Armenians voice fears over threats to rights
By ARTHUR HAGOPIAN
01/05/2013 22:09
`The Armenian Patriarchate is seriously concerned about its historical
rights in the Nativity Church,’ church sources said. PHOTO: TRAVELUJAH
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a member of the triumvirate of
Guardians of the Christian Holy Places, has voiced grave fears over
the threat of the erosion of its historic and traditional rights in
the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.
The rights and privileges that are the legacy of the Armenians are
indelibly inscribed within the tenets of a status quo that has been in
place since the Ottoman administration of the land. But recent
developments in Bethlehem, involving its sister Guardian, the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate (with the Latin Custodia forming the third
member of the triumvirate), are threatening to seriously impact on
Armenian rights, church officials claim.
The Patriarchate has lodged an urgent call for a return to the status
quo that has governed relations between the churches, and with
governments, ever since its promulgation in the 19th century.
The Guardians, as well as the dozen other Christian denominations of
the Holy Land, are bound by the tenets of the set of agreements
thrashed out by the Ottoman sultans with the aim of safeguarding
Christian rights and avoiding internecine clashes.
While not perfect, the status quo, outlined in a 1929 document titled
`The Status Quo in the Holy Places,’ by L.A.G. Cust, an official of
the British Mandate of Palestine, seems to have served the Christians
well over the centuries.
Departures from the spirit of the agreement are rare, and any that do
occur are mostly of a temporary nature, meant to accommodate a one-off
event, agreed to by the parties concerned. But according to the
Armenians, there have been some serious infractions recently, with
unpalatable results.
To impartial Western observers, the sweeping of a neighbor’s tile, or
the movement of a ladder from one part of a wall to another, may seem
trivial in the cosmic order of things, but to the owner of the tile or
wall, in the troubled Holy Land, the action is viewed as an
unwarranted encroachment on its territorial rights.
The Armenian Patriarchate says the latest breach concerns the annual
cleaning arrangements within the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, jointly
`owned’ with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
CONFLICTS OVER the threat of territorial encroachment have been a
festering wound for the Armenians for years, culminating in an
incident in December 2007 when the Greeks unilaterally `imposed’ some
amendments on the cleaning process.
The Armenians charge that the Greeks had decided to move a ladder
`three places’ during the annual cleaning of the church. As things
have stood for years, the ladder is placed in the (northern) Armenian
section of the church, and would be used during the cleaning process
to reach the upper walls belonging to the Greeks.
The Armenians promptly objected to this variation of the status quo,
pointing out that the ladder stays only in one designated place during
the cleaning chore. They also wanted to be around when the Greeks
start their cleaning.
The Greeks were adamant and a scuffle broke out, captured graphically
on YouTube.
The next year, to avoid a recurrence of the clashes, Palestinian
Authority Minister for Christian Affairs Ziad Bandak brought the two
sides to the negotiating table and succeeded in hammering out an
agreement allowing the ladder to be moved twice only.
The Armenians considered the change a `one-off’ to cover the 2008
annual cleaning arrangements only, and said it should in no way be
construed as a permanent amendment to the standing protocols of the
status quo.
The Greeks, supported by the Palestinian Authority, whose Presidential
Committee for the Christians is composed overwhelmingly of Orthodox
Greeks, with not a single Armenian aboard (the Armenians point out),
thought otherwise, and attempted to clean the Armenian section of the
church as well, and another scuffle broke out, necessitating police
intervention.
The Armenians considered the Greek move null and void and demanded a
reinstitution of the status quo but despite official protestations to
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the next three years saw a repetition of
the same scenario.
Reinstitution would mean that both churches begin the cleaning
operation simultaneously.
`We are against being forbidden to enter the church while the Greeks
start cleaning, because that gives the Greeks a `superiority’ over the
holy site when we are equal partners in its ownership,’ a church
official said.
`We have complained repeatedly against this breach of the status quo,
but to no avail,’ he added.
The PA response has been that the matter is one for the two
Patriarchates to settle, with committee president Hanna Amireh
declaring: `The same arrangements which were reached last year are the
most suitable arrangement for this year too.’
The Armenians have urged the PA to reconsider, pointing out that the
annual cleaning the year before had ended with a clash between the
Armenians and Greeks, and expressed doubt this was a `most suitable
arrangement.’
Two weeks ago, the most senior Armenian church official in Jerusalem,
Archbishop Nourhan Manoogian, met with Amireh and reminded him that
the Greek cleaning `re-arrangement’ was intended for that year only,
and that to continue it would be `a breach of the centuries-old status
quo and must be cancelled, that the Armenians stand firm on their
historical rights and shall never sacrifice their centuries-old rights
in favor of the Greeks.’
In a last-ditch attempt to paper over their differences,
representatives of the Armenian and Greek Patriarchates met in
Bethlehem earlier this month with Amireh, but despite Armenian
insistence on a return to the status quo and cancellation of the
one-off arrangement of 2008, the Greeks refused to give ground, the
Armenians say.
Meanwhile, Amireh declared that the decision of the PA `shall remain
unchanged and the Armenians must submit to the Authority’s decision,’
warning it will `take all measures against those who dare to cause any
kind of clash,’ this correspondent was told.
The Armenian reaction was swift. It vociferously objected to Amireh’s
declaration, calling it `an unprecedented injustice against the
Armenian Patriarchate,’ and cast doubt on the impartiality of the
committee.
`The Armenian Patriarchate is seriously concerned about its historical
rights in the Nativity Church,’ church sources said, adding that it
feared this year’s annual cleaning of the church (scheduled for
January 2), `which is as sacred service to us as one of the solemn
ceremonies in the Holy Places,’ may be denied to the Armenians, `who
for centuries have had the right of equally sharing in the Holy Places
of Christendom together with the Greek Orthodox.’
The writer was born in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter in 1938. He has
worked for press organizations and as the press officer for the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He lives in Australia.
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