Volume II Issue 7 March 18, 1996
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A Weekly Online Newsletter Serving the Assyrian
Communities Around the World
=====================================================
THE L I G H
T H O U S E
=====================================================
TAKE THE LEAD!
Are leaders born or made?
That is one of the oldest
arguments around. Many assume
that only those persons
born with some special gifts can
be effective leaders,
but do not believe them! The best
leaders are those who
have acquired the ability to cope
with the changing
world and who have organized and
motivated others to
do the same.
Assyrians scattered around the world
today need
effective leaders to direct and
guide them. The
authority will need to be organized
in the future to
ensure the survival of our nation
as a whole. The men
and women who take charge will
need to understand their
nation and govern with patience...Be
willing to assume
an authoritative role.
It is true and simple. You
cannot become a leader
until you demonstrate a willingness
to assume a
position of leadership. This
does not necessarily
mean taking charge of every situation
of group activity,
but at some point you must step
forward and make it
clear that you will accept the
role of supervising a
project or guide a group.
Get involved in school
clubs and teams, and also work
you way into a key role.
There are also Assyrian youth clubs
and church groups,
which offer positions of leadership
for you. All you
need to do is become a member and
be willing to
participate. Getting started
simply means saying "yes"
instead of "no!" Everyone
has the potential for
leadership; you just need to tap
into your own talents
and abilities.
-Marian Younan
Modesto, California
An Excerpt from an article published
for Qalah: The Assyrian American Voice
[Miss Younan is currently completing
her undergraduate
studies at University of
California, Davis. A Zenda
reader, Marian has consistently
participated in the
affairs of the University
Student Body and has been
elected as officer of the
Student Body government.]
=====================================================
G O O D M O R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N
=====================================================
U.S. DEPT OF STATE PUBLISHES IRAQ HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
(ZN: Chicago) U.S. State
Dept. has released the
1995 Iraq Human Rights Practices
Report in which the
diverse ethnic populations of Iraq
are described as
repressed, abused, and continually
harassed. The
report explains "various abuses
against the country's
350,000 Assyrian Christians."
It notes that " most
Assyrians traditionally live in
the northern governorates,
and the Government often has suspected
them of
"collaborating" with Kurds. Military
forces destroyed
numerous Assyrian churches during
the Anfal Campaign
and reportedly tortured and executed
many Assyrians.
According to HRW and Assyrian sources,
the Government
continues to harass and kill Assyrians
throughout the
country by forced relocations,
terror, and artillery
shelling." The report continues:
"The Government
continued to pursue its discriminatory
resettlement
policies, including demolition
of villages and forced
relocation of Kurds, Turcomans,
Assyrians, and other
minorities... The Government does
not recognize the
various political groupings and
parties that have been
formed by Shi'a Muslims, as well
as Kurdish, Assyrian,
Turcoman, and other Iraqi communities...
Assyrians are
an ethnic group as well as a Christian
community. They
speak a distinct language--Syriac.
Public instruction
in Syriac, which was to have been
allowed under a 1972
decree, has never been implemented.
The Special
Rapporteur reported continued discrimination
against
Assyrians throughout 1995.
According to opposition
reports, many Assyrian families
were forced to leave
Baghdad after they had fled to
that city for safety
following the regime's suppression
of the northern
uprising in 1991." The full
text of this report can
be obtained from the U.S. Dept
of State.
=====================================================
S U R F S U P !
=====================================================
"Thank you for your Newsletter.
I am delighted and I
am looking forward to the next
issue.
-Bernadette Miraziz
Vienna-Austria
--------------------------
"I have a somewhat unpleasant request
to make: I'd
like to be taken off the recipient
list for Zenda.
I have seen too many inaccurate
historical references
(calling Urartians ancient Armenians,
for example), and
too many articles with a hidden
agenda (purporting the
existence of non-Christian Assyrians
in any capacity
other than on an individual basis,
perhaps so as to
promote a secular agenda, for example)
to be able to
stomach this newsletter any longer.
Perhaps you should
cut back on the frequency of publication
and take more
time to check out the credibility
of your sources.
Don't get me wrong; I wish you well.
Your efforts are
commendable. Don't lose your
zeal, despite what
"naysayers" such as myself may
say, but please don't
forget that if it wasn't for Christianity
Assyrians
would have died out millennia ago.
It's not wise to
separate our God from our peoples.
You should know
better than anyone that in the
Semitic world view church
and state are inseparable, and
rightly so. Thank you,
and good luck with your endeavors."
-David Baba
San Jose, California
[History is not the truth;
it is only a truth among
the many. Hence, ZENDA welcomes,
as in the past, any
corrections made to our "inaccurate
historical references."
Modern Armenians trace their roots
to the Kingdom of
Ararat (Hebrew) or Urartu (Assyrian).
The first known
Urartian king, Arame, ruled from
B.C. 858 until B.C. 844.
The first reference to Urartu was
however made in
B.C. 1275. By the sixth century
B.C. the kingdom had
collapsed as had the Assyrian Empire,
a century before.]
<<The Kingdom of Armenia, M. Chahin>>
--------------------------
"Once again, it is my great good
pleasure to write to
you and your esteemed readers a
brief notice concerning
the new website address for Assyrian
Church of the East.
As of the middle of March 1996,
CIRED's new website address
is: (www.cired.org).
This new arrangement has been
accomplished with the help of Mr.
Gilyana Chamaki-an
Assyrian fellow from San Jose,
CA.
I always look very much forward
to receiving your very
informative and interesting newsletter.
Indeed, you
are advancing a new way of much
needed communication
between Assyrians around the world;
it would be my pleasure
to extend to you whatever assistance
appropriate. God
bless you and your efforts into
bridging the thoughts of
Assyrians and many others throughout
the world."
-Bishop Mar Bawai Soro
Assyrian Church of the East
U.S.
--------------------------
"I really enjoy reading your electronic
newsletter and
I commend you for such an awesome
work that you are doing,
and I would also like to extend
the same to your staff.
I read the opening comment on your
Monday 3/12/96 issue
and I couldn't agree more, it has
been said such a
wonderfully about our people at
large, it is a shame to
agree with that , but again how
can you NOT agree with the
truth, and that is nothing but
the truth. However, I just
wanted to acknowledge to that article
and put my two
cents worth. Once again,
may God bless you for all the
hard work that you guys/gals are
doing. I AM TRULY PROUD
OF YOU ALL!!! ALAHA
MINOKHON!!
-Samson Badal, P.E., M.S., J.D.
Canada
--------------------------
"I am glad to find that so many
Assyrians are getting
involved with Internet, what Internet
has done, is getting
us closer to each other and making
us understand each other
in a much better way, but, i also
believe that we should
create a member room on AOL so
we could talk to each other
directly. SO, why don't we
take advantage of this super
information highway source available
and make our own world
even smaller."
-David Youkhana
Lincolnwood,Illinois
--------------------------
"Dear Zenda Editorial Staff, in
the March 4, 1996 issue
of Zenda's P U M P U P
T H E V O L U M E you used two
words in the Assyrian section to
represent a student. Here
is a cut and paste of your writing:
Teach
Malapta [F]
Teacher
Malpanta [F] Malpana [M]
Student
Yaloopta [F] Yalpana [M]
I have the following two questions
for which I would like
to read your answer:
1. How did you derive the nouns
Yaloopta and Yalpana from
Malapta?
2. Why did you use Yaloopta and
Yalpana instead of Yaloopta
and Yaloopa,or Yalpanta
and Yalpana?
3. Since you used "oo" in Yaloopta,
it indicates to me that
you are using Vov-Rvasa.
Is it not grammatically correct
to use Vov-Rvakha?
For the second word you show the
following:
Discipline
Talmadta [F] 'VERB'
Toolmada [M] 'NOUN'
Disciple
Talmedta [F] Talmeeda [M]
Please be advised that all verbal
roots in the Assyrian
language are derived from the third
person, singular, and
masculine gender of the verb. Given
this the 'VERB' for
discipline is Talmid (feminine
form is Talmida)."
-Bellos Nisan
Sunnyvale, California
[The correct masculine form of the
word "student" must read
Yaloopa. We stand corrected. In
Classical Assyrian, Yaleepa
is the correct word for "student."
However, in the Modern
Assyrian language both Yaloopta
and Yaloopa are used also
(see A. J. Maclean's Dictionary
of the Dialects of Vernacular
Syriac). "Malip" is the causitve
form of "Yalip" a Kreeha'd
Reesha verb. Such verbs use
Wow-Rwasa -oo- in their
Mlatshemaha case (see Melta...by
Nimrod Simono)]
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S U R F E R S C O R N E R
=====================================================
At press time we have received
no response to the
question we posed last week:
Are there any Assyrian
IRC channels out there in the world?
We have not
been able to identify such a service
exclusively
used by the Assyrians on the net.
Perhaps it is time
we push the frontiers of the Internet
communication a
few fibers further. Any suggestions?
=====================================================
N E W S D I G E S T
=====================================================
ASSYRIAN
ELECTION RESULTS IN IRAN'S MAJLIS
(ZN: Tehran) According to
last week's election
results, Mr. Shemshoon Maghsoodpoor
of Tehran has won
a second-term in office, as the
Assyrian Representative
in the Majlis (parliament) of Iran.
Other candidates
included Misters Albert Younan
of Tehran, and Victor
Yahyakhan of the city of Urmie.
AANF NATIONAL
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES MEETING
(ZN: San Jose) The quarterly
NEC meeting of the Assyrian
American National Federation was
held on February 23 in
New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.
At this meeting, the
chairwoman of the Women's Committee,
Miss Sharokin
Givargiz, proposed the First Assyrian
Women's Conference
during the next Assyrian National
Convention in Modesto,
California. Miss Givargiz'
proposal was passed and the
proposal was later brought to the
attention of Congresswoman
Anna Eshoo's office in Washington
D.C. Mr. Yatroum Zia,
president of the AANF, accepted
a proposal from
California to allow posting of
the AANF By-Laws on the
internet. Other issues discussed
included the annual
budget, re-instatement of affiliates
on probation, and
the future of the AANF's membership
in the Assyrian
Universal Alliance. This
last issue will be thoroughly
discussed in the upcoming AUA Annual
Meeting in Detroit.
The next quarterly meeting will
be held in San Jose,
California during the Assyrian
State Convention
from May 27 through 27. All meetings
are open to public.
TORONTO ASSYRIANS CELEBRATE
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
(ZN: New Britain) On March
6, in commemoration of the
International Women's Day, Assyrian
women of Toronto,
Canada had organized the first
Assyrian International
Women's Day celebration.
Hosted by the United Assyrian
Youth of Canada, this memorable
event brought together
close to 50 women and 6 guest speakers.
The evening
began with the poetry of Amira
Bet-Shmoel, selected from
her album "Shamiram". The
event was facilitated by
Vardia Oshana-Yakhanis. Nano
Ganja, President of the
Assyrian Society of Canada was
also among the speakers.
Sharokin Betgevargiz, chairwoman
of the AANF Women's
Committee presented a slide show
covering the
accomplishments of the delegation
of Assyrian women at
the NGO Forum in Beijing, China.
Two additional panelists
stressed the importance of Assyrian
women's ownership
and management of businesses, as
well as leadership role
in political institutions.
The evening's program concluded
with Amira and Vardia's moving
and inspiring speeches in
calling for strength, solidarity
and sisterhood.
A NEW ASSYRIAN ORGANIZATION IN CANADA
(SC: B.C.) On Sunday
March 10, 1996, an election was held
in Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada to establish a new
Assyrian-Canadian Association of
British Columbia (B.C.),
Canada. The elected Exucutive Committee
consists of the
following individuals
1. Mr. Youash A. Gewargis
- President.
2. Dr. Simon Francis Shamoun
- Vice-President & General Secretary.
3. Mr. Edmon Michael - Treasurer.
4. Mr. Ashour Shmouel - Social
& Athletics Activities.
5. Mr. Cyros Amiri - Public
Relations & Communications.
6. Mr. Saper Gewargis - Cultural
& Educational Activities.
7. Mrs. Cardelia Benjamin
- Exucetive at-large
8. Mrs. Shamiran Ibbitt
- Exucetive at-large
Activities of the ACABC in the near
future will include
the Kha b'Neesan celebration of
the Assyrian New Year 6746.
TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND
(EB: Turlock) Dr. Rev. George
Shahbaz , Rev. Eshia
Joesph and Rev. Oshana Kanoun are
organizing a trip to
the Holy Land (Isreal). The
trip is scheduled for
nine days starting Novemebr 5th,
1996 departing from
San Fransico, California. For more
information call
Rev. Shahbaz at (209)632-4788 or
(209)632-7296.
=====================================================
D I R E C T O R Y
OF THE N E W S S O U R C E S
=====================================================
NQ (Nebu Quarterly)
P.O. Box 59422, Chicago Illinois 60659
RU (Reuters)
SC (soc.culture.assyrian)
ZN (Zenda Reporters):
zenda@ix.netcom.com
=====================================================
C A L E N D A R OF E V E N T
S
=====================================================
March 24
Sawa Khamis Qardakha of Arbela:
His Poetry on Religion, Romance, Wine,
Wisdom and Other Topics
Oraham Yalda Oraham
5:00 P.M., Edens Banquets
6313 N. Pulaski
Chicago, U.S.A.
March 27
Lecture: The Struggle For Power in
Northern Iraq
Speaker: Wilfred Alkhas
3:00-5:00 pm
Modesto Junior College
Forum Building 101
Modesto, U.S.A.
March 28-31
Assyrian Universal Alliance
20th World Congress
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
April 12-14
The Assyrian Art Exhibition 1996
Toronto, Canada
(416) 972-0106 Voice
(416) 650-1983 Fax
May 24-27
Assyrian State Convention of California
Fairmont Hotel
San Jose, U.S.A.
May 24-25
Memorial Weekend Games
Chicago, U.S.A.
May 25-26
2nd Assyrian Community Networking Conference
Fairmont Hotel
San Jose, U.S.A.
June 1
Nineveh Choral Concert
Conducted by Maestro Nebu Issabey
Santa Teresa High School Auditorium
San Jose, U.S.A.
8:00 pm
June 9-11
The ARAM Conference
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A
Thru Aug 15
"Beirut: Uncovering the Past"
Profiles recent UNESCO archeology efforts
The British Museum
London, England
Aug 29-Sept 2 AANF National
Convention
Red Lion Inn Hotel
Modesto, U.S.A.
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ENTERTAINMENT
-----------------------------------------------------
March 23
Kha b'Neesan Party
Assyrian American Association
Yonkers, New York
8:00 PM
Entertainer: Robert Sayad
Menu: Chicken & Beef Kabob
Donation: $35 (adults)
$15 (minors)
March 24
Assyrian STARS Athletic Teams
All-Day Picnic/Athletic Tournaments
BETA: 20000 Almaden Road
San Jose, California
10:00am - 5:00pm
March 30
Kha b'Neesan Party
92 Mclintock Street
New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.
10:00 PM
Dominos, Pingpong & Backgammon Tournaments
Picnic, Art gallery, Drama & Dance Party
Admission: Free
Kha b'Neesan Party
Assyrian American Association of San Jose
Banker's Club
8 South First St (& Santa Clara)
San Jose, U.S.A.
Entertainer: Edmond
Donation: $20.00
April 12
St. Mary's Annual Church Party
Assyrian Catholic Church
Scottish Rite Center
San Jose, California
Entertainer: Walter Aziz/Haroot Band
Nights of Babylon DJ
Donation: $30.00
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REGULAR MEETINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Fridays
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Founders Hall 108
Modesto, U.S.A.
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CLASSES
-----------------------------------------------------
Thursdays
Nineveh Choir: Maestro Nebu Issabey
BETA: AAA of San Jose, U.S.A.
7:30-9:00 pm
=====================================================
A S S Y R I A N
S U R F I N G P O S T S
=====================================================
New Site(s)
Ancient Near Eastern Astronomy
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~hope/aneastro.html
Babylonian & Egyptian Mathematics
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_and_Egyptian.html
*****************************************************
Ancient Mesopotamia
http://sipparorinst.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/ABZU_REGINDX_MESO.HTML
Akkadian Language
http://ruurq2.sron.ruu.nl/akkadian/
Assyria On-Line
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~jatou/./
Assyrian Collection of the Metropolitan
Museum
http://www.metmuseum.org/htmlfile/gallery/second/near.html
Assyrian Flag
http://www.cesi.it/flags/assyria.html
Assyrian Fonts
ftp://scholar.cc.emory.edu/pub/fonts/mac
ftp://scholar.cc.emory.edu/pub/fonts/windows
Assyrian Local Union in Norrkoping,
Sweden
http://www.netg.se/Oppen/Org/a/ass/index.php
Assyrian Server (in Sweden)
http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/assyr.html
Assyrian Songs
http://users.aol.com/assyrianme/songs/assyrian.html
Assyrian Woman Home Page
http://www.nineveh.com/~agabrial/woman.htm
Assyrian Youth Association of Sweden
http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/assyr.html
Corpus Neo Assyrian Project:
Helsinki, Finland
http://www.helsinki.fi/science/saa/cna.html
e.BABYLON
http://www.nineveh.com/~agabrial/babylon.htm
Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian
Church of the East
http://www.cired.org
Journal of the Assyrian Academic
Society
http://www.nineveh.com/~agabrial/jaas.htm
List of Books on Babylon
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/who/Jamie.Norrish/nephilim/Bibliographies/babylon.html
Mesopotamia
http://www.singnet.com.sg/~edmonds/sumerian_main.html
Middle Eastern Cuisine (includes
Assyrian dishes)
http://value.net/~stoma/#clicking
"Newsgroup"
soc.culture.assyrian
Nineveh Kids Homepage
http://www.nineveh.com/~agabrial/kidsweb.htm
Sumerian Culture/Dictionary
http://webusers.anet-dfw.com/~adapa/Index.html
Syriac Comp Inst
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/gk105/syrcom/
=====================================================
P U M P U P T H E V O L U M E
=====================================================
ENGLISH
ASSYRIAN
Box
Pooz-gaa-raa [M]
Basket
Qa-neez-qa [M]
Tray
Baab-boo-aa [M]
Note: Pronounce
"q" as in "qaatoo, CAT"
_____________________________________________________
F = Feminine
M = Masculine P = Plural
=====================================================
B A C K T O T H E F U T U R E
=====================================================
B.C. (1430) Kara-Indash, a Babylonian
king, builds a
temple in Uruk, the facade of which
was made of bricks
moulded in such a way that, when
put together, they
made up the figures of divine beings
in low relief.
This ingenius technique was later
used by the Persians
in Susa (Shush) and Persepolis
(Takhte-Jamshid).
<< Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq
>>
A.D. (January 18, 1836) The first
academic Assyrian
school for Assyrians with only
7 pupils is established
in Urmie, Iran. The school
is now regarded as the
first modern school in Iran and
central Asia.
<< An Assyrian Calendar printed
in Tehran-Iran, 1995 >>
======================================================
L I T E R A T U S
======================================================
THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING
In Akkadian: c. 2000 B.C.
um sessu sa yarah nisan umu u musi
sitqulu
yum sitta d yarh nissan yuma u
leli istaqqal
sessu beru umu sessu beru musi
sitta beri yuma sitta beri leli
Nabu u Marduk ana sarri beliya
likrubu
Nabu u Marduk l malka mari barhi
Translation:
On the sixth day of the month of
Neesan
Day and night balanced each other;
Six Berus in a day and six Berus
in a night.
May Nabu and Marduk pronounce blessings
unto the king, my lord.
Note: Beru = 2 hours
======================================================
T H I S W E E K I N H I
S T O R Y
======================================================
March 20, 1843: Paul Emil
Botta, a medical doctor,
explorer, and French consul in
Mosul uncovers the
ramains of Dur-Sharrukin, the capital
city of Sargon II
of Assyria.
======================================================
B R A V O
======================================================
On Saturday, a fundraising party
for Congresswoman Anna
Eshoo was organized by the Assyrian
American Association
of San Jose in the Awana of the
Assyrian Church of
the East. Nearly $10,000
were raised to assist the
Assyrian Congresswoman from the
14th U.S. District in
this year's November elections.
=====================================================
W E L C O M E T O Z E N D A
=====================================================
Zenda welcomes our new on-line
subscribers from:
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
TEMIC Corporation
UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS
Cal State, Fullerton
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Union City, California
San Jose, California
=====================================================
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
=====================================================
Zenda wishes to thank the following
individuals &
organizations whose contributions
appear in this issue:
Albert Gabrial
Hollister, California
Pauline Jasim
Chicago, Illinois
Carlo Ganjeh
San Jose, California
Dr. Emanuel Kamber
Michigan, U.S.
Sandra Gevarguize
Yonkers, New York
Mardook Betoushana
New Britain, Connecticut
____________________________________________________
ZENDA will continue to print your
comments and
suggestions free of editing, as
they appear in our
mailbox. All letters will
be printed in our SURFS UP!
section unless directed otherwise.
We urge you to submit your community
events, personal
accomplishments, and meeting/school
times to Zenda
no later than Sunday at 12:00 PM,
Pacific Standard Time.
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Our Next Issue will appear on Monday,
March 25, 1996.
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