As wars rage around them, Armenian Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City feel the walls closing in

Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — As the war in Gaza rages, Syria’s government transforms, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank seethes, Armenian residents of the Old City of Jerusalem fight a different battle. It’s a quieter struggle, they say, but no less existential. The Armenians have lived in the Old City for decades without significant friction with neighbors, centered around a convent that acts as a welfare state. Now, the small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten the multifaith character of the Old City. From radical Jewish settlers who jeer at clergymen, to a land deal threatening to turn part of their land into a luxury hotel, residents say the future of the community is in flux.