WAR OF DENOMINATIONS

In Armenia, there is hot news again. They are discussing an incident that occurred not in Yerevan or Vanadzor, but in Jerusalem. As we can understand from fairly disparate Armenian media reports, two Armenian priests - Deacon Karapet Hayrapetyan and Father Shnork - were beaten up in the heart of Jerusalem at the Tower of David. Apparently, it is a purely domestic quarrel. As it turns out, Orthodox Jews beat up the two Armenian priests because the latter rebuked them. This was preceded by a Jewish holiday that was celebrated in Jerusalem by a large gathering of people. The behaviour of the two "orthodox men" seemed somehow inappropriate to the Armenian priests. Karapet Hayrapetyan rebuked them, and in response, he and Father Shnork were beaten up. However, they did not receive serious injuries.

This is not the first incident in Israel, where the main role is played by Armenian priests. Media regularly report on brawls between the congregations of the Armenian and Hellenic (Greek) Orthodox churches during the Holy Fire ceremony. This ceremony was defined by the Turkish Sultan: on the day of the descent of fire, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem opens the door of the temple, but it is the Greek Patriarch who enters the Edicule, a small chapel at the Holy Sepulchre. He lights his lamp precisely from the holy fire that appears on the wall of the chapel, and then his colleagues - patriarchs of the Ethiopian, Armenian, Russian and Coptic churches - lit their candles from his lamp. Now the Armenian congregation is trying to ensure that the Armenian Patriarch participates in the ceremony on a par with the Greek Patriarch, for which they are simply trying to "push" him into the Edicule. And Armenian fathers often issue the following warning: "We do not want to fight, but we can gather people."

Now "hot news" is coming from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where the cleaning of the Basilica before the celebration of Orthodox Christmas in 2011 turned into a brawl. The reason is simple: "division of territory."

There is, of course, a digestible version. Many temples, erected over the main Christian shrines, mainly in Israel and the Palestinian territories, are controlled by bishops of several denominations simultaneously. Although everyone has their own chapel here, attempts are regularly made to "grab" a piece of someone else's territory, which are foiled. In the Old City of Jerusalem, there are many missions, monasteries and churches of different denominations, which also happen to have "land disputes". For some reason, such scandals often "feature" Armenian priests.

It should be noted that among the Armenians the news of the brawl involving priests caused an impressive surge in anti-Semitism instead of discussions about the morals of the church. First, Jerusalem Archbishop Aris Shirvanyan told NEWS.am: "The police learned about the incident, but no one was arrested. Such incidents are not uncommon. In this way, Jews express their attitude to the Armenians and our religion." Mendel Korsounski, the press attache of the Armenian Centre of Culture and Education Noyan Tapan, made even more provocative statements: "Not a single year passes without such incidents in relation to Armenian priests or seminarians. If the Israeli government is so busy fighting global anti-Semitism that it has forgotten that its territory is also inhabited by other peoples, maybe it's time for the Foreign Ministry of Armenia to remind Israel of this?"

It is obvious why the "fight against global anti-Semitism", as Korsounski said, worries Armenia so much. Yerevan likes to argue that the Armenians who survived "genocide" understand the Holocaust better than others, although in reality, there are more than enough examples of anti-Semitism in Armenia itself. Armenian pro-government media can refer as the ultimate authority to one of the most famous anti-Semitic hoaxes in history - "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" - and look for Jewish roots in the members of the government of the Young Turks, who are responsible for the so-called massacre of Armenians. In the same Armenia, "unknown" people painted a swastika on a memorial stone erected in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and on the sign of the community itself, Roman Yepiskoposyan's book "The National Systems", which contains anti-Semitic remarks, is spreading among Armenian youth, while members of the Youth Union of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun stage a "protest" and set fire to the Turkish flag in the corners of which they draw the Star of David ... Armenia has launched a real cult around Dro (Drastamat Kanayan) and Garegin Nzhdeh, who openly collaborated with Hitler during the Second World War and headed the Armenian legion of SS - the one that "distinguished itself" with reprisals against Jews, Gypsies and Karaites in the Crimea. Today, the post of deputy minister of youth and sports of Armenia is occupied by a Khachik Asryan, who does not hide his pro-Nazi beliefs.

The most informed analysts also recommend recalling that in the 1970s most of the Armenian terrorists began their "combat carriers" in Palestinian factions, while the future "founding father" of ASALA, Hagop Hagopian, as archives tell, participated in the massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 - as a member of the infamous "Black September" group.

Considering all this, it becomes clear why the domestic conflict with two priests led to another surge in anti-Semitism in Armenia, which is headed by church hierarchs.