The Armenian Church - trapped between a rock and a holy place
By Gavin Rabinowitz
Ha'aretz, English Edition,
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
The standoff between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is nearing the end of its second week. Gun battles between IDF forces surrounding the compound and Palestinians within are a daily occurrence. The Armenian Church, which has four priests and two monks trapped in their monastery adjacent to the church, feel it has become the unintended victim of a conflict in which it is not involved. The shooting of one of its priests Wednesday only reinforces these feelings.
"We are not part of this conflict," said Bishop Aris Shirvanian. "We have become involved against our will. We have become a kind of victim here," he said.
Despite these feelings, the Armenian priests remain in the monastery voluntarily, seeing it as a duty to protect one of Christianity's holiest sites. "We don't want them to leave or vacate the convent," said Shirvanian.
The Armenian Church, one of three custodians of the site of Christ's birth, together with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Franciscans, has given its priests and monks a real test of faith in ordering them to remain in the convent. Conditions in the compound are difficult. The priests are slowly running out of food, they have no bread and electricity has been cut off by the IDF since the beginning of the siege.
"Their condition is not good," said Shirvanian. "They are becoming depressed. It is not easy to be confined and to run out of basic needs. We have medication, but three out of the five priests are in ill health."
Yet Shirvanian admitted that the church has turned down IDF offers to supply the priests with food. "It is for their own safety. If they have food, and the Palestinian gunmen who have taken refuge in the basilica are not given food, then who knows what they will do? Nobody knows how a starving person will react."
The IDF has supplied the priests with water enriched with vitamins as well as medication. However, such an offer has been refused by the Franciscans, also for safety reasons, Shirvanian said.
It was during one of the medication deliveries that an Armenian priest, Deacon Armen Sinanian, 22, was shot and seriously wounded, apparently by an IDF sniper. "They were bringing in medication through the basement," Sinanian said. "The convent superior and another priest went down to receive it. I was upstairs with another priest. I looked out the window for a minute. As I was leaving it happened, I was hit," he said from his hospital bed in Hadassah University Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, where he is recuperating from a gunshot wound in the back.
"The window he was looking out from faces the Bethlehem municipal building, which is occupied by IDF troops. He could not have been shot by the Palestinians. The Israelis must have mistaken him for a Palestinian gunman," said Shirvanian.
Speaking with difficulty, his body constantly racked with coughs, Sinanian said he was not angry over the shooting, just thankful to God that he survived. His eyes filled with tears when Shirvanian showed him a letter from Armenia which said that his parents had met with the Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Holy Etchmiadzin and that a special prayer service had been held for him. "It is a great honor for his parents," said Shirvanian.
"We were not afraid," said Sinanian. "We never believed they would shoot at us. We believed we were safe."
When asked if he thought the priests should have left the convent when the siege started, Sinanian just shrugged and shook his head.
"He couldn't have left on his own even if he wanted to," said Shirvanian. "There is discipline and order in the patriarchy; it is like the army. There is strong discipline."
One thing that is certain - Sinanian does not want to return to Bethlehem in the near future.
Shirvanian, who is responsible for the church's external relations, said recent events highlight the need for international guarantees for the region's holy sites. "We are not looking for sovereignty over the holy places, just international guarantees. In a case like this, where there are no guarantees, the end result may be a disaster."
Shirvanian said it is necessary to safeguard all holy places - Jewish, Muslim and Christian. "It is not just for unique places like the Church of the Nativity, but all places of worship. A number of holy places have already been damaged in Ramallah and Bethlehem since the start of the incursion," said Shirvanian.
"The Christian churches in Jerusalem believe that there should be two states side by side. Israel and Palestine with the three religions co-existing together," said Shirvanian. "This is our guiding principle."
The Armenian Church maintains excellent relations with the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to underscore that claim.
The Armenian community in Israel, totaling 20,000-22,000 people, is centered around the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. Surrounded by their own walls within the city walls, the area is mostly closed to outsiders. "It is like a little Armenia," said Shirvanian. "We are not involved in the conflict, but our daily lives are affected just like the rest of the country. We are a closely knit community just trying to maintain our Christian faith and our Armenian culture."
By Gavin Rabinowitz
Ha'aretz, English Edition,
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
The standoff between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is nearing the end of its second week. Gun battles between IDF forces surrounding the compound and Palestinians within are a daily occurrence. The Armenian Church, which has four priests and two monks trapped in their monastery adjacent to the church, feel it has become the unintended victim of a conflict in which it is not involved. The shooting of one of its priests Wednesday only reinforces these feelings.
"We are not part of this conflict," said Bishop Aris Shirvanian. "We have become involved against our will. We have become a kind of victim here," he said.
Despite these feelings, the Armenian priests remain in the monastery voluntarily, seeing it as a duty to protect one of Christianity's holiest sites. "We don't want them to leave or vacate the convent," said Shirvanian.
The Armenian Church, one of three custodians of the site of Christ's birth, together with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Franciscans, has given its priests and monks a real test of faith in ordering them to remain in the convent. Conditions in the compound are difficult. The priests are slowly running out of food, they have no bread and electricity has been cut off by the IDF since the beginning of the siege.
"Their condition is not good," said Shirvanian. "They are becoming depressed. It is not easy to be confined and to run out of basic needs. We have medication, but three out of the five priests are in ill health."
Yet Shirvanian admitted that the church has turned down IDF offers to supply the priests with food. "It is for their own safety. If they have food, and the Palestinian gunmen who have taken refuge in the basilica are not given food, then who knows what they will do? Nobody knows how a starving person will react."
The IDF has supplied the priests with water enriched with vitamins as well as medication. However, such an offer has been refused by the Franciscans, also for safety reasons, Shirvanian said.
It was during one of the medication deliveries that an Armenian priest, Deacon Armen Sinanian, 22, was shot and seriously wounded, apparently by an IDF sniper. "They were bringing in medication through the basement," Sinanian said. "The convent superior and another priest went down to receive it. I was upstairs with another priest. I looked out the window for a minute. As I was leaving it happened, I was hit," he said from his hospital bed in Hadassah University Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, where he is recuperating from a gunshot wound in the back.
"The window he was looking out from faces the Bethlehem municipal building, which is occupied by IDF troops. He could not have been shot by the Palestinians. The Israelis must have mistaken him for a Palestinian gunman," said Shirvanian.
Speaking with difficulty, his body constantly racked with coughs, Sinanian said he was not angry over the shooting, just thankful to God that he survived. His eyes filled with tears when Shirvanian showed him a letter from Armenia which said that his parents had met with the Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Holy Etchmiadzin and that a special prayer service had been held for him. "It is a great honor for his parents," said Shirvanian.
"We were not afraid," said Sinanian. "We never believed they would shoot at us. We believed we were safe."
When asked if he thought the priests should have left the convent when the siege started, Sinanian just shrugged and shook his head.
"He couldn't have left on his own even if he wanted to," said Shirvanian. "There is discipline and order in the patriarchy; it is like the army. There is strong discipline."
One thing that is certain - Sinanian does not want to return to Bethlehem in the near future.
Shirvanian, who is responsible for the church's external relations, said recent events highlight the need for international guarantees for the region's holy sites. "We are not looking for sovereignty over the holy places, just international guarantees. In a case like this, where there are no guarantees, the end result may be a disaster."
Shirvanian said it is necessary to safeguard all holy places - Jewish, Muslim and Christian. "It is not just for unique places like the Church of the Nativity, but all places of worship. A number of holy places have already been damaged in Ramallah and Bethlehem since the start of the incursion," said Shirvanian.
"The Christian churches in Jerusalem believe that there should be two states side by side. Israel and Palestine with the three religions co-existing together," said Shirvanian. "This is our guiding principle."
The Armenian Church maintains excellent relations with the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to underscore that claim.
The Armenian community in Israel, totaling 20,000-22,000 people, is centered around the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. Surrounded by their own walls within the city walls, the area is mostly closed to outsiders. "It is like a little Armenia," said Shirvanian. "We are not involved in the conflict, but our daily lives are affected just like the rest of the country. We are a closely knit community just trying to maintain our Christian faith and our Armenian culture."
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