MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Tensions rise in Jerusalem as settlers target Armenians
Christians in the Old City are now living in fear of ethnic cleansing
The Armenian Quarter has become the subject of an armed land grab
GABRIELLE WEINIGER FOR THE TIMES
The Times
It was night-time when the settlers, armed with rifles and accompanied by attack dogs, descended on the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“They came and started ripping up the pavement with diggers,” said Hagop Djernazian, 22, a young activist who rushed to the site to see off the settlers.
Linking arms, the Armenians formed a human chain in front of the bulldozers until the settlers were turned away. “It is not just a piece of land we are protecting,” Djernazian said. “It is the future of Armenians and all Christians in Jerusalem that is at stake here.”
With international attention focused on the bombardment of Gaza and on settler attacks in the West Bank, Armenians in the Old City say they are facing
