Caught in the Crossfire

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Caught in the Crossfire: Injured cleric tells family of his Bethlehem ordeal

By Nara Markossian

ArmeniaWeek reporter

 

The military confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis continues in Bethlehem, birthplace of Christ.

 

Caught in the crossfire are priests at the Church of the Nativity, including 22-year-old Armen Sinanian.

 

The Armenian priest, a Stole-Bearer (a low-ranking clerical title), was seriously wounded after being hit by an Israeli sniper on April 10 while he was inside the church.

 

Sinanian was rushed to the Hadasah hospital in Jerusalem where doctors operated to save his life. He was kept at the hospital for a further ten days.

 

Israeli troops have laid siege to the church where up to 200 Palestinian fighters are holed up with women, children, and other civilians.

 

Sinanian has spent six years in Jerusalem studying at the seminary next to St Hakobiants monastery in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City.

 

He comes from the Qarahunj village of the Sunik region, where his parents and sister still live.

 

In an interview with ArmeniaWeek, his mother Sosvard said: "His condition is good now, he has already left hospital. I haven't seen my son since he was 16 and then this tragedy.

 

"I spoke to him a week ago. The only thing he told me was that he was ok."

 

She added: "He didn't go into details about how he was wounded, he only kept saying that the condition of the city and the church is bad.

 

"Shooting usually starts at midnight. My son kept repeating that he is very sorry that this much blood is being shed on the divine land."

 

Sinanian cannot call to his parents' home because the village has no direct dialing services. So he calls his uncle in Goris, who passes on the latest news to Qarahunj or tells the priest's mother what day he will next call.

 

In his last phone call, he told that several priests in the Church of the Nativity were in a very bad condition. Palestinians showed little regard for the church and holy items.

 

Sinanian was one of seven clergymen held inside the church by Palestinian gunmen. Three managed to escape earlier this week, but three more remain inside along with up to 50 attendants of the Greek and Latin churches.

 

The Israeli army initially denied that one of its soldiers shot Sinanian. It later admitted that the priest was hit by an Israeli sniper, saying Sinanian had been mistaken for an armed Palestinian.

 

Catholicos Karekin II met with the young priest's parents and expressed his readiness to send them to Jerusalem or to arrange Sinanian's return to Armenia to recuperate. The family are waiting to see how the situation will develop before deciding what to do.

 

Heads of many churches have expressed concern about the situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Catholicos has called on the Israeli and Palestinian sides to implement every possible means of assuring the safety of Christian holy places and clergymen.

 

The Church of the Nativity is one of Christianity's most sacred places and is shared by the Armenian, Greek Orthodox, and Latin churches. Armenians care for the northern part of the church and two Mass altars, which they share with the Greeks.

 

Armenians are among the civilian populations of Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem that have suffered during the Israeli army's interventions and curfews.

 

The tensest situation is in Jerusalem, however, even though the military operations have been directed at the Arab districts.

 

The Armenian seminary and Armenian shops and businesses in Jerusalem have been closed. Only the Armenian Patriarchate, which administers the Armenian community, is continuing to function at present.