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The Calm Before the Carnage Raphael was born to a Polish-Jewish family on 24 June 1900 in a village in the Tsarist Russia, these days a district in Lithuania. His father, Joseph, was a farmer and his mother a painter and linguist. Raphael loved books. By the time he was a teen-ager he could speak nine languages, including French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Russian. At the university he studied linguistics, but something else occupied his mind more so than the origins of the words. When he was 15, a horrible event happened in the land of the Sultans – in an Empire that fought bitterly against the Imperial Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Christians living in the Empire of the Ottomans were killed and more forced to leave their ancestral homes. Like most impressionable collegiate youth Raphael slowly found himself drowning in the sea of social consciousness: Why do people do this to other people? Why do Moslems hate Christians so much? Why do Christians in Europe hold so much prejudice against the Jews like himself? Most importantly, what could be done to deter or prevent these inhumane acts perpetrated by a people or nation-states? Not surprisingly Raphael became more interested in criminology and in the causes of violence and hatred. He moved on to the University of Heidelberg in Germany to study philosophy, and in 1926 he returned to Poland to study law. He became a prosecutor in Warsaw. By this time the British and the French had carved the Ottoman Empire’s Syro-Mesopotamian area into the countries we now know as Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Seven years later in August of 1933 an army of Arab and Kurdish troops moved into the Assyrian villages in North Iraq and systematically began massacring the Assyrian population. The news of this massacre quickly reached Europe and America. Raphael became distressed, fearing that the events of 1915 could be once again repeated against the innocent Christians of the Middle East. He rushed to present a new proposal to save the world from another calamity like the First World War. That same year, in Madrid, Raphael presented to the Legal Council of the League of Nations conference on international criminal law an essay on the Crime of Barbarity. He introduced an entirely new concept in which he explained that the Crime of Barbarity was a crime against international law. To evoke greater understanding of this new concept he referred to the experience of the Assyrians massacred in Iraq during the 1933 Simele massacre and the 1915 Genocide of the Assyrians, Armenians, and Greeks during World War I. He asked the nations of the world to ban what he called “barbarity” and “vandalism”. But his proposal failed and angered the Polish government that was trying to appease the aggressive behavior of Nazi Germany. In 1934, under pressure from the Polish Foreign Minister for comments he made at the Madrid conference, Raphael was forced to become a private solicitor in Warsaw. Then five years later, Germans attacked and occupied Poland. Jews like himself were forced into concentration camps and systematically killed. Raphael joined the Polish Army and was injured by a bullet to the hip while defending Warsaw. He was not captured by the Germans, but two million other Polish Jews experienced death and dying in Auschwitz, Treblinka, and five other camps. In 1940 he went to Sweden and later fled to the United States. Raphael lost almost 50 members of his family to the Holocaust. Ironically, what he learned from the killing of the Assyrians and the Armenians in 1915 and again from the massacre of the Assyrians in 1933 could not help prevent the decimation of his own people – not even his own family. In the United States Raphael taught at Duke University in North Carolina. In 1943 he became a special adviser on foreign affairs to the U.S. War Department and wrote a seminal work titled “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation - Analysis of Government - Proposals for Redress” wherein he for the first time used the term “Genocide”. He coined the term “genocide” from genos (Greek for tribe or race) and –cide (Latin for killing). This time Raphael’s ideas were well received and his idea of the “genocide” became the legal bases of the Nuremberg Trials. In 1945 Raphael proposed another ban on crimes against humanity during the Paris Peace Conference, but his proposal was rejected again. Fearing another 1915 Seyfo and another Holocaust, he became more determined to have the newly formed United Nations adopt a Convention against Genocide. Finally, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was formally presented and adopted on December 9, 1948. The convention states that the act of Genocide is committed when any of the following acts are perpetrated with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group: (a) Killing members of the group; Between 1951 and 1959 Raphael was nominated seven times for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he was never awarded. He died of a heart attack in New York City in 1959, at the age of 59. The man who studied the killing of the Assyrians in 1915 and 1933 and in 1943, and coined the term “Genocide” is today known as a pioneer in the study of international criminal law and genocide studies. This was Dr. Raphael Lemkin.
Right now in Iraq, the people Raphael so closely observed and with whom sympathized, are experiencing the beginnings of what can be only interpreted as a genocide. Thanks to Dr. Lemkin we can now detect the instigation of such inhumanity before it reaches a critical mass and work toward its prevention. Assyrians of Iraq may be subjected to the same calamities as are Sunnis under Shi’ai, Shi’ai in the Sunni areas, and other micro-ethnicities under the Kurds. Yet their situation is comparibly different. Assyrians are defenseless and they are not armed. Their numbers are low and do not enjoy the support of a major power beyond the borders of Iraq as are Iranians supporting the Shi’ai, Saudis cuddling the Sunnis, and Israel baby-sitting the Kurds. Even the United States is now turning its face away from the killings and violence in Dora and Mosul, in the Kurdish villages and Basra. If a Polish man from a Jewish background expressed so much passion for the lives of the Assyrian children in Turkey and Iraq, how much more must we, Assyrians from around the world, heed the call for the salvation of our own nation. Dr. Raphael Lemkin, much like the Assyrians he studied, had no funding, no office, no official representation. Even his funeral was attended by only seven people in New York. Yet he never stopped demanding justice for the innocent and the victims of barbarity. We must do no less. Every page of Zinda is filled with stories that should be read at your community meetings, church groups, for your friends, and at family events. Sunni’s kills Shi’ai and vice versa as acts of revenge for a foregone political system or a lost political seat in the parliament. Moslems kill Christians so that Christians will abandon the Middle East. None of us have the right to force any Christian to stay back in these conditions; but Assyrians should be allowed to leave of their own volition and not by force. It is time to follow the way of Raphael Lemkin. Speak for yourself and for those who are forced to remain silent in Iraq. 1915 must never happen again; if it does the posterity and a Jewish man from Poland will have the right to judge us for our ignorance and apathy. We have a fundamental moral duty to educate ourselves and others about what is happening to the Assyrians and the Christians of Iraq and call attention to a possible genocide. The time to act is now. Get involved and speak up! |
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By God: Six Days in Jordan Nuri Kino ”We must go there. We must do something! We cannot just sit here and let them
suffer”, said Sister Hatune Dogan after my lecture in Germany on the 17 March
organized by the Mor Afrem foundation. I stumbled across four big suitcases filled with medicines, clothes, toys and candy at the Frankfurt airport in Germany – Sister Hatune was prepared. She was determined to make every person she would meet happy during this Easter holiday. I was prevented from doing the same at the airport in Stockholm. My mother and other relatives had filled three big suitcases with clothes and other things for the children in Jordan. But the airline company stopped all that. I only had the right to bring with me 30 kilos of luggage. Sister Hatune did not face the same restrictions because she has a certificate, which proves she is an aid worker. Not much more for me to do other than to accept and help her carry. Three enthusiastic Assyrians at the airport in Amman greeted us. Gabriel, Isa and Susan Al Tawil had no idea why Sister Hatune and I had travelled to Jordan but they showed us great hospitality and were willing to assist us in whatever we would possibly need during our stay in Amman. I asked them to drive to one of the churches. The priest of this particular Syriac Orthodox Church is a friend of one of my friends. Father Ammanuel Istifan Issa Al Bana was a bit confused when I entered his Church. Sweden’s migration minister, Mr Tobias Billström, had visited the church and met I met my friend Hanna Shamoun in the church a few minutes pass midnight and two Early next morning we began our six hectic, incredibly interesting, mournful and gratifying days in Amman. Yet another Assyrian, a lawyer named Febroniya Atto from Holland, joined us on Thursday 4th of April. The three of us; one from Sweden, one from Germany and one from Holland, together with our helpful friends in Amman, experienced incredible events. No one doubts that there are 750 000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan. No one knows how
many are of Assyrian origin. Estimations range from 30 000 to 150 000. The
organization Christian Solidarity International estimates the number of Assyrians to
be 100 000. We also met with representatives from volunteer organizations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR and Jordanian authorities. The report you have in your hand gives an alarming description of the Iraq war and its Prologue to the Report Dr Samir Afram and Nuri Ayaz It is time for governments all over the world to know what happened to the Assyrians in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The Assyrians experienced persecution on ethnical grounds during the time of the dictator, but they were allowed to practise their religion freely as long as they changed their names to Arabic or Kurdish names and agreed to be designated only as Christians. A new systematic form of persecution started half a year after the American invasion, its only goal being the obliteration of Iraq’s indigenous population. Churches were bombed, priests were brutally killed, nuns were raped, children were kidnapped. And it is still going on. Not one day passes without reports about persecution of Christian Assyrians, who are also called Syriacs and Chaldeans. Entire areas have now been emptied of Iraq’s indigenous population, the Assyrians.The Dora district in Baghdad is one example. It was a “Christian” paradise known for its vibrant culture but has now become a black district. Almost all Christians have either been killed or have fled from it. Iraqi politicians feel hopeless because of the brain drain of Iraq. Assyrians happen to be the most well educated group in the country. Iraq cannot be rebuilt without individuals with the necessary competence. Many professional groups have almost entirely disappeared from the country. Doctors are one such example, as almost all of them are now to be found in the neighbouring countries of Syria, Jordan and Turkey. Award winning filmmaker and freelance journalist Nuri Kino offered to travel to
Amman, the capital of Jordan, and meet Assyrian families from Iraq. His mission was
to penetrate deeper than daily articles and reports in order to hear the refugees’ own
stories. The report is written as a diary and it contains a lot of relevant facts about the
war, the persecution and the political complications. All Iraqi groups have suffered
from the war, but the consequences for the indigenous population are devastating and To be a non-Muslim means a sure death in many places in today’s Iraq. |
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A Visit to Assyria Afram Barryakoub, reporting from Sweden (ZNDA: Stockholm) Two members of the Swedish committee for Assyrians travelled recently to Assyria in the north of Iraq. Their aim was to evaluate the situation before instigating an aid project which is to be supported financially by the Swedish government’s office for international aid. Margareta Viklund, the legendary chairwoman of the committee and Dinkha Elia, the secretary, spent five days visiting Assyrian villages in northern Iraq. They both say they are very content with the visit and with the information they were able to collect. “I saw great strength and will, but also sorrow. And I saw a tremendously strong will for union among the Assyrians”, says Margareta Viklund. She continues saying: “At the same time as they feel they want to leave the area they feel they must stay, because someone has to stay and guard the land and demand the rights of the Assyrians. Many of them see it as their mission to stay there and guard the land because they have a strong commitment and they know that the land belongs to them”, explains Viklund.
Except for a short visit in the towns of the Nineveh Plain, Margareta and Dinkha spent most days visiting the many Assyrian villages around the town of Nohadra (Dohuk). “What surprised me in the Nohadra area is that there are so very many villages that are inhabited only by Assyrians. I never thought there were so many Assyrians before. The Assyrians are not such a small people after all,” says Margareta. In the villages and towns Margareta and Dinkha encountered the work of the Assyrian Aid Society and the commitment of the named organization to build a future for Assyrians. “The impression I got of them is that they are very good. They are obsessed by the idea of building schools and to have them functioning. They put much work into it and they sacrifice a lot in building these schools because they have faith that it is the younger generation and education that is the most important things. And I agree with them fully, they are doing a wonderful job and I was very impressed by their work," says Margareta. Margareta is well informed about the Assyrians struggle to achieve some kind of autonomy in northern Iraq and she noticed that the people have high hopes. “From what I understood they have a great hope for achieving autonomy; they have great expectations for the area and a burning desire that it will materialize. They want Assyrian autonomy because they long for security. They are convinced it will give them security”, says Margareta Viklund and points to the general fear among the Assyrians that others may be making themselves the spokesmen of the Assyrians against their own will: “I also felt that they are afraid that someone else will come and present themselves as the true voice of the Assyrians, that their true voice and true desire will be taken away from them”.
Dinkha Elia describes a scene in an Assyrian town that kept him wondering about the policies of Sargis Aghajan, an Assyrian member of the Kurdish KDP party who has been financing projects in the name of the Assyrians with funds who many say should have been distributed by the Assyrians themselves and not by a KDP member. “In one place for example, we saw that Sargis Aghajan had financed a modern kindergarden just across the street from a kindergarden run by the Assyrian Aid Society. He could have built it in another neighbourhood where there is a need, but he chose to place it in front of the already existing one. Despite the fact that Aghajan's kindergarden is a better facility, the Assyrian mothers remain loyal to the Assyrian Aid Society and take their children to the AAS facility ”, says Dinkha. Another controversial Kurdish policy was also noticed by the two visiting Swedes: “The Kurds place guards in and around Assyrian towns although it is against the wishes of the residents. The residents want Assyrian guards because they can trust them and because local Assyrian guards recognize who is who and they know immediately if someone is not from the area”, explains Dinkha and continues with the following example: “In Tellesqof, a town inhabited only by Assyrians, a bomb killed a dozen some weeks ago. The bomb was aimed at the facilities of the Kurdish KDP party stationed in the centre of the town, very close to a school. Innocent Assyrian school children were killed in the bombing just because of the Kurds. The people have protested against the Kurdish presence, but the Kurds have responded by increasing their headquarters now after the bombing.” Many Assyrian villages have experienced Kurds settling in by force despite the protests of the Assyrians. The Kurdish parties present in northern Iraq are allowing the occupation to continue. “Kurds continue to move into Assyrian villages or build houses on the outskirts of the Assyrian villages in a completely illegal fashion. They refuse to move despite that courts have ruled that what they are doing is illegal. And the Kurdish parties are not doing anything to stop it. The Assyrians there see it as a signal from the Kurdish leadership that it is okay for Kurds to occupy Assyrian villages”, says Dinkha. Before returning home Margareta and Dinkha had the chance to see a water channel in the village of Sarsink which was financed by the Swedish Committee for Assyrians many years ago. They were happy to see that the water channel had helped the villagers to remain. “They are totally dependent on water for agriculture and without this water channel we financed they would not have been able to stay”, says Margareta The Swedish Committee for Assyrians will now work together with the Assyrian Aid Society to establish a help centre for Assyrian women in Assyria. Muslims Burn Assyrian Church in Baghdad Courtesy of the Assyrian International News Agecy (ZNDA: Baghdad) According to the Assyrian website ankawa.com, a group of armed Muslims set fire to St. George Assyrian Church in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad. The group of men poured gasoline on the church and set it on fire. This is the same church that was bombed in the first of a wave of bombings of Assyrian churches. When St. George was bombed in 2004, the church Cross was not damaged; the bombers tore the cross down with their hands after the bombing. In the past four weeks, the Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood has been systematically targetted by Islamists, who have demanded that the Christian Assyrians pay the jizya, a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Assyrian families have sought refuge in Churches. Told to Convert or Die, 21 Assyrian Families Seek Shelter in Baghdad Churches Courtesy of the Assyrian International News Agecy (ZNDA: Baghdad) The crisis for the Assyrian community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood is deepening. Islamists are systematically targeting the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), forcing them to pay the jizya, a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Dora is located 10 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Families are abandoning their homes and seeking refuge in Churches: 14 families have fled to the Al-So'ud Chaldean Church. Islamic groups are preventing families from bringing any belongings as they flee their homes. Hatem Al-Razaq, the sheik of the Al-Noor mosque in Dora, has toured Dora, visiting each Assyrian family and instructing them to pay 250,000 Iraqi dinars ($190), saying this sum is the jizya because "you are not Muslims." Families that cannot pay this sum are told to send one family member to the mosque on Friday to announce their conversion to Islam. Families who refuse to do this must leave their homes immediately and not take any of their belongings with them because "your properties belong to the mosque." Families that do not leave and do not convert are threatened with death. In a report by the Catholic News Agency, Mar Addai II, the Patriarch of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, says "Only the families that agree to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim can remain, which means that the entire nuclear family will progressively become Muslim." Also, Assyrian families are forced to turn over their homes as ransom for their kidnapped relatives. Chaldean Priest Kidnapped in Baghdad Courtesy of the AsiaNews
(ZNDA: Baghdad) Yet another Chaldean priest was kidnapped this morning in Baghdad. He is Fr. Nawzat P. Hanna, parish priest of Mar Pithion, from the Baladiyat quarter. Confirmation of the abduction reached AsiaNews, via Msgr. Shlemon Warduni, Chaldean auxiliary bishop in the capital, who has invited Catholics to “pray for Fr. Nawzat’s immediate release”. The abductors have already made contact with the Chaldean Patriarchate, but as of yet there is no further news. The priest was leaving the house of an ill parishioner, when he was stopped by a group of persons who had been waiting for him, says the bishop. Msgr. Warduni is convinced that a motive for ransom is behind the abduction, but among Baghdad’s faithful the rumour has spread that this morning’s sequester is in response to the Patriarch and bishops recent denouncements of persecution against the Christian community there. “By kidnapping another priest – anonymous sources tell AsiaNews – the terrorists kill two birds with one stone: they get rich and at the same time force the Patriarch to transfer him abroad, thus giving the whole community a very strong message”. In the meantime in the capital the witch-hunt against Christians continues. It has emerged, from what has been reported to AsiaNews, that the persecution is being carried out according to a well studied plan, quarter by quarter across the city. After Dora, Al-Baya’a, al-Thurat and al-Saydia, now it’s the turn of al-Habibia and al-Baladiyat. Those groups who subscribe to the “Islamic state in Iraq” are putting up posters which demand women wear the veil and distributing pamphlets imposing protection taxes on Christians. “They use the same technique on each and every quarter – locals tell – soon they will begin to call house to house to sequester all our possessions”. “The coalition and Iraqi forces are present on the round in these neighbourhoods – they lament – they can see what’s going on, but they refuse to get involved”. Thus many make the decision to leave their homes, packing their most precious belongings in cases and seeking refuge in those few Churches which are still open. But most are already full to capacity, forcing many families to live and sleep on the streets. “We cannot go on living like this – affirms Msgr. Warduni – its inhuman, it’s humiliating”. And he adds “but we will not be bowed by fear, we will continue to make our voice heard and to denounce this tragedy which is the Iraqi people and above all the Iraqi Christian’s daily reality”. 50 Percent of Iraq's Christians May Have Left Country Courtesy of the Associated Press (ZNDA: Baghdad) Despite the chaos and sectarian violence raging across Baghdad, Farouq Mansour felt relatively safe as a Christian living in a multiethnic neighborhood in the capital. Then, two months ago, al-Qaida gunmen kidnapped him and demanded that his family convert to Islam or pay a $30,000 ransom. Two weeks later, he paid up, was released and immediately fled to Syria, joining a mass exodus of Iraq's increasingly threatened Christian minority.
"There is no future for us in Iraq," Mansour said. Although Islamic extremists have targeted Iraqi Christians before, bombing churches and threatening religious leaders, the latest attacks have taken on a far more personal tone. Many Christians are being expelled from their homes and forced to leave their possessions behind, police, human rights groups and residents said. The Christian community here, about 3 percent of the country's 26 million people, has little political or military clout to defend itself, and some Islamic insurgents call Christians "crusaders" whose real loyalty lies with U.S. troops. Many churches are now nearly empty, with many of their faithful either gone or too scared to attend. Only about 30 people attended this Sunday's mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in the relatively safe Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah, and only two dozen took communion in the barren St. Mary's Church in the northern city of Kirkuk on Sunday. As many as 50 percent of Iraq's Christians may already have left the country, according to a report issued Wednesday by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal monitoring and advisory group in Washington D.C. "These groups face widespread violence from Sunni insurgents and foreign jihadis, and they also suffer pervasive discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the national government, regional governments, and para-state militias," said the report. Islamic extremists have also targeted liquor stores, hair salons and other Christian-owned businesses, saying they violate Islam, the report said. "This is not the culture of Iraqis or the nature of Iraqis. We have lived during centuries together in a respectful attitude and friendship," said Luwis Zarco, the Catholic archbishop of Kirkuk. In much of the Middle East, Christians are a largely tolerated minority that have achieved a measure of business and professional success, but they are sometimes viewed with suspicion by their Muslim neighbors. In Saddam-era Iraq, the country's 800,000 Christians -- many of them Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, with small numbers of Roman Catholics -- were generally left alone. Many, such as Saddam Hussein's foreign minister and deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, reached the highest levels of power. But after U.S. forces toppled Saddam, insurgents launched a coordinated bombing campaign in the summer of 2004 against Baghdad churches, sending some Christians fleeing in fear. A second wave of anti-Christian attacks hit last September after Pope Benedict XVI made comments perceived to be anti-Islam. Church bombings spiked and a priest in the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped and later found beheaded. In the recent violence, residents of the Baghdad neighborhood of Dora said gunmen knocked on the doors of Christian families, demanding they either pay jizya -- a special tax traditionally levied on non-Muslims -- or leave. The jizya has not been imposed in Muslim nations in about 100 years. One man, Arakan Admon, was wounded in a drive-by shooting last week when his family ignored the threats, relatives said. In response to the threats, about 70 percent of Dora's Christians have fled, police said. "The terrorists want to turn Dora into a base to attack other Baghdad neighborhoods," said Christian lawmaker Younadam Kana. "Criminal gangs made use of the situation and they started to kidnap Christians and demand ransom. It is a coalition between terrorists and criminals." The southern neighborhood is a Sunni insurgent stronghold that has seen frequent U.S. shelling under a security crackdown against the sectarian violence. In the northern city of Mosul, men began knocking on doors last month, demanding that Christian families pay a $3,000 tax that would be used to fight the U.S.-led forces, local residents said. Some paid; others fled. Mansour, a 63-year-old retiree, said that while many other Christians left, he chose to stay in his Amariyah neighborhood in western Baghdad. He was hoping that the Baghdad security plan, which U.S.-led forces launched on Feb. 14, would improve the situation. "But the opposite happened," he said. Mansour was kidnapped March 11 by gunmen who identified themselves as al-Qaida. After 15 days in captivity, his family paid the ransom and fled the country, leaving their home and electric appliance store behind, Mansour said in a telephone interview from Syria.
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Members of European Parliament Question Barazani Regarding the Assyrians Press Release Assyrian Democratic Organization 9 May 2007 Mtakasto (ADO) – Brussels: The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament met with Mr. Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, on Tuesday, 8 May, 2007, where views and opinions were exchanged regarding the Kurdish Region. Mr. Ablahad Astepho, representative of the Assyrian Democratic Organization – European Office, also attended this meeting. Although only the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee had the right to question and participate in the debates and discussions, the Assyrian–European lobby, through the contacts, in particular of Assyrians from Holland, contributed to the forum by presenting prepared and written questions that were answered by Mr. Barazani. After a general introduction on the situation of Iraq, twelve questions were posed to Mr. Barazani, five of which dealt with minority rights, especially those of the Assyrians and Turkmen under the control of the Autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, and where these minorities fit into the planned referendum for the contested city of Kirkuk. These questions were asked by Jan Wiersma (PES, NL), Joost Lagendijk (Greens/EFA, NL), Cem Özdemir (Greens/EFA, DE), Nicholson of Winterbrourne (ALDE, UK), and Istvan Szeut-Ivanyi (ALDE, HU). Mr. Barzani responded by stating that the new Kurdistan Regional Constitution will guarantee the rights of all groups living in Kurdistan and that all groups will be able to vote freely and according to their own conscience in the referendum for Kirkuk. Additionally, Mr. Barazani underlined that his “government was adamant to adhere to the unity of Iraq as long as every party respected the Iraqi Constitution” and argued that "separation of religion and state is necessary" for a functioning Iraqi state. Iraqi Turkmen: The Human Rights Situation and Crisis in Kirkuk: An Assyrian View Compete text of Mr. Ablahad Astepho's Speech presented at the Conference of the European Parliament on 26 – 27 March 2007 Ablahad Astepho
ADO Withdraws from Syria's Parliamentary Elections Press Release Assyrian Democratic Movement 21 April 2007 Declaration on the withdrawal from parliamentary elections The Assyrian Democratic Organization’s decision to participate in the elections of Syria’s People Assembly (Parliament) in its 9th legislatives session due to take place on 22 and 23 of this April , was based on a genuine desire on the part of the Organization to invest this election propaganda , with whatever small margin of freedom it afforded, in order to convey its message to its people and to the broadest segment of the Syrian society , and further to raise their democratic awareness through gatherings and various political activities , with an aim of consolidating its political participation in the political and national arena . The electoral statement made by the Organization’s candidate came to expresses the aspirations of our Assyrian Chaldean Syrian people and the hopes of all Syrian citizens in the establishment of a genuine democracy in the society. Nevertheless , being aware of the regime’s old tricks of vote rigging and attaching packaged shadow lists to the main official National Progressive Front’s list as was the case in the previous three successive election terms , especially as these elections are being conducted under the state of emergency and under undemocratic electoral law , the Organization had in mind withdrawal from the elections in the event of the emergence of such a list . Now , on the eve of the elections , and after it became quit clear to the Organization the emergence of the Shadow list it has decided to withdraw from the electoral process and boycott the ballot because of the futility of such participation. On this occasion, as the Organization condemns and denounces the regime’s behavior in falsifying the elections with regards to the margin allocated to the independent candidates and usurping the will of the voters and preventing them from delivering their real representatives to the People’s Assembly , it wishes to deeply thank all those who have sympathized , supported and participated in its election campaign, pledging to its people and supporters to keep on the struggle , together with other patriotic forces in Syria , democratically and peacefully , with the same resolve and determination in order to achieve its national goals. Mar Dinkha IV Joins in Patriach Delly’s Iraq Appeal Courtesy of the AsiaNews (ZNDA: Baghdad) Religious leaders have taken up the Chaldean Patriarch’s appeal to save persecuted Christians in Iraq, asking for protection from the authorities and respect for human rights. However, while condemning the untenable situation, they have not lost hope that the “flames in which all Iraqis are burning will be extinguished.” Yesterday, as reported on the website Ankawa.com – Mar Dinkha IV, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, which has its headquarters in Chicago, reiterated the words spoken by Mar Emmanuel III Delly on 6 May in Arbil, reinforcing them with more appeals to Iraqi political and religious leaders. A “strong” reminder of the need to preserve the “social and religious mosaic” of Iraq also came from the Syrian-Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo, as reported by the website Baghdadhope. In his address, Mgr Gregotios Yohanna Ibrahim concentrated above all on the damage caused by the war in Iraq. Mar Dinkha's Letter: Page 1, Page 2 The Assyrian Patriarch of the East first drew attention to the tragedy facing the Christian community especially in “Mosul and Baghdad, where terrorists at work in Dora district are asking Christian families to convert to Islam or to pay a protection tax or to leave their homes and all their belongings.” Mar Dinkha IV described as “inhuman” such acts perpetrated against Christians, “who have always respected the authorities”. For this reason, he continued, “we call on the government to extinguish the flames in which all Iraqis, without distinction, are burning.” And turning to the Iraqi premier, the Shiite Nouri Al Maliki: “Muslim parties and groups that are perpetrating violent acts against Christians are far from Islam; so we ask the prime minister and MPs to take the necessary steps to stop the violence that is affecting all the sons of Iraq.” There was also a call to the international community: “We ask the United Nations and human rights organizations to ensure respect for the rights of persecuted peoples and to help us stop this violence.” A similar stand was taken by Mgr Gregotios Yohanna Ibrahim from Syria. “The words spoken by His Beatitude, the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Emmanuel III Delly, moved us,” he said. “The forced emigration of Christians is terrible and not accepted either by Islam or by Christianity, or by reasonable human beings.” The bishop, however, used even more forceful language to claim that “in Iraq, there are those who want to exploit this situation to change the social structure of the country, to implement a specific plan aimed at undermining the national unity of Iraq, the cultural, religious and ethnic mosaic made up of all its citizens.” Mgr Ibrahim added: “As leaders and as men of faith, we have the duty to stand by the faithful, men of God, those who work for the good of the country. We must not be afraid even if the current situation appears to be like a black cloud to us, because the sun will shine again some day, and on that day we will feel that God is with us, with the entire country and with its people, Muslims and Christians.” Professor Details 'Gruesome' Armenian-Assyrian Genocide Courtesy of the Modesto Bee
(ZNDA: Modesto) When asked to describe genocide, most people probably would point to the Nazi concentration camps. Some might cite the more recent massacres in Rwanda. Members of the local Assyrian and Armenian communities learned Sunday about another genocide. Professor David Gaunt spoke to more than 100 people about the massacre of Armenians and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The presentation was given at California State University, Stanislaus. It covered his research on documents from archives in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. A complete explanation of his findings is documented in his book "Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I." "These documents were a nightmare for me to go through," said Gaunt, who is a professor of history at Södertörn University College in Stockholm, Sweden. "Sometimes in their details, they were very, very gruesome."
Gaunt spoke for nearly an hour and a half, telling of entire towns and villages wiped out by soldiers and Kurdish "death squads." He showed telegrams and other correspondence between Turkish military officials calling for the destruction of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Christian communities. In the end, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children were killed. The Turkish government has not recognized the genocide, citing many of the deaths as civil war casualties. Gaunt also told of resistance by the persecuted population. Excrement often would be used to make gun powder, Gaunt said, and small children would search for spent ammunition that could be melted into bullets. The San Joaquin Valley has one of the largest Assyrian populations in the United States. Some estimates show the population to be more than 15,000. Elki Issa attended the talk with the Central Valley chapter of the Assyrian Aid Society of America, which helped organize the event. While the memories of the atrocities are very much alive in the stories of their parents and grandparents, Issa said, it is important for future generations to remember what happened. That is why she brought her two children, Andrew and Arbella. "If the outside world is not going to remember this, at least our children can remember it," Issa said. Gaunt spoke at California State University, Fresno, on the following Tuesday.
Europe Has A New Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Vicar Courtesy of the Syriac Orthodox Christian Website
(ZNDA: Netherlands) On Sunday, 15 April the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Moran Mor Ignatius Zaka I Iwas, ordained Raban Eugene a Metropolitan as POLYCARPUS at the St. Peter & St. Paul Cathedral in Maarat Saydnya, Damascus. H. E. Mor Polycarpus Aydin was appointed as the Patriarchal Vicar for the diocese of Netherlands (Holland). The headquarters of the new Metropolitan will be Dayro d-Mor Ephrem (Mor Aphrem Monastery) at Losser, Netherlands. His Exellency Mor Polycarpus Eugene (Edip) Aydin is a native of Tur-Abdin, Turkey. He was born in 1971 in the village of Gundukshukro in the vicinity of Nisibin. After completing elementary education in the village, he entered Mor Gabriel's Seminary in 1982 where he received training in both Syriac language and literature as well as in traditional Syriac theology and liturgy. Following his secondary education in Turkey, H.E. went to England to pursue his theological studies at Heythrop College, University of London, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Divinity in 1995. Next, he went to Oxford University as a Visiting Student and spent a year at the Oriental Institute where he followed the Master of Syriac Studies course under the supervision of the renowned Syriac scholar Dr. Sebastian Brock. In August of 1997, he joined St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary at Crestwood, New York where he completed the three-year Master of Divinity program and graduated on May 20, 2000. The subject of his thesis was The History of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch in North America: Challenges and Opportunities. On Sunday, October 7, 2001, he was tonsured as a monk (dayroyo) by His Holiness Mor Ignatius Zaka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East at St. Ephrem's Monastery in Damascus, Syria and given the name Eugene (Awgin), in honor of Mor Awgin of Tur Izlo. On August 4, 2002 he was ordained to the priesthood at Mor Gabriel Monastery by His Eminence Archbishop Mor Timotheos Samuel Aktas of Tur `Abdin. He later had his Doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary in the field of Early Church History and Ecumenics under the supervision of Professor Kathleen McVey Following the passing of the Archbishop of Netherlands Mor Julius Yeshu`Çiçek, the Holy Synod took the decision to ordain Raban Eugene Aydin as Metropolitan for the diocese.Since 2002, H.E. Mor Polycarpus Eugene Aydin is one of the Executive Members of the most popular internet publication of the Church, the 'Syriac Orthodox Resources'. Judge Jails Teen Killers of Assyrian Taxi Driver Courtesy of the Fairfax Digital Two teenage girls who boasted of killing a disabled Sydney taxi driver each have been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years. Youbert Hormozi, 53, died of a heart attack after he was bashed by two 14-year-old girls on January 31 last year. The cousins, who cannot be named, had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before they caught Mr Hormozi's cab in south-west Sydney. After refusing to pay the fare, they punched and kicked the father of two, whose left arm was paralysed by an earlier stroke. The girls left him injured on a road in Canley Heights before stealing his taxi and crashing it some distance away.
Mr Hormozi died at the scene. The girls were arrested the next day after one boasted: "I've been on the news. We killed the taxi driver." The pair, now 15, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced today by Supreme Court Justice Peter McClellan. The judge said they both came from violent families and had started consuming alcohol and cannabis at an early age. However, he said: "Alcohol and drugs are not a licence for committing crime." "The loss of Mr Hormozi is a tragedy for his family," Justice McClellan said. He acknowledged that some members of the community and Mr Hormozi's family might consider the sentences too light but said it was important for both girls to have an opportunity for rehabilitation. Justice McClellan sentenced both girls to a maximum jail term of six years and ordered they serve at least three-and-a-half years behind bars. With time already served, the girls will be eligible for parole in August 2008. Mr Hormozi's former wife Anna and his 22-year-old daughter Melina wept when hearing the sentences. Outside court, Mrs Hormozi likened the girls to "violent little animals". "They should be caged," she said. Mrs Hormozi said no jail term would be harsh enough "to pay for what they've done and the profound tragic effects it had on our family". But she questioned the sentence, saying: "Three-and-a-half years, six years, what's that going to do? "How's it going to deter others? What sort of message is that going to send?" Mrs Hormozi said the girls should not have been out alone in the middle of the night. "They shouldn't have been out there at two o'clock in the morning and their parents should be right along there with them, serving their sentence with their kids." Assyrian Real Estate Investor Eyes $2 Billion in Chicago Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune
(ZNDA: Chicago) Los Angeles real estate investor Zaya Younan is unabashed about his recent role as an underdog bidder on some of Chicago’s best known office buildings, such as One Financial Place, Prudential Plaza and the John Hancock Center. “Hold onto your seat, because soon you will hear some much larger transactions coming down the pipeline,” says Mr. Younan, chairman and CEO of Younan Properties Inc. “We are looking to buy $1 billion to $2 billion in the next 12 months in Chicago.” That’s an ambitious plan for a former technology executive, 44, whose firm and real estate career are both barely five years old. His largest deal to date is the $280-million purchase in November of a seven-building, 2.1-million-square-foot portfolio of office properties in the Dallas and Chicago markets, including 200 N. LaSalle St., a nondescript North Loop building. But that deal made Mr. Younan one of the larger Chicago-area office landlords, with nearly 2 million square feet of mostly suburban assets. The firm’s entire portfolio totals 8 million square feet, but doesn’t have the trophy tower that he covets. “He’s a really driven guy, and very, very analytical,” says Jack McKinney, president of Chicago-based J. F. McKinney & Associates Ltd., which handles leasing for one of the suburban Chicago properties. While ambition is hardly unusual in commercial real estate, Mr. Younan has followed a path that few in the industry can match. Born in Tehran, Iran, Mr. Younan came to the U.S. when he was 13 years old, settling with his parents in Arlington Heights. Growing up, he was a sandy-haired member of an Assyrian Christian family in a predominantly Muslim country. In this country, he was a working-class immigrant challenged by a new language and culture. “When you are different you are more sensitive to your environment, you are never complacent,” he says. After graduating from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, he attended the University of Illinois, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1984. His first job was in the General Motors Electro-Motive Division plant in LaGrange. But he quickly moved to Southern California and eventually moved into a series of executive-level jobs with small high-tech startups that sold products ranging from automotive radar systems that warned of collisions to online gaming software. He resigned from his last job in the industry, as division president of an electronics and telecom equipment manufacturer, after just two months, in February 2002. “I couldn’t get my heart into it,” he says. But now, when Mr. Younan talks about real estate, it’s like turning on a fire hose, as the words come pouring out in long and passionate sentences. His unique perspective, expressed in a slightly accented English, can produce some special sayings, or “Zaya-isms.” About why real estate appealed to him: “I was always amazed and surprised at how inefficient this industry was, so I always wanted to experiment with this industry.” About being a new investor in a city, he says it’s an advantage over longtime players who are too close to the market, he says. “The scars of the bad turn in the market are still on their faces.” About an unsuccessful attempt last year to hire non-union janitors: “It was a muscle flexing to show we have a fiduciary responsibility to our investors,” he says. About himself, he pauses, and then admits, “I am a little animated in personality.” Popular Assyrian Football Coach Dies Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune
(ZNDA: Chicago) During Alex Agase's last season playing professional football in 1953, a rumor spread through the Baltimore Colts locker room that the team was about to fold. That sent most worried players to the banks to cash their checks before they bounced. Not Agase. "I grabbed the film projector," he once recalled. Retired Tribune sportswriter Bill Jauss laughed Thursday night telling that story about Agase, the inimitable Northwestern head football coach from 1964-72. "It just shows you how much he always thought about getting into the coaching profession," Jauss said. The man born to coach died Thursday at a Florida hospital near his home, leaving a legacy that stretched well beyond the football field and known as someone more concerned with molding young men than winning games. He was 85. "This loss runs deeper than just losing someone you played football for," said Mike Adamle, a Northwestern star who played for Agase and now works as a sportscaster for WMAQ-Ch. 5. "The real measure of a coach is not the won-loss record but how many players are standing outside his door [in retirement], and I can tell you there were a ton of guys for Ags." Agase, who was the only player in college football history to earn All-America honors at two schools, Illinois and Purdue, encountered complications from surgery last week to clear blockages in his neck, according to family members. Funeral arrangements are pending. He was living in Tarpon Springs, Fla., and felt spry enough in recent weeks to play enough golf to complain about his swing. "That's how competitive he was," said Paul Agase, one of Agase's three sons and the vice president and general manager of WSCR-AM. "I told him he should just be happy he was playing. We'll remember him as being a great father and wonderful grandfather." Agase lived what his son called "the great American story." An Evanston native whose family of Assyrian descent emigrated from Iran, Agase starred as a guard for Illinois in 1941-42 before transferring to Purdue, where he could train for the Marines. World War II interrupted his college football career for two years, but Agase fought in battles at Okinawa and Iwo Jima before returning to Illinois for a senior season in which he won the Big Ten Most Valuable Player Award. Decades later Agase was selected to the Walter Camp Foundation's All-Century team. A pro football career followed. Playing six seasons for four different teams, Agase won three world championships as a member of the Cleveland Browns. Tony Adamle, the late father of Mike, was a Browns teammate and one of Agase's best friends. "All that meant was when I got to Northwestern he bent over backward to discipline me to make sure people didn't think I was there just because he was my dad's teammate," Adamle said. "I didn't even have dinner over at their house until after my senior year. He was a stern taskmaster but also a compassionate guy sensitive to his surroundings." Adamle applauded the way Agase, a decorated Marine who was shot twice in World War II, showed tolerance for the anti-Vietnam War effort of the era. Northwestern players routinely had to cross student picket lines on the way to practice, but Agase made clear his locker room was no place for politics. Once when a group of African-American players vowed to skip practice in protest of the war, instead of lashing out at them he heard them out and advised them to avoid arguments about religion, sex and politics. Players appreciated the respect Agase showed them no matter how intense his demeanor could be. Jerry Brown, a Northwestern wide receiver and defensive back who is now the Wildcats' assistant head coach, recalled once as a naieve freshman having the temerity to second-guess Agase about his love for the quick kick on third downs. "I said, 'Don't you think you might make a first down on third down once in a while?' " Brown said by phone. "He kind of looked at me. Then he said, 'You might be right.' I don't think he quick-kicked again. He was a point-blank guy, but he'd listen because he loved being around kids." So passionate was Agase about coaching that his last stop came as a volunteer assistant from 1982-87 for Michigan as a favor to one of his best friends, Bo Schembechler. Brown remembered one Northwestern-Michigan game seeing Agase on the Wolverines' sideline. "That felt and looked a little awkward," Brown said. It probably felt a little awkward too for Agase, whose 17 years at Northwestern were the most meaningful of his career. He also served as Purdue's head coach from 1973-76 and as Eastern Michigan's athletic director from 1977-81. But he always believed he bled Northwestern purple. A few years ago as he reflected on his legacy, Agase shared those feelings with longtime Northwestern administrator Ken Kraft. "He said, 'You know, I've coached a lot of different places, but there's something special about Northwestern,' " Kraft said.
That special affection for the place helped persuade Ara Parseghian that Agase was the ideal person to succeed him when Parseghian left for Notre Dame in 1964. Parseghian vowed not to take the Notre Dame job until he received assurances from Northwestern that it would name his recommended successor, Agase. "Ara knew Alex was an outstanding football coach who the players loved, and that was the proof in the pudding," said Tom Pagna, a former Northwestern assistant who followed Parseghian to Notre Dame. Pagna said his close friend Parseghian, who was in Arizona for a fundraiser and unavailable, loved Agase "like a brother. I don't know of anybody else who had earned his respect more." Agase not only maintained what Parseghian started in Evanston but enhanced it. After Northwestern went 6-1 in the Big Ten in 1970, the Football Writers Association of America named Agase national coach of the year, a rarity for a coach who hadn't won a league or national title. Adamle contends that if Agase had the talent available to him that Woody Hayes did at Ohio State and Schembechler did at Michigan, "he would be held in that same regard. In those days there was only one guy in the Big Ten able to hold his own with Woody or Bo, and that was Ags. What made [Agase] different was he had compassion." Agase might never have taken the Purple to Pasadena, as Gary Barnett did in 1995, but the Northwestern family believes the vision for the trip was formed during Agase's years in Evanston. "Northwestern University is saddened to hear of the passing of Alex Agase, a tremendous college player and coach," said Mark Murphy, Northwestern's director of athletics. "He had one of the longest tenures of any Northwestern football coach. We extend our deepest sympathies to the Agase family." As his family gathered in Florida to mourn, Paul Agase felt grateful he had made it down Wednesday in time to huddle one more time with his dad before he died. "He loved college football till the end," Paul Agase said. "He was locked in until the last game was played; He probably even learned to appreciate the passing game." Kennedy Bakircioglü to Play for Ajax
(ZNDA: Södertälje) On 5 May the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the Assyrian-Swedish soccer player, Kennedy Bakircioglü, will by playing for the Dutch football club, AFC Ajax. Bakircioglü was born 2 November 1980 in Södertälje, Sweden. His family arrived in Sweden from Tur-Abdin in Turkey in 1972. His father, Benyamin, was a charter player for the now world-famous Assyriska Föreningen. Bakircioglü began playing for Assyriska in 1999, and then went on to Hammarby IF for the next four years, where he led the team to its first championship in 2001. He is currently playing for Netherlands team FC Twente. He has also played for the Sweden national football team. In 2005 Bakircioglü was elected Hammarby's forth greatest player of all time in an online poll held on the club's webpage. ACSSU at McMaster University Participating in Pangaea 2007 Alhan Oraha (ACSSU- Public Relations) reporting from Ontario, Canada
(ZNDA: Hamilton) McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) is culturally rich with students from various ethnic backgrounds. In celebration of its diversity, McMaster University held its 5th Annul Multicultural Show entitled Pangaea on March 11, 2007. The show consists of performances and pavilions showcasing different cultures represented by their clubs that are part of McMaster. Pangaea refers to the landmass that existed when all continents were joined hundreds of millions of years ago where there were no borders and no countries. The name “Pangaea” is chosen for this event to highlight McMaster’s desire in living in a world similar to what once was Pangaea in an effort to promote harmony and unity in our communities. The Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Student Union of McMaster University (ACSSU @ MAC) has been participating in Pangaea for the past 4 years. This year, ten dedicated students volunteered their time to prepare for the show. Long hours were put into practice not only during school time but also during spring break. The utmost goal was to represent our unique culture in a beautiful and flawless manner. Flying to different countries was the theme of the performance show. More than three hundred guests enjoyed the flight that landed in many countries to enjoy the traditional attire and dances of those countries, such as Croatia, India, Poland, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and many more. One of our stops was Assyria. Upon landing, guests were greeted by ACSSU @ MAC dancing group wearing the traditional clothes and dancing our beautiful cultural dances (Shekhane and Belati). The performance exceeded the audience expectations and left everyone with a lasting impression. The outcome was reflective of the impressive dedication and hard work of the group. Participation in Pangaea is an important annual activity on ACSSU @ MAC’s agenda because it is a great chance to showcase our unique and rich culture to other cultures. Sharing our culture with others that didn’t even know we exist is what we enjoy the most in these events. For more information about ACSSU please visit www.acssu.ca. Good Morning, Chicago! Courtesy of the AAS of America (ZNDA: Chicago) The Chicago Chapter of the Assyrian Aid Society of America hosted a breakfast event called 'Breakfast of Champions" at the ChaldoAssyrian Center beginning the evening of Saturday, April 7th and well into the early hours of Sunday, April 8th. In our endless efforts in looking for new ideas and creativity in supplementing our current programs and activities, we welcomed an idea provided by one of our supporters. Normally, our community goes to restaurants after the Midnight Mass (Shaharta) for breakfast. Instead of going to restaurants and spending their money there, we thought we can provide this service to them in a community building and have their donation go to a worthy cause in helping their brothers and sisters in the homeland.
As such, and with only four days of preparation, the AAS-A volunteers and supporters scrambled to get all the logistics in place. It was a wonderful breakfast menu of fresh eggs, sausages, bacon, and hash browns, as well as different cheeses, yogurt, fruits, etc. For a first time event and with only four days of publicity, it was very successful with almost 300 people attending the breakfast. Our volunteers worked very hard to make this a successful event, some going home as late as 6:00 AM on Sunday. Net income from the event was a very gratifying $2100. We are thinking of making this a yearly event. We wish to thank the Assyrian radio stations such as the Mar Zaia Organization, Shutasa (Assyrian National Foundation), Mutwa (ANCI) and 'Night Stars' in providing the publicity for this event. In Memory: Lillian Sargis Pera Courtesy of the Hartford Courant
(ZNDA: New Britian) Born in Iran, Lillian Sargis Pera, a longtime resident of New Britain, was called home to heaven on Tuesday, May 1. She passed away in Florida. She was preceded in death by and awaiting a joyful reunion with her husband, Rev. Richard G. Pera, her parents, Jacob and Judith Sargis, a son and a grandson. Mourning her passing is her sister, Mrs. Rose Sargis Ernesto of New Britain. She was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She leaves behind her brokenhearted children: daughter, Judith (Pera) and son-in-law David Giguere of Georgia, daughter Denise L.R. Pera of Florida, son Richard and daughter-in-law Mary Jo (Robinson) Pera of Washington, D.C. She was very proud of and adored her three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, who will miss her greatly. Her family is comforted by her great and abiding faith in God and the sure knowledge that they will all be together again someday in heaven. Mrs. Pera was a graduate of New Britain High School. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and her Masters Degree from Central Connecticut State College. She taught sixth grade for many years at McDonough Elementary School in Hartford. Teaching was a career and profession she loved. She valued education highly. Funeral services were Saturday, (May 19, 2007) 11 AM at South Church, 90 Main Street, New Britain. No calling hours. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to South Church, 90 Main Street, New Britain, CT 06051 and designated for the "Assyrian Memorial Parlor Fund". The Carlson Funeral Home, New Britain, is assisting the family with arrangements. Please share a memory or note of sympathy (click here). |
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Nenif Matran Hariri and His Never-Ending Kurdish Propaganda Fred Aprim
An interview with Nenif Matran Hariri, the Christian Advisor to the Politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Masoud Barazani, published in the October 10, 2006 issue of The Kurdish Globe was brought to our attention lately. In that interview, Nenif continues to mislead the readers and spreads misconceptions, being the Kurdish propagandist that he is. The interview has some significant, as I will explain later. Assyrians (also known as Nestorians, Chaldeans, Jacobites, and ChaldoAssyrians) understand who Nenif Hariri is and what he represents. What amazes me is how Nenif has the audacity to be so public about his questionable involvement in the political life of our people and how he indirectly declares his imprudent priorities as a servant of the Kurds and Kurdish plans in northern Iraq. Nenif declares publicly that he supports handing the last Assyrian stronghold in northern Iraq, i.e., the Nineveh Plains, as a gift to the Kurds on a golden platter and he lies foolishly about how Kurdish leadership treats the Assyrians, not as a Christian group, but as an ethnic group in northern Iraq. Nenif states, quote: "The [Kurdistan] constitution refers to Christians living in their dominated areas of the Plain of Nineveh—west of Kurdistan Region—as part of Kurdistan itself, granting them their minority rights." End quote. Nenif knows well that the northern Iraq Kurdish constitution does not recognize the national and ethnic rights of the Assyrian people. He understands very well that many of Kurdish writers and politicians, including Diayako Xarib, Fadhil Mirani, Mehrdad Izady and others that are officials or advisors in the Kurdish northern Iraq cabinet question the Assyrians' rights as indigenous people of the region. Many Kurdish nationalists and politicians refer to the Assyrians as Christian Kurds. Therefore, the Kurdish leadership and Pan-Kurds would be very happy to show their generosity to Christians in any way they could, but would undermine the Assyrians' national aspiration and question. This is the same exact policy practiced by Saddam Hussein. Furthermore, Nenif Hariri understands that the only reason why the Kurds are playing the tunes of democracy these days is because the world is watching and they need the assistance and support of the West. The Kurds will play this game of the good guardians until they establish the elusive Kurdistan, a political and national region that never existed in history. What would happen to the Assyrians after that illusive Kurdish region is created? What guarantees do Assyrians have? We should learn lessons from our past experiences. The Late Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun pleaded with the Western powers and the League of Nations not to terminate the British mandate over Iraq and not admit Iraq into the League (planned for 1932) before receiving guarantees for the future security of the Assyrians. Such guarantees were not given. The League of Nations terminated its mandate over Iraq and Iraq became a sovereign state and a member in the League. Only months later, around 3,000 Assyrians were brutally massacred in August 1933 in northern Iraq by the Iraqi army led by Kurdish Bakir Sidqi and hundreds of Assyrian homes and villages were looted by Kurds and some Arab tribes. Assyrian villages, one after another, have been taken over by Kurds ever since. Then Nenif Hariri states, quote: "I don't want to see Nineveh Plain an independent autonomy, nor do I want to see it being a part of the central [Iraqi] government." End quote.
Who is Nenif Hariri to decide for the Assyrian people of the Nineveh Plain? What is more significant here is this statement explains the reason why Iraqi Minister Fawzi Hariri, who was appointed by the KDP and Barazani to his Iraqi position, was directed to visit Congresswoman Anna Esho's office in Washington D.C. on January 17, 2007. We know that the congresswoman was planning to summit a resolution to U.S. Congress for the establishment of the Nineveh Plains administrative Area for the Assyrian (ChaldoAssyrian) Christians of Iraq and that the administrative region was to be linked to the Iraqi central government. Now, I hope that the significant of the interview is apparent to the readers. Minister Hariri asked from, or suggested to, the Congresswoman the same things Nenif has suggested or demanded in his interview. Remember, the visit of Minister Hariri came three months after the interview of Nenif. The two Hariri Kurdish officials, Fawzi and Nenif, are on the same wavelength. Surprised? Not really, because the KDP policy is clear and everyone who works for the KDP must follow its central policy. Nenif Hariri continues with his autocratic and foolish demands and states, quote: "The first thing is to make the Nineveh Plain part of Kurdistan, then through negotiations with the government here we can have some form of self-rule like having our own police force and local administrators in our towns and villages." End quote. I wonder, on what basis does Nenif want to make the Nineveh Plains part of the Kurdish region and most importantly, why? The current Kurdish region is part of Iraq. Why should Assyrians be part of a part? Why should we have our affairs and rights, including all financial matters, go through the Kurds? Furthermore, does Nenif really think that once the Nineveh Plain is part of the Kurdish region the Assyrians will have a better future in northern Iraq? We know for a fact that the KDP since 1992 has undermined the elected Assyrian representatives, marginalized the Assyrian national and ethnic rights, interfered in the internal affairs of the Assyrians, used clergymen to sabotage and undermine Assyrian political groups and divided the Assyrian people among many other things. Why should we believe or trust the KDP now? Assyrians, as the indigenous people of northern Iraq, must be granted the same treatment the Kurds received from the United States and the allies since 1992, i.e., self-rule, protection, support and financial assistance. Lastly, but not least, Nenif foolishly and repeatedly plays isolationism and division, which weakens the Syriac-speaking Christian Assyrians in the Middle East. This weakness, of course, benefits the Kurds mainly. He ridicules the term "Chaldean Assyrian Suryani", suggests that the word Suryani be completely ignored and dropped, then, most dangerously, he demands that the Assyrians be separated from the Chaldeans. Such behavior reflects vividly the twisted and dangerous mentality of this religiously oriented, church driven and money hungry KDP slave. The Kurdi |
