Tishrin II 25, 6746 Volume II Issue 40 November 25, 1996
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A Weekly Online Publication of the ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency
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T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A
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The Lighthouse...................... A Call With No Response
(Sweden)
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............ Amnesty Accuses
Turkey of Child Abuse
Surfs Up............................ "misleading to call
Tariq Aziz Assyrian"
Surfers Corner...................... ZENDA needs your
books & magazines
News Digest......................... Assyrian Wall-Reliefs
for Sale
Assyrian Scholarship Awards in Detroit
Agha Potrus' Daughter in California
Calendar of Events.................. Scholarship Awards
Banquet, Nov 30
Entracte............................ New Year's Eve Party
in San Jose
Intelligentsia...................... Assyrian Classes,
Lectures, and Seminars
Assyrian Surfing Posts.............. Ancient Assyrian
Artifacts on the Web
Pump up the Volume.................. In Motion, Movable,
& Movement
Back to the Future.................. The City of Nippur
and Emanuel Aghassi
Literatus........................... Bet-Nahrain in the
Eyes of A Child
This Week in History................ Layard's First Discovery
Bravo............................... Anobel Tamrazi
The Directory....................... News Sources
Bshena.............................. Columbia College,
UC Davis, Florida
Salute.............................. J., Ramin, Romina,
& Esha
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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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A CALL WITH NO RESPONSE
"A small child is crying because it just lost its parents.
A small child is
crying because her mother has nothing to give her to
satisfy her hunger. A
small child is looking for shelter but doesn't find any.
A small child is
fleeing because it doesn't find anyone to give it the
shelter and safety it
is in need of. The child is crying but in vain, because
no one hears the
call from its heart and its crying..."
Life can be so easy for those who are safe and well-off,
because they don't
have to think about tomorrow. The can get up after a
good rest because they
have shelter and a bed to sleep in. Food for the day
and clothes to put on
are no obstacles for those who live well. Neither do
they have to worry to
be disturbed in the night or be chased away from their
land because others
want to take it away from them. The fundamental human
rights don't worry
those who already have them.
How many of us who are living well send a message to those
who are less
fortunate or to those who fight for their very existence
and their lives?
How many of us who have thought about it, really take
some action and do
something for those who are crying for help?
The call of our people is still sounding on this very
day, but gets no
response from us who live here in Sweden in this unbelievable
safety and
security, far away from all misery. Are we so well off
that we do not care
any more about a call that should torment our ears and
our conscience?
How can I as a fellow human being sleep with a clean conscience,
when I
know that my brothers and sisters in Beth Nahrin are
fleeing and that to
stay there means a daily fight between life and death?
How can I eat
without thinking on all these Assyrian small children
who lost their
parents and whose mouths no one can satisfy?
How can I be happy at heart when I know that their homes
do not belong to
them and that what belongs to them as human beings is
taken away from them,
which they cannot do anything about?
We have all the luxury and comfort we could think of.
We waste money on
material things we believe will give us pleasure. But
to give a small sum
to a brother who is starving, who lacks clothes and shelter,
is something
difficult to us. That- we should be ashamed of. There
is nothing wrong in
wanting to enjoy the good things in life, but one shouldn't
forget one's
brothers and sisters who cannot allow themselves anything.
When a brother
is calling and gets no response we, more or less consciously,
contribute to
his ruin.
What do I live for if not to speak for my brother, when
he is too tired
to call? What kind of fellow human being am I, if I don't
fight with
all my strength to help my brother who wants to survive
and stay in his
home without being threatened or killed?
I want to be able to understand those who only think about
themselves and
their safety and those who don't dare to give or sacrifice
something for
other peoples well-being. But unfortunately I can't.
Don't they have any
heart or conscience? Perhaps they have but they have
forgotten while on
their way to comfort, safety and a good life.
My life can never be completely good when I know how my
people live. My
conscience doesn't stop tormenting me if I don't struggle
and sacrifice for
the earth that is sacred to me. When my mother calls,
how can I turn my
back to her, even if it is my life she is asking for?
If I and we don't support our people in misery, then who
will do that? If
we don't think about them, nobody else will. Help
us support those who are
fleeing but also those who are fighting to stay!
Sylvia Shahin
Assyrian Youth Association of Sweden
[Make your holiday contributions to: Postal check/cheque
account 63 07 04-5.
Write "Istanbul" on the counterfoil.]
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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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TURKEY CANCELS AMERICAN HELICOPTER DEAL, ACCUSED OF HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSE
(ZNUP: Ankara) Turkey has canceled a $150 million order
for U.S.-built
Cobra attack helicopters, such as those used in its attacks
against
inhabitants of northern Bet-Nahrain. The Turkish
armed forces planned to
deploy the helicopters in northern Bet-Nahrain where
Kurdish insurgents are
fighting to carve a separate autonomous Kurdish state
out of the region.
More than 21,000 have been killed and many more wounded
since the Kurdistan
Workers Party, or PKK, rebelled in 1984. The deal
to buy 10 helicopters
from the Bell-Textron company was signed a year ago,
but the U.S. Congress
held up the shipment, citing concern about Turkish rights
abuses. Last
week, Amnesty International accused Turkish police of
routinely torturing
children as young as 12. In a new report, the international
rights group
documents cases of children who have died or disappeared
in Turkey during
the past four years. Turkish and international
rights groups have
frequently accused both the armed forces and the PKK
of violating rights in
the insurgency. London-based human rights group Amnesty
International
issued a report from its London headquarters saying that
the rights group
had monitored Turkey for four years and found that the
government ``has
done virtually nothing to stop the harrowing abuse of
its most vulnerable
citizens.'' The Turkish official told UPI that the cancellation
of the
Cobra deal did not mean that Turkey would buy no more
military material
from the United States or Bell-Textron.
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S U R F S
U P !
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"although I do realize your intention are well, I must
say that it is
misleading and confusing to refer to Tarik Aziz as "the
Assyrian Foreign
Minister". thnx for all the time/effort with Zenda!"
Ashur Bet-Shliemoun
"I am surprised and shocked by our great Zenda to report
that so called
'Assyrian' Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz's visit
to Turkey.
Personally, my dear I don't think Tariq Aziz deserve
the most sacred word
that I consider "Assyrian" to be lablled!!. Tariq Aziz
is a puppet of Arab
regieme and most corruptive government in the World!.
So, please I ask you
in the name of "Assyrianisim" to drop "Assyrian" from
Tariq Aziz, because I
don't think he consider himself an Assyrian, and after
all he is one of the
members of an Arab Baath Socilist Party."
Dr. Simon Francis Shamoun
Research Scientist & Associate Professor
"In last week Issue of ZENDA, Mr. Tariq Aziz, the Foreign
Minister of the
Iraq regime was called 'The Assyrian Foreign Minister
of Iraq' If Tariq
Aziz does not acknowledge himself as an Assyrian, then
why would ZENDA call
him as such. Mr. Aziz strongly beleive that Assyrians
are one tribe in the
Arab nation. I don't see any pride in calling Mr. Aziz
Assyrian. The news
about Mr. Aziz visit to Turkey was distributed by may
news agencies
without describing
Tariq Hanna Aziz as an Assyrian. I urge ZENDA not
to change, add, delete
any of the original contents as to indirectly and un-intentionally
mislead
readers.
[Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, whose Assyrian name
is Michael Khanna,
was born to a Chaldean family in northern Bet-Nahrain.
He is but one of
the many Christians appointed to senior positions in
the Baath government
of Saddam Hussein. While denying the rights accorded
to minorities based
on Decrees 251 & 440 of the new Iraqi Constitution,
since 1970's Hussein's
regime has continuously forced Assyrians in Iraq to identify
themselves as
either "Arab" or "Kurd". For more information please
see:
http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/country/cdr/cdrirq2.htm ]
***************
"The couple of Zenda's i've received have some weird text
in them. For
example the number and letter's: 3D repeat over and over
again every couple
lines. Also at the end of every line there is this:
=20 What does this
mean?"
George Khawahie
Milpitas, California
[In the past 2 weeks other readers in the Bay Area have
noticed similar
error messages. We are working to resolve
this problem].
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S U R F E R S
C O R N E R
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GOT BOOKS, OLD ASSYRIAN MAGAZINES? SEND THEM TO ZENDA
Every week several Assyrian books and tens of newspaper
and journal
articles are browsed to bring you social, historical,
and literary
information. We urge our readers to send us books
and periodicals that can
be used in our future issues. ZENDA will gladly
cover your shipment costs.
All material submitted will become a property of
ZENDA unless directed
otherwise. Send your books and journals to:
ZENDA P.O. Box 20278 San Jose, California 95160
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N E W S
D I G E S T
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ASSYRIAN WALL-RELIEFS FOR SALE
(ZNAM: New York) Three 2,700-year-old wall-reliefs from
the throne-room
suite of the Assyrian king Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh
have appeared on
the antiquities market, according to Columbia University
art historian John
Russell. The fragments were almost certainly smuggled
out of Iraq after
the Gulf War, when may museums were looted. Russell
says he was recently
contacted by a European museum seeking to check the provenance
of the
wall-reliefs in advance of purchase. The slabs
came from rooms with intact
wall decoration that has provided valuable information
about he adornment
of Assyrianpalaces, according to Russell, who photographed
the reliefs in
situ between 1989 and 1990. One of the missing
fragments depicts two
Assyrians making an offering before dragon- and serpent-shaped
standards
attached to poles. The second shows laborers hauling
a heavy object, while
the third shows two dead sheep and a human corpse floating
in water, an
usually image in Assyrian art. Russell says the
museum did not purchase
the reliefs.
The artifacts, which Russell has reported missing, join
some 3,000 other
objects known to have been stolen from Iraqi museum collections
in the past
five years. McGuire Gibson of the Oriental Institue
of the University of
Chcago and British scholars have published three volumes
of these items,
but the pillaging of Iraqi sites continues. "Hundreds
of people are
reportedly looting (the third-millennium B.C. Sumerian
city of)Ur, and the
(Iraqi) antiquities department has no money to pay for
guards," he says.
Harsh economic conditions in Iraq are responsible for
much of the looting,
notes Gibson, who is not optimistic about the return
of such looted
material to Iraq.
SCHOLARSHIPS TO BE AWARDED
AT THE THANKSGIVING DINNER IN DETROIT
(ZNDA: Detroit) On Saturday, November 30, the Assyrian
American Social Club
of Michigan will be hosting the annual Thanksgiving Party.
On this evening
five scholarships will be awarded to Assyrian students
with a minimum Grade
Point Average of 2.5 and at least one parent of Assryian/Chaldean
descent.
All applicants are required to submit an essay on "How
My Culture Has
Helped Me Become a Better American." The names
of AASC of Michigan's First
Annual Scholarship Awards will be printed in the future
issues of ZENDA.
DAUGHTER OF
GENERAL AGHA POTRUS VISITS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
(ZN: San Jose) Cory Petros Elloff, daughter of the
Assyrian army general
during the First World War, Agha Potrus of Baz, visited
the Assyrian
communities in San Jose, San Francisco, and Turlock on
her first trip to
North America. Mrs. Elloff spoke to a group of
Assyrians in San Jose and
was interviewed on Atour TV where she openly spoke about
the death of her
father, the lives of General Potrus' children, the family-run
restaurant,
and the whereabouts of her father's books and memoirs
in France.
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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.
November 30 Assyrian Scholarship
Awards/ Thanksgiving Dinner
Assyrian Social Club of Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Dec 7
The Nineveh Choral Concert
Conducted by Nebu Issabey
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Hall
5901 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
North Hollywood, California
8:00 p.m.
For ticket information:
Walter Ebrahimzadeh (909) 625-2533
Catherine Babayan (714) 750-7751
Elenor Orshan
(805) 292-2982
Kardella Lazar (818)
344-9748
AAA of Southern CA (818) 506-7577
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 R A C T E
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Nov 29
Thanksgiving Party
Jora's Restaurant
1250 Aviation Ave. Ste. 235
San Jose Jet Center
Off of Coleman Ave.
9:00 p.m.
Entertainment: Nights of Babylon Music Productions
Admission: $10.00, $8.00 before 10 p.m.
21 & older only
Dec 31
New Year's Eve Party
Red Lion Inn Hotel
San Jose, California
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I N T E L L I G E N T S I A
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Mondays
Assyrian History Class
Fall 1996 Session
"Assyrian Biographies"
Instructor: Wilfred Alkhas
BETA: Assyrian American Association of San Jose
20000 Almaden Road
San Jose, California
7:30-9:00 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: 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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Assyrian Artifacts from 5900 to 2000 BC
http://www.magna.com.au/~taaas/room1.htm
(Created by the Assyrian Australian Academic Society members)
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P U M P UP THE V O L U
M E
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ENGLISH
ASSYRIAN
In motion
mzaa/aa
[M]
Movable mesh/ta/shaa/na
[M]
Movement
jwaj/ta -- zao/aa [F]
Note: "zao/aa" as in Assyrian Democratic Movement
(ZOWAA)
____________________________________________________________________________
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. (4000) The city of Nippur in southern Bet-Nahrain
(lower Mesopotamia
in Iraq) was the most important religious center of the
Sumerians where the
temple of god Enlil was contained. Nippur was occupied
until AD 800.
<< Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, Roaf >>
A.D. (1953) Assyrian boxer, Emanuel Aghassi, father of
current tennis
champion Andre Aghassi, is featured in an Assyrian article
noting his
victory in Helsinki where he won the Golden Gloves Boxing
Award.
<< Gilgamesh Magazine, Tehran-Iran >>
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L I T E
R A T U
S
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Why should this happen to our tree?
It was a beautiful day
the Sun was shining on the high mountains
the wind was moving very soft
as though he did not want to hurt the trees.
Two girls sitting under the big tree watching the sheep
eating.
It was very quiet and relaxed.
There was no sound.
A small bell on the small sheep's neck.
As the sheep moved his head
the bell around his neck made music.
This soft music
the two girls used to hear.
The two girls were sisters.
They were not just sisters.
They were friends.
They liked each other very much
and they liked the place they lived in.
They were happy, enjoying their time.
They wished for life to go on peaceful as it was.
But their wish did not come true.
Their beautiful tree was burned
pulled out of the ground
and replaced by an ugly house.
They wished the house burned
as their beautiful tree did.
The two girls' life changed
after their special place was taken from them.
>From that day on life went very difficult for them.
Pauleen
Australia
<< Border Crossings Project>>
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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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November 28, 1845: Sir Henry Layard discovers his
first findings of
Assyrian tablets and artifacts in Nineveh.
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B R A
V O
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ANOBEL TAMRAZI
Anobel Tamrazi is this year's recipient of the Nisibin
Scholarship, awarded
to Assyrian college and university students who reside
in Santa Clara
County, California. Anobel is a senior at San Jose
State University where
he is double-majoring in Biochemistry and Systems's Physiology.
The
Nisibin Scholarships are awarded by the Assyrian American
Association of
San Jose.
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the D I R E C T O R
Y
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ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrian Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)
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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:
UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS
Columbia College of Film & Video, Chicago
University of California, Davis
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Florida
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S A L
U T E
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Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations
whose contributions appear in this issue:
Esha Tamraz
San Jose, California
J Golani
Detroit, Michigan
Ramin Daniel
San Jose, California
Romina Ziyeh
San Jose, California
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Our Next Issue will appear on Monday, December
2, 1996.
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