Your trusted source

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem sent a letter to the Israeli company XANA CAPITAL to cancel the 99-year lease agreement for 25% of the Armenian quarter.

However, the Tatoyan Foundation says shortly after the letter, the situation on the ground became tense, especially after the arrival of settlers along with attack dogs brought by them, and consequently, the appearance of armed army officers on the ground.

"Based on these developments, the representatives of the Armenian community, the Armenian Patriarch and the clergy all came to the Cows’ Garden (Goveroun Bardez). The Kerkonian Dajani law firm, attorney Garo Ghazarian, the Tatoyan Foundation, Center for Law and Justice, and the entire legal team are in contact with the community leaders, monitoring the situation, and are taking measures to calm the tense situation in the Cows’ Garden. [Some such steps were already taken last night]," the foundation said in a statement on Monday.

"To put it all in context, a few months before this, in June of 2023, a group of lawyers and advisers led by the Kerkonian Dajani firm carried out a fact-finding mission, in which the Tatoyan Foundation, Center for Law and Justice also participated.

"Before that mission, alerts were received from the Armenian community in Jerusalem that a hotel and entertainment facility would be built in the Armenian grounds known as the Cows' Garden, and the residents who historically live in the area of the St. Hakob Armenian Monastery would be evicted from the adjacent neighborhoods. Further, that the museum of the Armenian neighborhood would also be seriously threatened and the cemetery would be displaced.

"Based on the evidence gathered as a result of our fact-funding mission, the legal team prepared a 184-page report that included substantial evidence which formed the basis to the first in a series of ripe legal remedies initiated, and more to be pursued in due course.

"We express our gratitude to lawyers Garo Ghazarian, Karnig Kerkonian, Liz Mirza Al-Dajani, Ani Nazarian, as well as representatives of Armenian community, Hakob Djernazian, Setrak Balian, and Varsen Aghabekian for their professional work. We also thank Jack Yurejian and Vache Karmandarian for their unwavering support," reads the statement.