Interview by Daoud Kuttab

Jerusalem Armenian activist Hagop Djerznzian has been an activist in saving the properties of the Armenian quarter ever since the secret controversial land deal became public. His name is on the list of Armenian Jerusalemites who on October 30^th filed a legal lawsuit against the Xana Gardens and the Jerusalem Municipality. Following is an interview with him on November 3^rd about the case.

What is the basic demand of your lawsuit filed on October 30^th?

In the past few months, the Xana Gardens company, which was the company that made the controversial land deal with the Patriarchate, banned people from entering the parking lot adjacent to the Armenian quarter.

Armenian community members, including myself, had been working with international and local lawyers for some time to find a way to legally stop this deal. We hired a local firm from Jerusalem and prepared the case demanding access to the parking lot.

The case was supposed to be filed in Israeli courts on October 8^th, but the court was closed due to the events in Gaza a day before. The legal procedure was postponed a few weeks and finally filed on the 30^th of October.

So, for now, you are only suing to have access to the parking lot?

We are suing both the developer and the Jerusalem municipality for harming the rights of the community. Our Armenian community is forced to park outside the old city and walk a long way to the Armenian Quarter. In these politically sensitive periods, the roads constitute a danger to our community. So yes, we are suing for the rights of our people, if they have paid the fees for renting the parking lots, their rights must be honored especially by the municipality which is not helping the people of our community who pay city taxes. The city has an obligation to Jerusalemites to provide adequate parking places. At present the case is focused on access to the parking lot. The entire case is to let everyone park their cars without difficulty.

So, if you are not demanding the cancellation of the land deal what exactly does the lawsuit call for?

On Thursday, October 26the a representative of the land company a man named George Warrar, an Arab citizen of Israel who works with Xana Gardens, arrived at the Armenian quarter with bulldozers and attempted to tear down the walls and harm the property. Members of the local community stood up for the effort with their physical bodies. The protestors included members of the Armenian clergy. This has continued daily for a week.

 The Israeli police came and after hearing from both sides decided to let this issue be resolved legally. So, while at present the case is about access, our next steps will be regarding the deal, but we are not willing to disclose our legal strategy at this time.

In addition to asking for access, you also won over the patriarch who issued a statement saying that he had agreed to cancel the deal. What made the patriarch change after refusing to do so for so long?

It is not clear what caused the Armenian patriarch to change his mind and unilaterally decide to abrogate the controversial land deal that included giving up rights to one-fourth of the entire property that has belonged to the Armenian Church for centuries. Pressure has included regular and sustained pressure from the Armenian community including weekly protests and constant demands of the patriarchate to rescind the land deal.

Pressure also came diplomatically when Jordan and Palestine suspended recognition of Patriarch Nourhan Monagian until the said property is returned because this large-scale change of ownership is a violation of the status quo in Jerusalem as the old city of Jerusalem is a UNESCO-protected world heritage site.

Phone calls from heads of churches and Armenian government officials have also added to the pressure.

Do you trust the Patriarch now?

 You can’t deceive the Armenian community. The fact that they issued an official letter stating the cancellation of the land deal is a first step, but there is a need to continue cooperating with the Armenians and local lawyers to produce success in the case.

One of the early results of the decision of the patriarch to unilaterally cancel the sale has been a much better relationship between the Armenian community and the Patriarchate. Some activists,  including myself, are still not talking to the Patriarch but we are in regular contact with several of his staff including the head of the Church’s real estate who does pass him the messages to the Patriarch.

Do you want Palestine and Jordan to return to normal relations with the Patriarch?

It is important that there is a decision to unilaterally cancel the contract, but we need to follow up with local action. Jordan and Palestine should honor their own statement by keeping the suspension until the Armenian land properties are returned to the Church.

How do you plan to tackle this issue in court? And what are your chances of canceling the deal legally?

We have hopes that we can win this case in court, but we will not share with anyone our legal strategy with and especially in this part of the world.  We spent a lot of time traveling a lot and digging for all related documents and found out much more about how government and municipal policies work and what needed to be done to cancel the deal. I don’t fight if I don’t believe we have a good chance to win.

 Also, we have plans to make lawsuits around the world. We have already begun preparing to take steps in the US against people who were involved and gave support to this company. The cases are not only against the developers but against various people who have relations to this deal. We will not talk about our legal strategy but will be happy to share it once we move in that direction.

How are you able to afford all the legal fees?

This project, especially for local lawyers, will cost a  lot of money. We have started a fund for the legal proceedings and opened a bank account for that. We have succeeded in collecting money locally and from  Armenians from the  United States which will help offset all our costs. Our international Armenian lawyers are providing their full services to this project pro bono without any cost.

We have already collected $57,000 in donations out of a goal of $75,000. Anyone interested in supporting our work can click on the Legal Defense Fund For Jerusalem Armenians here.

What is the main lesson of your activity?

Unity. The unity, between the community and clergy members in stopping the illegal construction of the development company proved that the only way to succeed is by joining forces. We therefore urge the Patriarchate to closely collaborate with the community and the movement to address this crisis as a unified front.