A land dispute in the Old City
Armenian activists in Jerusalem are outraged over an agreement to lease communal land to a hotel developer.
A view of a parking lot that is part of a contentious deal in the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem (AP Photo / Maya Alleruzzo)
An imbroglio has emerged in Jerusalem over a nondescript 2.8-acre parcel of prime real estate known in Armenian as Goveroun Bardez (the Cows’ Garden). The Armenian patriarch, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, has entered into an agreement with a company called Xana Gardens to build a luxury hotel with 69 to 75 suites on the community’s communal property. Purchased 700 years ago, the land was entrusted to the patriarchate as a perpetual endowment.
Armenian activists here and worldwide are up in arms over the lease agreement, which they see as fraudulent. They are suing Xana Gardens in both Israel and the United States.
The genesis of the deal dates back to 2020, when the Jerusalem municipality struck a ten-year usage agreement with the patriarchate. City Hall said it would pave the muddy field to improve parking for the neighborhood’s denizens and the residents of the nearby Jewish Quarter. The contract signed between the city and the patriarchate contained a clause whereby it would be void if, in the future, an agreement were to be signed to construct a hotel on the same site.
