Ghewond's Chronicle - or his history depending how you wish to describe it - is our sole surviving eighth century Armenian description of the Arab conquests against the Byzantine Empire among others. It is important precisely because it is our sole surviving source on this angle of the Islamic war of expansion against the Eastern Roman Empire (by then rechristened as the Byzantine Empire). Ghewond's text is often used extensively by scholars in relation to Byzantine, Armenian and Arab affairs at the time. (1)
It contains a single reference to the jews, but the reference is a most important one given the problem presented by radical Islam in the world today and the fact that modern jews frequently style themselves and their ancestors as being unyielding foes of it.
To wit:
'Once Heraclius' son [Constantine III, 613-641] had come to rule in his father's stead, the Lord awakened the spirits of malevolent men so that through them the blood of Christians would be shed in vengeance, because we had sinned before the Lord God. [The Arabs] began to form brigades and mass troops against Constantine's realm, against Judaea and Asorestan, having for support the command of their law-giver, that sower of darnel, to "Go against the countries and put them under your rule, for the plenty of the world has been given to us for our enjoyment. Eat the meat of the select ones of the countries, and drink the blood of the mighty." The Jews were their supporters and leaders, having gone to the camp at Madiam and told them: "God promised Abraham that He would deliver up the inhabitants of the world in service [to him]; and we are his heirs and sons of the patriarch. Because of our wickedness, God became disgusted with us and lifted the scepter of kingship from us, subjecting us to the servitude of slavery. But you, too, are children of Abraham and sons of the patriarch. Arise with us and save us from service to the emperor of the Byzantines, and together we shall hold our realm." [The Arabs] were encouraged further hearing this, and went against Judaea.' (2)
The important point in the above is the role of the jews in Ghewond's account in that the Arabs were preparing to attack the Byzantine empire regardless of jewish involvement, but this attack could have come at any point in the future. It would not necessarily come about for a generation perhaps longer, but for the intervention of the jews who whispered in the ears of the followers of Mohammed that the jews of the Byzantine empire would rise up to fight with the Muslims.
In return for the support of their kin as a fifth column inside the Byzantine Empire: the jews demanded that they be given a major hand in governing the resulting Islamic empire by dint of the fact of Ghewond phrase 'together we shall hold our realm' and his reference to the jews as 'leaders'. In other words, in Ghewond's chronicle we see indications of the formation of an Islamo-jewish alliance against the Christian East in order that together they should rule the Christians. (3)
It is important to remember that Ghewond clearly tells us that this plot against the Christian East was not just restricted to jews in Islamic lands, but rather part of a plot by the jews in both Islamic lands as well as the lands ruled by the Byzantine Empire. This then allows us to begin to put to bed the lie that the jews were persecuted beyond reason in the lands of Islam and that the rise of Islam was abhorrent to jew and Christians alike.
In fact, it was a case of the jews being allied with the Muslims to subjugate and massacre the Christians!
References
(1) For example, see Anne Elizabeth Redgate, 2007, 'Morale, cohesion and power in the first centuries of Amatuni Hamshen', pp. 3-18 in Hovann Simonian, 2007, 'The Hemshin: History, Society and Identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey', 1st Edition, Routledge: New York
(2) Ghewond 1 (I have used Robert Bedrosian's translation as it is the only complete one that I could find. This is available at the following address: http://rbedrosian.com/ghew1.htm.)
(3) For background see Ira Lapidus, 2003, 'A History of Islamic Societies', 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press: New York, pp. 33-34