-holy-land/
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 | Posted by Matthew Karanian
STORY & PHOTOS BY MATTHEW KARANIAN
The Armenians of Jerusalem form one of the oldest Armenian communities
outside of Armenia. The Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem may
be one of the most Armenian places in the world, too.
But this community is more than just old and Armenian. The community also
controls, through the Armenian Church, at least a part of every major
Christian Holy Site in the region, including the birthplace and crucifixion
of Jesus, and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary.
With such a rich cultural legacy, one might guess that the Armenians of
Jerusalem are strong and thriving. They are not. If the Old City were
divided up today, the Armenians might barely command one street. They
certainly would not lay claim to an entire Quarter, as they have for
centuries.
The survival of the community is today in peril. The population is
dwindling. Armenian property rights are under attack. Even Armenian
pilgrims are fewer in number.
Matthew Karanian - a Pasadena lawyer and the author of several books
about Armenia - traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a
research and photography project. Karanian is the co-author, with
Robert Kurkjian, of the best-selling travel guide Armenia and
Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This article is one in a series
about the Jerusalem Armenians that Karanian has written and
photographed for Asbarez.
POLITICS OF SURVIVAL IN JERUSALEM
Armenians have 17 centuries of history in the Holy Land, and they share or
own most of the major Christian sites, including the sites where Jesus was
born, crucified, and buried.
There's also a distinct geographical area in the historic walled city of
Jerusalem known as the Armenian Quarter.
This should be enough to make any Armenian feel proud. But after I had
spent several days living among the Armenians of this sacred Armenian
place, those 17 centuries of history instead felt like they were crushing
down on me. I felt as weary as if I had been breathing too much church
incense.
The Holy Land induces awe and inspiration for some. I felt this, too. I was
awed. And I was inspired.
But as I became increasingly aware of the greatness of the Armenian legacy
here, I also became increasingly aware that the survival of this legacy is
in peril.
George Hintlian is a Jerusalem historian and a prominent member of the
Armenian community. He had been my introduction to the Armenian community
when I arrived earlier this year.
He sensed that I had become weary, rather than uplifted, by all that I was
seeing and learning about the Armenians of Jerusalem. `This place doesn't
work only by prayer,' he said. `There's a lot of politics.'
Unfortunately, the politics appear to be working against the Armenians.
This `politics,' I feared, could one day turn the Armenian Quarter into
another Aghtamar - another sacred gem of Armenian culture that is now just
a
`museum' that's owned and operated by others.
WHAT'S AT RISK
The walled Old City of Jerusalem has a dense population of nearly 40,000
living in an area of less than one square kilometer.
The Armenian Quarter occupies one-sixth of this tiny walled-city, yet it
has a population of only about 500 Armenians. As a result, the Quarter is a
highly coveted piece of real estate. The other quarters are bursting with
residents who need more room. This is especially true for the Jewish
Quarter, which is adjacent to the Armenian Quarter.
`The Israelis want to take over the Armenian Quarter,' says Hintlian.
Worshippers headed to the Western Wall - sometimes also called the
Wailing Wall - often pass through the public streets of the Armenian
Quarter. `Every day they see what we have,' he says. `They want it.'
These worshippers frequently walk directly past the home and office of
Kevork Nalbandian, an attorney with a law practice in the Armenian Quarter.
Nalbandian says he is also concerned about the future of the Armenian
community. `We already live in a museum,' he says, alluding to the
dwindling Armenian population. `Twenty years from now, how many of us will
there be?' he asks.
There had been 35,000 Armenians - some say more - in the region prior to 1948.
There are about 2,000 in the region today, of whom 500 live in the Armenian
Quarter of the Old City.
The population decline has several causes. Finding work is difficult,
especially for educated professionals. This forces many of the most highly
educated Armenians to leave Israel. Job prospects are better for an
Armenian who wants to operate his own office, or work as a merchant.
So, an Armenian can make a living selling jewelry or ceramics, says
Hintlian, but careers in the professions are scarce. This is because the
politics of the region dictate that Arabs hire Arabs and Jews hire Jews, he
says.
There's also the intangible difficulty of simply living in Jerusalem.
`People are psychologically crushed,' says Hintlian. Israeli
policies - Hintlian calls it `harassment' - work to encourage Armenians to
leave. And, government policy also prevents immigration to Israel by
Armenians, he says. The `Law of Return,' the law that guarantees to Jews
anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel, also prevents
immigration by non-Jews. The result is a community that cannot sustain
itself, and that can only shrink.
ARMENIA'S LINK TO THE HOLY LAND
For centuries, groups have competed for control of the region's holy sites.
These groups, including the Armenian Church, have fought - sometimes
literally - for the right to hold religious rites at places such as the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and at the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. These are the sites where many in the Christian community
believe that Jesus was born, crucified, and buried.
In an effort to impose law and order on the religious groups, the Ottoman
Empire negotiated a so-called `Status Quo' agreement with them back in
1852. The Ottomans were sovereign over Jerusalem and much of the Middle
East at the time.
This agreement dictated that the ownership and rights status that existed
for each of the holy sites in 1852 would be the set of rights that would
exist in perpetuity. This agreement remains in effect today and is enforced
by the Israelis in Jerusalem, and by the Palestinians in Bethlehem.
Negotiating this Status Quo agreement was one of the benevolent acts of the
Ottomans during their four centuries of rule in the Holy Land. It has been
effective in allowing the Armenians to continue to control or share
ownership of most of the major Christian holy sites today. The Greek and
Catholic churches are the only other religious groups that rival the
Armenians in their extent of ownership and control of Christian Holy Land
shrines.
Father Goruin is a member of the St. James Armenian Brotherhood. He became
a priest in the Armenian church at age 23, and this year, at age 30, he was
elevated to the rank of Vartabed.
The Armenian Church is able to maintain control of these sites because it
has been strong over the centuries, says Father Goruin. `And the church can
only be strong if there is a large community,' he says.
There are today about 100 students enrolled in the Quarter's Armenian
elementary school. This school, Saint Tarkmanchatz, or The Holy
Translators, was established in 1929 and the success of its pupils is one
of the keys to the survival of the community, he says.
If the community survives, it will be able to help the Armenian Church
maintain its co-stewardship of sites such as the Tomb of St. Mary, as
well as the Church of the Ascension, the Church of the Nativity, and
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Each of these shrines is built upon the site of a significant event in the
life and death of Jesus.
The Tomb of St. Mary is where the Virgin Mary was laid to rest before she
ascended to heaven.
The Church of the Ascension is built on the hilltop outside the city walls
of Jerusalem where Jesus ascended to heaven.
The Church of the Nativity is built atop the site in Bethlehem where Jesus
was born.
And the Church of the Holy Sepulcher occupies the sites within the Old City
of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified and was anointed and laid to rest.
The Armenian Church either shares ownership of these sites, or shares the
right to hold religious services there, with either Greeks, or Catholics,
or both. `When you consider how few Armenians there are in the world, and
how many Latins [Catholics] there are, it's extraordinary that our rights
are the same or greater than theirs,' says Hintlian.
There are several additional significant religious sites that are
owned or controlled by the Armenian Church, as well.
At the moment, the more immediate focus of the community is on preserving
the building and the sacred relics of the St. James Cathedral, which forms
the heart of the Armenian Compound within the Armenian Quarter.
The current edifice of St. James dates back to the twelfth century, and it
contains a treasure trove of artwork and priceless antiquities. The
monastery of St. James is even older, having been established in the fourth
century by St. Gregory the Illuminator.
It was here, on a recent afternoon, that Archbishop Nourhan Manoogian of
the Armenian Patriarchate presided over the elevation of four priests - four
members of the St. James Brotherhood - to the rank of Vartabed. The cathedral
was alight only with the flames of candles and oil-fed lamps. The mood was
mystical, and the community had turned out in large numbers to witness this
rare and sacred rite of the church.
Thirty students from the St. James Convent, all of them young men, filled
the gallery and sang hymns from the pages of books that were lighted only
by candles. There was no other music - no organ, no choir - except the singing
and chanting of these 30 young men.
Back in the 1930s, the military governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, had
famously stated that the Cathedral of St. James `embodies the misery and
the glory of the Armenian nation.' On this evening, I understood only the
glory.
_______________
Matthew Karanian traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a
research and photography project documenting the Armenian community and the
Old City's Armenian Quarter. His Jerusalem photography will be included in
a large format photography book to be released in 2012 with co-author
Robert Kurkjian.
Karanian practices law in Pasadena, Calif., and is a former Associate Dean
and member of the law faculty at the American University of Armenia in
Yerevan. He is also the co-author with Kurkjian of several books about
Armenia, including the best-selling photo-based travel guide Armenia and
Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This book is available from Borders, from
Armenian booksellers in Glendale, and from the online bookseller Amazon.com.
Karanian's photography has appeared in such magazines as CNN Traveler,
Photo Life, and Photo District News (PDN). He has photographed leaders such
as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Robert Kocharian, in the Oval Office
of the White House, and several Miss Armenia beauty queen.