CHALDEAN CATHOLIC CHURCH & NATIONAL POLITICS

The main characteristics, boundaries and the name of the Chaldean Catholic Church were officially reconciled and legally defined in the middle of the 19th century, in December 1847 to be exact. For the first time the Vatican granted Mar Yousif Oudo the title of "Chaldean Patriarch in Babylon". His Church, consequently, was recognized by the Ottoman authorities and included within the denominational decree of the "Millet", an organizing relationship between the ruling Muslims and submissive Non-Muslims. Since then, the Church has remained always and continuously loyal to the local and central authorities and never was involved in politics or demanded any political or nationalistic rights or claimed a specific and exclusive ethnicity, separate from followers of the other branches of the Church of the East, in particular her mother Church, the Nestorian.

Since the emerging period of nationalism, the official Catholic Church had severely opposed such ideology and fought all nationalistic movements. In 1894, a Synod of 35 Catholic bishops was held in Vienna, Austria to discuss nationalism and national liberation, the principles which demanded dismantling of empires and establishing national states based on language, culture, etc. The bishops initiated their meeting by giving thanks to Franz Joseph (1830 - 1916) the Emperor of Austria and Hungary, "who received from heaven the message of managing, strengthening and uniting all peoples in one Empire". In their conclusion, they declared that "the difference of people in languages, which is the fundamental basis of nationalism, is a consequence of sin and aberration and it is evidence of the Mighty God's fury upon human being".

It was expected of the Chaldean Catholic Church to be affected by such a stand toward nationalism, limiting her interests, claims and activities within denominational boundaries. However, by the time 'nationalism' and other principles of liberation & self-determination reached the Ottoman Empire, the situation of the peoples and the Catholic Church began changing, yet the Chaldean Catholic Church and her clergies never altered their position.

In spite of the Turks' proclamation of "Jihad" or Holly War against Christians and the participation of France - the defender of the Catholic minorities in the Ottoman Empire - against the Turks, the Chaldean Church remained the same and very loyal to the collapsing Turkish authority. Moreover, the Church stood against the few followers who were involved in Assyrian nationalistic movement and promoted the ideology of nationalism. This attitude gave Turkey a good opportunity to exploit and use the growing Assyrian national movement led by the Patriarch of the Assyrian 'Nestorian' Church of the East. In March 1918, Patriarch Mar Benyamin Shimon was assassinated by the Kurdish Agha Simko Shikaki, and subsequently succeeded by his brother Mar Polous Shimon. The Turkish authorities tried to exploit this tragic situation by using the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Emmanuel Yousef in convincing Mar Polous Shimon to accept Turkish offer and submit to the authorities. All efforts and attempts were without success. In 1920 when Mar Polous passed away, his followers, lacking a church building in Baghdad, approached Mar Emanuel for his permission to perform the burial ceremonial and bury Mar Polous' body in a Chaldean church. The Chaldean Patriarch rejected their request. Their Armenian counterparts accepted the request however.

After WWI, the whole world changed their views on nationalism, yet the Chaldean Church did not. The Ottoman Empire vanished. New national movements emerged in the region, including those of the Arabs, Jews, Assyrians, Armenians and Kurdish. The modern Turkish state was founded and other nation-states were established. New Arab countries were created and officially, the main part of Mesopotamia was announced as a new state of Iraq and accordingly the Assyrian national movement was shaped. The hurricane of WWI and its consequences never swung Chaldeans' doctrine of avoiding politics, or adopting a nationalist posture or claiming ethnical or national rights. On the contrary, the Church and her clergies continued affirming their loyalty to the dominant authorities, practicing St. Mathew's Chapter "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" - (Mathew 22:21), and following St Paul's preaching at Rome "Everybody must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves …" (Romans 13).

Everywhere and at any period, the Chaldean Church as a great church and her clergies as the most educated believers of the Church of the East, were following God's words in perfect manner. During the direct British administration of Iraq (1917-1921), the office of the British Civil Commissioner conducted a referendum on the type of the expected political systems in Iraq (See Self Determination in Iraq, Office of Civil Commissioner 1914-1917, British Library Document ST.48/14), and the Chaldean Church and community opinion was as follow:

"We the community of Chaldean Catholic greet the Empire of Great Britain which has freed us from the bondage of the Turks, and delivered us from the trails under which we laboured. We entreat your Excellency to endeavor to ensure that we remain under the shade of the British Empire. Thus, we shall be able like other nations, to live in a state of progress, achievement and prosperity, and to pray ever for his Majesty King George V now happily upon the throne" (Singed by the Chaldean Patriarch and some 30 of the most prominent members of the Chaldean Catholic community in Mosul).

It is not necessary to compare the Chaldean Catholic Church's stand on being involved in the national politics, or her claims for specific rights with that of the other branch of the Church of the East, namely the Assyrian 'Nestorian' Church. This is well detailed in many resources. However, it is very important and unique to compare that with the Syriac Orthodox Church. In the same document, the opinion of the Syriac clergies and their followers was as follows:

"We the entire nation of the Old Syrians, known under the name of Jacobites, join with the Protestant community in offering our thanks to God. He has delivered us from the bondage of the Turks by the entrance of the victorious British forces into our city - Mosul, and these forces have won us our freedom after we had haled to the condition of slaves - the same freedom of which Great Britain entered the war and which one has made such efforts to attain. We who belong to the Assyrian race are among the delivered. Our primary need is a government to direct our business, instruct our youth, bring up our children, place us in the rank of civilized nations, assure security in our land and set straight our circumstances. These blessings we cannot obtain but by the aid of capable men to take in hand the management of our affairs. Seeing that our community has no capable men to undertake so vital services and that for the present we cannot govern ourselves, we earnestly beg the British Empire itself to deign to govern our Assyrian community dwelling throughout the Vilayet of Mosul until such time as we can govern ourselves. For this favor, we offer our thanks to Great Britain. Trusting in this we have signed and presented this declaration in the city of Mosul and the villages around. We beg your King George V. (Signed by the Jacobite Archbishop of Mosul and some 30 of the leading men of his community, and few Protestant representatives).

In 1921 the Iraqi civil government was established, the British Mandate was lifted, Iraq was announced as independent country and in 1932 entered the League of Nations without binding the new and inexperienced country with any guarantee and liabilities on minorities protection. The case of Assyrians was the most burning problem at the time. The Simel Massacre was committed in 1933 against the Assyrian Nestorians. The old-new fascist method used by the Ottomans revived by the Iraqi Generals and Pashas who practiced it on the Assyrian population. All these tragic developments greatly affected other Christian minorities. Fears and servility continued dominating their state of mind and feelings toward the Muslim rulers. Eventually this led the Chaldeans to reaffirm their loyalty to the new government and remained more disassociated from the national politics or any claim for specific ethnicity or national rights.

After WWII a mass migration of the Chaldeans from their villages and towns, in particular from those around Mosul, to the big cities ensued. In Baghdad they established private businesses, and entered civil services and government employment. The Chaldean Patriarch Mar Yousef Ghanima (1947-1958) moved his Patriarchal See from Mosul to Baghdad. A new and obvious era of harmonization, integration and the melting of Chaldeans within the Iraqi society began in the big cities and has continued until today.

During the era of the Ba'ath control of Iraq (1968-present) the Chaldean Church and Chaldeans, desirously or forcible, became more faithful to the authority and more cautious toward national politics. It is needless to detail this current and contemporary period, well known to many Zinda readers. But it is worth mentioning an event which occurred in summer of 1977.

Mr. Hashim Shabeb, the Director General of the Iraqi Media and an Iraqi Intelligence service personnel, who was designated by the Ba'ath party leadership to deal with the Assyrian case in Iraq and Diaspora, led a delegation of the Syriac speaking organizations to the United States and England where they met with the Iraqi Assyrians from both Churches. Laudatory rallies were conducted, speeches and parties were organized in order to promote Ba'ath ideology and Iraqi policies. The Chaldean communities warmly welcomed them, while Assyrians insulted them. On their return to Baghdad Mr. Shabeb wrote in his report to the high Ba'ath authority: "The Chaldeans will remain always faithful to the government, loyal to Ba'ath party, trustful & dependable in implementing our strategy toward our Christian minorities in Diaspora, while Assyrians will remain always traitorous and unfaithful to the Iraqi government and the Ba'ath party". It was Mr. Shabeb's secretary, an Assyrian fellow by the name of Zaya, who relayed the content of this report when we met abroad.

Certainly, avoiding politics, disclaiming specific ethnicity or national rights and continuing allegiance to the government authorities would be of great benefits to the non-political groups within a society - namely, the Church that remains well established in Baghdad & other big cities. A great progress was made on many levels, in particular during His Holiness Mar Paulis Shekho (1958-1988)'s long service as Patriarch. A big number of church buildings were built; many new priests and bishops were consecrated and gained high education. Catholic schools were the best in Iraq and the number increased and modern ecclesiastical institutions were established. On the secular level, Chaldeans made the greatest progress among the Iraqi people. They became the most educated people in Iraq; eminent professors, lawyers, doctors, distinguished journalists and famous authors & historians. It is worth mentioning that the first Iraqi girl who entered the School of Medicine at the Baghdad University and became the first woman-doctor was Chaldean.

On business and economic levels, the Chaldeans have greatly contributed to the Iraqi economy. They are everywhere: banks, government offices, industry, trade and private business. They monopolize the hotel and tourism industry, and have brought new style of life into the Iraqi society. On the social scene, they established the famous social clubs in Baghdad namely the Alwiyah, Hindiyah, Al Mashraq and Al Anwar - high class and VIP clubs, without any cultural activities related to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans were Arab by language and culture, Chaldean by denomination.
After Iraqi government's issuance of the so-called "Cultural Rights of the Syriac-Speaking", a massive number of new Chaldean clubs were established. Nearly each Chaldean village formed a club in Baghdad. These were considered of lower class than the previous clubs, and soon became centers for alcohol consumption and bingo games - open to public regardless of religious affiliation or ethnicity. No cultural activities were conducted at these establishments, apart from that of the Chaldean Babylon Club (from Alqush) and Al Akha'a Al Ahli -The Brotherhood Civic Club- (from Zakho). In the latter two clubs a few dramas and activities to promote language and heritage were performed by their most educated members. These were incidentally members or friends of the Assyrian Cultural Club in Baghdad.
In accordance with the above law, some other cultural organizations for Syriac-speakers were established in Baghdad. These included the Cultural Association and the Union of Syriac Writers. By support and encouragement of the Iraqi government, few Chaldean and Syriac clergies, including high ranking bishops, were involved in establishing these organizations. The well-educated and nationalist Assyrians from both denominations, Chaldean and Nestorian, some of them from the Assyrian Cultural Club, joined these organizations. This eventually resulted in shrinking and vanishing of the role of the clergies. The new generation of the nationalists partially succeeded in placing these organizations on the right nationalist path. A few and good objectives pertaining the language and culture were achieved until the time when the Ba'ath party realized the seriousness of these organizations. These organizations were finally closed down by combining them with the official Iraqi Union of Writers.

However, against this enormous progress made by the Chaldeans, there was a price, a great price, to be paid on their ethnicity and nationalist identity. They gradually began to vanish especially among the Chaldeans living in the larger cities. Language, history, culture and customs, which are the fundamentals of a shared ethnicity with the followers of the other branch of the Church of the East, namely Assyrians, became meaningless. To them Chaldean was only a Church or a Christian denomination and any other given significance on Chaldean ethnicity and shared national identity with the Nestorian Assyrians was unfavorable and had harmful consequences. To Chaldeans, Assyrian means politics, and it is a historic Chaldean custom to avoid national politics. Today, many high ranking Chaldean clergies believe that the unification procedures between the two churches, Chaldean and Assyrian, will be unsuccessful; because the Assyrian Church is a nationalist and political church while Chaldean is not. Any unification between both branches will drag Chaldeans into unwanted problems of politics, they believe. Therefore, disassociating such a name as 'Assyrian' from their denomination or Church was very important to avoid Iraqi authorities' fury, and to maintain the progress made by them, and to protect their advanced status in Iraq from ruin.

Moreover, for the second and third generations of Chaldeans living in the big cities, in particular, among high social classes, Chaldean is no longer an identity. They prefer Christian or Catholic or Christian Arab, rather than Chaldean. This was the basis for the Christian Arab concept, lately used by the Ba'ath Party in its fascist ideology toward all sects of the Assyrians. The 1977 census in Iraq is a practical example. It is the same in the Kurdish administrated northern region of Iraq, where Kurds copied Ba'ath policy toward the minorities. The majority of Chaldeans stood against teaching of the Syriac language alleging that teaching in Kurdish or Arabic languages is more prudent for their children's future than Syriac. This encouraged the Kurds to allege that the Chaldeans are Christian Kurds. At the present time, if an Arab asked a Chaldean in Baghdad or Basrah or Mosul about his identity, he will say he is Massehe (Christian) or "Moslawi" (from Mosul). He will either deny, or feel ashamed, or be afraid to say that he is from Telkeep or Tel Sqoof or Bittnayi or any other great Chaldean Assyrian villages. To them the great Aramaic-Syriac language of the Lord Jesus has become just a "Flehee language" (the language of the peasants), the lowest and discarded social class in the Iraqi mentality.

From the above very brief history of the Chadian Catholic Church and the Chaldeans' view toward nationalist politics and nationalism, we can firmly conclude that the Church stayed genuine, very faithful to its principles, sincerely instructing its believers in the very true and correct way of separating the church from politics. The Church never became involved in politics or nationalism or claimed for a separate ethnicity or specific or exclusive national or ethnical rights, simply because it is a Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church which honestly and perfectly was and is still representing the Chaldeans and their ecclesiastic interests. As such, there was no need whatsoever for the Chaldeans to establish their own political parties or exclusive nationalistic organizations as long as their identity and general interests were identified by a denomination and the Church was perfectly performing such duties.

However, for the politically conscious followers of the Chaldean Church it was very normal to have nationalist and political aspirations. They joined the Assyrian nationalistic movement in its early stage and lately the Assyrian Universal Alliance or the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM). Others joined the most revolutionary organizations in Iraq, which adopted armed struggle against Iraqi central governments, as the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

It is a fallacy to say that the Chaldeans did not establish their own political parties or ethnic organizations due to continuous absolutism of the Iraqi governments. Kurds, Turkomans, Nestorian & Syriac Assyrians even Armenians were more persecuted in Iraq than Chaldeans but they established their own nationalist political organizations. Each is a separate and specific ethnic group, while Chaldean is a denomination and as so they are represented by the Chaldean Church. It is odd that few Chaldeans allege that "Chaldeans shied away from creating their own nationalist political groups and instead opted for securing their rights by joining or establishing other Iraqi political groups". It is true that many Chaldeans joined these groups, as ADM, ICP and KDP and ascended their leaderships. Few of them played a heroic role in their struggle against the Iraqi dictatorial regimes. They did that because these groups were representing and securing their nationalist interests (as with ADM), Iraqi common interests (as with ICP) and regional interests (as with KDP), but not as Chaldean interests. They joined these organizations as Assyrians, Iraqi and Kurdistani. It is nonsense and imperceptible that Chaldeans, who were under continuous persecution of the Iraqi regimes, avoided creating their own nationalist group, meanwhile they joined and created the most revolutionary groups in Iraq, which were continually pursued and tyrannized by the Iraqi regimes.

Now it appears that after more than a decade, a bishop in the Diaspora and his Chaldean followers have found Moses' Stick, and by just one magical stroke are able to create a five thousand year old nation --"The Chaldean Nation"-- a nation separate from the Assyrians. The "Chaldean Renaissance" a novelty of Bishop Mar Sarhad Jammo is not only a historical sophism, but a flagrant contradiction with the facts and reality. Indeed it is a real heresy with respect to the Chaldean Catholic Church. It is a violation to the Chaldean heritage and to its sincere message. In short, such heresy is the beginning of spoiling and distortion of the great Church of the Chaldeans, and even more, it is an attempt to destroy the positive trends and steps of unification between the two churches, Chaldean and Assyrian. If Mar Jammo's notion of the "Chaldean nation" was not well received among Chaldeans in Detroit and resulted without any conclusive support, then we can imagine what will happen to him if he stood on stage of Al Mashraq club in Baghdad and delivered his ideas to the Chaldean who "are 3.5% of the Iraqi population".

It is well known that all the Chaldeans bishops are well educated in history of their nation & church. They are well aware of their Assyrian background and heritage. They know that the Chaldeans who inhabited the plains and mountains of Ashur, geographically and objectively are Assyrians more than the inhabitants of Hakkari, but denominationalism, and sometimes their traditional faithfulness to their Church, has covered up this fact.

The issue of Chaldean nationalist identity has existed since early days of the Assyrian nationalism, which emerged in the late years of the 19th century. A single nationalist name for all denominations of the Church of the East was the main problem in particular among clergies who were the major determiners and players. Many Chaldeans and Syriac Orthodoxies joined in, led and wrote on Assyrian nationalism but did not solve the problem which has been inherited and continues until today. In spite of that, no one, ecclesiastical or secular, dared to call for a specific Chaldean nation separate from the Assyrians. No doubt, some of the Chaldean writers, mainly clergies, called Syriac language as Chaldean or referred to Chaldean as people but all these given definitions were within denominational understanding, not nationalistic.

Now, there is a question full of skepticism on reasons for raising this separatist and devastating issue today. We are the most desperate nation when it comes to unity and solidarity. Based on historical facts and today's reality, I can attribute such destructive behavior to one or more of the following reasons:

1 - The contemporary history of the Assyrians shows that there is a direct relation between nationalism and denominationalism in their society. The more nationalism develops and progresses the more denominationalism becomes agitated and excited. The successful nationalist policy and consequently the great achievements made by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) are unlimited to be described. Teaching Syriac language, surpasses the denominational borders & ascends many Chaldeans leadership and ministerial posts. United State's recent recognition of the ADM as a democratic organization entitled for financial and political support is another. All are of great progress and of ever first-time achievements in our modern history. In Diaspora, the Assyrian name is everywhere, through political parties, social & cultural organization, Radio, TV & Satellite channels, websites and in international conferences and meetings. All this has agitated apprehensions of the denominationalists and considered as real threat to their personal and denominational interests. The allegations of the "Chaldean nation" and "Chaldean renaissance" are denominationalists' reaction to the progress made through Assyrian nationalism. The distorted and ridiculous idea that any Chaldean or Syriac joining an Assyrian political party or organization, or declaring oneself as Assyrian would be deemed as an apostate from his Chaldean or Syriac Church still controls many clergies and denominationalists, leading to dire consequences.

2 - The United States' Act of Iraq Liberation and its US $ 97 million financial support to the Iraqi opposition groups is unique and a constructive move. When President Bush recognized the ADM as a democratic organization and entitled it for financial support, most Assyrians and genuine Chaldeans were more than happy for such accomplishment. A first of its kind in the Assyrian history. On the other side, for some denominationalists of Chaldean community this was a disappointing move adding to the previous disappointment when the Iraqi opposition groups in their meeting in London last October 2002 mentioned Assyrian rights only without referring to the Chaldeans. Now, the "Chaldean renaissance", Chaldean National Congress, creations of new Chaldean nation and etc, all come as reaction to such disappointments and an act to "get a piece of the cake" and prevent ADM from obtaining "the Chaldean share." While any visitor to Garbia (North Iraq) can observe that ADM's nationalist policies cover and include all Assyrians without any denominational regards.

3 - In politics, there is no permanent friend or enemy, as Winston Churchill said. Politics eventually is interests. Political experiences show that it is not necessary to be friends in order to meet interests of both parties. There might be mutual interests without friendship or accord or signed agreements. During WWI, the interests of the two rivals, Britain and France, met in defeating the Ottoman Empire. The same happened during WWII; the mutual interests of the United States and the European democratic countries were the same as the communist state of the Soviet Union in defeating Nazism and Fascism. Today there are many examples confirming this "national interests' theory.

Hence, everyone knows that one of the main strategies of the Iraqi Ba'ath regime is the elimination of the Assyrian nation through denominationalism. The current Ba'ath regime had inherited the Iraqi mentality toward Assyrians and ideologically and politically has put it in practice. The Ba'ath's apprehensions of the Assyrian name reached to a degree that can be named as "Assyrian Phobia". Assyrians in Iraq are neither a sizeable community, nor a financially and politically influential group. They are the most indigenous people of Iraq with magnificent history and obvious nationalist constituents; therefore, any logic and practical Assyrian claim will easily be legitimized and acceptable by the international community. Moreover Assyrians in Diaspora are very active and are the "loud voice" of the Assyrian case in particular through their web sites and Internets, the Mighty God's Blessing to Assyrians.

These immunities did incite Iraqi regime to avoid as much as possible the physical persecution and to compel to measurements that are more "peaceful" such as encouraging denominationalism among Assyrians and crumbling them into smaller sectarian fractions, which will be much easier to be consumed in the "Christian Arab" melting pot. The "Chaldean Renaissance" allegation and other denominationalists' calls are in agreement with the same Ba'ath policy and serve the same purpose in dismantling the Assyrian nation into small denominations. This agreement in purpose does not mean that the Chaldean propagandists are in agreement with Ba'ath party or are their agents. There is no such thing to be proven and is not our intention to do so, but they should know that they are carrying out the mission on behalf of Ba'ath party in Iraq. This favor could be appreciated by Ba'ath party and probably will turn their eyes away from involving the Chaldean clergies in politics as long as it can serve the Ba'ath strategy in destroying the Assyrian nation.

On the contrary, in Garbia the propagandists for "Chaldeanism" are in full agreement with the Kurds and with the Kurdistan Democratic Party. For instance the founder of so-called "Chaldean Democratic Union Party" is a well-known senior member of the KDP, a real puppet for Barazani and a denominational tool in the hands of his Kurdish party to destroy the Assyrian unity, to contain ADM's role and to repulse its successful achievements and progress. Such ill representation by a disreputable person is an abuse to Chaldean community more than to the whole of the Assyrian nation.

4 - The experience of the last couple of years of negotiations between the Chaldean and Assyrian churches had proven that there is an imbalance of ecclesiastical capability and nationalistic consciences between both churches and communities. The Chaldean Church institutionally, financially and administratively has improved. Her clergies are well educated and obtained high degrees. The Assyrian church is still following the traditional and out of date systems, in particular with regard to educating the clergies. Sending young Assyrians to Rome for study in Catholic institutions in order to become bishops for future is a means of reducing the gap, a good move indeed.

On the nationalist side, the followers of the Assyrian Church have more developed and well-established political and ethnic organizations and extensive experience, while the Chaldeans are in general farthest away from national politics & ethnic affairs and without organizations with national identity. The godfathers of the unification of the two Churches believe that a combination of Assyro-Chaldean or Chaldo-Assyrian name is a fundamental base for a successful unity of the two Churches in one church without any consideration to the nationalistic name whether it be a single name or a combination of two or more. In order to successfully build up such a combinatory title and bring it to life, the Chaldeans should have the same nationalistic organizations and upgrade their denominational status to an ethnic level same as the Assyrians. Such upgrading needs clubs against clubs, websites against websites, Chaldean News agency against Assyrian News agency, federation against federation, flag against flag, Chaldean National Congress against Assyrian National Congress, Chaldean Cultural Center against Assyrian Cultural Center, Chaldean Democratic Union Party against Assyrian Democratic Movement and so on.

In short, Chaldeans need to be a nation as long as the Assyrians are a nation, so that nation-to-nation will make an equal and balanced combination of Chaldo-Assyrian, a good and satisfactory name for a "New Nation and a New Church" and will solve the problem of the identity and name of the Church and the Nation. In principle, the idea of upgrading Chaldean national status is worthwhile, but it is absolutely on the wrong direction. Chaldean as a denomination cannot be put on the same denominational track and be call nationalistic. This will lead to nowhere but the destruction of our Nation and Churches. The real Chaldeans need to correct the direction and place their community on the real and objective nationalist track otherwise the hoped balance of unification will never occur. The slashing combinations of Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac during the USA census of year 2000 had given a negative result to all sects of the nation. I am sure that attempts of upgrading Chaldeans from denominational status to a nationalist level without using the right measurements will definitely result in more separation and destruction of our nation and eventually of our churches.

It is nonsense to argue with the propagandists of the "Chaldean nation" on the right nationalist track of their community, which is Assyrian because they know this fact much more than any other non-Chaldean. As long as this fact is closely related to politics, denominational mentality and personal interests will continue decaying our nation's entity including our churches. However, the excuse that the Chaldeans used to identify their collective identity by such name for so many years and they cannot easily relinquish and replace it by something different is acceptable and respectable. But, at the same time, Chaldean as a church and denomination should not mix it with nationalism and confuse the ordinary people. Assyrian is not a replacement for Chaldean. They are two different worlds, spiritual and national, soul and material, completing one another but never replacing each other.

National identity is not a man-made name; it is not fabrication of intellectuals meeting or nationalistic conference or a conclusion of a professor's article or lecture. It is the Mighty God's blessing to a people. It is an outcome of very long historical procedures, which are beyond man's control. It is non-adoptable, changeable, or replaceable. It is a matter of life and death to a people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their identity. Look at the Assyrian name; from the early time of the world and human creation, from the biblical time until today's time, the Assyrian name is still surviving through very long and bloody processes. How can we expect that Assyrians, after paying the greatest price in maintaining their name, will accept a change or modification of their identity? It is a divine miracle that Assyrian name has survived for such a long time!

Aprim Shapera
United Kingdom

[Z-info: Mr. Shapera, a political scientist living in London and a regular contributor to Zinda Magazine, writes and lectures extensively on the current Assyrian political affairs.]

ZINDA CONFIRMS, MAR BIDAWID'S RESIGNATION UNTRUE

(ZNDA: Beirut) Zinda Magazine has confirmed that the rumors surrounding the resignation of His Beatitude Mar Raphael Bidawid, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, are unfounded. His Beatitude Mar Raphaël I Bidawid has left Hotel Dieu hospital on Monday, 3 February, and is now at his residence near Beirut, where he has already resumed his patriarchal duties. He will stay in his residence in Lebanon until complete recovery until June of this year.

Mar Bidawid's office in Lebanon informed Zinda Magazine that rumors regarding Mar Bidawid's resignation have been circulating in the U.S. Chaldean dioceses. On Friday, unconfirmed reports mentioned the sudden resignation of Mar Bidawid due to his illness. The same report mentioned Mar Yousip Oudo, Bishop of Aleppo, Syria as his successor to seat of the Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon.

According to the Canon Law of the Chaldean Catholic Church, the resignation of a Patriarch must be accepted by both the majority of the bishops who comprise the Holy Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Holy See in Rome, namely Pope John Paul II.

A DECLARATION FROM THE ASSYRIAN MILITARY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP

For Immediate Release
31 January 2003

The Assyrian group in the military council of the Iraqi National Coalition is calling upon all Assyrians from all the military ranks, officers and soldiers, to volunteer and initiate registration of their names at the following Assyrian group offices. Information must include the passport and phone number.

This is the opportunity through which Iraqis can prove that they are a united and effective national power outside the framework of the political organization and other groups; and to participate in the Iraqi opposition effort and to take responsibility for the process of change and to rescue the Iraqi people and build a civil, stable society in a federal, democratic, plural Iraq that is suitable for everyone.

Send your information to these addresses:

Australia
Mr. William Wards
Fax 612-9610-6898
Agonista7@hotmail.com

U.S. CA
Mr. Nadan Jarso
Fax 209-572-4662
nyounadam@aol.com

U.S. Chicago
Mr. Ishaya Eshoo
Fax 847-679-1857
Gara68@hotmail.com

Sweden
Mr. Albert Odisho
Fax 463-146-5729
ashourbanipal@hotmail.com

Sweden
Mr. Samir Yalda
Fax 463-610-0523
samiryalda@hotmail.com

Assyrian Military Council Leadership

[Translated from Arabic to English by the Staff at Zinda Magazine. Note: the English version of this document is not an official statement of the said group.]

WAR IN IRAQ WOULD SPARK A TRAGEDY, SAYS INDIAN EPISCOPATE

Courtesy of Vatican News Service (4 February)

(ZNDA: New Delhi) An attack on Iraq, a nation already devastated by malnutrition, poverty and economic sanctions, would trigger a colossal tragedy, warn India's bishops.

In a press statement today, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) expressed its anxiety over the "clouds of war" hovering over West Asia.

The bishops were equally concerned "over the firm stand taken on behalf of some countries that are avowed to put an end to the production of weapons of mass destruction as it has worsened the atmosphere."

"Every effort must, therefore, be made by the international community to avert such human made tragedy, and seek other paths to find lasting solutions to the problem of proliferation of arms," said Bishop Percival Fernandez, CBCI secretary-general.

The leading American cardinal in Rome also sharply criticized a proposed U.S. pre-emptive attack on Iraq, saying Washington "has not offered conclusive evidence of imminent danger to its national security."

Cardinal James Francis Stafford, formerly archbishop of Denver, Colorado, and now head of the Vatican's Council for the Laity, is the highest-ranking U.S. cardinal in the Roman Curia.

In statements to Inside the Vatican magazine, he said that the "government of the U.S.A. has recently threatened to use nuclear weapons against Iraq. This is unworthy of the oldest representative democracy in the world. Furthermore, the government of the United States has compromised its own basic principles by implicitly endorsing the use of torture since Sept. 11, 2001."

ASSYRIAN PAST CAUGHT IN THE LINE OF FIRE

Courtesy of the Financial Times (5 February); article by Ted Bowen

(ZNDA: Sydney) As the American juggernaut rumbles toward Baghdad, rival groups of academics, curators and collectors are scrambling to influence the cultural agenda of a post-war, post-sanctions Iraq. Leaders of US organizations representing archaeologists and other Near East scholars on one hand, and museum directors and collectors on the other are lobbying State Department and Pentagon officials. Their mission is to minimize destruction and looting of cultural property in the event of war, and with the White House sounding more bellicose by the hour these efforts have gained urgency.

Modern Iraq covers the region bounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that gave rise to some of the earliest known civilizations. Its borders encompass some of the oldest evidence of agriculture and artifacts from the fourth millennium BC development of cuneiform writing. The country contains remnants of Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires, as well as biblical sites. A sustained air and ground war would almost certainly damage some of these treasures and open the way for looting. For example, a bomb blast near the Arch of Ctesiphon in suburban Baghdad could crack or topple the third-century structure, which is the world's largest parabolic arch built of brick. The arch is perilously close to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Agency.

Representatives of museum directors, collectors, preservationists, Near East scholars and archaeologists late last month met in Washington with officials from the Defense Department and State Department to discuss their concerns. The talks were an opportunity to "show our concern for antiquities sites and museums, as well as standing monuments," says McGuire Gibson, a professor of Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Chicago, and president of the American Association for Research in Baghdad. Professor Gibson has been leading efforts by the Archaeological Institute of America and the AARB, an academic group representing numerous disciplines. He has also presented to the Defense Department a detailed catalogue of about 4,000 Iraqi sites, only a fraction of the archaeologically significant locations in the country, which could number in the hundreds of thousands around the Tigris and Euphrates. "In effect, the entire country is an archaeological site," Gibson says.

Other interested groups include the American Council on Cultural Policy, which includes private collectors, museum directors and former government officials, and which works closely with the American Association of Art Museum Directors. Ultimately, the various organizations have different approaches to preserving antiquities. Scholars of the region, particularly archaeologists, have an interest in keeping artifacts in context, while collectors and museum directors are orientated towards acquisition.

None of the groups, however, has weighed in on the appropriateness of a war with Iraq. But recalling the belated and flawed communication between the US government and experts during the 1991 Gulf War, the experts "want to point out what happened in the past and to try to suggest ways in which we can avoid that, if at all possible, or at least to mitigate the consequences," says Jane Waldbaum, AIA president.

After the Gulf War, looting from museums and dig sites was widespread and Iraqi antiquities flooded the international market. Food shortages led people in the countryside to cultivate archaeological sites. With the prospect of renewed warfare, the AIA and AARB have urged the government to observe international treaties on cultural property, to work to minimize damage to archaeological sites and artifacts, to prevent looting, and to facilitate the preservation of Iraqi cultural heritage in the wake of any conflict.

International law enforcement agencies must be vigilant against illicit trade in Iraqi antiquities, says Patty Gerstenblith, a professor at DePaul University School of Law. The scholarly groups also urged compliance with the 1970 Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, a treaty signed by the US and UK, Iraq and more than 90 other countries.

Iraq's antiquities laws have their origins in the British administration of the League of Nations mandate following the first world war. "We would want to ensure that the current Iraqi antiquities law is maintained and enforced," says Jane Waldbaum. "They have very strict requirements for the sale and removal of antiquities from the country. It's virtually prohibited." Unesco could have a role in determining future Iraqi cultural policy, if asked by a member state to intervene, according to Guido Carducci, chief of the organization's International Standards Section in the Cultural Heritage Division. In working out the details, "the antiquities department should be given the resources it needs to resume doing what it was before. They were apparently a very well run antiquities service - one of the very best in the Middle East," according to Ashton Hawkins, president of the ACCP and former executive vice president and counsel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

He suggests that Iraq's prohibition on sales of antiquities is basically appropriate. At the same time, he argues that the proper role of an antiquities department is to identify and maintain seminal and emblematic artifacts and to consider the selective sale of the rest in order to fund preservation of the former. "National patrimony doesn't consist of everything. It consists of the most important things," he says.

Some US and international policies treat collecting as a contributing factor to looting. "But on the whole, collectors stay away from that kind of material now.

"Reasonable intelligence [and] common sense should guide legitimate collecting. You should stay away from Iraqi material that might come on to the market in the next couple of years."

It's not clear how the destruction of Iraq's cultural property would be treated under international law. Neither the US nor the UK is a party to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, although Iraq is one of the 103 state parties to the treaty. It bars the targeting of cultural sites unless militarily necessary and calls on parties to prevent looting and the export of cultural property from occupied countries. Carducci maintains that the Hague Convention's main strictures are established in customary international law, and that both the US and the UK accept this principle.

Unesco officials and western scholars say rebuilding the Iraqi antiquities agency and reviving the country's academic and professional infrastructure are keys to safeguarding its cultural heritage. But given the increasing odds of widespread devastation, Carducci does not sound optimistic. "From a military point of view [protection of cultural property] is of course not the first priority. It's always been like that."

ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY IRAQI DAM THREATENS THE CITY OF ASHUR

(ZNDA: Mosul) An Iraqi dam under construction on the Tigris River threatens to submerge the remains of the spiritual capital of the ancient Assyrian empire in an act archaeologists liken to flooding the Vatican.

Much of the city of Ashur, which thrived for more than 1,000 years until the Babylonians razed it in 614 B.C., could vanish under a lake to be created by the Makhoul dam, U.S. and European archaeologists said.

More than 60 outlying historical sites are also threatened.

Ashur, or Assur, was of such importance that it lent its name to the Assyrian civilization itself.

``Losing it would be like, I guess you could say, losing the Vatican,'' said Mark Altaweel, a Baghdad-born doctoral student at the University of Chicago who is using satellite data to study the ruins-rich region surrounding Ashur.

Ashur sits on a bluff about 130 feet above the Tigris between Mosul and Baghdad. Most of the city, including the lower portions most vulnerable to flooding, have never been explored in the century since the first archaeological teams visited the site.

The city was the spiritual center and trading hub of one of the world's first great empires that at its peak stretched from Egypt to Iran and northward into Turkey.

Estimates of how much of the city would be submerged vary from half to the entire site.

The dam, slated for completion by 2007, is the result of economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, said John Malcolm Russell of the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

Iraq has been pushing toward greater self-sufficiency in food production, which has led to the development of massive irrigation projects of which the dam is part, said Russell, an art historian and expert in ancient Assyria.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is now assisting Iraq in assessing the Makhoul dam's impact on Ashur and what, if any, measures can be taken to prevent its destruction, said Giovanni Boccardi, chief of the UN organization's Arab states unit. A report detailing its recommendations has not yet been made public.

Iraq has also submitted a draft nomination to UNESCO to have Ashur named a world heritage site, which would add it to a list of 763 locations around the world, including China's Great Wall and the ruins of ancient Pompeii.

But a plan to protect and manage the site must be devised before that status can be granted.

``The possibility for the site to be inscribed on the list will obviously depend on our capacity to identify ways and means of ensuring the conservation of the outstanding universal value of Ashur,'' Boccardi said.

In Iraq, antiquities officials have dispatched 10 teams of archaeologists to the Ashur region, said Peter Miglus of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, who last dug at the site in 2001. Since then, no international teams have been asked back.

``There has been no invitation issued, as they euphemistically call it, to rescue these sites,'' Russell said.

Overall, the situation for archaeology is not much better elsewhere in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War. Thousands of looted objects, including Assyrian reliefs purloined from museums and storehouses at archaeological sites, have appeared for sale at auction and on the Web.

``I have become so depressed by the flow I have stopped looking at eBay,'' Russell said.

Archaeologists, including members of the Archaeological Institute of America, fear the situation will worsen if there is war.

``It will be a mess if we go in again,'' said Samuel Paley, professor of classics at the State University of New York, Buffalo. ``Who knows what will happen. You balance what we consider the political needs of today with the heritage of antiquity: What comes out on top?''

[ Z-info: For more information visit http://www.assur.de & http://www.unesco.org].

GILGAMESH & THE DISOVERY OF THE OLDEST TRADING SHIP IN THE BLACK SEA

(ZNDA: Sofia) Robert Ballard, the man who discovered the remains of The Titanic, announced that last summer he had found the remnants of the oldest commercial ship in the world in the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea.

It is speculated that the vessel found could have been a merchant ship headed for the Mediterranean, intending to drop off its fish steak cargo in Greece. The ship probably originated at the Turkish port on the Black Sea's southern shore and headed north to the Crimean peninsula, where evidence of ancient Greek colonisation had been discovered previously.

Ballard came to the Black Sea to search for another ship that has another meaning and is referred to as Noah's Ark.

Is it possible that Noah's Ark lies somewhere in the depths of the Black Sea and is preserved? This is the question that bothered the mind of the great explorer. He put together his expedition in 2002 to try to trace a lost civilisation - a mission that could shed more light on the controversial timing and site of the biblical Great Flood.

Scientists offer us, as a candidate for the Great Flood, the flooding of the Black Sea in 5500 BCE.

Gilgamesh, hero of Babylonian mythology, went on a journey to find Utnapishtin, who had survived the flood. Gilgamesh meant to make Utnapishtin tell him how to escape death. So the great flood of antiquity tiptoes into yet another old myth. Maybe there were several floods. This Babylonian story can be traced back further than Genesis in its written form.

If, as some think, the Gilgamesh story refers to a Sumerian ruler who lived around 2600 BCE, the Black Sea flood would be much too early and somewhat far to the North. Still, Gilgamesh had to travel to find Utnapishtin, and myths do leapfrog from one real event to another.

The Black Sea flood was a truly major upheaval. The last ice age retreated 12 000 years ago and the world began warming. As it did, ice melted and oceans rose, while lakes began to evaporate and shrink.

The Black Sea was a great freshwater lake in those days and, as the new technology of farming matured eight thousand years ago, farmers moved into the lands around it.

By 5500 BCE, the lake lay 150 metres below sea level. Then the thin strip of land between the salt Sea of Marmara and the freshwater Black Sea gave way. A terrible gush of water cut through, creating the Bosporus channel. The flow was 400 times greater than Niagara Falls - making a sound heard over 100 kilometres away.

The water advanced one kilometre a day. Within three months it had flooded 100 000 square kilometres of farmland. The Black Sea had turned from fresh water to salt, and its size increased by a third. The farmers fled, carrying their art to places that had never known farming. Stone-age farms first appeared in the valleys and plains of central Europe about 200 years later.

The flood turned the high ground of the Crimean Peninsula into a near island. It created the Sea of Azov, above the Crimea and connected to the Black Sea by a small channel. The Sea of Azov remains a nearly freshwater body, fed by the Don River.

The rest of the Black sea is fed by the Danube and Dnieper rivers, but it is also fed by the salty Mediterranean. The fresh river water flows out through the Bosporus at surface level, while the heavier salt water flows in underneath it - in a fittingly Byzantine arrangement of flows.

And what about Noah's and Utnapishtin's floods? We can never know, of course. But the Black Sea certainly provides a dramatic enough basis for the grand myths - that we still remember today. This is what makes many scientists believe that the Bible described the Black Sea flood as the Great Flood and this could be the only real historical event that lies behind the book's story.

LAST YEAR OVER $20 MILLION SENT ILLEGALLY TO IRAQ FROM MICHIGAN

Courtesy of the Associated Press (31 January)

(ZNDA: Detroit) "If we don't help our relatives, who's going to help them? Nobody," said Amir Denha, publisher of the Chaldean Detroit Times newspaper.

Millions of U.S. dollars transferred from Michigan families find their way to Iraq annually. Last year, more than $20 million was sent illegally to Iraq from Michigan, according to U.S. Customs in Detroit.

Members of the Detroit area's Iraqi community said they do not have a choice when it comes to helping family overseas.

Iraqi Americans who send money to family back home are facing increased attention from federal authorities because of a possible war with Iraq.

Before his remaining family members fled the country, Denha said he would give money to people traveling to Iraq to give to his family.

But now, Iraqis in the Detroit area and across the nation face a federal crackdown on sending money to their homeland, a nation the Bush administration has focused on as a major enemy in the war on terrorism.

Although sending money to Iraq has been illegal since 1990, federal authorities have stepped up enforcement in the past year, The Detroit News reported in a Friday story.

Iraqi community leaders and others say the ban on sending money home to impoverished relatives is frustrating for family members who do not want to break the law, but want to support family.

James Dinkins, the acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs Office of Investigations in Detroit, acknowledged the hardship that Iraqi Americans are trying to relieve by sending money. But he questioned why people would send large amounts of cash, because just a few U.S. dollars can feed an Iraqi family for more than a week.

"Regardless of whether the money is going for food or clothing, ultimately some of the money makes its way back into the hands of Saddam," Dinkins said. "Part of the embargo is to put pressure on people and the government to change their practices. The government only changes if the people put enough pressure on them."

TONY BLANKLEY OF WASHINGTON POST CALLS SADDAM, "THE ASSYRIAN DUNDERHEAD"

(ZNDA: Washington) In a 29 January column in the Washington Post, Tony Blankley, the editorial page editor of The Washington Times calls Saddam Hussein an "Assyrian dunderhead":

"Now that George W. Bush is in the White House, Saddam's fatal hour is upon him. With even Hans Blix and Colin Powell now beating the drums of war, we shall see if the Assyrian dunderhead is capable of giving up his toxic dreams and accepting exile. But like the poor devils who feel compelled to seek the deadly AIDS infection, Saddam has probably eroticized possession of the deadly weapons, and is likely to stand his ground and draw his terminal breath in the next month or two˜perhaps on the Ides of March."

At press time no reaction from the Assyrian observers has been received at Zinda Magazine offices.

For a full copy of the editorial titled "Stumbledee and Stumbledum" visit: http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20030129-92283052.htm

Mr. Dunderhead's syndicated column appears on Wednesdays.