Founder of 'Save Armenian Quarter' is confident in victory in Jerusalem land case

On Dec. 28, over 30 armed men stormed into the Cow’s Garden area in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem and attacked a group of Armenian clergy and members of the community.

The attack was seen by the patriarchate as a response to its lawsuit over the purported sale of the Cow’s Garden, a plot of land in the Armenian Quarter in the Old City, used for parking for several years now. It is the last large open space inside Jerusalem’s walled city. The Armenian Patriarchate filed a lawsuit to cancel the deal it made over two years ago to lease a fourth of the Armenian Quarter to Australian Jewish developer Danny Rothman (Rubinstein) and his Christian Arab partner George Warwar (Hadad) for 98 years. 

The community has been protesting the deal that involves taking down several homes and a seminary.

Hagop Djernazian, co-founder of the Save the Armenian Quarter Movement, a group that’s spearheading the protests against the deal and raised $75,000 to cover legal fees for the latest lawsuit, expressed confidence in an interview with Al-Monitor that the community has galvanized its efforts to prevail in the case.