The representatives of the Jewish community in Armenia raise their
voices and claim that the Armenians do not like the Jews and that they
are showing Anti-Semitism. They consider owner of ALM (Alternative
media) television network Tigran Karapetyan and President of the
“Armenian Aryan Unity” Armen Avetisyan as anti-Jew. The Jewish
community leaders show disgust towards Armenia’s authorities because
they don’t take means in defending their rights. They do not consider
the recent attack on the vice of Jerusalem’s Armenian patriarch bishop
Nurhan Manukyan as an anti-Armenian act. Let us not forget to mention
that according to the “Haarets” newspaper, the Jews had attacked the
Armenian evangelist right when he was celebrating Translators’ Day on
the fourth Sunday of the Holy Cross. This attack differs from others in
that this time one of the Jews had spit on the cross. Until that the
Jews had always spit on the floor or turned their backs to the cross as
a sign of hatred whenever they saw an Armenian evangelist. Despite the
Armenians’ complaints, the police could do nothing to do away with the
whole situation. Leader of the Jewish community in Armenia Rima
Varzhapetyan does not think that those kinds of cases must be looked at
as anti-Christian. In her opinion, they are unique cases, something
committed by the ‘”fanatics” and have absolutely nothing to do with
Israel’s political strategies against Armenians. Rima Varzhapetyan gave
the following response as to what she, as the leader of the Jewish
community thought about the act: “It was a very bad, inhuman act. I am
angry. As soon as I found out what had happened, I called the Israel
embassy in Tbilisi to find out how the workers there would describe the
“fanatic” act. Of course, I still have not received any official
response from them, but I think the person who did that was some crazy
person. This is embarrassing for our entire nation.” Mrs. Varzhapetyan
does not agree with what the media write about, claiming that there is
a type of intolerance towards Armenian evangelists in Israel. “That is
not part of Israel’s politics. This was committed by a fanatic believer
and the people responsible for all of this are the journalists because
they like to create scandals”. Mrs. Varzhapetyan has been informed that
that “crazy” person has received severe punishment. They have forbidden
him to enter Jerusalem for two months. “Do you know what that means?
Can you imagine what it means for a believer to not pray in Jerusalem
for two months? It is worse than the jail in Kosh.
We tried to find out from the Holy See in Etchmiadzin about how the
events connected with the vice of the Armenian Patriarch Bishop Nurhan
Manukyan had ended and how the church had responded to that. We have
published Priest Vahram Melikyan’s speech in its entirety: “We are
certain that you know about what happened recently in Jerusalem. What
happened was that during the religious procession of illuminator of
Saint Hakobyants church His Holiness Archbishop Nurhan Manukyan, a
young Orthodox extremist from the Jewish side Nathan Tsvi Rosental
showed disrespect to the holy cross and His Holiness. The act committed
was discussed with the local authorities and they had taken the steps
necessary in bringing that young delinquent to justice. As far as we
know, he has been forbidden to enter the Old Jerusalem area for a
period of time. Days after the incident, the rabbis of the “Har Hamor”
religious learning institution have apologized to the Armenian
community for their student’s act. We think that this is something
which is not accepted by the local authorities and this last event will
further draw their attention to this. The Armenian Apostolic Church, on
behalf of its holy seats, different structures, the devout
parishioners, has expressed its pain and indignation towards what
happened. We believe that the situation will get better thanks to the
help provided by the local authorities and that will help re-establish
peace in the religious life, with brotherly love and mutual respect.”