By Varsen Aghabekian, Dar al-Kalima University Press, 2023, paperback, 226 pp. MEB $25
The Saga of Survival fills an important gap in the history of the Armenians of Palestine. While there are good studies about the Armenian communities of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, an analysis of the Armenians of Palestine has been missing. Varsen Aghabekian fills this gap by telling the history of Armenians in Palestine during the inter-war period (1918-1948). What is unique about this study is that Aghabekian is able to intertwine her family history with that of the history of the larger Armenian community of Palestine. The strength of the book does not lie in unearthing new primary sources to reconstruct history, rather it is heavily based on oral history, an extremely valuable source that no other scholar in the area has utilized.
The Armenian presence in Palestine dates back to the fourth century CE, when Armenian pilgrims began arriving in Jerusalem after the discovery of the holy sites of Christianity. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its present form came into being in the first decade of the 14th century, when the Brotherhood of St. James was established in the Holy City. It was around the Armenian Patriarchate that a small Armenian community sprang that eventually formed the Armenian Quarter, which encompasses one-sixth of the Old City of Jerusalem. Those descending from this early community are known as “the locals” (kaghakatsis), while those who arrived after the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) are known as “visitors” (zuwwar).
In her book, Aghabekian is able to show the common and interconnected histories of Armenians and Palestinians. What is unique about the Armenians of Palestine is that they suffered multiple catastrophes: the Armenian Genocide, the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 Naksa. Aghabekian concentrates on the first two catastrophes. In the course of five chapters, she discusses the rise of the Armenian community of Jerusalem from the ashes of genocide, the challenges faced by the community and the important role played by Armenians in the context of Palestinian history. She concludes the book with the Nakba, which became the turning point for the Armenians of Jerusalem, leading to dispossession and the immigration of thousands to surrounding countries, Europe, the United States and Australia.
Aghabekian also discusses the struggles surrounding the arrival of Armenian refugees during and after the genocide. The Armenian Patriarchate had a monumental task to feed and take care of the refugees, while local Armenians also assisted the refugees. Despite a brief period of tension between both groups due to cultural and linguistic differences, their relations improved during the British Mandate period. It is this period upon which Aghabekian most concentrates by bringing the voices of the living and the dead to life. Her father, for example, Ohannes Aghabekian, becomes one of the important voices in the book. In describing the difficulties of life during the 1930s, he recalls: “I used to walk over 10km to Battir and bring vegetables on my back to sell in Jerusalem so my family would have food to eat. I was only 12 years old.” Unlike other historians, Aghabekian also tells the story of the Armenian Catholic community in Jerusalem, mostly formed by the survivors of the genocide.
Aghabekian demonstrates how the local Armenians who were fluent in Arabic were much more integrated in Palestinian society. With their excellent education, acquired mostly from missionary schools, they were able to occupy important positions within the British colonial administration. Armenians also excelled in diverse professions, such as medicine, photography, ceramics, shoemaking, goldsmithing and silversmithing, among others.
The Armenians of Jerusalem were not immune to the Palestinian-Zionist conflict. In Aghabekian’s words, “Armenians have suffered politically, socially and economically like Palestinians, including the loss of properties in 1948.” In chapters four and five, Aghabekian tells the story of the Armenians during the 1948 war and its aftermath. She specifically concentrates on Patriarch Guregh Israelian, who played an important role in alleviating the suffering of the Armenians. She expresses Armenians’ fear and anxiety upon becoming refugees for a second time. During the war, thousands of Armenians from throughout Palestine poured into the Armenian Patriarchate looking for a safe haven. Despite this, around 40 Armenians were killed by the Haganah militia’s shelling, including my great cousin Hagop Der Matossian. Similar to the other Palestinian upper-class families, Armenians lost most of their businesses and homes in West Jerusalem.
The Saga of Survival is a fantastic book that tells the story of the Armenians of Palestine during a critical phase of the modern period. The book is unique as it tells the story of the period from those who experienced it, and not through the perspective of colonial archives. No other scholar has successfully utilized such a rich trove of oral history to tell this unique story. The book is extremely important to scholars and non-scholars alike who are interested in understanding the complexities of the Armenians of Palestine during the Mandate period, as well as the previously untold details relayed by Armenian witnesses and victims of the Nakba.
Bedross Der Matossian is a professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the former president of the Society for Armenian Studies.