Armenians in Lebanon
Armenians have lived in Lebanon for centuries. According to Minority Rights Group International, there are 156,000[1] Armenians in Lebanon, around 4% of the population. Prior to the Lebanese Civil War, the number was higher, but the community lost a portion of its population to emigration.
Lebanon experienced a significant migration of Armenian refugees primarily between 1918 and 1920, seeking sanctuary from the Armenian genocide carried out by Ottoman authorities. These refugees established Bourj Hammoud, a suburb east of Beirut, in the site of what was then a swampy marshland. Another wave of migration occurred in 1939, as refugees fleeing the Turkish annexation of Alexandretta founded the town of Anjar in the Beqaa region.[6] The Armenian population gradually grew and expanded until Beirut (and Lebanese towns like Anjar) became a center of Armenian culture. The Armenians became one of Lebanon’s most prominent and productive communities.[7]
Armenians in Lebanon strive to balance their Lebanese identity with ties to their homeland, keeping a distance from sectarian divisions. In areas like Bourj Hammoud and the coastal area northeast of Beirut, they maintain Armenian-language media and political parties. While most adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, there are also Armenian Protestants and Catholics.[6]
According to the traditional Lebanese confessional representation in the Lebanese Parliament, a certain number of seats have been reserved for Armenian candidates according to their confession. Presently the Lebanese-Armenians are represented in the 128-seat Lebanese Parliament with 6 guaranteed seats (5 Armenian Orthodox and 1 Armenian Catholic) as follows:
As many Protestants in Lebanon are ethnic Armenians, the sole parliamentary slot for Evangelical (Protestant) community has at times been filled by an Armenian, making for a total of 7 Armenian deputies in the Lebanese Parliament. Lebanese Armenians have been represented in government by at least one government minister in the formations of Lebanese governments. In case of larger governments (with 24 ministers and above) Armenians are traditionally given two government ministry positions. Lebanese-Armenians also have their quota in top-level public positions.
Unlike the Maronite Church and other religious groups in Lebanon, the Armenian Apostolic Church is not a political actor in its own right. Armenians do, however, enjoy political representation in Lebanon's multiconfessional government. Since the Cold War era, the Armenian Apostolic Church has participated in politics as a proxy for the nationalist Dashnak party.[26]
Lebanon is the location of the only Armenian university outside Armenia. Haigazian University was established in Beirut by the Armenian Missionary Association of America and the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East.[27] Founded in 1955, Haigazian is a liberal arts Armenian institution of higher learning, which uses English as the language of instruction.
Most Armenian schools are run by the three Armenian Christian denominations (Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical). Others are run by cultural associations like Hamazkayin and Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). Notable schools include:
Economy[edit]
Armenian American historian Richard G. Hovannisian has described what he calls the "economic vivacity" of the Armenian community in Lebanon in terms of the hundreds of Armenian owned shops in Beirut. The city's business quarter closes down on April 24, on the anniversary of the Armenian genocide.[35]
In the years after World War II, between 1946 and 1948, the Soviet Union sponsored a repatriation campaign encouraging Armenians living in diaspora to move to Soviet Armenia. In Beirut, which had a relatively large Armenian community, the repatriation campaign impacted the economy and destabilized the community. As Armenians emigrated from Beirut, property values deflated and lower income Arabs (some of them Shi'a) began to move into the Armenian quarters of the city. Hovannisian has written that "This unwelcome infiltration of culturally less developed and rapidly multiplying Muslim elements has been bemoaned by the affected Armenians for a quarter of a century."[35]