ARMENIANS TRY TO AVOID TAKING SIDES BETWEEN JEWS AND ARABS, SAYS GARO SANDROUNI

AZG DAILY
24-03-2009

Armenian community in Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem – containing sites sacred to Judaism,
Christianity and Islam – is often viewed as being at the heart of
the Arab-Israeli conflict. Divided into Jewish, Christian, Muslim
and Armenian quarters, it is an ethnic, cultural, political and
religious mix.

An Armenian resident of the Old City – Garo Sandrouni, 53, shop owner,
Armenian Quarter – describes life behind its ancient walls.

"The Armenian community has been in Jerusalem since the fourth century.

There are only about 1,500 Armenians here now but the advantage of
that is everyone knows everyone else.

We have schools, museums, churches, seminaries and institutions here –
we’re very well-organised for such a small community.

Living in the Old City has got worse and worse. It’s attractive to
three major religions but there’s not enough space. Whenever there
are religious festivals – which is all the time – thousands of people
come here, which makes life difficult. You can’t move, you can’t take
your car out and you really have to plan in advance how you’re going
to get around.

I have seen lots of changes here in my lifetime. There have been too
many renovations in the Old City. It was completely different when
I was young. Even the entrances to the Old City were different in
those days.

There have been political changes too – the intifadas [Palestinian
uprisings] changed the atmosphere here. People went on strike and
shops closed down.

It has become more and more tense, people have become more fanatic
and everyone is pouring towards the Old City – so we end up getting
all the problems here.

We can live freely as Armenians though – there is no problem with
worshipping, for instance.

The Armenians are friendly with all the other quarters – we border
the Jewish and Christian Quarters and we have good relations with them.

Of course, everyone tries to get you on their side – sometimes we
sympathise with the Arabs, sometimes with the Jews, but as Armenians
we always try to stay neutral."