spitting, conferences denied, land sales. The shadowed future of Christians

Under “pressure” from the municipality, the organizers had to move a conference originally scheduled to be held at the Tower of David museum. The initiative focused on the abuses and attacks of the Jewish world on Christians. The Armenian Church in the eye of the storm for the concession of some land to a Jewish-Australian businessman. The faithful denounce that land obtained “with blood” was “sold”.

Jerusalem () – A conference focused on attacks against Christians in the Holy Land, scheduled for yesterday at the Tower of David museum, was held in a different location than originally planned following “pressure” from senior officials Township. Local sources pointed to some close friends of Mayor Moshe Leon, who allegedly threatened to “expel” the director of the facilities, Eilat Lieber, if the event was not cancelled. Accusations denied by those responsible, for whom “none of this ever happened”, despite the fact that the organizers had to reschedule the meeting in another place.

The conference, titled “Why Do (Some) Jews Spit on Gentiles” (“Why do (some) Jews spit on Gentiles?”), had been promoted and organized by the Center for the Study of Relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims from the Open University of Israel. At the center of the debate was precisely the escalation of attacks against Christians in the holy city in recent months, which had aroused more than one concern – and condemnation – on the part of the leaders of the local Church. In the crosshairs are priests, nuns, places of worship and pilgrims subjected to spitting, blasphemies, physical and moral violence, and acts of vandalism by ultra-Orthodox and nationalist Jews.

Despite having received an invitation, both municipal officials and members of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not want to participate in a meeting that was also directly attacked in a letter by the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shlomo Amar. The religious leader spoke of an event promoted by those “seeking to confuse and convert innocent Jews” and accused the museum of operating on Shabbat, which is why it should be boycotted. One of the first to launch the attack was Deputy Mayor Arieh King, who openly spoke of a conference with “anti-Semitic” overtones. It should be noted here, however, that Rabbi Amar has been the most authoritative Jewish leader to explicitly condemn the anti-Christian violence of recent months. The organization’s response was immediate through Yaska Harani, according to whom the meeting was intended to “build change, not offend or attack ultra-Orthodox society. The goal is really to rid the city of spit.”

The controversy that has arisen around the conference is only the latest chapter in a long series of episodes that have raised concerns about the present and future of Christians in the Holy Land, who often face external enemies and internal obstacles within. of the community itself. Proof of this is what happened among the Armenians, in the midst of a dispute over a sale of property and land in the Old City of Jerusalem that threatens to create a huge fracture. At the root of the standoff was the “99-year lease” (a de facto expropriation) of real estate to a Jewish Australian businessman with an opaque economic empire, who likes to move – and stay – behind the scenes.

It was a bloody clash that led the priest involved in the sale to flee to the United States and the Armenian primate himself to entrench himself in the patriarchy, while more than one believer demanded his resignation and Jordan and Palestine de facto “frozen” his authority. The affair broke out in May, but the contract was signed in great secrecy in July 2021 and provides for the lease of the land known as the “Garden of Cows” (Goveroun Bardez) for almost a century. The “traitorous” priest who mediated and signed the deed is Baret Yeretzian, administrator of the real estate of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, now “in exile” in southern California. Together with him, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Archbishop Sevan Gharibian and businessman Daniel Rubenstein, who intends to build a luxury hotel in the area, participated in the maneuver.

Located near the Armenian quarter, in a strategic area of ​​the holy city, the Jardín de las Vacas has been managed since May 2021 by the municipality as a parking lot for those who come to pray at the Western Wall. The contract dates from 2020 and is valid for a period of 10 years, but its use by Jews has drawn the ire of Armenians, who have been fighting since 2012 to return to full use of the area, where archaeological excavations have uncovered mosaics of a Byzantine church. In addition, the agreement – criticized by the Palestinians, who speak of “selling” land in the holy city to the Israelis – would not be valid because it lacks the approval by vote of the Armenian Synod (8 clerics) and the approval of the Fraternity of Saint James of the Armenian Patriarchate. The contract would also include four Armenian houses, the famous Boulghourji restaurant, commercial activities and Tourianashen buildings on Jaffa street, just outside the old city.

An intricate and thorny issue, which risks fueling tension in the Holy Land and on which, at least for the moment, the protagonists choose the path of silence. In fact, no comment comes from the Jewish-Australian businessman, now based in London, where his company is based. “I don’t give interviews,” Rubenstein told Associated Press (AP). I am a private citizen”. A position similar to that of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the patriarch locked up in the palace and the mouths sealed also among the management leadership of One&Only, the hotel company based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which, according to the plan, should manage the luxury hotel once its construction is finished.And this is where the “Abraham Agreements” and the common interests -and increasingly close- between the Jewish State and part of the Arab countries come into play. of the Gulf.

For now, the only certain thing is the bitterness and concern of the Armenian community, whose neighborhood occupies around 14% of the holy city. “Our land,” said Setrag Balian, a 26-year-old Armenian from Jerusalem, “was bought inch by inch, at the price of our blood and sweat. With one signature, they sold it.”