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Year of Execution We begin our thirteenth year of journalism doing what we do best - chronicling the doings of the good, the bad, and everything in between; and in the process irritating those who rather remain unaccountable for their ugly deeds. Most of the rest of you are unfortunately silent spectators who scroll down the pages of each issue with no apparent interest in taking an active stand. The results are the same: thousands of Christian refugees from Iraq in appalling conditions wandering the streets of Amman and Damascus; profit-motivated arms dealers speaking on your behalf before the congressional representatives of the United States; religious schisms in a magnificent 2000-year Church over the ownership of building properties; hundreds of thousands of dollars squandered on lawyers laughing all the way to the banks in San Jose; and a growing apathy among ALL local civic organizations. How is this for a "State of the Assyrian Nation" address to begin our new volume? Love Zinda! Hate Zinda! But during the most crucial days of our ASSYRIAN existence do not remain indifferent or disinterested. The great torch of Shamash has been passed onto us and it is our privileged responsibility to pass this symbol of our ASSYRIAN identity to the next generation. Every one of us is a small drop in the ocean of ASSYRIANISM - be it a political leader in Iraq, a patriarch in Chicago, or a journalist in Washington. Many have come before us - greater in stature and far notable in deeds. It is because of their bravery, honesty, and determination that we speak of ourselves as Assyrians in Sweden, Australia, Lebanon, Russia, and even Alaska. Our silence will break the weakened link that is barely keeping us chained together. No one can deny the indispensable influence of Zinda Magazine in every aspect of our Assyrian lives. From policy decisions to securing a surge in the sale of an artist's paintings or CDs, the pages of this publication have become a political and marketing tool unlike any other. We at Zinda understand and feel the outcome of our actions. Specifically, we believe that our most worthy responsibility is to be the conduit of diverse opinions - as long as they are the opinions by the Assyrians and for the Assyrians. Respect for opinions of others is the basic foundation of any democratic society, united in a common goal. The undeniable fact of the matter is that in a time of great need for collective action and undivided attention to a singular political leadership, Assyrians are more disunited than ever. There may be a myriad of opinions - however varied - as long as they are processed and utilized for a common goal. We at Zinda recognize that there is no absolute truth to any opinion; therefore, by bringing you many versions of an opinion on a complex issue, we hope we can all come closer to an agreed condition or compromise. Your opinion matters and it must be heard. Zinda Magazine is your forum; express yourself and listen to others. Then, ignore the negative attitude of those who will neither act nor agree. Come together with your neighbors, your church group, your Assyrian friends, and form small "Action Groups". Educate yourself on the politics, opinions, and attitudes of a people that are at the forefront of Iraqi politics. Ask why the Kurdish government is so diligently working to quiet any autonomy talks for the Assyrian people when the U.S. State Department has already begun meeting with the Assyrian leaders on the transition to an autonomous region in north Iraq. Is it because of the historic love between the Assyrian Christians and the Kurdish warlords or the possible forfeiture of a large percentage of the oil revenue from Kirkuk that may not end up in Arbil, rather in Nineveh. Ask yourself why the patriarchs of this nation months before the 90th anniversary of the assassination of an Assyrian patriarch in the hands of a Kurdish chief quickly rushed to decorate a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - all within a few weeks - with medals never before placed around the neck of another Assyrian administrator. Ask yourself why reformers are castigated and Baathists are still elevated in our churches and civic organizations. Then ask yourself why there are no young minds in our church yards studying our theology on Sundays and listening to our poets and artists at our clubs on Fridays. Ask yourself why you can't read Assyrian, why you do not know where you came from and how you got here from the streets of Babylon and Edessa. I am often asked the same question: if there is no monetary gain in publishing Zinda, then how do you and your staff from America, Australia, Holland, Sweden, Russia, Iraq, and a dozen other countries continue to do this every week? I give them the same answer every time: We know where we come from and where to we are moving. Having gained this knowledge is the greatest inspiration behind all that we tirelessly do at Zinda Magazine. Zinda has been our "Action Group" for the last 13 years and we hope our finite wisdom, transparent in every issue, will inspire many of our readers to form other similar movements. I began this editorial with a grim view of our condition today. Permit me to pass the burden of explaining the reasons for this dark predicament to someone greater than myself. No words can properly describe the problems of today's Assyrians, on this first day of the Thirteenth Volume of Zinda Magazine, as those of my mentor, William Daniel. He eloquently foretold our perplexing predicament in his book "Assyrians of Today, Their Problem, and A Solution" back in 1969. The following article is as relevant to the challenges we face today as they were some 40 years ago. But first, on behalf of all of us at Zinda Magazine, allow me to thank you all - our avid readers, critics, advertisers, lawsuit filers (against Zinda that is) , senders of hate-mail, senders of flowers, callers praising us, callers shouting obscene words in languages none of us comprehend in Washington, visitors who encourage us with their support and gifts, visitors who never have the courage to meet with us and claim they never found our office in Washington, bishops who call our families threatening us should we publish our views against their policies, bishops who pray for our families as they go through similar trepidations, our wives, husbands and children who continue to love us despite the thank-less life we have afforded them, and the few cronies who enjoy posting opinions and articles on various websites pretending to be the editors and writers of this publication. We thank you all for making Zinda Magazine the indisputable voice of the Assyrian nation. Second, I personally like to thank our Zinda staff in every corner who selflessly spend so many hours writing, editing, collecting information, searching through the Internet, library books and magazines, interviewing the good and the bad, and putting all this into a familiar format that most of you have come to know as Zinda Magazine. Thank you for your dedication and for hanging in there, no matter how tough the going got this past year. Finally, I want to thank one person who has had to bear so much in the last few months - especially these last few weeks - when she and her family were the object of a few cowards' malign intentions. After a call from a bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East to her family's home, my wife could have tried to convince me to stop or at least slow down a little, and publish less controversial editorials. Instead, my beautiful Nina after visiting her family, returned to Washington to convince me that it’s time to put greater effort in publishing Zinda in other languages, so more people will know the facts and rely less on the clowns behind rented microphones, leased cameras, and inside Kurdish-paid studios. What more can a man ask of his life-long partner! To those who thought Zinda has slowed down and is slowly degrading: Zinda is pleased to announce the release of its first major design make-over in several years on the first day of the new Assyrian year. We promise that you will love the new design and our new look and feel. Contact us if you are a web developer and wish to join our current team of advisors. The party doesn’t stop here! On May 1, Zinda will once again be published in the Russian language - as resolved in a recent meeting of the heads of the Assyrian organizations in the city of Krasnodar, Russian Federation. The debut of the first issue will be inaugurated in the city of Urmia, Russia. Russia and the surrounding Republics are home to the second largest Assyrian-speaking community outside of the Middle East. And then on June 22, Zinda Crew will astonish the Assyrian readers and the Syriac-speaking world with the release of the first issue of Zinda Magazine in both English and Assyrian (Syriac). For the first time in the history of the Internet, full Zinda articles can be read in Assyrian (Syriac) - a major step in reviving the importance of the language spoken by Jesus Christ and the modern Assyrians. Who says the Assyrian language is dead? A new ZINDA; published in English, Russian, Assyrian, and later in Arabic. We are determined to make 2007 the Year of Execution, and invite our readers to do the same: Ignore the voices of negation and apathy, and stand up for what is rightfully yours in the Middle East and in the Diaspora. Listen, Speak up, and Act ! And freely express yourself through the pages of Zinda. Thank you for very much for your undying support and for reading Zinda Magazine. Zinda Magazine. Because Assyrians deserve the best. The Weakening Factor William Daniel (1903-1988) Thus far the strongest blow to the [Assyrian] national unity was the religious splits that were born among them and which annihilated whatever unified strength they had left. Now they had nothing, not even a religious unity in favor of which they had abandoned all their earthly glory, military power and the severe discipline, which their forefathers had cultivated to the point of becoming their second nature. The only surviving shadow of orderliness was a thin fiber that was retained from the strong old disciplinary fabric and now was loosely introduced into the texture of ecclesiastic system. In a study of all important nations of the world we cannot fail to observe how much religious owes its growth to the political protection under the sunshine of which it thrives luxuriantly and under the refuge of which it reposes with security. We can imagine the conditions of the Assyrian religious campaigns of which the success depended solely on the virtuous conduct of its members plus the indulgent but unreliable mood of non-Christian powers that dominated them politically. The advent of religious schism afforded abundant cause for internal strife. We might venture to say that the former warlike spirit was reborn and cultivated under a new banner. Now the campaigns were transferred from former military battlefields to the present religious arenas, from former strategic moves against invading armies and revolting nations to quarrels with own brethren because of dogmatic differences in common faith. Yes, the Assyrians had deliberately and imprudently submitted themselves to their last mortal blow. During these times they identified themselves by their religious denominations. Now they chose to be called: -first, the Church of the East; later, Nestorians, then came Jacobites, Maronites, Malakites, etc. The terms Assyria and Babylon were obscenities not to be mentioned, leave alone not to be related to. Those people were heathens for they had made war on God’s chosen people. The differences in dogmatic details of religious doctrine as existed among these different factions, resulted in bitter mutual hatred and violent desire to differentiate themselves from each other so categorically, as to even deny any earlier national relationship. The giant names of Assyria and Babylon sank into depths of oblivion and in their place schismatic appellations shot up like thorny bushes edging each other for self-prominence. Subsequent centuries found these factions drifted so far apart that a national relationship was, not only denied, but actually unknown; neither was any racial affinity recognized among the followers of the different churches. Probably, it would be more correct to say that they were so completely overwhelmed by religious domination that there was no room left for such a profane knowledge as ethnology. Much, much later their descendants would have a tough riddle to unravel. The more the religious fire was fanned, the less consideration was given to material things, which resulted in serious shortages of necessities of life. The descendants of the two of the richest and mightiest empires often fed on misery and drank tears of bitterness. What with rough handling, submission to plunder and pillage, often they were reduced to the lowest dregs of poverty. So it is not surprising to learn what an easy prey they became to the hunters of Western World who filtered into the Middle and Near Eastern lands with their Christian missionary banners unfurled... We paid the price of our ignorance and paid it dearly too, for we lost everything we had: -lives, homes, gardens, cattle and worst of all we lost footing with the powers in whose lands we had been living for centuries. Casualties during [the First World War] were estimated to be about 45% of the then existing population. ...The experience opened our eyes; we learned to differentiate between religious fervor and national zeal. Until then we had identified ourselves by our religious denominations plus a misnomer – SOORAYI – for which our thanks are tendered primarily to Greek historians and late to the foreign missionaries. But now a National identity began to shine like the Morning Star. Now the exhortations of personalities like Freidoun Atooraya, Benjamin Arsanis, Shlemon of Salamas and in the U.S. the fiery speeches of Yoel Warda and the revelatory pen of Yosep Malick began to make sense. Now the seed of Nationalism, whether for good or for bad, had been sown; but it still had to fight for existence among the deep rooted poisonous weeds of religious fanaticism and ignorant strong-headedness...Later the names of Professors Ashur Youssef, Naoum Faik, Dr. A.K. Youssef and last but not least Dr. David B. Perley...were added to the list of torch bearers... But the power and control of the churches over the people stayed as firm as ever. The preacher's authority was not, in the least bit, diminished. Whereas in all the Christian world, preachers and devotees have begun to interpret the scriptures in a more practical manner, a way more compatible with the time; the majority of Assyrians accept the holy book literally instead of symbolically. The preacher's command today, as it was centuries ago, stands supreme. Consequently, in spite of the awakening that caused a mild social upheaval, the power of Church is as firm as ever. One small breath of its representative is enough to deviate the successful sailing of any new social project. To the already existing chaos of religious split one other social one other social confusion had been added – a state of absence of purpose. One more dissolving element had sprung up, for besides churches against one another, now we had added one organization against another, one club or group fighting the other. But all these developments did not, in the least, interfere with the way of the preacher. The more the social chaos the stronger his position became... ...The average Assyrian of today knows everything; he
cannot be taught, for he knows it already. If he sees
that he doesn't, then he loses interest; which
attitude he might either betray by restlessness or he A nation that has no home, no recognized head and
no reliable social system will not be in a position |
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What Does an Administrative Area Mean? Understanding the ‘Nineveh Plain Resolution’ Michael Youash
Introduction In 1565, one of the oldest Catholic Military Orders that fought for and held Jerusalem, was driven out of the Holy Land and the Middle East. These Christian warriors retreated to the island of Malta. Jean Parisot de la Valette, their commander, had 541 knights, 5,000 Maltese militia and 500 slaves. The Ottoman Caliph sent close to 40,000 trained soldiers, which included 6,300 Janissaries (the Ottomans’ finest troops). In the build-up to this battle, many Kings and other leaders in Europe kept sending word of support and promises. None of these promises were kept. The knights received no support. Instead, they fought with what they had left. La Valette’s words quoted above came when each man realized they had no one else in the world but one another and their common bond. Their bond was the willingness to live and die for the Holy Land. It was their faith. Today, Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs, face a very similar threat and very similar life-threatening conditions. Almost 2,500 years after the fall of the Assyrian Empire, it appears that our people might finally be driven out of one of our last strongholds. We are succumbing to all forms of targeting, from all sides in Iraq. The knights in Malta were bound to one another through faith alone, however. Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs are bound not only by their faith, but also a blood bond and a history on their lands in Assyria that reaches back at least 6,757 years. They are one people, one nation, and one of them cannot survive without the others at their side. The knights would call one another ‘Brother’, figuratively. We Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs can and do call one another ‘Brother’, literally. That reality can and must make the difference. This article will seek to show readers the situation of a key element of our struggle to survive. That element is the formation of some type of federal unit in Iraq, where we can have some basic assurances of administering our own essential affairs. Where we can safely practice our Christian faith and at the same time help make Iraq a successful democracy. The formation of a federal unit for Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs (herein referred to as Assyrians) and other minorities (Shabaks, Yezidis, Turkmens) is our ‘Malta’. It is our last stand. Without this, there will only be growing refugee flight and an end of the physical connection to the land of our birth as a people. Current Events Before the Constitution of Iraq was released and then approved in a referendum in October of 2005, the Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project (ISDP) put forth a proposal where Assyrians and other minorities should have a province formed in northern Iraq. That proposal developed at a time when certain opportunities were still technically available. Since that time, Assyrians, Turkmens, Shabaks, Yezidis and other minorities are left with a clause in the Constitution that gives them “administrative rights.” This clause carries over from the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), developed when the US was still formally governing Iraq. Presently this right is put forth in the now famous Art. 125, and says, “This constitution shall guarantee the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights of the various nationalities, such as Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and all other constituents, and this shall be regulated by the law.” In terms of an Iraqi federal system, and the territorial aspects of federalism, Art. 125 is understood to equate to the formation of some federal unit that is based on land/territory (jurisdiction) within Iraq. Therefore, for the purposes of this article, which focuses on the territorial elements of this constitutional right, we will hereafter refer to ‘administrative area(s)’ as part of what “administrative rights” allow. The Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project, a policy research body, is working to assist Assyrian political and civil society bodies in Iraq and abroad in working towards this goal of establishing an administrative area through education and analysis. It also works with United States decision-makers and policy institutions advancing this solution to the Christian Assyrian crisis, among others, since its inception. Most recently, this meant being asked to provide language on a congressional resolution supporting in principle the forming of an administrative area for Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs. This resolution is provided at the end of this article. It is a concrete step forward. It is a necessary measure at this stage. The resolution affirms in its title that the Nineveh Plain would be a core part of any future administrative area. For this reason, this resolution is popularly known as the “Nineveh Plain Resolution”. What the Constitution Does Not Say This issue is a priority for many in our community. Unfortunately the debate is confusing because the topic is complex, but also because of the wide range of statements by well-meaning politicians and activists. The KDP’s Finance Minister, an Assyrian, is issuing statements on an Assyrian “autonomous region.”[1] The Assyrian Universal Alliance advocates forming an Assyrian Administrative Region connected to the central government. Others are demanding an Assyrian province. The Assyrian Patriotic Party, ChaldoAshur Organization of the Kurdistani Communist Party, Chaldean Democratic Forum, Chaldean Cultural Organization, and the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party support Nineveh Plain absorption into the KRG and are requesting autonomy in Kurdistan, advocating the exact, ‘administrative rights’, language of Art. 125 for inclusion in the KRG Constitution.[2] The Assyrian Democratic Movement has used ‘administrative unit’ but without further explanation. [3] These are all admirable efforts as they all seek to assist our people in a time of crisis and to help Iraq by ensuring its diversity is not lost. Yet, when one hears demands and appeals for an ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’ or an ‘Assyrian Province’, a call for an ‘Administrative Area’ naturally seems almost like nothing – why bother even asking for it? It seems like an administrative area is something less. Before discussing whether it is something less, we must first look at options for an ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’, and ‘Assyrian Province’. For those wanting to establish an ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’ there is a huge job before you in Iraq. The Constitution is clear on this matter. To establish a region, like the Kurdistan Region, you must get 30 percent of each Governorate Council or 10 percent of registered voters in the governorates you want, to request a referendum to create a region. Then you must win a majority of over 50 percent approving the creation of the region in the referendum. Keep in mind, there is no allowance to take only part of one governorate and part of another to create a region. It is the whole governorate or nothing. Therefore, if it is the governorates of Ninawa and Dohuk that are to become this ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’, you must convince the huge majority of Kurds in Dohuk and the even greater majority of hostile Sunni Arabs in Ninawa, that their best interests rest in creating the ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’. The constitution does not say that Assyrians do not have to follow this path to creating an ‘Assyrian Region’. We are not exempt from this standard. The point here is that creating an ‘Autonomous Assyrian Region’ is constitutional, but completely impossible for us politically at this stage. Added to these challenges is that the Constitution recognizes the Kurdistan Region, making its present territory untouchable. Therefore, lands in Dohuk that are Assyrian cannot be connected to lands in Ninawa Governorate, such as the Nineveh Plains. There are those who recognize that we cannot establish an ‘Assyrian Region’ today, and so they are demanding the formation of an ‘Assyrian Province’. If an ‘Assyrian Region’ is impossible, it is at least constitutional/legal. An ‘Assyrian Province’, however, is simply unconstitutional/illegal. There is no language or even a suggestion in the Constitution that a governorate can be split-up to create a new one, and especially to take lands in one governorate (e.g. Ninawa) and another (e.g. Dohuk), to create a new governorate. Those who are promoting this agenda need to be in Iraq and working very hard on the Constitution Amendment Committee. They must either get a seat on the committee, and/or influence the majority of the committee (containing mainly Shi’as and Sunni Kurds) to amend the constitution to allow for the breaking-up of governorates to create new ones and then work to make sure the parliament will adopt the change. This is reality: there is a constitutional way to form an Assyrian Region that is impossible, and no constitutional way to establish an Assyrian Province. What the Constitution Does Say We now return to what the Constitution does say. Art. 125 says, “This constitution shall guarantee the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights of the various nationalities, such as Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and all other constituents, and this shall be regulated by the law.” As stated earlier, this is also being equated to allow for territorial rights, which requires an ‘Administrative Area’. The most important point is that at this stage, no one in Iraq knows exactly what ‘administrative rights’ means, and by extension do not know what is an ‘administrative area’. Does it mean something less than a region or province? It is listed as the only clause under Section 5, Chapter 4, “Local Administrations.” But if that is the case, there is also district, sub-district, county, town, and village. If this is what administrative rights and unit means, these are the terms that would be used and there would be no special identification of Assyrians and other “nationalities.”
So What Is An Administrative Area? An ‘administrative area’ is a unique arrangement. It is something exceptional. Most important, it is an opportunity we cannot allow to pass us by. It is not a region or a province, but it is also not a district or a county. It is a chance to develop something that is legal; that we can define, and that we can build on for the future. It is our most practical and realistic step forward and is a tool to help keep ethnic and religious pluralism alive in Iraq – a key ingredient for democracy-building.
Territorially, the ‘Administrative Area’ has at its core, the Nineveh Plain (Deshta d' Nineveh – Map 1). This area includes the lands north, east and south-east of Mosul. It is territorially compact, distinct, with its own geography and history (Map 2). These lands presently exist within the Governorate of Ninawa. This ‘administrative area’ also includes lands in western Dohuk, known as the Lands/Plains of the Cross (Sliwana). Together, this administrative area might constitute what is shown in Map 3.
Due to it being a unique constitutional right, it should be allowed to have lands that sit in the Governorate of Ninawa, and lands in Dohuk of the KRG. Territorially, there would also be an additional allowance for sizable pockets of Assyrians and other minorities in other parts of Iraq to fall under the authority of the Administrative Area. Once again, the unique, protective nature of this federal arrangement, particularly for the indigenous Assyrian Christians should allow for this arrangement. These areas can be determined in future negotiations when forming this Administrative Area. The Administrative Area will have an elected Governing Authority and also an elected legislature. There would also be district and sub-district elected officials to manage purely local affairs, along with town and village mayors and councils. This would be just as is done for any federal unit. The Administrative Area would also be directly linked to the federal government. In this way, the Governing Authority of the Administrative Area would be able to vote on all federalism decisions coming from National, Regional and Governorate negotiations. Most important are the powers of the Administrative Area. It would be responsible for health (pharmacies, primary health care centers, district-level hospitals,); primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as special cultural, technical and vocational education programs; various judicial matters; economic development planning (rural and urban); social welfare; agriculture; sanitation; local policing; along with special powers regarding archeology and tourism, among others. It would have the power to tax based on its functions and therefore would also have treasury and revenue agencies. Funding for these and other services delivered in the Administrative Area will be received as direct transfers to the Governing Authority. The amount of funds for the identified services will be based on the same system of dividing funds to regions and governorates in Iraq. The Governing Authority and the elected Council will actually determine the use of funds for the services it is responsible for delivering. These are the basic pillars necessary for establishing the Administrative Area. A comment is necessary on the issue of ‘autonomy’. Many people misuse this term. The KRG has a higher degree of autonomy, a governorate has less. Just as there are many shades of the color gray. When someone says, “she was wearing a gray dress”, and, “it looks gray outside”, we know that it is not the same color gray– as if there is only one shade of gray. In this case, the Administrative Area will have autonomy based on the powers listed above. Readers must realize that when someone says, “I am demanding autonomy for Assyrians”, they must ask: “What form of autonomy? Be specific.” Remember, the Constitution does not even refer to ‘autonomy’, or the KRG, as “autonomous.” Many will say that the Constitution of Iraq does not matter. They will say that rule of law does not exist in Iraq and what matters is power (mainly money and guns). This is true. One of the realities for minorities such as Assyrian Christians, Turkmens, Shabaks and Yezidis, is they cannot threaten the use of force if they do not get what they want. They are not a threat to anyone. As a result, their only avenue at this time is to try and use the law and political channels. It is one of the levers, if a weak one, available to them. To simply ignore it and say it means nothing, while promising an autonomous region or a province, means you have enough power to become a threat to other power-brokers in Iraq. If so, our people can reasonably expect the following basics to be in place:
The Kurdistan Region Option Many speak of federalism options available through the Kurdistan Regional Government. This is because the Minister of Finance (former Deputy Prime Minister, before the KDP-PUK merger), the Hon. Mr. Sarkis Aghajan is issuing public statements on demanding autonomy for Assyrians, as part of the Kurdistan Region.[4] Other active political organizations of various sizes operating in northern Iraq are now echoing similar goals. People supporting this position argue that Assyrians need friends in a violent Iraq; the Shi’a Arabs and Sunni Arabs provide no hope, and so we must turn to the Sunni Kurds. Some groups are managing to secure modest amounts of funding from the KRG, which is welcome, but not at levels where sustainable communities are being developed. The question is, although the KRG is most certainly deserving of our gratitude for the little funding it does provide, and the public statements on autonomy are appreciated, is it enough to provide an assurance of a future in the Kurdistan Region? Does it at least guarantee a federal unit where, even if we cannot expect democracy, we can expect a degree of the “autonomy” expected? I will not address here the arguments based around local and regional power (for example, what acceleration of targeting there would be by Sunni Arabs for formally joining the Kurds in ‘breaking-up’ Iraq, or the impact in Syria and Turkey). Instead I will focus on some clear and hard facts to bear in mind regarding this option. This is not a matter of totally rejecting the KRG option. Instead, it is to advise a highly cautious approach, where we secure some basic guarantees. These are listed below. Last week, our people were informed that the Hon. Fawzi Hariri (KDP Minister of Industry in Baghdad), came to Washington, DC. During his official visit, he met with Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. He tried to end any support for developing an ‘administrative area’ on the grounds that Assyrians did not number enough for any type of federal unit and raised questions about their ability to govern such an entity. This act inherently contradicts the statements of the Hon. Sarkis Aghajan. This should cause grave doubt and concern. Such a serious contradiction between two senior ministers of the KRG/KDP must be explained. The KRG must provide the following:
Over-lapping with this issue, but still deserving of treatment, is the matter of the Draft Constitution for the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Given the statements and demands of KDP Minister Aghajan, and even a quote attributed to the KRG’s Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, supporting Assyrian autonomy, the Kurdistan Region Constitution has a major weakness. In its present form, the KRG Constitution does not even have an equivalent to the Iraqi Constitution’s Art. 125 that gives us administrative rights. The KRG, with senior representatives making promises of autonomy, denies the same type of constitutional right coming out of Baghdad, let alone one that allows for autonomy. The KRG must provide the following:
Lastly, the KDP arm of the KRG directly intervened in the Nineveh Plain to prevent Assyrians and other minorities from voting in the January 2005 elections. Journalist Gareth Porter uncovered this story using military intelligence sources. His investigation led to further reports of denying our people the vote during the October referendum. There are similar reports of gross voting irregularities arising from KDP intervention in the December 2005 elections. Greater attention by US authorities in the December elections ensured more people could vote, however. Assyrians must ask themselves a vital question regarding this fact. If the KDP cannot trust us to vote and pick our leaders; if they cannot trust us to decide whether a draft constitution is good for us or not, can we expect them to trust us to run an autonomous region/province within the Kurdistan Region? I will not make this decision for readers, but I ask that when answering it, one be honest with themselves, at least. The KRG must provide the following:
If these three basic guarantees cannot be met, it is difficult to see how Assyrians should leave all other federalism options to jump into a Kurdistan Region. There are other issues, related to human rights, intimidation, assassinations, strong-arming, arbitrary arrests, illegal land seizures, de-development of targeted areas, among others – all verified by external human rights bodies. However, the issues above alone cast enough doubt without having to go into even more problems with KRG authorities. Conclusion The hope of this article is mainly educational. It is to make the average, interested Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac individual aware of what is developing. It is also meant to equip them with the knowledge to judge for themselves what people are promising and what is the most practical way forward. ISDP believes in its researched positions, and stands by the content of the proposed resolution, as a small but necessary step forward. There is further evidence that the organizations pursuing this resolution are on the right track and deserving of support. The KDP never took action regarding other efforts, where Assyrians made declarations for an Assyrian Autonomous Region. They lifted no finger while persons stated that the formation of an Assyrian Province was imminent. The KDP did react when suddenly facing the realistic and productive policy approach put forth in the “Nineveh Plain Resolution.” When asked on what he felt about the Nineveh Plain Resolution, the KDP Minister Fawzi Hariri felt the need to undermine any effort for establishing a federal unit for Assyrians because he saw the threat of a realistic policy for the first time. The noble aspirations for autonomous regions and provinces are exactly what our enemies want us to adopt, simply because they dazzle us with their brilliance and appeal to our imagination, but will not bear fruit. The KDP and others want us to be distracted with these “false hopes” while real opportunities pass our people by. Our people now need to see political parties pursuing the realistic vision described here and developing in the homeland – with reasonable information sharing on progress. For those wondering about the fate of the knights mentioned at the start of this article, they defeated their Ottoman enemies. They overcame all odds and beat back a massively superior force. The knights in Malta put aside all false hopes and accepted the reality of their options. The knights did this with faith alone. Our People’s faith, prayers and our brotherly unity as Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs will also produce success – but we must let go of the “false hopes”, and pursue the difficult path that is grounded in a realistic understanding of our options at this point in time.
‘NINEVEH PLAIN RESOLUTION’
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Notes:
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Assyrian Official of Iraqi Airways Gunned Down Courtesy of Mr. Philimon Darmo and the Assyrian International News Agency Mr Isaac Esho Alhelani was stopped whilst driving with his wife, forced out of the car and shot twice before the assassins fled with his car. According to his children living in Australia, he was then taken to a hospital in Baghdad, but the hospital did not have the resources or medication to treat his serious wounds. He was then flown by helicopter to the city of Arbil where he died. His body was later taken by car to the city of Kirkuk, the place of his birth, for burial by his wife and sister. Isaac was a graduate from an aircraft engineering school in Scotland in the early 1960's where he studied under a scholarship from the Iraqi Government. Upon his return to Iraq after completing his studies with distinction, he was appointed as an aircraft engineer in the Iraqi Airways and climbed the ladder of promotion until he reached the position of Deputy Director. Isaac, who was 64, retired in December 2006. He leaves his second wife in Iraq and four children from his first marriage. Three of the children, his daughter and two sons live in Australia, and his youngest son is in Syria where he escaped to from Baghdad after being threatened with kidnapping. Ordination of 3 Chaldean Deacons in Iraq Courtesy of the AsiaNews
(ZNDA: Ankawa) “A sign of hope amid so much violence and despair”. This is how Mgr Louis Sako, Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk, described the ordination of three new deacons that took place on 2 February in Ankawa in Kurdistan. The ceremony took place in the Church of St Joseph and was celebrated by the bishop of Amadhyia and Erbil, Mgr Rabban al Qas. Also present were Mgr Mikha Maqdassi, bishop of Al Qosh, and Mgr Sako himself who as lecturer at the local faculty of theology wanted to express his “support” for the seminarians. Courses offered by the Chaldean Major Seminary of St Peter and Babel College, the only Christian theological faculty in Iraq, resumed officially last month in Ankawa, after the forced relocation of both institutions from Baghdad, which had become too dangerous. The ordained deacons are Salar Soulayman Bodagh of the diocese of Al Qosh, Raymond Hamid Sargis of Baghdad and Louya' Gilyana Dinkha from Mosul. Already last month, on 27 January, Wassim Sabih Youssif was ordained in Baghdad. In the coming days, four Syro-Catholic deacons will be ordained: Raid Adil Fatohi and Mazin Isho' Mattoccha in Mosul on 9 February; Ammar Abdullahad Ayub and Nuhad Sabih Alcas Moussa on 16 February. Speaking about the new ordinations, Mgr Sako described them as “real signs of hope amid so much violence.” And he talked about the latest threats to the Christian community and the umpteenth kidnapping. “A Catholic from Karaqosh, Abdul Khaliq Bakos, the brother of a Dominican Sister, was kidnapped a few days ago in Baghdad; an hour after the kidnapping, his relatives paid the ransom demanded only to find him dead two days later.” The man had three children. The bishop continued: “In Kirkuk, some Christian doctors left the city after receiving a letter asking for an enormous sum of money to be delivered on pain of death.” Mgr Sako said the insecurity that threatened the daily life of all Iraq’s communities had created “a real vacuum at pastoral level” in the church. Meanwhile evangelical groups that arrived with the American army are multiplying. The bishop said: “They are conducting aggressive proselytism even among Catholics and Orthodox and they already have 36 new churches in Baghdad alone."
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Three Assyrians Family Members Murdered in Chicago's Hammer Killing Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune (ZNDA: Chicago) A Chicago's West Rogers Park family had gathered with friends earlier this weekend in a small apartment, sipping warm tea on a cold night. By Saturday morning, three members of the family were dead, bludgeoned with a hammer in what police and others said was an outburst of domestic violence. The suspect is a 56-year-old Iranian immigrant and the husband of one of the victims, Chicago police said. He was hospitalized in fair condition with self-inflicted wounds after officers found him trying to take his own life with the hammer used in the attacks, police said. He had not been charged as of late Saturday.The other victims were the suspect's sister-in-law, who had helped bring him to this country about three months ago, and his 60-year-old mother-in-law, police said.
The suspect and two of the victims were found in a second-floor apartment in the 6400 block of North Washtenaw Avenue, police said. The body of the mother-in-law was in an apartment in an adjacent building in the 2600 block of West Arthur Avenue. Rafi Babayan, a family friend who attended a Friday evening gathering inside the West Arthur apartment, said the victims and the suspect are Assyrians, an ethnic group of Christians largely from Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. He said he used to live near the family in Iran, just as he does in Chicago. "There were no problems," he said. But the gruesome blood-splattered scene officers discovered when they arrived about 7:30 a.m. told a different tale. "I saw them wheeling a man out," said a neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "He was all bloody. His feet were exposed and they were all bloody and he was moaning." The neighbor said he overheard authorities recounting what they saw and heard when they first arrived at the apartment on North Washtenaw. "When they went in, he was hitting himself with a hammer," the neighbor said. "And he said, `I'm almost finished.'" Authorities had not identified the suspect or the victims. But friends and a former husband of one identified two of the dead as Karolin Khooshabeh, 40, and her sister, Karmin Khooshabeh, 44, the wife of the suspect. Police said all three women died of blunt-force trauma. Karolin Khooshabeh's ex-husband, Robert Estepaniance, said the suspect and his wife were having marital problems. He said he received a call Saturday morning from his son, Michael, informing him of the killings. "It's hard to believe it," he said. And now Karolin Khooshabeh will not be there when her son completes high school this spring, Estepaniance said, in tears outside Belmont Area detective headquarters. "She won't get to see Michael graduate," he said. Chicago's Assyrian community, estimated at about 100,000, is one of the largest in the U.S. Its presence is strongly felt in this neighborhood, where Middle Eastern accents, restaurants and shops dominate the surroundings. Estepaniance said he and Karolin Khooshabeh, then his wife, feared that as Christians they would be oppressed in Iran and left in 1995. They settled in Chicago a short time later. He said his wife's parents arrived in the city about four years ago. Karmin Khooshabeh and her husband moved into the four-story brick apartment on North Washtenaw in November, said a maintenance worker who asked not to be identified. They were nice people," he said. "Very nice people."Police said the adult son of the sister-in-law was in the apartment but asleep when his mother was killed. "According to his statement, he was unaware of what had transpired," said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. "At this time, it doesn't appear that there were any other witnesses in the units where the homicides occurred."Babayan, the family friend, said the suspect's teenage daughter also was away at the time of the attacks, staying at another relative's home. He said the suspect's father-in-law was hospitalized and not home. Bond said language barriers slowed the investigation Saturday as law-enforcement officials struggled to locate interpreters. Karolin Khooshabeh worked in the meat department at a Dominick's grocery store in Lincolnwood. Dallas Killman, the store's manager, called her a "wonderful employee" but declined to answer any additional questions about her employment or life. Co-workers were stunned to hear of her death. "She was truly loved by all of us here," a co-worker said. "She just had a heart of gold. She always listened and she was always kind." Congress of Assyrians of Russia Support 'Nineveh Plain Resolution' For Immediate Release On 3-4 February, 2007 the Congress of the Assyrians of Russia took place in Krasnodar, Russian Federation. Leaders of the Assyrian organizations from Krasnodar, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan (Tatarstan), Rostov-na-Donu, the village of Urmia (situated in Krasnodar territory and the most densely populated Assyrian area), Maikop as well as Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belorus and Kazakhstan participated in the meetings. The representatives of the administration of Krasnodar and Krasnodar territory were cordially invited to participate in the Congress as honorable guests. The following issues were discussed at these meetings during the two days of the Congress: 1. The question of uniting the Assyrian organizations in the Russian Federation. In the light of the latter issue a decision was made to send official letters to the President of the United States, members of the the U.S. Congress, and the State Department with the following message:
The leaders and representatives of the Assyrian organizations of the Russian Federation also made a decision to establish an umbrella organization to represent the Assyrian national and cultural organizations of the Russian Federation. Assyrian Universal Alliance Reacts to Recent Allegations For Immediate Release Executive Committee Recently, Mr. Praidon Darmoo, Deputy Secretary-General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA), visited Washington, DC as a member of an Iraqi delegation headed by Mr. Fawzi Hariri, Iraqi Minister of Industry. The purpose was to meet members of different committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives to gain support for Iraqi industrial plans. In addition, the delegation also met with several American companies to encourage them to invest in Iraq. It was also a great opportunity for Mr. Darmoo and Assyrian-Iraqi Minister Hariri to meet with Assyrian-American Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. No agenda was set as it was a genuine courtesy meeting between two high-ranking Assyrian politicians. The proposed Nineveh Plains resolution submitted by the Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project (ISDP) to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo was unknown to Mr. Praidon Darmoo prior to their meeting and was evidently unaware of such resolution. AUA believed it had made it clear through its resolutions and struggle that it will not object to any project that will serve Assyrian interests and future in Iraq. Most particularly, AUA supports an Assyrian federal unit within the framework of the Republic of Iraq, as declared in its declaration of the 24th congress held in London, England on July 7 – 9, 2005. On January 20, 2007, three days following Mr. Darmoo’s meeting with Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, this position was once again made clear to Mr. Michael Youash, Project Director of the Assyrian Academic Society Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project, during a telephone conversation with Dr. Emanuel Kamber, Secretary-General of the AUA. Dr. Kamber reiterated that the AUA rejects any national name for the Assyrian people other than “Assyrian” and disagrees with the border of the proposed administrative unit. During an official visit of the AUA delegation to Iraq in 1973, the AUA was the first Assyrian organisation to officially request from the government of Iraq that Assyrians be granted an autonomous status on the land of their ancestors, located between the Greater Zab and Tigris rivers, under the jurisdiction of the central government of Iraq. Today, it is vicious and disrespectful to all those concerned to suggest that Mr. Darmoo and Minister Hariri influenced Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s decision not to pursue the resolution at this time, as has been rumoured. Mr. Darmoo was not representing the AUA in any of these meetings. This recent propaganda against the AUA and its Deputy Secretary-General only demonstrates why we Assyrians are failing to present a collective submission on behalf of our Assyrian people in Iraq. At a time when Assyrians are desperately searching for help to secure their future within a democratic, pluralistic, secular, and sovereign Iraq constituted of principles of democracy, rule of law, and guaranteed human rights, and equality for all citizens irrespective of their ethnic or religious background, some are desperately looking for excuses for their failed policy and tactics in gaining our rights in Iraq. AUA will not remain silent on such acts in the future. The AUA will take all necessary actions to expose these malicious and vicarious attacks while defending the interest of our people and the AUA. In conclusion, the AUA will visit Congresswoman Anna Eshoo to make it clear to her and her staff all issues related to the visit of Mr. Darmoo. We hope she will take all the necessary steps to prevent such distortions in her future meetings with dignitaries and to clarify our position on issues related to the future of our Assyrian people in Iraq. May God help our Assyrian people in Iraq and worldwide.
Iraqi Embassy in Sweden Forges False Passports Courtesy of the Daily Mail (ZNDA: Sweden) The Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm has issued thousands of passports with false information to asylum seekers, helping them gain residency in Sweden or Norway under fake identities, immigration officials have revealed. The embassy, which serves both Sweden and Norway, has 'nearly non-existent' controls of the identification papers Iraqis present when applying for a passport, said Bengt Hellstrom, an expert with the Swedish Migration Board.
Iraqi Ambassador Ahmad Bamarni strongly denied the allegations, saying embassy staff conduct rigorous background checks on all passport applicants. "Absolutely none of our passports have been issued on false information," Bamarni said at a news conference in Stockholm. "We would never deliver a passport if we have doubts about it." The Foreign Ministry summoned Bamarni to discuss the issue. The Scandinavian country has emerged as the most popular destination in Europe for Iraqis fleeing the war in their homeland, in part because of its relatively lax immigration laws. Nearly 9,000 Iraqi asylum seekers arrived in Sweden last year, triple the number for 2005, according to Migration Board statistics. Once in Sweden, many asylum seekers apply for official passports issued by the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm based on wrongful information on their fake ID documents, immigration officials said. Hellstrom said some sell the passports for thousands of dollars to other Iraqis wanting to enter Europe. Citizens of other Middle Eastern countries may also want an Iraqi passport because it makes it easier to get asylum in Sweden, he said. The result: Thousands of Iraqis and other foreigners are believed to be living in Scandinavia under false identities, making it nearly impossible to screen for known criminals. "We have seen that (the embassy) regularly issues passports based on documents that we have rejected or deemed to be false," said Hellstrom. "Our faith in these passports is nearly zero. But if we can't say for sure that the papers are false, they will likely form the basis of their asylum application. In the end, that can lead to citizenship." In 2006, nearly 300 passports and other ID papers based on false information were received by the Migration Board's central control agency, Hellstrom said. But the true number was likely in the thousands, because immigration officials only send in a fraction of suspected documents for verification, he added. The false passports became a political issue after a Norwegian man was convicted last year of forging hundreds of ID papers for Iraqis. "If this is true, the government takes it very seriously," said Anders Friberg, a spokesman for the Migration Ministry. "But it's too early to speculate on what measures we might take." In a recent interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Bamarni, the Iraqi ambassador, was quoted as saying a majority of passports issued by the embassy were based on false information. On Wednesday, however, Bamarni said he had been misquoted. He said thousands of Iraqis changed their names to escape persecution during Saddam Hussein's regime, and may sometimes use their old names when talking to the Migration Board, while their new name is on their passport. But Hellstrom said there were indications fake passports were being sent from Sweden to Iraq to help others enter the Scandinavian country. According to the Assyrian journalist in Sweden, Nuri Kino, Kurds from Turkey, Syria and Iran have received such fake Iraqi passports issued in Stockholm. They are in turn traveling to the oil-rich town of Kirkuk in northern Iraq to alter the demography in favor of the Kurds, who claim the city as a future Kurdish capitol. Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, also a Kurd, is to visit Sweden in the near future. Swedish National TV Broadcast Assyrian Seminar on Turkey By Afram Barryakoub reporting from Sweden (ZNDA: Stockholm) On Monday, 5 February Swedish national television broadcast a seminar organized by the Assyrian Federation of Sweden, in cooperation with the Swedish Committee for the Support of Human Rights in Turkey and the Assyrian women and Youth federations. The seminar itself took place in the Swedish parliament on the 31 January with 16 MP’s, several journalists and other prominent persons attending the event.
The well attended seminar touched upon today’s situation on the human rights in Turkey, its EU membership candidacy and the Assyrian Genocide, Seyfo. The event was a boost for the recognition of Seyfo as Sweden’s top expert on international law, Prof. Ove Bring said during his speech that the historians have now done their job and it is now time for the politicians to recognize that the Assyrians really suffered a genocide during World War I. Other prominent speakers included the leader for the Left party, Prof. David Gaunt and a former spokesman of parliament. Assyrian writer, Sabri Atman and Turkish publicist Rageb Zaroklu also contributed to the seminar. Both face death threats and intimidations continuously by Turkish nationalists for their work on the genocide. The seminar succeeded in highlighting the situation for minorities in Turkey and the genocide issue among the public and the politicians. It also caught the attention of the Turkish embassy in Sweden as they sent a person to supervise what was being discussed during the seminar. Many observers now draw the conclusion that a Seyfo recognition is within reach for the Assyrian community in Sweden which started to tackle the question on a political level in 1999. Several parliamentary bills are now prepared anew by various MP’s calling for Sweden's acknowledgment of the Assyrian genocide in 1915, in which Turks and Kurds cooperated to wipe out the indigenous Assyrian population from Assyria, now occupied by Turks, Kurds, Iranians and Arabs.
Author of the Armageddon Project on Assyrian Autonomy By Afram Barryakoub reporting from Sweden
(ZNDA: Stockholm) The novel “The Armageddon Project”, mentioned in the previous issue of Zindamagazine, draws upon the current war in Iraq and the policies pursued by the U.S administration. In the novel, a super secret plan is launched by the U.S. president, Christian organisations and Assyrian leaders. Journalist Sam Preston, the main character, is first reluctant to follow up the tip he receives about the secret plan, but finds himself soon entangled in the scoop of the century, a scoop in which Assyrians are a main ingredient. That is also why the “Armageddon project” is more likely to tickle the feelings of the Assyrian reader more than others. Journalistic background combined with fingertip feeling guided American journalist and author Tom Sancton's imagination to come up with the plot of the novel. His research on Iraq leads him to discover the situation of the Christian Assyrians as he surfs the waves of cyberspace in search of information. In his mind grew slowly a complete story with political scandals, secret plans and the idea of an Assyrian state in the Middle East. "I learned that there was a nationalistic movement within the Assyrian community that called for the creation of an Assyrian autonomous region. It seemed to me that, of all the different competing sectarian factions in Iraq, the one that would logically attract the sympathies of a Christian U.S president and his evangelical supporters would be the Iraqi Christians", says author Tom Sancton to hujada.com. The novel's main character, Sam Preston, is tipped by a friend on a huge disclosure which he at first dismisses as nonsense. But his critical attitude changes soon, as events take a new turn. The pursuit for more evidence puts Preston in a dangerous situation as he finds himself on the run from deadly Mossad agents across Europe. The information he has got hold of is sensitive enough to destroy the careers of several leaders and decide the future of the plans for an Assyrian state in the Middle East. The novel can be seen as a topical comment to the war in Iraq and all events related to it as the story reflects the writer's own indignation of the current situation. Tom Sancton admits that he felt increasingly angry about the U.S administrations handling of the situation in Iraq, as he was writing the book and chose to let his feelings pass on to the main character. "As Sam becomes increasingly aware of what is going on, his indignation transforms him from being simply an investigative journalist following a scoop into a moral voice intent on denouncing the high crimes and misdemeanors of the lightly fictionalized president and his inner circle", he reveals. As for the Assyrians of real life Tom Sancton believes that they, as an oppressed minority, are deserving of sympathy and support. He also believes that Assyrian autonomy can only come about in the context of a legal or de facto division of Iraq into a federation of ethnic-religious regions. "I’m not sure that’s the best solution for Iraq, but it's one option if the country’s warring factions are not able to forge a government of national unity in which all groups are respectful of one another. As a practical matter, I think it would be very difficult for a small minority like the Assyrians to assert their autonomy unless the other groups are willing to accept it." But in the world of novels everything is possible and The Armageddon Project is no exception. The story is kept on the borderline between reality and imagination, sometimes following the development in the real world very closely. But the writer could however not restrain himself from using the freedom of imagination to manifest his feelings towards the man running the show in Washington. "Since a writer of fiction can make things happen the way he wants, and not necessarily the way they are in reality, I had the luxury of imagining a just retribution for this mediocre, self-righteous and incompetent president", says Tom Sancton. Violent Attacks at Ishtar Cafe in Hamilton, Canada Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator
(ZNDA: Toronto) The men who shot a Mountain club manager and beat two customers over the head with a baseball bat described themselves as mobsters, say police. Investigators have charged two men in last week's attack and attempted extortion at the Ishtar Cafe, an Assyrian and Kurdish club on Concession Street. They are seeking a third man. Police say the gang had been pushing the club to use its illegal gaming machines since November. The attack occurred after the owner refused. Police are now hunting Ioannis (John) Chrisanthopoulos, 47, a violent Hamilton career criminal known as Johnny The Greek, who spent time in prison for kidnapping, assault, extortion and uttering death threats. Thursday's arrests come nine days after the masked group shot a 41-year-old manager of the Ishtar Cafe twice in the stomach and beat him. The man remains in serious condition. "As part of their extortion, they made insinuations they are part of Italian organized crime in Hamilton," said major crimes Detective Sergeant Ian Matthews yesterday. "The entire Assyrian and Kurdish community have taken this as a personal attack on their private club where they socialize ... and they have gone out of their way to assist us," he said. "The victims have absolutely no connection to organized crime." The club's operator was singled out to enforce the extortion, Matthews said. Illegal gaming machines are a favourite of organized crime because they force the private club or tavern to take all the risk in the event of a police raid. Johnny (Pops) Papalia, one of the most powerful crime bosses in Hamilton history, was heavily involved in illegal gaming, said Antonio Nicaso, a prominent expert on Italian organized crime. But since Papalia was murdered on a Hamilton street in 1997, Nicaso said, organized crime in town has diversified. "Now there is a tendency in Hamilton for people to pull together in a no-name brand of organized crime," he said. Nikolaos Badounas, 47, and Christo Chrisanthopoulos, 44, both of Hamilton, have been charged with extortion.
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To My Nephew, Frank S. Khosho Francis K. Khosho
Again, with unexpected suddenness and deep sadness, death has come among us. It was just three weeks after the murder of his cousin, Basam Polis Kalo Khosho, who was killed in his work place in Phoenix, AZ at the age of thirty-six. Frank had his life taken away from him on January 21, 2007 at the very young age of twenty-three. He has been taken away from us and obliged to move through the Celestial Gate to enter that bourn from which no traveler returns. We can only bow our head to the will of God and His Son Jesus Christ, the Father of us all, and say to ourselves: Is there beyond the silent night an endless day?
Is death a door that leads to light? In his passing, it is difficult to put my feelings into words, but I will try to tell you what my nephew Frank meant to me. Frank was the youngest son of my brother Slewo Kalo Khosho of the town of Mangeshi. Frank was incredibly kind; he had such a beautiful nature about him that endeared him to all who crossed his path. I will never forget his infectious smile, his beautiful brown eyes, his sense of humor, his charm, and most importantly his innocence, sincerity and kind words that touched our family in more ways then anyone will ever know. His parting creates a void that will never be filled and he will forever be remembered by our family. I like to think that Frank is with us in spirit, lives in our minds and will endure in our hearts for eternity. Frank was such a loveable soul; we, his father, mother, brother, sisters, cousins, relatives, friends and Chaldean/Assyrian community of Phoenix, Arizona, who admired him and loved him so much, simplify his ceremony in an expression that has never left my mind. It speaks volumes: “ You never lose what you love if you love what you lose.” May God bless you and keep you. We miss you and love you Frankie, and we always will. Your Uncle A Betrayal of Trust Shmouel Warda I joined the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1968 under the first Secretary General, the late Dimitri Petros Eloff who accepted my membership, and became the first member of the AUA in Australia, and am very proud of all those founders of this once very effective organization. It was no doubt the most awakening organisation in its nationalistic spirit for a sleeping nation which had no political leadership for over 2000 years. In my 30 years as a member of the Assyrian Universal Alliance I met and worked with many great individuals from our nation, Assyrians, Suryanees and Chaldeans nationalists all over the world, and am also very proud to say that I was elected eighteen years later as the Secretary General of the organization which took place in Sweden. During my long membership I also took part in creating, establishing and presenting the Assyrian flag to the Nation. In 1998 I retired and at present I don’t hold any position in AUA or any other political party, but I am proud to say that I am a staunch supporter of our only serious party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement or Zowaa, with its strong leadership and our only hope. The AUA was the only Assyrian international organization and the umbrella that could drive the hope of our Nation by creating political parties to unite us and get our political rights in the land of our forefathers, Bet Nahrain, at present Garbia (north) of Iraq. Unfortunately now it has been vigorously trying to split our nation in cooperation with the Assyrian Church of the East ’s leadership in arrogantly calling for the Assyrian name only and forgetting about our brothers and sisters from the Suryanees and Chaldeans, thus trying to split our nation. On the contrary the great leadership of Zowaa realised our nation's weakness, and in their famous 2003 conference in Baghdad adopted the three names for one nation and it was unanimously accepted that of the ChaldoAssyrianSuryanee name to face the challenges ahead, and in demanding the Nineveh Plains and once for all to free our nation from the clutches of our church leaders and our enemies who have been trying to split us.
Most of the cofounders of AUA were trustworthy people and held the aims of the organization and so it carried on that loyal trust to fulfil the aims of our nation at any cost. It grew up in the mind of so many thousands of our people all over the globe. The leadership took that oath, and reminded all their members not to miss use the trust of our nation for their own selfish personal gains. The main objective of AUA was to support at any cost our people in Iraq in fulfillment of the objectives of the founders of the organization to take a stand with our brothers and sisters in Iraq especially in times |
