Setrag Balian

Register here, It's free! This special lecture will feature an in-depth firsthand account by Setrag Balian, my peerless brother, on the challenges the Armenians of Jerusalem are facing today, and what the future holds for our 1,700-year-old community. Join us!✊🇦🇲 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…

These tiles were created by my great-grandfather, Neshan Balian Sr., and Mgrditch Karakashian, the founders (with David Ohanessian) of Armenian Ceramics in Jerusalem (1919). The tradition continues to this day, more than a century later.

BREAKING: Armenian Patriarchate asserts its Status Quo custodianship at the Church of the Nativity. On Feb 25, 2026, the Armenian Sts. James Brotherhood, one of the three equal custodians, visited the Nativity Grotto restoration works, led by Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manougian. Let this be clear: The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is an equal custodian of Christianity’s holiest sites, including the Church of the Nativity. Any project undertaken without equal Armenian participation constitutes a violation of the historic Status Quo. Restoration follows President Mahmoud Abbas’ 2024 decree and is being carried out by Italy’s Piacenti company. Completion expected: August 2026.

Missak Manouchian was an Armenian Genocide survivor who fought the Nazis during WWII with the French Resistance. As Military Commissioner of the FTP-MOI, he led the Manouchian Group, a unit consisting primarily of Jewish immigrants. He was executed by the Nazis in 1944. Hero.

Oscar and Pulitzer Prize-winning American-Armenian writer William Saroyan visting Archbishop Yeghishé Derderian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, 1965. This photo was taken by the legendary Jerusalemite Armenian photographer Garo Nalbandian and comes with an amusing anecdote: The Patriarch offered Mr. Saroyan a glass of fine scotch, which the esteemed writer respectfully declined, saying: “Keep the whiskey, Your Beatitude; I’ll drink my oghi (arak).”

🚨BREAKING: The Custos of the Holy Land and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch have conducted an official visit to the Nativity Grotto restoration works without Armenian participation, continuing a troubling pattern of bilateral action at a tripartite Status Quo holy site. This follows the earlier bilateral communiqué that excluded the Armenian Patriarchate as a signatory, reducing the Armenian Church to being merely referenced rather than recognised as an equal custodian. The Armenian Patriarchate formally conveyed its deep disappointment and objection, noting that such conduct undermines the Status Quo in practice by treating one of the three historic custodians as secondary. For context, governance of the Church of the Nativity rests on the centuries-old tripartite Status Quo shared equally by the Greek Orthodox, the Latin Catholics, and the Apostolic Armenians. Public visits, statements, or inspections conducted bilaterally, while simultaneously invoking “common accord”, create a direct contradiction that erodes trust and distorts ecclesiastical reality. Status Quo arrangements endure only through visible equality in both word and deed. Repeated exclusion of Armenians from official representation risks establishing a precedent that could later be invoked to justify further marginalisation in access, decision-making, and custodial rights. This threatens not only Armenian presence, but the stability of governance at Christianity’s holiest sites. Preserving the Holy Places requires genuine unity grounded in full tripartite coordination. Anything less constitutes a grave affront to the Armenian Patriarchate and to the Armenian people’s uninterrupted 1,700-year witness, sacrifice, and statesmanship in safeguarding Christian life in the Holy Land.

This is disgraceful. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is an equal custodian of Christianity’s holiest sites, including the Church of the Nativity. Any project undertaken without equal Armenian participation constitutes a violation of the historic Status Quo.

Ladaniva performed “Here’s to You Ararat” at the Bethlehem Convention Palace in Palestine. Armenian singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas gave a concert accompanied by the Amwaj Choir, composed of Palestinian youth from Hebron and Bethlehem. The event was sponsored by the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem, the French Institute of Jerusalem, the Bethlehem Municipality, and the Roots & Patterns Foundation, established by Jerusalemite Armenian Levon Kalaydjian. In his opening speech, French Consul General Nicolas Kassianides offered words of support to the people of Palestine, especially those in Gaza, and emphasized the cultural bonds between France, Armenia, and Palestine.

BREAKING: Christian Palestinian man brutally assaulted by Jewish extremists while protecting his family in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. FULL FOOTAGE ⬇️ On Saturday, October 15, 2025, just after midnight, George Awwad was returning home with his wife and daughter. As he stepped out of the car near his house, his wife and daughter continued toward the nearby parking area known as the Cows’ Garden. A group of Jewish extremists then blocked their path, making obscene gestures and refusing to let them pass. Seeing this, George ran back to protect them. The moment he arrived, he was attacked by more than a dozen extremists. His wife desperately tried to shield her beaten husband, to no avail. Witnesses say one of the assailants was armed with a knife. The Israeli police arrived and, for once, dispersed the assault and apprehended several of the aggressors. Absurdly, George and his wife have now been placed under a 48-hour house arrest, pending “further investigation."