Ealool 30, 6746 Volume II Issue 32 September 30, 1996
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A Weekly
Online Publication of the ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency
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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
CHICAGO WINGED BULL SOCCER TEAM
In the spring of 1970, Misters Hani Baba, Fred DeEiel,
Raman Oshana and
Steve Younan of the Assyrian American Association of
Chicago formed the
Winged Bull Soccer Team. The four founders, still
a very active part of
the organization, saw it fit that our youth's energy
be directed into
the sports arena as they believed the famous quote `A
sound mind in a
sound body'. Through their efforts, the Assyrian community
of Chicago
gained an instant recognition among millions of immigrants
from other
countries.
In 1971, Winged Bull joined the Third Division of the
National Soccer
League. In 1975 it had already won its way to the
First Division, during
which time several titles were won. Shortly after
a Trophy Cabinet was
installed at the AAA of Chicago. In 1977, the team overwhelmed
with
victories and titles moved on to the Major Division,
where it still
thrives and enjoys a commanding lead among players from
several soccer-
loving nations as Argentina, Italy, Germany, Poland,
to note a few.
The Winged Bull Soccer Team of Chicago continued adding
titles to its
outstanding record: three times winning the Regional
Championship,
becoming the only team to win the Nations Cup three times
thus far, and
obtaining the title of State Champions a countless number
of times.
In Chicago, thousands of emotional Assyrian fans have
twice witnessed
the Winged Bull's game against the Chicago Sting, a Professional
Major
League Soccer team, both indoor and outdoor. In
the mid 1980's, the
newspaper write-ups were quite encouraging. At Soldier
Field, where the
Winged Bull defeated Wisla, a Polish team with three
national players,
thousands of Assyrians cheered their nationless heroes
to the victory.
In 1984, because of exhaustive managerial duties and
a substantial rise
in the number of players, the organizers of the team
believed that an
association that can focus its resources on organizing
Assyrian Athletes
exclusively can better suit the agenda of the Winged
Bull team.
Consequently the Assyrian Athletic Club of Chicago was
formed to oversee
the sports activities and the day-to-day management of
this soccer team.
In the Summer of 1994, when for the first time the World
Cup Soccer came
to the United States, the opening ceremonies held in
Chicago were preceded
by a procession of floats from all over the World. The
Winged Bull Soccer
Team took part in the rally and emphasized once again
that Assyrians are
very much Alive !
Today, the Team enjoys a commanding lead in the Major
division. There
are currently over 70 registered players with the Winged
Bull
organization. They practice twice a week and every week
participate in
a different game. The Assyrian Athletic Club, being the
sole supporter of
the team, continuously strives to provide the financial
means possible
to support such an undertaking and helps keep our young
Assyrian men
involved in sports, through sponsorship programs, donations
and
festivities.
Sargon B Yalda
Chicago, Illinois
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G O O D M
O R N I N G B E
T - N A H R A I N
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KDP TO FORM GOVERNMENT IN NORTHERN BET-NAHRAIN, WILL INCLUDE
ASSYRIANS
(ZNUP: London) Last week a Kurdish group that seized control
of a
portion of northern Bet-Nahrain earlier this month said
it was forming
a government to run the province. Delshad Miran, spokesman
for the
Kurdistan Democratic Party or KDP in Britain said the
16-member
Cabinet would be led by Roj Nuri Shawyess. Shawyess,
an engineer and
member of the KDP politburo, was chosen prime minister
by the Kurdish
National Assembly when it met on Sept. 16 in Arbil.
The KDP overran
Arbil on Aug. 31 when, supported by Iraqi government
tanks and troops,
it defeated the forces of its main rival, the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan
or PUK. Shawyess's Cabinet is expected to include
Assyrians, Turkmen,
Communists and Islamists.'' But the Cabinet would
not include a PUK
representative. There were PUK representatives
among the 67 members of
the National Assembly when it convened in Arbil earlier
this month.
The meeting in Arbil consisted of 47 KDP representatives,
17 PUK, and
3 Assyrian representatives. The full assembly is
comprised of 50 KDP
members, 50 PUK and five Assyrian members.
AN UPDATE ON
THE 3 ASSYRIAN PRISONERS IN DIYARBAKIR
(ZNDA: Turkey) On Tuesday, September 17, the Court
in Diyarbakir,
Turkey issued the written opinion leading to its judgment
on Gebro
Tokgoz and Adnan Kesenci, two of the three Assyrians
who had been
accused of treason. Misters Tokgoz and Kesenci remain
on bail pending
the possibility of a trial in the future. While this
matter still looms
over them, their families were glad to have them back.
Gebro's child
was born while Gebro was in custody. Melek Akyol,
the third Assyrian,
remains under custody.
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S U R F S
U P !
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"Does anyone know what happens to the money that the
Assyrian National
Convention generates every year? Do the convention officials
issue a
financial statement after the convention outlining revenues
and
expenditures and do they make it public. If it
is made public, can
Zenda publish it. How do they decide how to spend
any surplus. Do
they come back at the end of the year and show how the
money was spent.
Do they know how much money is spent by the Assyrians
at the convention
Hotels?"
Concerned Assyrian
[ZENDA is in receipt of 1996-97 AANF financial statements.
In the
very near future ZENDA will also feature an article
outlining the 1996
Convention's revenue/expenditure, 1996-97 AANF budget,
and the projected
97-98 budget. For more information please
contact the president and
the treasurer of the Assyrian American National
Federation whose address
and telephone numbers were listed in our 9/16/96
issue.]
****************
"To my great surprise, Zenda last week featured a letter
to the editor
which amounted to little more than Biblical tub-thumping.
The letter
writer slammed an Assyrian TV talk show host who, in
referring to the
Federation Picnic in San Jose, questioned whether this
was the place
for "a few Christians to be promoting Christianity among
fellow Assyrians."
The TV talk show host seems to have raised an intelligent
question.
Although I was not surprised by the tiresome length of
the letter, nor by
its myopia, what took me back was that Zenda should feature
it at the very
beginning of its newsletter, as if to accord it special
insight.
The writer of the Zenda letter seems well-versed in passages
of the
scriptures (e.g., Hebrews 3:8), but needs to bone up
on her history. She
points to the collapse of our "kingdom", and says:
"Look what happened to
us", for not being good Christians. For her information,
our "kingdom"
collapsed in 612 B.C.; therefore, it is difficult to
see the connection she
wants to make between Christianity and the fall of Nineveh.
The TV show host apparently said that our good works
would take us to
heaven. This sounds pretty good to the average Joe, but
the Zenda letter
writer disagrees. She says that to God, our good
works are just filthy
rags (no passage quoted for this one).
Some callers on the TV show apparently had the idea that
"good persons
from every religion will go to heaven." But the
Zenda letter writer
claims this is like calling Jesus Christ a liar ("I am
the way and the
Truth and the Life, etc."). So it sounds to me that between
80% and 85%
of the world population is headed for a very hot place,
no matter what
great human beings they might be.
Of those of us who are Christians, the letter writer
failed to say
whether any particular denomination has a better crack
at the pearly
gates (Church of East only? Chaldean Catholic only? Is
Seventh Day
Adventist OK? Mormonism? Jehovah Witness? Jews for Jesus?)
The Zenda letter writer also sees a problem with those
who only want to
spend part of their time praying and talking religion.
"Imagine if your
child remembers you, visits you, and talks to you on
2 days a year. Will
you be pleased with him/her?" Gee, maybe the only solution
is for all of
us to become monks and nuns; that way, we will minimize
distractions.
In conclusion, the TV talk show host in question sounds
like a very
sensitive person to me. When I go to a picnic, I go to
renew acquaintances,
to socialize, to catch up on personal news; I do not
go to a picnic to be
proselytized. Moreover, I assume that the religion that
was being
pushed at the picnic was not generic Christianity, but
some specific
brand of it. This could be offensive to those of us who
hold very
strong convictions about their own Church, and they have
rights as well.
Francis Sarguis
Santa Barbara
**********************
"...I also wanted to say that you guy(s) are doing a great
job. It is
because of people like you that we as a people can still
survive in a
nation that has been notorious for forcing its immigrants
to assimilate.
I find the information contained within the newsletter
very interesting,
educational, fun, and relevant. Keep up the good
job."
Lorence Eshoe
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S U R F E R S
C O R N E R
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AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE ASSYRIAN DIRECTORY
OF CALIFORNIA
Dear Zenda Readers,
We are now in the process of gathering our material for
the 1997 issue
of The Assyrian Directory of California. As you
may already know,
this publication is dedicated to gathering and promoting
a comprehensive
pool of Assyrian information and resources. The
Directory offers many
services to our community, among which are the Assyrian
White Pages and
the Assyrian e-mail Directory listing.
We would like to invite you to join in and enlist your
information at
NOT CHARGE! We are dedicated to making this medium
of communication
among the finest and the most professional in its class.
To reach our
goal, we need your patronage and encouragement.
Every single participant
will further enrich this publication and can add to its
caliber and
effectiveness.
We trust you will take the time to send us your information.
We also
encourage you to spread the word to friends and family.
Look for our Directory in January of 1997. You will
be proud to have
been a part of it!
Please submit your information via e-mail: EDSA
INC@aol.com
OR you may write to us at:
The Assyrian Directory of California
4387 Cherry Ave.
San Jose, CA 95118
In California:
1-800-472-3339
Outside CA:
408-266-7676
Fax:
408-266-7772
Avetoon baseemeh!
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N E W S
D I G E S T
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LEBANON'S PRIME MINISTER ORDERS CHARGES AGAINST MARONITE
SINGER DROPPED
(ZNRU: Beirut) Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri,
responding to
protests from intellectuals, has ordered the dismissal
of a lawsuit
against Marcel Khalife, a Maronite-Assyrian singer charged
with
insulting Islam by using a Koranic verse in a song.
Lebanon's official
National News Agency said Hariri instructed Justice Minister
Bahij
Tabbara on Friday ``to stop the lawsuit against artist
Marcel Khalife
and all that he has been charged with of insulting religious
rituals in
his song.' Khalife, who is touring the United States
with his band, said
on Friday by telephone he had obtained permission to
release the song in
his 1995 album ``Arabic Coffeepot'' from Lebanon's general
security
censorship bureau. The 46-year-old bearded entertainer
has earned a cult
following in the Arab world and the Arab diaspora through
nationalistic
songs during the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war. Paul Shaool,
a Maronite-
Assyrian poet, said on Friday the charges against Khalife
were similar
to 15th century Spanish Inquisition accusations. ``Sir
(prosecutor) you
were preceeded in your edict by those who issued edicts
in Egypt, Sudan,
India and Pakistan and before them the Inquisition courts
of the dark
Middle Ages,'' Paul Shaool wrote in an indignant newspaper
article.
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D I R E C T O R
Y OF THE N E W S S O
U R C E S
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ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNUP (United Press International)
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C A L E
N D A R OF
E V E N T S
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Thru April 6 The Ain Ghazal Exhibit
Smithsonian Institute
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington D.C.
Nov 13
Babylon & Syria in the time of XENOPHON
Lecturer: M. Stolper
Oriental Institute
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Jan 15
Ashur & Marduk: The State Gods of Assyria & Babylonia
Lecturer: G. Frame
Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
St. George campus
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
Mar 12
Guardians of the Gate: The Assyrian Winged Colossi
Lecturer: A. Harrak
Near and Middle Eastern Civilization
University of Toronto
St. George campus
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
April 9
Recent Excavations at Gordion, Turkey:
An Achaemenid Persian Imperial Town in Central Anatolia
Lecturer: T.C. Young, Jr.
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T
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Oct 4
First Anniversary of the Church Dedication
St. Mary's Catholic Church
Naperdak Club
San Jose, California
7:00 pm
Donation: $ 30.00
Entertainer: Ogin
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R E G U L A R C L A S S E S & M E E T I N G S
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Wednesdays Assyrian
History Class
Fall 1996 Session
"Assyrian Biographies"
Instructor: Wilfred Alkhas
BETA of the Assyrian American Association of San Jose
20000 Almaden Road
San Jose, California
8:00-9:00 pm
Info: Wilfred_Alkhas@3mail.3com.com
Fridays
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Founders Hall 108
Modesto, U.S.A.
Saturdays Nisibis
School
10:30-1:30
The Church of the East
Toronto, Canada
Nisibin School
10:00-12:00 pm
BETA of the Assyrian American Association of San Jose
San Jose, California
SUNDAYS
Assyrian Boy Scouts
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
9:30am to 12:30pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
Assyrian Student Union
California State University, Northridge
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
6:00pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
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A S S Y R I
A N S U R F I
N G P O S T S
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Chaldeans in Iraq
http://www.umd.umich.edu/~sdkjr/casa/chaliraq.html
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P U M P UP THE V O L U
M E
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ENGLISH
ASSYRIAN
Fist Fighting
mkha/look/ma
[M]
Boxing
poo/qa/tdaa
[M]
koo/tash/goo/naa/reh [M]
_____________________________________________________________________
F = Feminine M = Masculine
P = Plural
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B A C K TO THE
F U T U R E
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B.C. (704?) King Sennacherib moves the capital of Assyria
from Dur-
Sharrukin to Nineveh.
<< The Might That Was Assyria, Saggs >>
A.D.(1847) Excavations of King Sennacherib's Palace begin
under the
direction of Sir Henry Layard. The project continues
under the supervision of several archeologist until
1967, when the Excavation of the Southwest Palace is complete.
<< Sennacherib's Palace Without Rival at Nineveh,
Russell >>
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L I T E
R A T U
S
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*** A TRAVELER'S TALE OF NINEVEH ***
The following is a Jewish rabbi's account of the city
of Nineveh nearly
a thousand years ago, over 1600 years after is Fall in
612 B.C. :
It is Ashur the Great, and about 7000 Jews live there...
It sits on
the river Tigris. Between it and Nineveh is a connecting
bridge. It
[Nineveh] is in ruins but within its ruins there are
villages and
communities. And the extent of Nineveh may be determined
by its walls,
about forty Persian miles, as far as the city of Arbil...
<< The Might That Was Assyria, Saggs >>
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T H I S
W E E K I N
H I S T O R Y
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October 2, 1972: dies, Dr. Peera Sarmas, author
of A History of
Assyrian Literature
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B R A
V O
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ZENDA Assyrian Online Newsletter is now enjoyed by over
400 readers
in 15 countries around the world. ZENDA TV Show is now
broadcasted
in San Jose, and will soon appear in Los Angeles and
Connecticut.
Meanwhile, ZENDA news and feature articles are published
in several
Assyrian magazines in the U.S., Canada, and Sweden.
We are indeed
very close to reaching our goal of 500 readers before
December 31,
1996. On behalf of myself and ZENDA's regular contributors
I would
like to take this opportunity to thank our weekly readers
who have
continuously supported our efforts and brought ZENDA
to the attention
of other Assyrian internet surfers.
Wilfred Alkhas
Publisher of ZENDA
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W E
L C O M E
T O Z E N D
A
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Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from:
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
Zycon
Internet Shopping Network
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A C K N
O W L E D G
E M E N T S
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Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations
whose contributions appear in this issue:
Sargon B. Yalda Chicago
Chris Aktas
Sunnyvale, California
Zaineb Istrabadi New York
Albert Gabrial Hollister,
California
Mazin Enwiya
Skokie, Illinois
Pauline Jasim
Chicago
Ross Jatou
Chicago
Chaldean American Student Association:
Univ of Michigan, Dearborn
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Our Next Issue will appear on Monday, October 7, 1996.
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In our next issue: 1996 Report of the Assyrian Youth
Excellence Pageant
Modesto, California
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo's request for aid for the
Assyrians in northern Iraq