Our Self-Inflicted Genocide

A Guest Opinion

Prof. Sargis Osipov, MD, PhD
Moscow, Russia

For a number of years now, I have been closely tracking copious literature in which Armenian and Assyrian scholars and organizations deal with the WWI-period Ottoman genocides of their peoples. I sincerely appreciate the Assyrian effort to gain a better insight into the matter. At the same time, I keep wondering whether this issue is all that important for the modern Assyrians. Indeed, how on earth can all this research help our self-assertion these days?

In a recent paper, I argued that the Ottoman massacres of Armenians and Assyrians in the period from 1914 to 1918 are not the same thing as the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews. Unlike the WWII-period Jews, the WWI Armenians and Assyrians offered mass stiff resistance to their oppressors. The Armenian forces of General Agha Andranik and the Assyrian forces of General Agha Putrus actually killed or captured numerous Ottoman troops in battle. This means that the Armenians and the Assyrians were at de facto war with the Ottomans. A la guerre comme a la guerre …, but with a difference. In 1795, an invading army from Iran left no stone in place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Directed and led by the Iranian ruler at the time, the ugly beardless castrate Agha Magomet-Khan, Iranian soldiers ripped the abdomens of pregnant Georgian women and killed small Georgian children by smashing their heads against rocks. The story is the same with the Seljuq and the Ottoman Turks, wherever they sent their conquering hordes. Accounts of genocidal events in Simel in Iraq in 1933 spoke about similar cruelty by Arabs and Kurds. This is their culture, this is their mindset.

Assyrians usually behaved very differently. Upon capturing Urmia early in 1918, the Assyrian General Agha Putrus Elov hanged a local Assyrian guerilla named Shamasha Farhad for arbitrarily executing a former Iranian governor of the area (the governor’s name was Sardar). After being disarmed, many of the Turkish soldiers captured by Putrus’s forces were expediently made free. This is our culture, this is our mindset.

Last October, Parliament in France made it a criminal offence to even cast doubt on the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. The Russian political analyst Dr Alexei Yeremenko saw this as the opening of Pandora’s Box. Poland and nations and peoples in the Caucasus are now welcome to heap blame on Russia, the Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America, draw the sword on Spain, and the United States, make all alien arrivals at entry ports put their right hands against the heart and loudly recite the Pledge of Allegiance. So, what is in store for us?

The Assyrians are now on the verge of destroying themselves with their own hands. And it’s time I clearly wrote, or rather shouted at the top of my voice, about a self-inflicted genocide. Riveted to our tragic past, we fail to recognize what is happening to us in the present. Why do we stay so indifferent to endless tribulations that we create ourselves? We are actually in the process of carrying an unheard-of self-genocide from within. And this genocide from within is a hundred times more dangerous than the worst of genocides from without. The current self-treatment of the Assyrians, the Chaldeans and the Syriacs – or whatever else we may call ourselves – amounts to genocide with a vengeance.

I want everyone to clearly understand the various aspects of this self-inflicted genocide. They are as follows:

• neglect of our national identity and name;
• all-inclusive strife, in which each one of us is prepared to be kind to anybody except a fellow Assyrian;
• unending rivalries among a multitude of purposeless organizations of the Assyrians;
• a split into a spectrum of Churches, in which each Patriarch sees himself as the ultimate Caesar and Pope;
• contempt by many of the new Assyrian rich of intellectuals in our midst: Mr Karl Suleiman, for instance, keeps taunting them by saying they wouldn’t be so desperately poor if they were really intelligent;
• paternalism, pushing Assyrians to expect solutions to their problems from others;
• forgetfulness and even contempt of the sorrows of Assyrians in poor countries on the part of Assyrians who are now nationals of great powers like Russia or the United States;
• mass Assyrian indulgence in crime, racket and easy-money businesses like gambling and drugs;
• Assyrian tendency not to mind the future of the Assyrian people and seek short-term gain instead by submitting to the Arabs, the Iranians or the Kurds;
• skepticism towards selfless effort and self-sacrifice for the sake of the Assyrian nation;
• tribalism, usually fanned by unjustified ambition;
• spiritual void and lack of national pride;
• easy submission to the deadly scourge of ethnic assimilation;
• apparent readiness to put up with the prospect of a finally disappearing Assyrian nation.

This genocide must be brought to an end. Failure to stop it will make the living generation of the Assyrians their last in this world. And this, in turn, will be remembered on Doomsday.

Unmasking A Political Crisis:
"The Case for an Assyrian Authority in Iraq"

Wilfred Bet-Alkhas
Editor/ Zinda

As more priests are kidnapped and Assyrian students and politicians killed in Iraq and as the topic of the Nineveh Plain tingles the tip of every tongue from Mosul to Melbourne, at issue remains one fundamentally simple question: Where on earth is the Assyrian Democratic Movement and its illustrious leader Yonadam Kanna? To this candid question there is only one, even more candid answer: in North America ADM’s loose cannons are defending an Assyrian bishop in California, and in Iraq its Central Committee cadres are avoiding the press, the Kurds, and the government in Baghdad. In short, the Assyrian politics are forcibly transitioning from the Arab-dominated Baghdad to Kurdish-controlled Arbil, and there is no one over here in the west or out there in Iraq able or willing to stop this shift in policy. A vote for ADM in January was nothing more than a vote for the quashing of the independent Assyrian voices and now we are facing a serious political crisis.

The ADM or Zowaa as most Assyrians commonly call their largest and the most successful political experiment in Iraq until the fall of Saddam leaped into public attention shortly after the establishment of the No-Fly-Zone in north Iraq in 1991. Its leaders, Yonadam Kanna, Yonan Hozaya, Nimrod Betyo, Pascale Warda, et al soon became household names and in a short few years, all other Assyrian political parties only fleetingly emerged from hiding in the shadow of “the Movement.”

Ironically, the liberation ( or occupation of Iraq) in 2003 had a different effect on the popularity of the ADM. Smaller political parties previously ignored by the Assyrian majority aligned with the Kurdish groups and positioned themselves in more direct contact with Iraq’s powers-to-be. The ADM Central Committee in Iraq is now under fire for its continued silence in all matters concerning the welfare of the Assyrians in that country, while the less popular Assyrian groups backed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and financed through the munificence of the KDP Finance Minister, Sarkis Aghajan, have become the new Assyrian political negotiators.

Mr. Yonadam Kanna, a member of the Iraqi parliament and the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement is quickly losing friends in the west who accuse him of drowning in the sea of his arrogance, avoiding any direct talks with other Assyrian and Christian groups and accepting no accountability for the continued deterioration of the Assyrians’ condition in Iraq.  Whatever the perception of the multitudes in the west may be due to Mr. Kanna's creepy silence, it has far-reaching implications, placing the Assyrian politics in the hands of a few Zowaa-supporters in North America and England who continue to demonstrate their patriotism by building a bridge between their version of the ADM and the Assyrian church reformist, Bishop Bawai Soro.

The ADM in Iraq has until now avoided the indirect “Zowaa-Bawai” alliance, simply because the Assyrians in Iraq show little curiosity about the questionable activities of the Zowaa-supporters in America, Australia, Canada and England. They care less whether in 2007 it is a bishop in California or a patriarch in Chicago who will own a few pieces of property in San Jose and Modesto. After all why should they? Yet, combined with a zealous anti-Zowaa rhetoric coming out of Sargon Dadesho’s mouthpieces on his television programs and the total evasion of any mention of Zowaa on the Kurdish-backed Ishtar TV, the anti-ADM elements are winning the support of the undecided majority. This is happening to the extend that some Zowaa voters in America are now speaking against Yonadam Kanna and the ADM and praising a new future under the leadership of Sarkis Aghajan and Massoud Barzani.

Ninos Betyo, deputy of the Assyrian Democratic Movement party in Iraq, right, speaks in front of an Assyrian flag as Basim Bello, mayor of Tel Kaif, Iraq, left, looks on during a speech to a group of Chaldean Iraqi-Americans at the Crystal Ballroom in El Cajon, Calif. Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. The two are in the U.S. to discuss the possibility of the creation of 'safe zones' for Christians in Iraq. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

The single-party politics of the Assyrians in Iraq are over – as a result of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Zowaa is no longer the darling of the Assyrian émigrés in America, Australia, and Europe. There are new kids on the political blocks of Mosul, Arbil, and Kirkuk and for every dollar sent from the west through hard-earned donations for Zowaa, Sarkis Aghajan has thousands of dollars to offer any Assyrian politician north of Baghdad, who would call Barzani, kaka. From this love feast emerges an entirely new political reality in the Assyrian politics of post-2003 occupation. I like to call it the Kaka Politics of North Iraq (kaka is the Kurdish word for brother). It goes something like this: The Kurds are preparing to declare independence in 2007-2008; when they will call three and up to five Northern provinces, Kurdistan. According to a “Three-State Plan” (decried by the Baker-Hamilton Plan) areas around Mosul – the Nineveh Plain – could go to either the Kurds or the Sunni Arabs. The KDP is diligently attempting to buy every Christian politician, patriarch, entertainer, journalist, artist, business-owner, and mass media voice to back them against either accession of Mosul to a Sunni majority or a “Fourth Column” solution. The agent of this endeavor is none other than the Assyrian political and financial advisor to Barzani, Mr. Sarkis Aghajan.

The support for Sarkis Aghajan has reached legendary proportions. Three Assyrian patriarchs have awarded him with medals none of us ever knew existed. Assyrian entertainers are releasing songs in his name, and he is sometimes referred to as the “liberator of the Assyrians”

While many Assyrians may call this a deceitful act, let us not forget that when the Christian West - has once again abandoned us in the East - what we need in every Moslem country is ten such “Assyrian Martin Luther Kings”.  We need more such ministers in Arbil, Ankara, Damascus, Tehran, Amman, and Baghdad. More Aghajans mean more homes, churches, schools, social halls and TV stations. Mr. Aghajan has dedicated his life to uphold Kurdish nationalism first and above all other political yearnings. How different is that from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s goals in upholding the rights of every American and the national security of the United States of America above the security of every other nation and peoples – including the Assyrians in Baghdad? In fact, they are both either elected by a majority non-Assyrian population or appointed by non-Assyrian leaders. They are here today, gone tomorrow! But their congressional statements and votes, their housing projects and church buildings will stay longer than the memory of their oath in office. This was the reason why most Assyrians turned the other way when Zowaa joined the Kurdistan Parliament in the 1990s. Thereafter, they were free to build schools and even publish books and payroll hundreds of teachers. Remember the titans of Zowaa who occupied five seats in the Kurdish parliament until a year or two ago? Where are they now? Then what is all this hubbub over Aghajan’s uber-Zowaa leadership?

At the heart of the trouble with the new Kaka Politics of North Iraq is the few Assyrian politicians (as Aghajan) and political groups’ (as APP – see last week’s issue) explicit acknowledgment of the Kurdish control of the Assyrian affairs in all of northern Iraq. The Americans have forever changed the Assyrian political vista. Whereas we had only Saddam Hussein to deal with before March 2003, now we require the strength of an independent Assyrian political power to conduct policy with the Sunnis, Shi’ais, Kurds, Turkomen, and who knows how many other voices in the mosaic of Iraqi politics. While Aghajan and our smaller political voices in the Kurdish-controlled provinces may help us conduct business in Arbil and Suleimaniya, we still need independent negotiators in Baghdad, Karbala, Basra, and Tikrit to carry on a “national plan” that echoes the voices of the Assyrians abroad. Aghajan’s influence does not go beyond the Kurdish provinces; a neutral Assyrian political “authority” in Iraq can.

On the other hand, what does ADM think about all this? If the “Three-State Plan” is implemented, would they not work with the Kurds who may end up controlling most of the lands owned by Assyrians?

We cannot function effectively if our largest political party in Iraq remains cloaked in secrecy. Perhaps there is nothing to tell and this silence is a symptom of utter hopelessness and insecurity felt by the ADM Central Committee. Whatever may be the reason, it is causing confusion and failure. ADM is quickly approaching the fate of the Assyrian Universal Alliance and the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party – “briefcase political parties” whose pulses are measured by sporadic release of their statements after every unsuccessful conference.

Here we reach a new realization in our fast-changing political paradigm-shift: in today’s Iraq the concept of a political party managing our national affairs is no longer valid. What we need is an “Assyrian Authority” that administers the affairs of the Assyrians in every one of the 18 provinces. The “Assyrian Authority”, consisting of political representations from all Assyrian groups in Iraq, must act as a national voice for all Assyrians – securing the rights of all Assyrians in all corners of Iraq. Aghajan, APP, ADM, Chaldean groups, Syriac Alliances, etc must all re-align to form this “Assyrian Authority” and influence regional powers with one single voice.

Today, more than ever, it is the Assyrian Democratic Movement in Iraq that can help expedite this political shift, for it remains an independent expression of our general will in the homeland. ADM must be willing to work with all Assyrian groups, and conduct direct talks with all Kurdish and Arab leaders.

ADM, much like other Assyrian political parties, has a long history of not facing up to its internal problems. Its leader, Yonadam Kanna, is notoriously unwilling to admit to his errors and the errors of his supporters in the west. Well, no more delays! To initiate the momentous transition from a political party system to an “Assyrian Authority” in Iraq, the ADM Central Committee must immediately enforce a shake-up of its structure, inject new blood and calmly retire the old guards. This can begin with a request for the resignation of Mr. Yonadam Kanna. A new ADM ought to be led by a new visionary who does not shrug off decisions in times of crisis. Kanna does and it is time for him to honorably exit the stage.

Second, the Central Committee must also silence the loose cannons in America, Australia, Canada, and England – demanding their complete detachment from the Mar Bawai vs. the Holy Synod case in California.  Their "personal" participation is not only hurting the image of Zowaa; it is politicizing Bishop Bawai Soro's struggle for reform in the Assyrian Church of the East.  The Central Committee's directive must go as far as removing pictures of the reformist bishop alongside those of Yonadam Kanna on the web pages of the supporters of the ADM. No Assyrian political party members should engage in such religious discourses unless directly instructed by their political party’s central committees.

Finally, ADM needs to invest in improving its “public relations” to ensure a persistent flow of information from its offices in Iraq to all corners where their friends and foes are engaged in healthy dialogue. What do the Assyrians in Iraq think of all this? What do they expect from their fellow Assyrians in the west? Does everyone in Iraq see today’s politics as Aghajan vs. Zowaa or is this only a Kurdish spin on reality that has caused so much misuse of our time and resources?

New blood, new direction, and a new channel of communication are important steps to help ADM regain strength and confidence. If the ADM Central Committee shrugs off the gloomy perspective outlined here and dismiss the brouhaha surrounding Zowaa as immaterial to its day-to-day operations in Iraq, then the rapidly changing events in Iraq will necessitate a new course of action which may not include “the Movement”.

The New Assyrianism (click here) is not about ADM alone. It’s about ADM, AUA, APP, BNDP, ADO, Aghajan, Kanna, and every other political, religious, civic leader that proudly calls himself/herself Assyrian. The Fourth Column is not a hallucination; it is the aspiration of a nation without friends, yet loved by its Creator. To move ahead, we must align all our resources and work with all our neighbors using a single national plan. The executors of this plan may have other ambitions to satisfy their non-Assyrian bosses; however, as long as our national agenda is executed according to the plan, their services must be rendered and their suits decorated with more exotic-sounding medals. Beyond the formation of an independent Assyria under Assyrian rule every other ambition – be it fashioned internally as with the ADM or peripherally as with the Kurdish-backed groups in Arbil - is secondary.

A History of Secrecy & Cover-ups

Wilfred Bet-Alkhas
Editor / Zinda

While the inter-church conflict continues between Bishop Mar Bawai Soro in San Jose, California challenging the Assyrian Church of the East's old guard headed by Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia, cracks are beginning to appear in the walls separating the Church and its trusting followers.

The St Hurmizd Assyrian Primary School, the jewel in the crown of today’s Assyrian Church of the East, which had been previously lauded as synonymous with Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia's achievements appears to have hit a crucial stumbling block. Wayne Pettiford, its principal, was recently sacked after Fr. Genard Lazar allegedly discovered child pornography on his work computer.

While we should thank Fr. Lazar for exposing this individual and looking out for the welfare of our precious Assyrian children this issue appears to have raised more questions than answers.

Why were Assyrian parents, whose youngsters attend the school, not informed of this critical information? Why were Assyrian parents told that Wayne Pettiford was dismissed because of laziness? Why did it take the Sunday Telegraph to publicize this event and tell our community in Sydney the real reason for his dismissal?

These self-evident questions then allow even further speculation regarding the Australian Diocese’s motives.

Have any kids been abused by the principal?

If such abuse does surface how legally liable is the school and hence the church for damages that may accrue?

Perhaps we should pause to learn lessons from other churches.

In late 2003 the Catholic Church's Boston Archdiocese agreed to pay $85 million to 552 people who claimed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests devastated their lives, giving victims long-awaited recognition of their pain. Church documents, official testimony, and victim interviews gathered over many years painted an extraordinary picture of secrecy and deception in the Boston Archdiocese; a culture in which top church officials coddled abusive priests and permitted them to molest again, while stonewalling or paying off the victims of that abuse.

The atmosphere of cover up and hiding in Australia which had previously manifested itself in the infamous Karl Suleman Enterprizes affair appears to continue unabated.

With Fred David, one of the KSE architects still acting as the church's lawyer and Mar Meelis Zaia and Fr Ashur Lazar not reprimanded for their part in the Ponzi scheme, an atmosphere of deceit and cover-up will continue to pervade the Australian Diocese until its members demand full transparency and fearlessly hold everyone to account.

True reform will start not by pleading to the church hierarchy, but by continuing to initiate grass roots actions around the world that will eventually put enough pressure on our Church hierarchy to begin to finally reveal all that it had previously disclosed and expose all guilty parties.

Yashua Hedaya Assassinated in Qaraqosh

(ZNDA: Mosul)  On Wednesday evening, November 22, the Assyrian politician - Yashua Majeed Hedaya, was shot dead by unidentified militants in Mosul.

Mr. Hedaya, 52, was the head of an independent Assyrian movement - the Syriac Independent Unified Movement.  He was killed as he was leaving his political party headquarters in the mostly Christian town of Qaraqosh (Baghdede), north-east of Mosul.  Masked gunmen riddled his body with bullets.

Three weeks earlier, on 21 October Hedaya presented a demand for autonomy for the Assyrians in four districts of the Nineveh Plain. The demand was presented to the central government in Baghdad.

Assyrian youth at the funeral procession of Mr. Hedaya holding his picture.

Two Chaldean Priests Released After Large Ransom Paid

Courtesy of the Zenit News Agency
5 December 2006

(ZNDA:  Baghdad)  According to information obtained by Zinda Magazine, Father Sami Al-Rais, rector of the major Chaldean Seminary in Al Dora, Baghdad, who was kidnapped last Monday and Chaldean priest Douglas Yousef Al-Bazy who was last seen leaving his parish church by car after celebrating Sunday morning mass on Sunday, November 19th were released on Friday.  A ransom of around $170,000.00 was paid for their release.

Father Al-Rais was taken just a few steps from the Church of Mar Khorkhis, in Baghdad's Jadida.

With the latest abduction, the number of kidnapped Chaldean priests in Baghdad has reaches six. Last October a Syriac Orthodox priest, Father Paul Iskandar, was murdered.

Father Al-Rais, who is also pastor of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul near the seminary, was supposed to be present at the opening of the academic year of Babel College, run by the Catholic Church in Baghdad. He teaches moral theology there.

Given the unstable situation, the faculty has been moved from Al Dora to the Church of Mar Khorkhis. The ceremony to open the academic year at Babel College was postponed.

Iraq's Chaldean patriarchate launched an appeal on its Web page to the kidnappers.

"We beg you not to harm him, and to treat him well," it stated. "We place Father Sami in the Lord's and Providence's hands, asking him to help us save Iraq from these kidnappings that terrify everyone, adults and children."

Al-Bazy, 34, is the parish priest at St. Elijah Church in Baghdad’s Naariya district.

He was released on November 28th in the evening after being kidnapped for nine days. The news, confirmed by local Church sources, was welcomed with rejoicing by the entire Iraqi Christian community at home and abroad, although the situation in Baghdad and the rest of the country continues to be “difficult”.

Everyone suspected kidnapping when the young priest disappeared. His abduction came only a month after that of Fr Paul Iskandar, a Syriac Orthodox priest of Mosul who was found murdered and mutilated two days after he disappeared on 11 November.

Reliable sources to Zinda Magazine in Baghdad explain that almost all 6 kidnapped priests were physically assaulted but then released after being ransomed.

Iraqi Christians claim that kidnappings and forced donations to violent Islamic militias are a weekly occurrence for the country’s Christian community.

“My cousin had to pay $10,000, my brother-in-law paid $20,000 and I paid $9,000,” one Chaldean source who requested anonymity recently told Compass in northern Iraq. “Last week the Islamic groups bombed three Christian houses because the owners refused to pay.”

This past week, an Assyrian Church of the East priest from Mosul’s St. Mary Church was forced to flee to the Kurdish region because he was unable to continue paying the forced donations, Assyrian International News Agency reported.

According to the agency, the church’s administrative director, Edward Enwiya, his brothers, and an Ancient Assyrian Church of the East priest from the neighboring village of Telkaif had been forced north for the same reason.

Many of Iraq’s Chaldeans believe that attacks on Christians are not carried out randomly, according to Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad Shleman Warduni.

Extremists “target those people who are most involved in the Christian community, the younger and more courageous ones,” the bishop told Catholic news service Asia News. It’s “as if to give a warning to those who persist in hoping that they will be able to continue living in the country.”

In October an Islamic militant ring beheaded a Syrian Orthodox priest from Mosul, 59-year-old Boulos Iskander, after demanding that the city’s churches post signs denouncing a speech made by Pope Benedict XVI in which he implied that Islam was inherently violent. (See Compass Direct News, “Iraqi Kidnappers Behead Priest in Mosul,” October 12.)

In September, Father Basil Yaldo, rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Baghdad, was kidnapped and released only days later. In two other separate incidents, two young Chaldean priests were kidnapped and eventually released in July and September.

Due to Iraq’s ongoing sectarian violence and attacks specifically targeting the Christian community, some groups estimate that the number of Christians in the country has dropped to 450,000 or fewer, down from 850,000 in 1991.

Chaldean Catholics, an Eastern rite church in communion with Rome, are the largest Christian community in Iraq.

Kidnappers Murder Church Elder in Mosul

Courtesy of Journal Chretien
8 December 2006

(ZNDA: Mosul)   Grieving Christians in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul completed three days of mourning for a murdered Presbyterian Church elder yesterday, only hours before another Iraqi clergyman was grabbed off the streets of Baghdad this morning.

The martyred churchman, identified only as 69-year-old Elder Munthir, had been kidnapped after leading worship services at the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Mosul on November 26. His body was found four days later.

He is the second Iraqi Christian clergyman to be murdered in Mosul within the past two months.

Under mounting terrorist threats targeting all of Mosul’s Christian community, local sources only spoke to Compass under conditions of strict anonymity.

According to eyewitnesses in Mosul, the Protestant church elder was cornered by two cars in front of his home at 11 a.m. as he returned from Sunday worship.

“One of the passengers had a pistol, and we saw them taking him and putting him into the trunk of the car,” an observer told Compass.

The captors contacted Elder Munthir’s family later that day, using his mobile telephone to confirm that they had kidnapped him. Initially demanding US$1 million in ransom, the kidnappers negotiated over the next three days with their captive’s relatives and friends.

According to one Mosul source who described the kidnappers’ conversations, “They said, ‘We have him, and we will kill him. We will cut his throat. We will take revenge for the Pope’s words. We will take revenge on all of you. We will kill all the Christians, and we will start with him.’”

The source said the kidnappers were “aggressive and mean,” but that “the people in these extreme Islamist groups do not represent true Islam.”

Although the kidnappers told a negotiator on Wednesday afternoon that the elder’s safe return was “nearly solved,” they then cut off communication with anyone.

On Thursday morning (November 30), the elder’s body was discovered thrown on a street in Mosul, killed by a single bullet to his head. Local forensic experts estimated the time of his death at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening (November 29).

Since 1974, Elder Munthir had served in various ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Iraq, which named him an elder in 2000. He was the sixth generation of his family to serve in Mosul’s Presbyterian Church, established in 1840 by 10 local Christian families.

Two months ago, he had been threatened by telephone that if he went to his church again he would be killed, local sources said.

“Nobody on earth can prevent me from going to my church,” he told the anonymous caller before he hung up. The next day, he went back to church and preached a sermon on God’s love.

“When he was kidnapped on Sunday, I was so terrified and troubled,” one member of Elder Munthir’s congregation said. “But then I opened my Bible to the book of Job, where the devil asked God to stop protecting Job. God allowed the devil to touch Job’s family, his money, his body and his health, but not his soul. I believe that Jesus died to protect [Munthir], so the devil couldn’t touch his soul.”

The day after Elder Munthis was buried, one Mosul Christian told Compass that many of the church leader’s friends felt it was too dangerous to attend his funeral.

“This is a very big tragedy for us,” the Christian source said. “It is really getting much worse here. We really need your prayers.”

Several more Christians have been reported kidnapped in Mosul since his abduction and murder.

“We will never just pray, ‘God, save us from this,’” one local Christian declared. “But we will pray also, ‘God, show us your will in this.’

“Munthir was an elder in our church, and he served God for 40 years. But God allowed him to be killed. If God wanted him to be alive, He was able to do it. It is not a matter of God’s protection.”

An electrical engineer by profession, Elder Munthir is survived by his wife and four children.

Priest Abducted

Baghdad’s Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate confirmed that Father Samy Abdulahad was kidnapped this morning from his car as he left his church in the Al-Sinaa district of the capital, near the University of Technology.

According to Ankawa.com, an Iraqi Christian news website, the patriarchate issued an appeal today to release the priest, a professor of theology at the Chaldean Babel Seminary.

“It’s terrible,” Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako said from Kirkuk. “Babel Seminary was supposed to open tomorrow.” The theological school had delayed its fall opening for several months due to Baghdad’s rising violence.

“As Christians, we are giving a lot of martyrs, a lot of blood for Jesus’ name here in Iraq,” one Iraqi Christian told Compass over the weekend.

Civilian casualties in Iraq jumped by 44 percent during November compared with the previous month, the Iraqi Interior Ministry reported on Friday (December 1). Although official data confirmed at least 1,850 Iraqi civilian deaths last month, U.N. calculations more than doubled that figure.

Sadr Followers Target Assyrian School Girls in Baghdad

Courtesy of the Assyrian International News Agency
30 November 2006

(ZNDA: Baghdad)  Followers of Moqtada al-Sadr have issued a fatwa1 concerning school girls, according to an Assyrian priest in Baghdad. The fatwa requires all girls to wear the veil while attending school. In an unusual twist of logic, the fatwa implies that failure to wear the veil would be tantamount on the girls' part to complicity in the death of the Imam Husayn ibn Ali (killed in 680 A.D. in Karbala in a battle with the army of the Caliphate.)

The priest indicated the fatwa was at least for the New Baghdad neighborhood, where many Christians live, and that he feared for the safety of the Christian girls in the area.

The fatwa appears to be an attempt by Sadr and his followers to establish a Taliban style Islamic theocracy in Iraq. According to an article in the Middle East Journal, "Muqtada called on May 2 [2003] for strict Islamic law to be applied to Iraq's Christians, as well, including the prohibition on bars and on allowing women to appear unveiled. This ruling appears to be a restatement of one of his father's fatwas, but this time the al-Sadr family had the authority to make it stick in some parts of Iraq. In contrast, Grand Ayatollah Sistani issued a statement saying that the Najaf establishment had not called for forcible veiling."

Editor' note: AINA has withheld the name of the priest to ensure his safety.

1 .  A fatwa is a Muslim pronouncement on a specific issue, issued by a Muslim cleric.

Iraq's Vatican Ambassador Seeks More Help

Courtesy of the Catholic News Service
30 November 2006
By Carol Glatz
Contributed by Mark Pattison in Washington

(ZNDA: Rome)  The Iraqi ambassador to the Vatican, Mr. Albert Yelda - an Assyrian, acknowledged the increasing violence in his country, but issued a plea for international support to help stabilize the country.

"We are very much concerned" about the increasing numbers of civilian deaths, said Albert Yelda. But implementing democratization and stability "is a long process" and "we need multinational forces" to help "because they are doing an excellent job."

Yelda admitted ethnic cleansing is taking place in Iraq. "Christians are fearing for their lives like other minorities trapped in this policy of ethnic cleansing," he said.

The "elements of instability" are people who "lost their influence" and "lost ground" when Saddam Hussein was overthrown in the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, Yelda said. Saddam's "regime of mass graves is still at work (though now it is) maybe behind religious dimensions," meaning that violence, killings and threats now are based on religious divisions rather than the personal whims of a dictator.

It is "very important for us" that a program of national reconciliation be carried forward and that all factions and parties "become part of the political process," Yelda said. But "a democratic, federal and secular government" will take "a lot of time and a lot of different people's ideas," he added.

Yelda also addressed the issue of internal displacement during the fighting. U.N. statistics show that at least 2,500 families have been displaced in 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces.

"During the 35 years of the Saddam regime, 4 million Iraqis fled" Iraq, he said. "Now because of war and instability we can see assassinations and forces of darkness working 24 hours a day, working to destabilize and do as much damage" as possible in an effort to try "to get back power."

"The presence of a military force is not the cause" of the violence in Iraq, Yelda said. "Certainly no Iraqi would like to see their country occupied by a foreign power and I believe many mistakes happened when Iraq was liberated," he added. "But we can always criticize about these mistakes and not achieve anything."

Two U.S.-based Chaldean Catholic bishops took a dimmer view of the Iraqi situation.

Iraqi Christian girl Jwan Androws, 4, rests in Baghdad's al-Kindi hospital Monday. Jwan was injured when a suicide bomber detonated his vest among shoppers in Baghdad's Palestine Street, killing her mother instantly while her father was seriously injured. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

"The situation is by all means very bad. It is a civil war or we are about to start civil war," said Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, based in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. "The whole country is in trouble. The whole country -- Muslim, Christian, Kurds. Everybody is really in trouble."

Bishop Ibrahim confirmed that Iraqi Christians are leaving their neighborhoods and towns for Kurdistan -- Iraq's northern provinces -- and the Nineveh Plain. "They cannot go outside the country. They have not the means to travel to their neighbor's country," he said.

The bishop said in a telephone interview that the U.S. government bears "the main responsibility for the deterioration of the situation."

"They are in charge of the security. They should be in charge of building. They should be in charge of reform," he said. Under international law, Bishop Ibrahim added, "the occupying country has the responsibility for the (occupied) country. ... The Iraqis now are unable to take a decision for themselves, or even if they are able, they are not free to make their own decisions. We have to take the approval of the Americans. What does that mean? That means Americans have the upper hand on every decision."

"It's very tragic, very painful," said Bishop Sarhad Y. Jammo of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, based in El Cajon, California.

Iraqi Christians "have no means to survive, even in Baghdad or other cities. They cannot go to work, they cannot go to school. They are threatened in their own neighborhoods, their own houses," Bishop Jammo said. "They are kidnapped, they are killed, they are kidnapped for ransom, they are kidnapped for torture, they are kidnapped to impose on them Islam. Sometimes they threaten them with killing, with execution, unless they accept Islam, or they have to pay to their neighbors sometimes taxes for being Christian."

While "I don't think any observer would have objected to changing the regime," Bishop Jammo said, "I haven't seen any success after the collapse of the regime. I haven't seen anything really a success story. I don't know if the planning was totally inadequate, or badly designed.

The Pope, Metropolitan Cetin Attend Rites in Istanbul

Courtesy of the AsiaNews - Italy
1 December 2006
By Franco Pisano

(ZNDA: Istanbul)  The final message of the Pope during his trip to Turkey was another call for freedom for the Church and an exhortation to Turkey’s small Christian communities to live together in love.  The message was delivered last Thursday to around 2,000 people who participated in mass celebrated by Benedict XVI in Istanbul, his last engagement before leaving for Rome.

Young people stood in the small courtyard of the nineteenth-century church of the Holy Spirit, the Latin cathedral of Istanbul, cheering at the arrival of the Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew, chanting their names. On one wall, there was a poster with their images. There, upon his arrival, the Pope freed three white doves and then blessed a statue of John XXIII, the “Turkish Pope”, as Pope Roncalli was described when he was elected, in memory of the 10 years he spent in this country where he is still remembered with respect and affection. The statue, intended for the Church of St Anthony, stood not far from that of Benedict XV, erected by the Turks in 1919 in memory of his appeals against the World War, with the inscription: “To the great pontiff of the global tragedy, benefactor of all peoples, regardless of nation or creed, as a sign of gratitude, the East.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II, and the Syriac Orthodox Church Metropolitan Yusuf Cetin, attended the religious rite; all met Benedict XVI yesterday. The meeting with Bartholomew, who entered the church by the Pope’s side – and who participated in three celebrations with Benedict XVI in two days – was the main reason for the voyage. This, however, did not stop public opinion from focusing above all on ties with Islam.

Turkish Christians pray during a mass with Pope Benedict XVI at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Istanbul. The Pope wrapped up a momentous visit to Turkey, in which he reached out to Muslims and the Orthodox Church while standing firm on key issues such as papal authority and Europe's Christian roots.(AFP/Mustafa Ozer)

Benedict XVI dwelt upon these ties in the packed church. He said: “Your communities walk the humble path of daily companionship with those who do not share our faith, but who declare ‘to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God’ (Lumen Gentium, n.16). You know well that the church wishes to impose nothing on anyone, and that she merely asks to live in freedom to reveal He who she cannot hide.”

The celebration had an inter-ritual character, in that Catholic communities of different languages and rites took part. Monks with cowls and Metropolitans in their great mantles stood by the altar. For all of them, there was a papal exhortation to fraternity, which rounded up the homily: “Always be open to the spirit of Christ and hence be attentive to those who thirst for justice, peace, dignity, for consideration for themselves and for their brothers. Live among yourselves according to the word of the Lord: ‘by these they will know you are my disciples, if you love one another’.”

Iraqi Catholic Asylum Seekers in Turkey Suffer Neglect & Poverty

Courtesy of the Turkish Daily News
4 December 2006
By Michael Kuser

(ZNDA: Ankara)  Iraqi refugees live in Turkey for years while waiting to be resettled in other countries, yet they have no right to work and suffer social and psychological problems from being forced to live where the Turkish government directs them, often without community support.

"Any door they knock on is closed in their faces," said Monsignor Francois Yakan, 48, who runs the Chaldean Catholic Church in Turkey from his office in Istanbul. "The former regime in Iraq was no good, but this situation is worse, and every day we learn of five or six people who have been killed in Iraq, relatives of the families in our Istanbul community."

The monsignor was born in Hakkari and later went to school and seminary in France, returning to Turkey seven years ago as Chaldean patriarchal vicar. He ministers to his scattered flock from an office in Istanbul, where he also conducts masses at a small church, formerly Byzantine Catholic, opposite the British Consulate. The Chaldeans also worship at a larger chapel in the cellar of Saint Antoine Church on Istiklal Caddesi.

“These refugees have social and psychological problems,” said Yakan. “They stay here from one to 11 years with no health care, no work permit and practically no schooling. The Europeans don't pay any attention to these people, yet they talk about human rights and being Christian.”

Numbers game

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which acts as the Turkish government's agent regarding refugees and asylum seekers, estimates that up to one million Iraqis have fled the war in Iraq.

While most of Iraqi refugees live in neighboring Syria and Jordan, those who come to Turkey are required by law to register with the police within 10 days of their arrival and also to apply to the UNHCR for a so-called refugee status determination. Up to that hearing they are asylum seekers, while those who do not register or apply are undocumented immigrants.

Unfortunately, since the war began in 2003 the UNHCR has suspended normal processing of Iraqi asylum seekers. Gaining the right to be resettled in a third country was not too easy before then, but now it is practically impossible except in the most vulnerable cases, or in rare cases where humanitarian programs in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia allow Iraqis to be reunited with family members in those countries.

The Turkish Ministry of Interior estimates that some 90,000 people entered Turkey illegally last year, but it does not break down those figures by nationality. Through mid-September this year, 407 Iraqis in Turkey applied to the UNHCR for asylum.

“We get applicants in all categories, but we don't break them down by religion,” said Metin Corabatir, UNHCR spokesman in Ankara. Thus no one knows how many Iraqis enter Turkey without permission, or what percentage of them is Christian and what percentage Muslim.

Community support

The most visible Iraqi refugees in Istanbul are the Christians, mainly Chaldean Catholics. Like other refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants, they have been uprooted from their homes and must make do in a strange land. Those who must live outside Istanbul must live without the communal support that is central to a person's welfare.

The Vatican's relief agency Caritas runs a few social support programs and also helps support a school for Iraqi children here in Istanbul, next door to its office in Harbiye.

"We focus on Iraqi asylum seekers who knock on our door," said Caritas spokeswoman Tülin Türkcan. "It's a very small operation and we're limited by our capacity. I can talk about Assyrians and Chaldeans, for they're the Christian Iraqis who come to us, not the Kurds or Turkmen. Sometimes individual Africans come for clothes or one-time medical care. Ignorance is a problem, for a Bangladeshi usually doesn't know what asylum is, so it's a big issue to talk about."

Pope John Paul II in 1991 ordered the Caritas office in Istanbul set up to coordinate aid for the half-million Iraqi refugees who had fled across the Turkish border to escape the Persian Gulf War.

“Caritas only knows of the 500 people they've registered,” said Yakan. “We had 3,800 people here as of last month. As the war in Iraq intensifies, the numbers here go up...”

Neediest cases

Caritas has no official status, but the organization Yakan set up six months ago -- the Chaldean-Assyrian Refugee Aid Association -- has the legal identity needed to support the community of Iraqi Christian refugees. Yakan receives no money from either the Turkish government or the Vatican.

“What we do need is a state agency responsible for the refugee community in Istanbul, [whether they are] Christian, Muslim [or] Buddhist -- whatever faith,” said Yakan. “I make pastoral visits to Konya, Kayseri, Burdur, Isparta -- wherever the people are sent -- but there's only me in all of Turkey. Through the church foundation we help widows and other people in truly dire straits, but as for going back to Iraq, that's simply impossible.”

The Christians have no district or region of their own in Iraq, as do Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish people, he said. Many of these people left a bad situation years ago and would return to find other people living in their houses, other people tending their orchards.

“If each of the 25 countries in the European Union would take 10 families -- voila -- the problem would be solved and we wouldn't have any Iraqi Christian refugees left,” said Yakan. “If 10 is too much, they can take five -- that would help.”

In Turkey there is much pain because the U.N. says go to Isparta, or Kastamonu, places where no one speaks Arabic, where there are no Christians, according to Monsignor Yusuf Sağ, 68, patriarchal vicar of the Syrian Catholic Church in Turkey.

“One woman told me that she had to imitate a chicken laying an egg in order to get one,” said Sağ. “In Burdur, for example, I bet you could not find even one person who speaks Arabic and certainly not Asuri. It's hard enough on a single man, but imagine having a family.” Asuri is a modern variant of Aramaic, the same language spoken by Jesus Christ.

Open arms

Sağ has 174 families in his congregation at the Sacred Heart Church in Gumussuyu, all Turkish citizens, but refugees from Iraq and other Arabic-speaking countries come to him because he speaks their language. A native of Mardin, Sağ speaks fluent Arabic.

“Muslim Iraqis come to me, too, and I treat them, also Somalis, Sudanese and Palestinians,” he said. “Three Egyptians came here just last week, for example. I know their troubles and we do our best to help with clothing in winter, basic food such as cooking oil, rice and beans, but it's not enough. Some of these families have been here for six years, even nine years.”

Forget religion, it's a matter of human rights, according to Monsignor Sağ.

“And the children do not get schooling, though they do here in Istanbul, from Caritas,” he said. “I thank the United States and the U.N., but Iraqi refugees in Turkey have much more pain than they do in Jordan and Syria, where at least they speak the language, and they have more churches. Here they don't send them to Mardin, which would be logical, they send them to places like Isparta and Burdur.”

The churches send the Iraqi women out to clean houses in Istanbul for 50 lira a day, maybe 100 if someone is feeling generous, but it is very difficult to live here without any right to work.

“What is the Turkish government thinking? These people are humans in pain and suffering,” said the monsignor. “The children get into trouble, into heroin or gangs. We don't want anything for ourselves, but these people need help. I tell them to keep asking God. Maybe they get fed up, but He will provide. We talk of faith, Jesus, the Bible, but humans have limits to their faith. Not everyone is capable of the faith of Job, and even he had doubts.”

To let these people stay in Istanbul would be a big service, according to all the people interviewed. Here they can have a community, get aid from the church, see doctors. Thus Monsignor Sağ cries the opposite of Moses: Let my people stay!

“I want this not as a priest or father figure, but as a fellow human being,” he said. “And I don't want money from the state, but here these refugees can learn Arabic and English, while outside Istanbul there is no emotional and material support. These are the tenets of Islam, but they just say it, in fact the Turkish government doesn't differentiate between Christian and Muslim refugees, they both get the same bad and inhumane treatment. We can only do so much, and it's a human tragedy.”

Turkish President Vetoes Property Rights for Christians

Courtesy of Reuters
30 November 2006

President of Turkey, Ahmet Necdet Sezer

(ZNDA: Ankara)  President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has vetoed a law that would have improved the property rights of non-Muslim religious minorities, the president's office said on Wednesday.

Sezer sent the law back to Parliament for the review of nine articles, the president's office said. The ruling came on the day the European Commission recommended suspending some parts of Turkey's accession talks because of its failure to open its ports to EU member Cyprus.

The so-called foundations law, which fell short of European Union expectations, affects Greek Orthodox, Assyrian (Syriac) and Armenian communities and was approved after months of fierce debate in officially secular but predominantly Muslim Turkey. Nationalists were concerned the law would give non-Muslim minorities -- seen by some as foreign, such as in the case of the Greek Orthodox Church -- more influence in Turkey.

Sezer, who is sometimes wary of EU-inspired reforms, which he fears could weaken the state or its secular structure, often vetoes legislation. However, these vetoes can be overturned by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) dominated Parliament.

Foundations Law

Parliament approved the law on foundations allowing properties confiscated by the state to be returned to Christian and Jewish minority foundations earlier this month, shortly after the European Union urged Ankara to improve rights of religious minorities.

The law would allow foundations to reacquire confiscated properties, but it was not clear if they would be allowed to reclaim property that has since been sold to third parties. It also allows foundations to reclaim property registered under the names of saints. A committee will be established to decide which properties should be returned.

Turkish Converts to Christianity Stand Trial for Insulting Turkishness

Courtesy of the Associated Press
24 November 2006

(ZNDA: Istanbul)  Two Turkish men who converted to Christianity went on trial Thursday for allegedly insulting "Turkishness," and of inciting religious hatred against Islam, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The trial opened just days before a visit to Turkey by Roman Catholic Pope Benedict, during which the pontiff was expected to discuss improved religious rights for the country's tiny Christian minority who complain of discrimination.

Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, are accused of making the insults and of inciting hate while allegedly trying to convert other Turks to Christianity.

The men were charged under Turkey's notorious Article 301, which has been used to bring charges against dozens of intellectuals - including Nobel prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk.

The law has widely been condemned for severely limiting free expression and European officials have demanded that Turkey change the law as part of its bid to join the European Union.

Prosecutors accused the two of allegedly telling possible converts that Islam was "a primitive and fabricated" religion and that Turks would remain "barbarians" as long they remained Muslims, Anatolia reported.

The prosecutors also accused them of speaking out against the country's compulsory military service, and compiling databases on possible converts.

Tastan and Topal, who could face up to nine years in prison, denied the accusations in court.

"I am a Turk, I am a Turkish citizen. I don't accept the accusations of insulting 'Turkishness,' " Anatolia quoted Tastan as telling the court. "I am a Christian, that's true. I explain the Bible ... to people who want to learn. I am innocent."

"I am a Turk, I am a Turkish citizen, it is impossible for me to insult 'Turkishness,"' echoed Topal, according to Anatolia.

Sweden to Investigate Assyrian Mass Graves in Turkey

Courtesy of the Assyrian International News Agency
28 November 2006
By Afram Barryakoub reporting from Sweden

(ZNDA:  Stockholm)   The finding of a mass grave in southeastern Turkey, believed to date from the 1915 genocide of Assyrians and Armenians, and the Turkish government's silence in this matter has prompted a debate in the Swedish parliament.

On October 17 villagers from Xirabebaba (Kuru) in southeastern Turkey came across a mass grave when digging a grave for one of their deceased. The villagers took pictures of the skulls and bones in the mass grave before Turkish military came and blocked the site. The villagers were certain that they had found remains of victims of the 1915 genocide. The military personnel forbade the villagers to tell anyone about the site and then closed it.  Some of the villagers chose not to follow the orders of the military and told the story to a local newspaper who followed up on the story. As soon as the military learned that news of this finding has been leaked to the press, it pressed the villagers to give the names of whisteblowers.  Journalists have since been denied access by the military.

Turkey continues to deny that its Christian population of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians were subjected to genocides. But now one of Turkey's most popular weekly magazines, Nokta, has highlighted the mass grave finding with a cover story in the latest issue with the main heading "Again the Three Monkeys- a mass grave found a month ago in Nusaybin, the Judicial, Executive and Legislature as well as the media remain silent." The writer, Talin Suciyan, accuses the Turkish state of turning a deaf ear to the mass grave finding. "None of the three 'powers' of our democracy, have made a move to deal with the issue. And when the fourth power - the media - swept the bones under the carpet (the Turkish) public remained completely unaware of the issue." she writes.

In fact, the only Turkish group that has reacted to the finding is the Turkish Human Rights Association which sent an open letter to the Ministry of Interior calling for an investigation into the matter. The mass grave finding has yet to enter Turkish politics but in Sweden the matter has stirred up a debate in the highest levels, much due to the efforts of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Association (ACSA). The news about the mass finding was distributed by Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT), Sweden's top news agency and was thereafter published in several Swedish media, including the two leading morning papers Dagens Nyheter (DN) and Svenska Dagbladet (Svd). As a result the mass grave issue has now entered Swedish politics as MP Hans Linde from the left party recently submitted an interpellation to the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, asking for an independent commission of scientists and historians to examine the findings. The foreign minister must now ask the foreign ministry to launch an investigation into the matter before he can respond to MP Hans Linde. The response of the foreign minister on this issue is due to be presented on 12 December before the Parliament.

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David Adamov Visits Iraq as a Member of Georgian Delegation

Assyrian International Congress of Georgia
Press Release
Tbilisi, Georgia
3 December 2006

Vice President of the Assyrian International Congress of Georgia, Mr. David Adamov visited North Iraq, Erbil, as a member of the Georgian delegation from 28th – 30th November 2006. The delegation consisted of members of Georgian authorities, business and non governmental organizations.

During his visit Mr. Adamov had official meetings with Mr. Nimrud Beito, Minister of Tourism and Mr. George Mansour, Minister of Civil Society Affairs in the Regional Government of Kurdistan. He also met the Minister of Culture and Minister of Internal Affairs. During the meetings the socio-economic, cultural and political situation of Assyrians in the region was discussed.

Mr. Adamov had an opportunity to meet the Assyrian community in Ankawa. He visited the Chaldean Culture Society and Ankawa Youth Center. He also visited churches and met the Chaldean Bishop of Ankawa.

Mr. Adamov during his meeting with Mr. Nimrud Beito, Minister of Tourism in the Kurdish Regional Govt.

Mr. David Adamov and Mr. George Mansour, Minister of Civil Society Affairs in the KRG.

Assyrian Cuneiform Inscription Discovered in Iran

Courtesy of Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency
29 November 2006

Excavations in Rabat Tepe in northwest of Iran's West Azerbaijan Province.

(ZNDA: Tehran)  The first brick inscription written in cuneiform to be discovered at Rabat Tepe 2 was recently unearthed during the second phase of excavations at the ancient site, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday.

A team of archaeologists working at the ancient mound said that the inscription may be in the Assyrian language, adding that the discovery is one of the most important keys for the study of the Mannai and Assyrian city-states in the region, which is located near the town of Sardasht in Iran's West Azarbaijan Province.

“This is the first time excavations in northwestern Iran have resulted in the discovery of a brick inscription in cuneiform. It has been written with white glaze on the shorter end of the brick,” team director Reza Heidari said.

“The discovery of script at an ancient site is one of the major indicators for study and dating of the region. Thus, the discovery of the inscription will be very helpful for gaining greater understanding of the Mannai and Urartian city-states in the region and the relations of Assyria with the city-states,” he added.

The team began the second phase of excavations of Rabat Tepe in late October with the aim of proving the site was the capital of the Musasir state about 3000 years ago.

Musasir was a semi-independent buffer state bordering Mannai between Assyria and Urartu. It was a vassal state of Assyria yet Urartu had some claim over it.

According to one of the inscriptions previously discovered in the region, Assyrian king Sargon II plundered the palace and storerooms that belonged to Urzana, the king of Musasir, and then seized the even richer contents of the temple of Haldi, the god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, in the eighth century BC.  After occupying the land, Sargon took 6110 people captive, and collected 1250 heads of ship, 45 tons of gold, 400 pieces of jewelry, 44 swords and daggers as his booty. All these are evidence of the existence of a great government in the area 3000 years ago.

The archaeologists have also started new efforts to find evidence of Sargon II’s battle in the region.

Unique cobblestones as well as bricks bearing bas-reliefs of naked winged goddesses have been discovered during the previous excavations of Rabat Tepe.

Theology Courses for Lay People in Mosul Resume despite Violence

Courtesy of the Asia News - Italy
2 December 2006

(ZNDA: Mosul)  Insecurity prevailing in Iraq in recent months has not prevented, as feared, this year’s resumption of theology courses for lay people in Mosul. Lessons have already been under way for a month. The “good news”, as a Chaldean priest in Rome described it, was reported on the site ankawa.com.

On 28 October, the 2006-2007 academic year was inaugurated at the monastery of Mar Gewargiz of Mosul, with three-year courses for all interested students. There are three classes and in all, 75 men and women have enrolled. Theology lessons have been held regularly every year in Mosul since 1983. One lecturer said: “Usually, we have up to 200 students. However this year the difficult situation we are passing through has led to a drop in registrations.”

Lecturers of all kinds, from bishops to priests and male and female members of religious orders, teach subjects like sacred scripture, patristics, moral, dogmatic and pastoral theology, church history, canon law and philosophy.

This year, for the first time, even smaller villages will have their own theology course. Those who find it difficult to go to Mosul will be able to go to Karamles, where first year classes are being provided for Catholic and Orthodox students coming from Qaraqosh and Bartella.

Knee Deep and Selective Memories

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist.  And like that... he is gone.”      - Quote by Verbal (Keyser Soze ) in “The Usual Suspects”

Reading an interview last week with Mr. Nimrod Baito of the APP, it was refreshing to hear such openness and candor regarding their political platform and desires for Assyrians in Iraq.  It is a habit I wish other Assyrian political parties - mainly the ADM - would form.

I appreciate the candor so much, in fact, I feel I should return the openness: upon finishing the interview, I felt about knee-deep in rubbish.  It was hard to walk around afterwards, actually.  

The truth is, it is difficult to predict the future: Will Iraq stay together? Will it break apart? What will the fate of the Assyrians be either way? Whatever the outcome, political shrewdness is necessary, preparing for many scenarios is necessary, and the art of negotiation is absolutely mandatory.

There is nothing wrong with advocating for the rights of the people in the Nineveh Plains, or in using the combined "Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac" name - (something I might add, these Assyrians were loathe to do before they picked up the ADM's cue and realized using "Assyrian" only would get them nowhere fast) - and there is nothing wrong with toeing the "Kurdish policy" line, if your party believes this is certainly the best thing for Assyrians.  

A few weeks ago I described this Kurdish policy, and its strengths and weaknesses, but I would like to add a new weakness:  The fact that the “Kurdish policy” is fully manufactured and promoted by Kurds. In other words, there is nothing forcing Assyrians to annex to Kurdistan legally or constitutionally, except Kurds.  The policy is presented as a "policy option" because Kurds want it to be....and Assyrians (in Diaspora, that is) are not asking, "excuse me, why do Kurds want the Nineveh Plains?"  Why are they even involved in the conversation? What does the Nineveh Plains have to do with ‘ Kurdistan’?” The KRG seems to be in blatant competition for even more Assyrian land than they already have.  There is nothing to guarantee Assyrians will have autonomy after joining “ Kurdistan” – as a matter of fact, if it is possible, why take the two steps? Why not just do it from the onset through the central government?

So what is being done to correct this dilemma Kurds find themselves in?  The spin campaign.  Mainly to make systematic abuse by the KRG look like nothing but silly "propaganda" by "those political parties" who are not on the KRG payroll.

Men like Sarkis Aghajan, Nimrud Baito, the APP, and Bet Nahrain are working for the policy of helping Kurds annex Nineveh Plains into “ Kurdistan”.  This is something completely unnecessary on the road to autonomy for Assyrians, but very necessary for the political survival of these groups since they have no support - financially, legally, parliamentary or otherwise - from anywhere but the KDP and “ Kurdistan”.

Even if reports of land seizures are exaggerated, even if the Kurds are not actually trying to destroy the Assyrian identity, even if they are a very peaceful people - does this mean we have no choice out of gratitude but to give them even more of our land?  Do we owe them every square inch of Assyria for "being better to Assyrians than the Arabs"?  I am not an expert on manners, but I think perhaps this is overkill.  Perhaps a "thank you" card is enough.

Regarding the idea that “Kurds are good to Assyrians” per Nimrud Baito, well, either Mr. Baito and company believe we have short term memories, or that we are idiots.  Allow me to recap with the following non-exhaustive list:

During the 1990s through 2003, Kurds use the "safe haven" in the North of Iraq to begin occupying Assyrian villages.  Kurdish terrorists flooded Kirkuk and Mosul, to the point where even American forces ask Kurds to leave Assyrian villages. 

2001, KDP admits torturing to death Mr. Youkhana Khaie while in KDP custody. Unapologetically.

In 2002, we read that "While duplicitously presenting a pro-western, secular, and democratic image externally in order to attract international sympathy-internally, Mr. Barzani continues to use fundamentalist terror tactics to intimidate Assyrians in a bid to consolidate illegally expropriated Assyrian lands."  Sound familiar?  This is from a story outlining how Kurdish Islamic Fundamentalism is on the rise in Northern Iraq through the top Islamic Party, run by Sheikh Mohammed Barzani – Massoud Barzani's father-in-law.  The KDP uses Islamic Fundamentalism when necessary to wield power.  Much like Saddam Hussein used to do.

Again in 2002, we learned about institutional and deliberate religious discrimination by KDP officials, not allowing Assyrians to build a new church as it would be too "close to mosques" and "Shariya law does not justify the creation of a church in an Islamic country".  But they have changed, right?  They are building many churches for Assyrians now, in the Nineveh Plains.  I wonder why the sudden religious tolerance?  Could it be they want something from the Assyrians of the Nineveh Plains? 

In October of 2002, the KRG passed a new law that allowed Kurdish squatters in over 200 Assyrian village to "buy the land" from the Kurdish Government.  The land was seized by Kurds with no compensation.

In 2005, leading up to the Iraqi elections, we heard:  "Recently, Kurdish attackers have grown emboldened. In the past, attackers had strained to remain anonymous. The series of beheadings, mutilations, burnings, and shootings of innocent civilians in Mosul and the surrounding Nineveh Plain were usually carried out in isolated areas or under cover of darkness in order to conceal the identity of the perpetrators. In the most recent attacks, the assailants have been clearly identified as KDP members from nearby surrounding areas. As one Assyrian villager noted ‘They seemed to want us to know they were with the KDP in order to cause greater fear.’ Another noted that the ‘KDP now seemed to be advertising their involvement in the attacks.’” 

The KDP seems to have such respect for the Assyrians that they did everything they could to scare the hell out of them in order for their voices NOT to be heard during the Iraqi elections – knowing full well with an ADM representative in Baghdad, the journey for an autonomous Nineveh Plains would begin.  But I am sure they have changed, and will allow Assyrians free and fair elections once they have the Nineveh Plains, right?

And in January 2005, who can forget election time?  To quote: "…the KDP effectively blocked the delivery of ballot boxes to six major Assyrian towns and villages in the Plains around Mosul including Baghdeda, Bartilla, Karemlesh, Shekhan, Ain Sifne and Bahzan. Thousands of would be voters were left stranded outside polling places awaiting an opportunity to cast their ballots. Inquiries to voting authorities brought frequent promises that the ballot boxes were en route only to result in a series of disappointments throughout the day. Infuriated Assyrians filled the streets of Baghdeda- the largest Assyrian town in the Nineveh Plains -and demonstrated against the KDP's overt disenfranchisement of Assyrians."

But this will change once they have the Nineveh Plains, right?  They have changed, in the words of Mr. Baito, because they want to prove to the world that they are democratic and secular and once we give them what they are courting Assyrians for, the Nineveh Plains, they will suddenly allow them representatives and free and secure voting.  Right? 

In the words of an Assyrian activist living in Iraq said shortly after the elections in 2005, when Barzani installed his "Christian Representatives" to control Assyrian political destiny:  "Mr. Barzani can add as many Christians to his list as he likes. These so called leaders are Barzani's representatives, not ours. They don't have the backing of the community and are widely known to be there simply to subvert our genuine and legitimate aspirations as a people."

 In August of 2005, hundreds of Iraqi Assyrians protested the Iraqi Constitution for separating them into "Assyrian" and "Chaldean", when the Transitional Administrative Law had referred to them as one group:  ChaldoAssyrian.  The result was the murder of Assyrian men two days later, one while he was pumping gas.

In May of 2006, we learned that the KRG hired contractors to detonate parts of the 2600 year old Khinnis Site (about 30 miles Northeast of Nineveh), a site built by King Sennachrib, to create shade for Kurdish picnickers. This brought to mind the destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2002.

In June of 2006, the ADM successfully gained permission from the Iraqi government for a mostly Assyrian police force in the Nineveh Plains – where the current security forces are KDP (which, by the way, they will remain should the Nineveh Plains go to " Kurdistan").  The Nineveh Provincial Council, dominated by Kurds, blocked the effort, to maintain Kurdish control of the Nineveh Plains.

I will let this gem speak for itself, July, 2006:  "Increasingly, especially over the past week, Kurdish forces as well as Iraqi police have begun a policy of harassment and intimidation of local civilians. Referring to the Arab and KDP police, one local Assyrian noted "they share one thing in common: they don't live here. They don't belong here." Another bitterly complained that "they don't come to provide security; they come to terrorize Christians and extract profits from the area for their personal gains."

And of course, Summer of 2006, in the Barwari village of Mize – already in the heart of Kurdish controlled Iraq – Assyrians went into their old village to work with contractors to rebuild their homes.  The KDP showed up and threatened to kill any worker who put together even a brick.  They told the Assyrians they could "buy their own village back" for 3 billion dinars.  Please keep in mind – this is about Assyrians already living in Kurdish Iraq. A little insight into the future.

But I suppose all of the above could be ADM propaganda in order to wield their oh-so-tight power and control over the Assyrian people.

Occam’s Razor is an apt theory here: The simplest expla