Hagop Djernazian, center, pointing to a map projected on the wall to an attentive audience (photo Aram Arkun)

Jerusalemite Armenian Duo Tour US to Raise Awareness and Funds for Defense of Armenian Property

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WINCHESTER, Mass. — The Pan-Armenian Council of New England, in coordination with the Armenian Assembly of America, hosted Jerusalemite activists Hagop Djernazian and Setrag Balian Jr. on January 25 for a presentation in the home of Drs. Shant and Reem Parseghian in Winchester at which representatives of many different local Armenian organizations were present.

The Jerusalemite duo at St. James Armenian Church in Watertown

The following day the two spoke at St. James Armenian Church in Watertown and at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cambridge, sponsored by the Pan Armenian Council and the Armenian Assembly of America. These talks were part of an East Coast and Midwest tour from January 22 to 30, intended to raise awareness about problems the Armenians of Jerusalem are facing, primarily concerning control over a piece of land called the Cows’ Garden, and to raise funds for legal expenses concerning this property.

Setrag Balian speaking at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cambridge

The young visitors cofounded the Save the ArQ (Armenian Quarter) movement in May 2023 and were speaking as its representatives. Save the ArQ has a seven-member organizing committee which, according to Djernazian, consults and works closely with the various Armenian political parties and clubs.

The 24-year-old Djernazian is also leader of the scouts and executive committee member of the Hoyetchmen Club (Armenian Youth Association) in Jerusalem. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Middle East Studies in Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he is now working on a second degree in law. The 28-year-old Balian, a fourth-generation descendant of the Balian ceramics family, has studied economics in France and Armenia, and explored ceramics in Spain.

In addition to participating in Armenian community meetings in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York and New Jersey, in Washington D.C., the Jerusalemite duo met with representatives of various Congressional offices and held a midday briefing sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America, while in New York City, they met with representatives of several countries’ United Nations missions, including of France, Canada and Armenia, together with one of their international law team members, Karnig Kerkonian.

Meeting at Armenia’s UN Permanent Mission: from left, Setrag Balian, Karnig Kerkonian, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations Mher Margaryan and Hagop Djernazian

Djernazian right after the trip ended reported that the meetings at the UN and Capitol Hill were very productive. He said, “We reached agreements with different stakeholders to raise this issue on various levels, whether at the UN, the House of Representatives, or Senate.”

From left, Fr. Tadeos Barseghyan of Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester, Fr. Ghazar Bedrosian of Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church in Belmont, Fr. Hrant Tahanian of St. Stephen’s Armenian Church in Watertown, and Fr. Vasken Kouzouian of Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cambridge (photo Aram Arkun)

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Back in Winchester, after a home blessing by no less than four Armenian priests, from the Armenian Diocese, Armenian Prelacy and the Armenian Catholic Church, and welcoming words from Dr. Shant Parseghian, Anthony Barsamian, co-chair of the Assembly and a legal consultant to the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate, stressed the importance of the struggle over control of the Cows’ Garden property in the Armenian Quarter and declared: “If we win this, it will change how we are viewed in the Middle East as Armenians.”

Anthony Barsamian, co-chair of the Armenian Assembly of America (photo Aram Arkun)

The Lease

According to Balian, there are less than 2000 Armenians living in Jerusalem at present. The Armenians today live primarily in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City located on Mt. Zion in Eastern Jerusalem. Significantly, it is the only quarter which still has open spaces left in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Cows’ Garden. This is the most elevated part of the Armenian Quarter and the Old City.

Map of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem with the Cows’ Garden territory highlighted

Adding to the value of this area, Djernazian said, is the fact that the only access via car to reach the Western or Wailing Wall sacred to Jewish people is through the Armenian Patriarchate road.

The Armenian Quarter consists of 90,000 square meters and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the custodian and owner of most of it, including the Cows’ Garden. In July 2021, a 98-year lease (a 49-year one time renewable lease) was signed for the use of 11,500 square meters of land, which is primarily the latter area. This area constitutes 5 percent of the properties owned by Armenians within the Armenian Quarter (there are non-Armenian churches which also own property within this quarter). The lease also includes the Alex and Marie Manoogian Seminary hall, five houses belonging to Armenian families, a garden of the Armenian Patriarchate, and some other open spaces.

The lease was signed between representatives of Xana Gardens, a company registered both in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and, as representatives of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Grand Sacristan Archbishop Sevan Gharibian and Director of the Real Estate Department of the Patriarchate Fr. Baret (Khachig) Yeretzian.

Xana Gardens was supposedly to build a 7-star (sic) luxury hotel on this land, but Djernazian said that the location is next to the ramparts of the Old City, which would make construction very difficult. Furthermore, digging even one to two meters deep in the Old City often leads to the discovery of antiquities, which could delay such a project for years.
Djernazian said that the Patriarchate received $2 million at the beginning (not as escrow) from Xana Gardens and would also receive an income of $300,000 a year, which Djernazian called a “laughable amount” considering the value of the land involved.

Deal Sparks Resistance

Balian said that while the deal was signed in 2021 concerning the Cows’ Garden property, Djernazian had been opposing it even in 2019 when rumors had spread about such a possibility. However, Balian explained, it took a lot of time to mobilize the Armenian population against it, because they were so dependent on the patriarchate (for employment and, for many of them, rent-free homes). In 2023, the private Israeli company entered the area in April, and Fr. Yeretzian, who was accused of being behind the deal, was relieved of his position and defrocked as a priest.

Setrag Balian (photo Aram Arkun)

Rumors spread that the real estate deal not only included the parking lot but more areas, so Balian said that they worked to organize the community, but it was difficult. Djernazian and he went to see Fr. Yeretzian but could not get any answers and then with a group of young people, they tried to talk to other representatives of the Patriarchate, again unsuccessfully. On May 9, 2023, they decided that the entire community needed to be involved and they called for a united protest.

The next day, Balian said that they got a phone call that the former Fr. Yeretzian, now defrocked, was preparing to leave Jerusalem. He and Djernazian opposed this as well as defrocking him until the necessary information was obtained from the latter. People started to gather in front of his house to demand answers about the details of the real estate agreement and stop him from leaving. The numbers grew to around 70 people and therefore Balian and Djernazian decided to call for an impromptu protest at the grand courtyard of the convent.

Balian said the two activists gave speeches. After they finished, they looked at each other and wondered what to do next. However, suddenly two Israeli policemen had entered the convent, which was a rare occurrence, and wanted to escort the priest out, so the protest then moved in front of his house, and the numbers kept increasing until 300 people, with Armenian tricolor and Artsakh flags, were chanting patriotic songs and refusing to let the priest leave until he provided information. Instead, more Israeli policemen and special forces came and escorted him out through what Balian called a walk of shame.

He said, “This was a very important message to send to anyone, that if you betray your nation, if you betray your people, if you sell out, you have to pay a price. There have to be consequences. You can’t just take your stuff, take whatever money, if any…and go enjoy your lifestyle. We have to send a message to everyone that this is unacceptable.”

After that, every Friday Save the ArQ organized protests in the grand courtyard of the convent against the deal, calling for its cancellation and more transparency with the community. This lasted six months and then the Patriarchate sent a unilateral cancellation letter, but this meant lawsuits and court cases would follow.

Balian said: “We were united. It was something that brought tears to our eyes. In the tent … we had for example brothers who had not talked with each other for decades sit together and converse. We had all the Tashnags, Ramgavars [members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Armenian Democratic Liberal Parties], all those different people sitting together, talking together, everybody helping us, bringing food. It was really such a beautiful sight. We hope that Jerusalem will give that hope to Armenians, especially today.” He said that Jerusalem was a second Artsakh, with at least 1700 years of continuous Armenian presence that could not be lost, and wished that the light of unity and hope in Jerusalem would spread throughout the Armenian nation.

The Legal Battle

Djernazian said that in April 2023, the real estate company took over one part of the Cows’ Garden area by force. They then tried to take over some more land including Armenian homes. When the Patriarchate sent a cancellation letter in October 2023, Xana sent armed settlers and others to try to physically take over the Cows’ Garden and attack the Armenian community members there, but the Armenians, including women and children, withstood many such attempts by standing in front of bulldozers. Djernazian said that unlike the attackers, the Armenians as non-Jews could not carry weapons in Israel.

Hagop Djernazian (photo Aram Arkun)

He said that there were 20 people at first defending the property but their numbers rose to 400. They set up tents and despite a few months of attacks, they maintained their presence for over a year.

Although laymen from the community asked for information from the Patriarchate about the agreement and what had taken place, Djernazian said it declined to share any information.

Then the legal proceedings began. The Patriarchate initiated a lawsuit on December 26, 2023 against the real estate company. The community group was not informed about this despite its months of demonstrations, so when the company organized a new attack on December 28, the people in the tents were not prepared.

The Patriarchate’s lawsuit was based on three arguments, Djernazian said. The first was misrepresentation of identity — the two investors, Israeli-Australian Jewish businessman Danny Rothman (aka Rubinstein), the head of Xana Gardens, and George Warwar, an Arab Israeli, used various different names or aliases with the Patriarchate. Rothman claimed to be the owner of hotels all around the world and to have the ability to build them, but in fact neither has experience in building hotels, but have had various problems with the law.

They have alleged ties with Jewish settler organizations which aim to take over non-Jewish-owned land in Israel.

The second argument, Djernazian continued, concerns the size of the property. The contract states it is 11,500 square meters on the first page, yet the Patriarchate agreed to only 7,500 sq. meters.

The third is bribery: the Patriarchate accused Fr. Baret Yeretzian of taking bribes from the real estate company.

Djernazian said that the Save the ArQ movement decided to initiate its own lawsuit in February 2024 “because we see it as a difficult struggle for which one lawsuit is not enough, and the community as a third party should present its arguments as well.” He said, “We cannot ask the court to declare that the deal is nullified without suing both parties to the contract. As a third party, as a community, we are suing both parties because the patriarchate is a party to the deal and Xana Gardens is a party to the deal, so obviously we should sue both of them.”

Djernazian upon his return to Jerusalem added that the fact that 365 members of the local Armenian community out of a population less than 2,000 are signatories or parties to this lawsuit means that the majority of families are supporting this lawsuit and the Save the ArQ movement.

This lawsuit has two main arguments.

First, Djernazian said during his Winchester presentation, it argues that the Patriarchate did not have the necessary authority to sign the deal. The approval of the Holy Synod and the General Assembly was necessary according to the bylaws of the Patriarchate yet had not been obtained prior to the signing. Also, Article 23 of the bylaws states that the patriarch and the Patriarchate are custodians of Armenian national properties. A letter signed in 2021 by 17 members of the Brotherhood of St. James demanding the cancellation of the deal based on the violation of the bylaws bolsters this argument.

The second argument is that the properties in question were registered as trusts or “waqf” originally when purchased by Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Antreas Merdintsi in 1574 under Ottoman rule. This type of custodial endowment according to Ottoman law was first registered in the name of his family members, and then when no one was left, to the Armenian Christian community of Jerusalem. He remarked that Israel recognizes Ottoman law and British law, and since other properties of Jews and Muslims are still recognized as waqf, this argument is a valid one. (Djernazian after the event further explained that the waqf agreement, written in Ottoman, used the word taifeh or taifet to indicate the Jerusalem Armenian community.)

Balian added that as in Israel there is no constitution and everything is based on jurisprudence, meaning precedents are important, he was pretty confident that the waqf argument would be respected. Otherwise, he said that it would have repercussions in many other cases.

Djernazian said that his group wanted to cooperate with the patriarchate. It held many meetings with various people from the patriarchate, including the real estate director. He himself had personal meetings with the patriarch, though he was not on speaking terms with the latter, to try to cooperate after the demonstrations, when the company was on the property and Israeli settlers were arriving. He added that their lawyers tried also, yet when Karnig Kerkonian and his legal team arrived in Jerusalem in June 2023, they were rejected by the patriarchate many times and failed to even see the contract, which eventually was obtained through a third party. He added that even now, neither the community group nor the patriarchate have the map indicating the extent of the property in question, which is Appendix A in the contract.

He said, “We wrote also in our lawsuit that the purpose of this lawsuit is not suing the patriarchate. On paper the patriarchate is being sued but the community is here to help the patriarchate to nullify the deal…We cannot cooperate with the patriarchate as long as there are legal proceedings.”

Initial Legal Progress

Djernazian said that there were some small positive developments over the last year. Though the real estate company tried to have the Save the ArQ’s case dismissed, the court rejected the motion twice. The company’s request for an extension of time to prepare its defense was also rejected by the court.

Hagop Djernazian (photo Aram Arkun)

The company initiated a countersuit against the Save the ArQ community group, suing for $40 million per year of delay. Djernazian said that this is an unfounded claim as the company has not even approached the Jerusalem municipality yet to obtain a permit.
Djernazian explained that there are two teams of lawyers working on their case. There are two local lawyers, one Israeli Jewish and the other Israeli Arab, working for pay, and one Israeli-American Jewish lawyer working pro bono. An international legal team primarily based in the US includes Karnig Kerkonian, Garo Ghazarian, Ani Nazaryan, Elizabeth al-Dajani and Arman Tatoyan.

Over the past years, five community meetings were held with the 365 Jerusalemite Armenian signatories of the lawsuit to keep them informed of developments. The next hearing in court is scheduled for September 17 and meanwhile the list of documents and testimonies for submission is being prepared.

Djernazian said: “It is important to say that we are here not to protect the community rights only, but the rights of the church because Jerusalem for us is a spiritual homeland. Jerusalem is the homeland, it is the hayrenik for all of us, for Armenians all over the world. Just as you visited Jerusalem, you have to encourage your children to visit Jerusalem, and your grandchildren to visit Jerusalem. It is not enough to visit Armenia only. We have Jerusalem as a spiritual homeland with a presence of 1,700 years and we need people like you, the diaspora, with us in this struggle to protect the Patriarchate and the community.”

He concluded, “We can win this struggle. We had good decisions. We did succeed in some things, small things, but in order to win the big thing you have to win first the small battles. This is where we stand now.”

The Jerusalemite duo expect to have $200,000 expenses over the next two years. Save the ArQ has a tax-exempt fund in the US through which donations are being accepted (https://givebutter.com/Arq2025). As of February 3, it has $9,170 in donations. In addition, checks may be sent to Armenian Legal Defense Front Inc., 800 Maine Avenue SW, Ste. 200, Washington DC 20024.

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