Excited to dig into this!

[Thread] Finally finished reading this book! I recommend it to everybody interested in learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and especially the lives of Armenians of Jerusalem particularly in the context of the conflict.

The author is half Armenian half British born in Jerusalem and the descendant of two long established Armenian families in Jerusalem: the Krikorians and the Melkonians. He gives precious detailsabout his life and the lives of his relatives in Jerusalem with great historic insight

The book was published in 1993 and he talks about Armenians in Jerusalem since their establishment in the city and up until the aftermath of the 1967 war.

The Armenian community in Jerusalem was established not long after the conversion of Armenians to Christianity, in the 4th century and is said to be the oldest Armenian diaspora community in the world.

A distinction is made between the long established Armenians (called the Kaghakatsi, i.e. citizens in Arm) and the Armenians that settled in Jerusalem after the Armenian Genocide, called zoowar (Arabic for visitors) by the Native Armenian community.

Those who arrived after the Genocide didn’t speak Arabic and quite resented the Kaghakatsi because they thought they were more Arab than Armenian, but the Kaghakatsi received them with “great kindness” and some adopted orphans into their own families

By reading the book, you can really feel a strong connection between the author and the Arab community. Armenians spoke Arabic and identified and empathized strongly with the Arabs, which plight the author relates with great sadness

A few quotes: “the Kaghakatsi were known for keeping their houses immaculately clean, fastidious attention was given to hygiene, and they had an inherited tradition of preparing good food; characteristics which ocntributed to their survival”.

“The Kaghakatsi adopted Jerusalem as their new home, were accepted by the Palestinian inhabitants, and over the centuries conformed to local customs in daily life. Arm cookery however retained its individual character and traditional recipes [...] are still in use.”

“The Arm presence in Jer can be traced back to the early Christian era. The Cathedral of Surp Hagop and the adjoining convent buildings were acquired from the Georgians in the 12th century. [...] the Arm own buildings and land comprising one-tenth of the Old City.”

“It was the aim of successive Arm patriarchs to buy land and houses that adjoined the convent buildings. After much sacrifice and over a long period this was achieved and the convent and cathedral were protected by an almost unbroken ring of properties”

This is very interesting so I'm sharing it all

The author describes very happy lives in a multicultural environment. Things got more difficult starting from WWI. Palestine was under Ottoman rule for 400 years and this came to an end in 1917, as they were beaten by the British. Then started the British mandate.

At first Arabs welcomed it, thought this was going to be temporary and then lead to their independence. However, Nov 1917: Balfour Declaration by the British that promises the establishment of a national home to the Jewish people.

First it wasn’t made too public to avoid upsetting the Arab population. Then inevitably resistance started by the Arab population which was dismissed by the British. After WWII situation worsened. Both parties, Arabs and Jews wanted to end British rule &take over the country.

Quote:”having suffered a terrible holocaust at the hands of the Nazis,the Jews won world-wide support for the creation of their national home.The Arabs of Palestine could not understand how they became the scapegoat for these awful deeds in Eur. in which they had played no part”

From 1948, a lot of people started fleeing for safety. Great trauma for Palestinians who were deeply attached to their lands and homes, something the British apparently did not understand.

1948: full fledged war. Arabs, and Armenians too, lost their homes. Fled and had their houses looted and appropriated. All persons residing in an Arab country at the time of the creation of Israel were considered absentees. their bank accounts were frozen and land confiscated

Put under control of Custodian of Enemy property with zero reparation or compensation. 1948-1967: no war no peace situation. Then 1967 war. Many Arm left. The Krikorian and Melkonian lines ended with the natural death of their last members. And only 300 kaghakatsi remained.

A last quote by the author about Arab Palestinians: “I strongly felt that injustice had been meted out to a community of innocent people, and I was aware of their suffering, which I found impossible to ignore.”