A changing neighborhood

Jerusalem’s Old City and its dwindling Christian and Armenian populations.

By ARIEL COHEN
Crosses for sale in Jerusalem's Old City. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Crosses for sale in Jerusalem's Old City.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Ask anyone who has cared to stick around – the phrase “Christian Quarter” is a misnomer.
“Christians are becoming extinct here; they move to Europe, the US and Canada, and then Muslims move in,” Kevork Kahvedjian, a lifelong resident of the Christian Quarter, says as he gestures to the streets outside his shop. “The name is Christian Quarter, but it’s more or less the Muslim Quarter.”
And it’s true: The population of the Old City is changing, making the Christian and Armenian populations less prominent.
In 1967, about 17,000 Muslims and 6,000 Christians were living within the Old City’s walls. After 1948 and before the Six Day War, no Jews were living in the Old City.
Today the demographics have shifted, creating a more Muslim-heavy population. While the number of Christians residing in the Old City has remained consistent, the growth of a strong Muslim population (nearly 30,000 today) has edged out the slowly shrinking Christian population (now hovering around 5,681) and nearly non-existent Armenian population (just 790).
The Christian quarter is home to some of the most famous and revered sites in Christianity. Through the winding, covered stone alleys, nameplates mark the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, leading to the immense and imposing Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The garden tomb – centered in the cacophony of life within east Jerusalem – is a surprisingly peaceful sanctuary, the spot believed to be where Jesus was resurrected.
There are some 100 churches in the Old City and Mount Zion, and denominations as varied as Russian, Greek and Ethiopian Orthodox can be seen walking the historical streets.
Not only do these sites have deep historical significance for the city, but they are also a big draw for tourists – as the Christian Quarter is home not only to the Christian residents of the Old City, but is also a mecca for pilgrims who travel to Israel from all over the world. Indeed, in 2014, over 2 million Christians visited Israel; 1 million of those tourists identified as pilgrims.
But despite the cultural and historical significance of the Christian Quarter, population growth trends are not moving in favor of the Christians there. According to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the average annual growth rate for Arabs living in Jerusalem is currently 2.8 percent, whereas for the non-Arab population it is only 1.1%; this means Jerusalem’s Arab population is growing nearly three times as fast as the non-Arab population.
Auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate William Hanna Shomali points to these rates as a primary reason behind population discrepancies. “Christian have less children compared to Muslims,” Shomali says.
“The number of children per family diminishes the Christian population.
“The difference between the populations is not entirely because of the sale of properties to Muslims, but because of the growth demographic.”
Even with the changing growth rates, shifting population demographics and economic struggles that Old City Christians face, Shomali says an Old City without Christians is unfathomable.
“The city of Jerusalem is a blessed and holy city because of the Christian places that exist here, mainly the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” Shomali insists. “It’s impossible for Jerusalem to be without Christianity, so it is important [they maintain] their presence here.”
Those Christians who have remained in the Old City over the years can feel the difference.
The walls of Kahvedjian’s shop, Elia Photo Service, tell the tale of a century of history via black-andwhite photos of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Caesarea – some dating back as early as 1903. The Christian Quarter photo store began documenting history the year after Israel became a state, but the family has been taking pictures since long before that. Kahvedjian saw his father, Elia, run the business; in time, he will pass it down to his son.
Kahvedjian says he’s watched the neighborhood shift dramatically over the years, not necessarily for the better. Most of his friends have left town, moving to new places in order to find better business opportunities.
Because many Israeli Christians can speak multiple languages, he explains, its easier for them to move and find new jobs when they need to. “Its business for us,” he says. “But now there’s no business here because of the political situation.”
Before 1967, he notes, the quarter was more than just souvenir shops, as it is now; you could walk down Christian Quarter Road and see jewelers, goldsmiths, clothing stores, anything one could ever need. Business was booming and Christians were thriving. But today, the violence of the political conflict has taken a toll on Christian economic prosperity within the Old City.
“The biggest thing is the political situation; it’s getting more extreme on both sides. As an outsider, I can see both sides; people are tense, everything is tense.”
Kahvedjian says.
George Sandrouni, an Armenian friend of Kahvedjian, added, “Its the instability, a feeling of insecurity, all the trouble of what goes on in the city makes the Armenians feel unstable.
“We are not a part of the conflict but sometimes we can be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you can be a victim of anything.”
Yet most violence in the Old City continues to be directed towards Jews or Israeli police. In one example on January 8, a 21-year-old yeshiva student was stabbed with a screwdriver outside Damascus Gate; his Arab assailant was apprehended a day later by police.
In another on December 26, east Jerusalem resident Muhammad al-Ajlouni stabbed two Border Police officers near Lion’s Gate, lightly wounding them. The month before, an Orthodox man was also stabbed by an Arab assailant, although this took place just outside the Old City, close to the seam between east and west Jerusalem.
Sandrouni and Kahvedjian have both watched the Old City change. For the past 31 years, Sandrouni has run the Armenian Ceramic Center, close to the entrance to the Christian Quarter. He agrees that there are much fewer Armenians and Christians living in the Old City than there were when he opened his shop.
“If you go through the Jaffa Gate now, you only see one or two Armenian stores. There used to be so many,” Sandrouni recalls. “When we were small, I remember our groceries were Armenian; our clothing store, our watchmaker – they were all Armenian.
“Now it’s Arab, not Christian. In the Christian Quarter, you hardly see a Christian shop.”
The Armenian shopkeeper is able to keep up a steady business, but laments that many other Christians are unable to do the same, having been edged out by Muslim shopkeepers. This, he says, is the reason so many leave and very few move in.
“The main concern of Armenians,” he says, “is to have a business and live a normal life. You just can’t get that in Jerusalem.”