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Volume
VIII

Issue
32

11 November
2002

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This Week In
Zinda

cover photo

Zinda
Says

Kurdish Proposal is Unfair to
Assyrians

The
Lighthouse

Assyrians Look Longingly at the Jewish
Homeland

Good
Morning Bet-Nahrain

Kurdish Parliament Elections by July
2003
Assyrian Metropolitans Join at the Turkish Iftar
Dinner

News
Digest

ADM Declaration on the Kurdish Constitutional
Proposals
AUA: First Victims of Iraq’s Chemical & Biological
Attack
The Iraq Dilemma: Iraq’s Christians May Suffer First
Blows
Iraq’s Minorities & the War on Terror
Power Struggle
Among Opposition Groups

Surf's
Up!

What About Those of Us Outside of the
U.S.?
Preserving Assyrian Monuments
What Happened to Assyria
for Assyrians?
Scrambling to the Top
Assyrians on Dutch
TV
Murderous Reprisals of Islam

Surfers
Corner

La Voix Des Assyro-Chaldeens: 14 November
Los
Angeles : Assyrians on ABC News All Week
UC Berkeley Outreach
Event in San Jose

Literatus

The Kurdish Leadership: A Policy of
Suppression
Saddam Hussein’s Delusion

Bravo

Melammu – A Sturdy Five Years

Calendar
of Events

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Zinda
Says

KURDISH PROPOSAL IS UNFAIR TO ASSYRIANS

The KDP and PUK, adopted a proposal on 2 November for a future Iraqi
Federal Constitution that ignores the rights of all other ethnic groups
that have been engaged in the struggle against Baghdad (see NEWS
DIGEST).

This KDP/PUK position ignores the fact that the ADM has been engaged in
the representative process and instead reverts to the practices of the
long, pre-modern historical bloody past when Assyrian rights were ignored.
Over the past decade, expectations have risen that a partnership could
emerge. The continued ignoring of Assyrian human rights have alarmed many
of us but we had expected that with restoration of law and a secure
national environment, Assyrian rights would be guaranteed and guarded. Now
we see that the intent of the Kurds is to continue to ignore our rights as
the indigenous people of Iraq and we foresee in this document continuation
of the kinds of behavior that has all but driven our ethnic Aramaic
culture onto the edge of extinction.

In response to KDP/PUK
request, the ADM had already presented a communiqué in which it noted the
following regarding the proposals before the Northern Region
Parliament.

1. That Iraq does not consist only of Arabs and Kurds, but also of
other ethnic groups including the Assyrians and Turkomans. The other
ethnic groups are not secondary: they are indigenous and have been
partners in the struggle for a new and fairer Iraq.

2. The legitimate rights of ethnic groups, that are un-named, need to
be defined better and the means of the implementation of these rights need
to be projected in principle.

3. As with Baathist practice, the Kurdish proposal separates Assyrians
into two separate ethnicities (Assyrian and Chaldean). This formula is
flawed in three respects:

· it creates an artificial difference as a separation of Kurds into
Kurmanji and Sorani speakers would
· it uses religion rather than
ethnicity as a basis of identity
· it ignores the rights of Assyrians
who do not belong to either of these two Christian sects (Catholic and
Church of the East), especially the Syrian Orthodox, the Syrian
Catholic, Protestants, and other sectarian divisions among
Assyrians.

4. The territorial division into Arab and Kurdish federal units
suppresses other ethnic groups. Iraq needs an administrative and political
federal system not a geographic one in which displaced ethnic minorities
with no prospect of returning to their original geographical locations
will be overwhelmed, coerced, and driven into exile as before. The unity
of Iraq will be strengthened not by geographic divisions, but by a
democratic and representative system of all its ethnic and political
groups.

The ADM rightfully believes that serious issues have been glossed over
at the Kurdish Parliament and that confidence in the process can only be
restored with a reexamination of the problems all face, and with attention
to the points raised by Assyrians for whom the homeland of thousands of
years is the last refuge for the preservation of heritage.

The ADM objections to the proposal of the Kurdish Parliament extend to
the points raised. Otherwise the document contains important issues that
build on the formulae set forth throughout the
1990s.

The Lighthouse

ASSYRIANS LOOK LONGINGLY AT THE JEWISH HOMELAND

One day in 1943, Labor Zionist essayist Hayim Greenberg was visited in
New York by a stranger claiming to represent, of all things, the Assyrian
nation.

It appears you Jews are about to get yourselves a state, the visitor
said. Can you spare a corner of it for an old neighbor?

Greenberg was dumbfounded, he later wrote. When Jews and Assyrians last
crossed paths, our northern kingdom was destroyed and 10 tribes were lost.
Now they want our help?

But you saved us once before, the visitor persisted, when Jonah warned
Nineveh to repent. Now we're reduced to 30,000 battered souls, clinging to
a mountainside in northern Iraq, beset by Arabs, Turks and Kurds alike.
All Europe spurns us. You are our last hope. Besides, after Hitler, you
may not need as much space as you thought.

"It doesn't matter how I answered," Greenberg wrote, quoting the
visitor's own conclusion: "History is brutal, and -- who knows the ways of
providence?"

As providence would have it, those two paths crossed again [in 2000] at
the United Nations. Hadassah, the women's Zionist organization, was
appearing before an obscure U.N. committee that approves non-governmental
organizations seeking U.N. affiliation. Also on the schedule that day was
the Assyrian National Congress.

Neither organization passed muster. The committee "was not what I would
call a friendly group," said Bernice Tannenbaum, a former Hadassah
president who came to testify. She faced a barrage of venom from Lebanese,
Syrian and Palestinian delegates. The Syrian actually quoted the defunct
"Zionism is racism" resolution. Most countries were sympathetic, but the
Syrian-Lebanese hostility was enough to block consensus. "It was very
disheartening," she added.

The Assyrians, by contrast, were rejected outright -- after furious
denunciations from nearly everyone present. They never even replied,
because they hadn't sent a representative. The State Department warned
them in advance that it would be pointless. Disheartening? You should only
know from disheartening.

"I'm not surprised," said the president of the Assyrian National
Congress, Sargon Dadesho, a full-time Assyrian rights activist in Modesto.
"We have long been opposed by the Iraqi observer and his gang, the Arab
countries."

Assyrians don't lack enemies, and Iraq easily tops the list. With
Dadesho, though, it's personal. A militant nationalist, he's been targeted
by Baghdad for assassination. A hitman was sent to Modesto in 1990, but
the FBI nabbed him outside Dadesho's home. Dadesho won a $1.5 million
judgment against Baghdad in federal court.

Assyria first emerged 4,000 years ago as a mighty Semitic empire,
ruling the expanse between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that the Greeks
called Mesopotamia ("between the rivers"). For 1,500 years, from their
fabled capital in Nineveh, they battled Babylonia and Egypt for control of
the Middle East. A military defeat around 610 set off a long decline.

Since then they've farmed quietly in villages along the Euphrates. They
practice an ancient form of Christianity, the Nestorian rite, and speak
Aramaic, the language of the Talmud. In 1915 they tried to throw off
Turkish rule but were butchered, along with another Christian tribe, the
Armenians. Thousands fled into exile.

After World War I the League of Nations promised the Assyrians autonomy
in their homeland, which they call Ashur or Bet Nahrain (Aramaic for
Mesopotamia). But Britain gave the region instead to the newly formed
Kingdom of Iraq. Ever since, Iraq has been trying to assimilate them
forcibly into its Arabic-speaking majority.

"The trouble is, they consider us a religion, not an ethnic group,"
said former Illinois state senator John Nimrod, president of the Assyrian
Universal Alliance, an umbrella for rival Assyrian groups. "What we're
trying to do is tell the world who we are. We've been trying for years.
But nobody notices."

If they're invisible, it's partly because they're terribly
inconvenient. Their Bet Nahrain happens to overlap the homeland of another
stateless nation, the Kurds. Like them, the Kurds were promised autonomy
after World War I and then betrayed. Divided among Turkey, Iraq and Iran,
the Kurds have been battling everybody ever since.

Today, thanks to widespread revulsion of Saddam Hussein, Kurds have a
measure of U.S.-protected self-rule in northern Iraq. They're in no mood
to share it with the Assyrians, whom they outnumber 10 to 1. Armed clashes
are reported almost monthly.

The Assyrians have another problem. They're hopelessly divided. "They
have dozens of organizations, and they all hate each other," said an
exasperated U.S. official. [In the fall of 1999] when the Iraqi opposition
assembled its warring factions for a CIA-backed convention in New York,
Washington made sure five seats were reserved for Assyrians on the
100-member executive council. "Unfortunately, we had 16 groups demanding
those seats," said the U.S. official. "Nobody was willing to give in. It
was a nightmare."

Nimrod, the Chicago leader, has been trying for years to forge unity
under his Assyrian Universal Association. He's got two dozen groups
sitting together. He's also built respectful ties with government
officials in countries where Assyrians live, from Washington to
Tehran.

He's up against tall odds, though, none taller than Dadesho, who is
tough to tame. He infuriates Baghdad, calling Assyrians "the indigenous
people" of Iraq. He also defends other Christian "indigenous peoples" in
the region, from the Copts of Egypt to the Nubians of Sudan. Some
observers say his rhetoric helps intensify Arab hostility.

Through it all, Assyrians continue to look with longing and envy at
their old neighbors, the Jews. It's hard not to -- Jews are the one
non-Muslim minority in the Middle East who've successfully stood up to the
Arab majority. Jews have also succeeded spectacularly at the very thing
the Assyrians have done worst: garnering sympathy from the Christian
West.

Nimrod, who used to represent the mostly Jewish suburb of Skokie in the
Illinois Senate, brings the topic up repeatedly, usually trailing off a
moment later. "There have been some contacts in the past," he said. And
later: "There are many similarities. Your language is our language." And
finally: "What makes for strange bedfellows is that Israel is close to
Turkey." That makes cooperation impossible.

History is brutal.

J.J.
Goldberg
Correspondent for the
Jewish Bulletin of Northern
California

GOOD MORNING
BET-NAHRAIN

KURDISH PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS BY JULY
2003

Courtesy of Agence France-Presse (12 November)

(ZNDA: Arbil) The Kurdish parliament in north Iraq
announced this week it had set up a committee to prepare for legislative
elections that will be held by July 2003 at the latest.

The committee comprises representatives of three groups: Massoud
Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Jalal Talabani's Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Assyrian Christians.

It will also
study ways of organising a population census in Iraqi Kurdistan, home to
some 3.6 million people and effectively autonomous since it came under
Western protection at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

The revival of parliament last month climaxed peace moves between the
KDP and PUK against the backdrop of US threats to attack Iraq and oust
President Saddam Hussein.

The KDP holds 51 seats and the PUK 49 in the parliament which was
elected in 1992 and met last October 4 for the first time since bloody
clashes between the two factions peaked in 1996.

Parliament also has five seats reserved for the Assyrians.

ASSYRIAN METROPOLITANS JOIN AT THE TURKISH IFTAR
DINNER

Courtesy of the Turkish Daily News (14 November) join

(ZNDA: Istanbul) During the fifth traditional Iftar dinner, organized
by the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation, the
representatives of monotheistic religions came together in Istanbul,
Turkey. Religious Affairs Chairman, Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz; Turkish Armenian
Patriarch, Mesrob II; Turkish Chief Rabbi, Ishak Haleve; Assyrian Orthodox
Metropolitan, Yusuf Cetin; Assyrian Catholic Bishop; Yusuf Sag; consul
generals, foreign and Turkish businessmen were present at the occasion.
Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew, who is in Britain, was represented by
Tarabya Metropolit Konstantin Harisiadis at the Iftar dinner.

The dinner started with a prayer. After dinner the first speech was
made by the Marmara Group Foundation Chairman Akkan Suver. He said that he
was very pleased to organize the dinner during which Muslims, Christians
and Jews came together.

During the dinner spiritual leaders explained the importance of
tolerance and love by giving examples in their books. Turkish Armenian
Patriarch Mesrob II, who stated that a possible war would negatively
affect many people, said, "I wish peace in an environment where all
religions are together."

Assyrian Orthodox Metropolitan Yusuf Cetin, who described the Iftar
dinner as the dinner of love, said that they prayed for world peace.
Tarabya Metropolitan Konstantin Harisiadis talked about the sincere
dialogue created during the Iftar dinner.

Religious Affairs Chairman Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz stated that Islam meant
submitting, and said, "Submitting exists in all religions." Yilmaz said
the following, "In our religion to deny a prophet means to deny all
prophets. If a person believes in all of them but not Musa, that means
they believe in none of them. Muslims don't make the distinction between
the prophets."

Yilmaz also thanked Akkan Suver and said, "This dinner is an example of
tolerance."

News Digest

ADM DECLARATION ON THE KURDISH CONSTITUTIONAL
PROPOSALS

Declaration regarding the stance of the Assyrian Democratic
Movement towards the approval by the parliament of the Iraqi Kurdistan
region of the plans for constitutional federal republic of Iraq and the
constitution of the region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

For
Immediate Release
8 November 2002

The parliament of the region of Iraqi Kurdistan discussed the joint
federal plan presented by the ruling parties in the region, Kurdistan
Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and approved this
plan as a proposal during its session of 7th November 2002. Considering
that the Assyrian Democratic Movement - through the purple list – together
with the two parties established the region’s parliament in 1992 and since
the purple list won four seats out of the five seats allocated to our
people with their several nomenclatures and according to the founding laws
relied upon by the parliament, it is necessary to inform ADM bases,
supporters and in general our people together with the friendly and allied
forces, Kurdistani, Islamic and Iraqi patriots and the friends of our
nation both inside and outside Iraq to be aware of the position of our
movement towards this issue and its aspects.

In general, we were hoping that now we are approaching a turning point
concerning the future of Iraq, that the position towards the cause of our
people in such projects would have taken in to consideration the level of
our alliance and long tormenting struggle as fraternal nations, the
justice of our cause and the persecutions that have been inflicted on the
Assyrian people over centuries. However, based on objective and realistic
evaluation of the present situation of our nation and its historical
weight and struggle, its right to share and based on deep understanding of
current international circumstances and concepts, which is contained in
the proposal do not meet the aspirations of our people, but rather are in
line with our experiences during the past years, that is to say attempting
to marginalise our cause.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement presented a communiqué to the
leadership of the two allied parties, who originated the draft
constitutions, in response to their request. In that communiqué, we have
addressed our reservations and observations, which covered the
following:

1. The proposal suggests that the make-up of the Iraqi nation consists
of Arabs and Kurds, considering them to be the “two main nations” and
mentioned other nations as “ethnic groups” (this was later amended in
parliament as “national groups”) this includes Assyrians and Turkmen, both
these descriptions mean inferior nations. This takes much away from them
as national rights are not measured by size, particularly in the case of
indigenous people and is contrary to the principle of equal national
partnership.

2. The proposal refers to the rights of ethnic nationalities without
specifying the details or process of implementation.

3. The proposal dealt with our people as two different nations
(Assyrian and Chaldean) overstepping the historical fact of unity of our
people and bypassing the laws of the parliament which are still in effect
in the region. Additionally, this is considered to be interference in the
internal affairs of our people, known by several different names
(Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac). Our nation consists of several different
church denominations, Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Orthodox,
Eastern Assyrian with two calendars, Protestants and others. Regarding
this issue, the only point raised by the representative of the Purple List
(ADM) whilst parliament was in session and during his discussion with the
respected leadership committee of the parliament was in reference to the
identification of our people, in which he requested that the word “and” be
removed from between Assyrian and Chaldean, as an expression of unity of
our people. This was rejected, which means an insistence in dividing our
people.

4. The proposal stated that Iraq consists of Arabic and Kurdish
Federals and the regions’ council consists of representatives from the two
regions. This eliminates the roles of other nations. We are for an
administrative and political Federal system that guarantees the rights of
all the people of Iraq, a system which enables all the groups to exercise
their unique aspects, strengthening the national character and hence serve
Iraqi unity. Additionally, we are for a Federal Council in which all
ethnic nationalities are represented.

These remarks and others, in our opinion, are complicated points which
are not possible to be resolved at this stage especially when it is
required that we all stand together for the sake of the desired change
that we all seek. Therefore, it was our decision to vote against the
proposal.

Our objection to the main issues within the proposal does not mean our
rejection of the aspirations of the Kurdish people and their rights to
express the formula by which they envisage within the Iraqi national
unity. Our movement has accepted, through the purple list, the decision of
federalism for the region of Iraqi Kurdistan in parliament in 1992, at the
Salah-Al Din conference in 1992 and at the New York conference for Iraqi
opposition in 1999 and together with the four Kurdistani parties as part
of the Joint Work Committee which was announced recently.

At the same time, we participated in establishing the parliament and
its continuation as a legitimate institution in the region, especially
during the internal fighting and at other critical stages, to restore
unity. This participation and partnership in the democratic process in the
region is what gives this experiment a democratic overview, as it reflects
the ethnic diversity, fraternity and mutual respect between the ethnic
components. We were hoping that the parliament would have stood by the
rights of our people and their internal unity.

We, the Assyrian Democratic Movement, promise our Assyrian-Chaldean
nation that we shall remain faithful to our principles and political path
which we have taken since the establishment of the movement, who’s noble
and immortal martyrs contributed to erect its pillars. We will endeavour
to strengthen the relations of our people with the fraternal Kurdish
nation. We will safeguard our national agenda with all the fraternal
nationalities in Iraq, Arab, Kurd and Turkmen and with all the patriotic
factions regardless of their ideology for a free democratic Iraq.

Central
Committee
Assyrian Democratic Movement
Arbil
8 November 2002

ASSYRIANS – FIRST VICTIMS OF IRAQ’S CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL
ATTACKS

Assyrian Universal Alliance
For Immediate Release
13
November 2002

The Assyrian Universal Alliance - Australia Chapter and the Assyrian
Community in Australia, stand and support the policy of the United States
and the Australian Government to remove the Iraqi dictator, Saddam
Hussein.

The Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA), is an international umbrella
organisation for the Assyrians since its founding in 1968. AUA has
affiliate organisations throughout the world including the Assyrian
Australian National Federation, Assyrian American National Federation,
Iranian Federation and many other Federations and Associations throughout
the world including in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Tatarstan, Kazakhstan and
the Netherlands. AUA also has branches in Canada, England, Lebanon,
Sweden, France, Australia, Uruguay and the USA.

For years the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein has, since coming to
power, terrorised its own population and executed thousands of people.
Among these have been many Christian Assyrians. More than two hundred
Assyrian villages, churches and monasteries were also destroyed by the
regime. The two million Assyrians living in Iraq are the indigenous people
of that land and have been subjected to decades of ethnocide policies by
the country’s terrorist regime. This has subsequently and deliberately
caused the displacement and forced deportation of thousands of Assyrians
from their homeland. These have become refugees around the world and many
are still awaiting a decision by any country, which will provide them with
a home. This ancient nation is being persecuted, robbed of its livelihood,
forcefully displaced from its sacred lands and deprived of basic human,
cultural and religious rights.

We would like to bring to world's attention the fact that some of these
Assyrians who fled the persecution in Iraq have been privileged to enjoy
freedom and democracy in Australia. However this did not stop them from
being pursued by the Iraqi regime. Assyrians in this country suffered the
first chemical and biological attack by Saddam Hussein's agents. In
November 1978, Assyrian delegation to the Eleventh World Congress of the
Assyrian Universal Alliance that took place in Sydney, were subjected to
poisoning by five-members of Iraqi delegation who attended this congress.
This delegation had presented poisoned sweets to other delegates. The
sweets were brought and specially packed in Iraq under the orders of the
regime. The Australian Health Authorities discovered that this form of
poisoning caused necrosis or death of the body tissues. At least nine
people suffered from this poisoning, with the perpetrators escaping to
Iraq before charges were able to be pressed. The poison was identified as
being mustard gas (a form of chemical weapon also used by Iraq in its war
with Iran and Kuwait). Iraqi representatives in Australia refused to be
interviewed by investigative reporters on television or at all and denied
Iraq’s use of such illegal weapons. Regrettably for the Assyrians no
international action was taken to reveal Iraq’s use of such destructive
weapons. Perhaps because the Assyrians were either too insignificant as
human beings and as citizens of this world or that simply the
international focus at the time was not directed at Iraq’s mass
destruction capabilities.

The Christian Assyrians of Iraq deserve the same attention that the
world gives to other human groups subjected to spiritual, social, economic
and human rights violations. They deserve special attention because they
constitute a minority in the countries were they reside. Their situation
is unknown because they lack the political power and the media influence
necessary to make themselves heard. Sometimes, instead of attracting the
world’s attention, their religious leaders and/or communions accept the
oppression, massacre or persecution to which the Assyrians are subjected.
Again this is attributable to the fact that such leaders feel helpless and
incapable of drawing world’s attention and are afraid that such publicity,
if not handled effectively and aggressively by the international
community, will subject them to even more adverse consequences.

We appeal to the Australian Government and the International community
to ensure that the national rights of the Assyrians, the indigenous people
of Iraq, be recognised. In our respectful plea we assert that it is in the
interest of the region and the world that the continuous presence of
Assyrians there be ensured. Assyrians have become a minority in their own
homeland not by choice, but by force. Even the two million or so Assyrians
presently living there are either ignored or misidentified as “Christian
Arabs”, “Christian Kurds” or by various other denominational names. This
has led to the inflation of numbers of other Iraqi citizens such as the
Kurds and the grave consequence of undermining the Assyrian presence in
the region. Such world ignorance means that our rights in our national
homeland could not be given and/or protected. Our children would grow up
in permanent isolation from their origins, language, culture and Christian
faith. Ultimately this would lead to the inevitable extinction of
Assyrians not just as a people, but also as the descendants of one of the
world’s richest and the most ancient civilizations.

We bring these issues to the attention of the Australian authorities
and the media, because as a stateless nation we do not have an Assyria to
return to. For the Assyrians in Australia, this is our home. Time is of
the essence for the Assyrians. We pray that in any international decision
regarding Iraq the rights of the original people of that region will not
be allowed to melt away by ignorance and neglect.

Yours faithfully,

Hermiz
Shahen
Secretary,
Assyrian Universal Alliance-Australia
Chapter

THE
IRAQ DILEMMA: IRAQ'S CHRISTIANS MAY SUFFER FIRST BLOWS

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal (12 November); article by Hugh
Pope

(ZNDA: Mosul) Iraq’s Christian minority recently got a
taste of its nightmare scenario in the wake of a possible U.S. attack to
overthrow President Saddam Hussein.

As a group of nuns arrived to make their initiation vows at a church in
the center of this north Iraqi town two months ago, Muslim boys started
taunting the congregation. Christian youths responded in kind. More
Muslims arrived with knives and bottles, the Christians picked up chairs,
and soon a pitched battle was in progress. By the time the security forces
waded in, about 15 people were injured, says Jshleymon Warduni, a leading
Christian bishop in Baghdad.

"The government does protect us in
such cases," says Mr. Warduni, who speaks for the main Christian sect, the
Chaldeans. "But if the Americans want to save Iraq, let them come with
dialogue. If they don't, the danger will be greater for Christians.
[American talk of war] has unified the idea that being Christian is being
with America and Europe."

While much attention has focused on longstanding rifts between Iraq's
two largest populations -- Sunni and Shia Muslims -- Iraqi society is
actually a complex patchwork of ethnic and tribal rivalries that Mr.
Hussein both inflames and restrains to preserve his regime's domination.
There aren't only Kurds, but Iranian Kurds, Turkish Kurds and Syrian
Kurds. There are Turkomans, marsh Arabs and even a few Jews. Each group
has its own grudges, feuds and vulnerabilities likely to bubble to the
surface if the domineering hand of Mr. Hussein is suddenly lifted.

For the country's 300,000 to 600,000 Christians -- at least 2% of the
population -- the building U.S. pressure has already created problems. On
a recent morning in Mosul, 352 kilometers north of Baghdad, the
inhabitants of a nunnery woke up to find a statue of the Virgin Mary
shrouded in Muslim veils. In a Christian township nearby, a group of
Muslim men knocked out the watchman of a Christian cemetery and raped his
wife.

On Aug. 15 in Baghdad, intruders broke into a nunnery and found a lone
71-year-old nun, Cecilia Hanna. They knifed her to death in her cell and
cut her head off. Christian exiles suggest Mr. Hussein's regime may even
be exploiting the tension to blackmail the U.S. "We all know what
decapitation means," said Peter Pnuel BetBasoo, of the Chicago-based
Assyrian International News Agency. "It's a message saying: You Christians
are in jeopardy."

Such incidents go largely unreported in Iraqi media. Reporters visiting
Mosul last month weren't allowed to stop by the main church in the center
of the run-down city, where 12 years of United Nations sanctions have
caused widespread poverty and where sewage runs openly in several streets.
The governor of Mosul, Abdulwahed Shennan, denied that anything happened
at all. "I would have been the first to hear about it. Nothing like that
happened. There is no difference between mosque and church in Iraq," he
said in an interview.

In fact, Bishop Warduni and foreign diplomats in Baghdad say Mr.
Hussein's government usually steps in to limit damage. Christians say at
least one person was arrested in the case of the murdered nun. The
cemetery rapists are in jail. Two days after the Mosul confrontation, the
regime forced the Muslims' tribal leader to apologize to Christian elders.
And attacks on Christians have long been more frequent in the Kurdish
north, under U.S. protection since Mr. Hussein's government was driven out
in 1991.

On the whole, Christians still say Mr. Hussein's regime doesn't treat
them worse than other citizens. Some have risen high in the government.
Iraq's veteran Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz is a Chaldean. "The
president's tailor and barber are Christians, too," says Nareg Ishkhanian,
55, pastor of the main Armenian Orthodox church in Baghdad. Like many in
his 22,000-strong community, his parents were refugees from Ottoman-era
massacres in present-day Turkey, and remember with gratitude a history of
protection by Iraqi Arabs. "But if there are problems in Iraq, we share
them, too."

The problem is that Mr. Hussein plays it both ways. He poses as an
indispensable peacekeeper between Christians and Muslims, just as he does
between Shia and Sunni Muslims. But as the U.S. presses his regime onto
the defensive, he is also rallying Iraq's Muslim majority around Islam.

In February, he put Christian church property under the control of
Muslim state bureaucrats. This year, his son Uday's newspaper, Babil, has
repeatedly attacked Christian dogma. The government tightened rules on
teaching Christianity in schools and banned giving babies non-Arab names,
according to the U.S.-based Chaldean News Agency.

These pressures are pushing Christians out of Iraq, where St. Thomas
brought Christianity in the first century. The community once numbered a
million is now down 600,000, according to Bishop Warduni, or down to
300,000, according to a Christian intellectual who declined to be
identified.

On a typical Sunday evening at Baghdad's St. Mary's Chaldean church,
the spotlessly clean church is full. But two-thirds of the congregation is
made up of brightly dressed women. Outside, afterward, an attractive
42-year-old Baghdad university professor of physics says she has been
unable to find a husband because "90% of the men in my generation left the
country."

Women can't follow them, because traditional Middle Eastern family
codes and Iraqi law ban females from traveling alone. No young Christian
woman goes out after dark because of verbal harassment from Muslim boys on
the street. Zina Salem, 19, says Christian women feel pressure to become
Muslims, both in order to find a husband or just to conform with
classmates -- even though that means being cut off by their Christian
community.

"I was the only Christian among 30 people. The teachers used to make a
lot of Muslim propaganda," she says. "But my family wants to stay. We have
a house, a car and a shop. Not everyone who leaves is happy."

In one street of merchants in the Baghdad bazaar, just one Christian
remained where several once traded. In his stock room, he whisper his
fears about the new wave of attacks on Christians. If only Christians can
hang on, he believes, Christianity will be reborn from his ancient sect.
The dead nun, for such Christians, is just the latest in a long line of
martyrs.

"We're scared of chaos if the president is deposed. This government is
our guarantee," the merchant says, begging for anonymity and hushing his
voice as a Muslim employee passes by. "The Islamists think our talk of
charity and love is weakness. If the U.S. attacks, we'll be the ones they
take it out on first."

IRAQ’S MINORITIES & THE WAR ON
TERROR

Courtesy of New York Sun (25 September); article by Jonathan Eric
Lewis

(ZNDA: Arbil) With an American-led attack on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq an
all but certainty, it is worth contemplating not only what ‘Doomsday
Scenario’ the Ba’athist dictator may have in store for the United States
and Israel, but also what the nature of a post-war Iraq should look like.
We have long heard the calls for democracy in a post-war Iraq. In his
September 12th address to the UN General Assembly, President Bush was
likewise forthright about the need for minority rights of Kurds and
Turkmen—ethnic Turks—in Iraq.

That said, it has long been customary for American policy in the ‘Arab
world’ to focus almost exclusively on the wants and needs of un-elected
Arab leaders, rather than those of the Arab peoples and the myriad ethnic,
cultural, and religious minorities in the region. This policy, while
useful during the Cold War, is no longer in the American national interest
and, if not modified in the years to come, could lead to some very
troubling unintended consequences.

The creation of a primarily Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq following
the end of the Gulf War represented a fundamental shift in American policy
toward Middle Eastern minority groups. Not since the creation of the State
of Israel in 1948 had a minority group in the region been granted such a
wide-ranging form of political sovereignty. Not surprisingly, Arab
nationalists decried the creation of the Kurdish Autonomous Area as a
‘Second Israel’—another perceived threat to Sunni Arab hegemony in the
region.

Notwithstanding this dramatic change in the regional geopolitical
landscape, the Kurdish region is fraught with ethnic, cultural, and
religious tensions that threaten to explode in a way not seen since the
British pieced together the
modern Iraqi state out of the remnants of
the Ottoman Empire. The presence of Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist
party possibly linked to Al-Qaeda, in northern Iraq, is of great concern
to policymakers. Likewise, one political
analyst has suggested that
American policymakers take the Kurdish and Turkmen competition over the
control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk very seriously, lest a “city you
have never heard of might just undermine our entire plan for Iraq.”

As if the competition between Kurds and Turks and their respective
international benefactors weren’t enough for US policymakers to handle,
there is another large minority in Iraq whose plight has hardly ever been
discussed in the media and whose very existence as a national community
may hang in the balance in the months to come. Assyrians, numbering some
two million persons, are neither Arab nor Muslim and constitute one of the
world’s most ancient Christian communities and have sizeable communities
both in the Kurdish region and in Iraq proper.

For years, the Assyrians were essentially ignored by both the United
States and by the (primarily Muslim) Iraqi opposition. This sad oversight
is slowly beginning to change. In a recent letter, Congressman Henry Hyde,
chairman of the Committee on International Relations, wrote to Colin
Powell urging America to use its power and influence “to protect such a
diverse ethnic minority from possible abuses by the government that will
succeed the current dictatorship.”

The State Department has also acted, naming a staff member to focus on
Assyrian issues.

Given the fact that Saddam Hussein is expected to lash out if his
regime were to fall, Israel has begun to take extraordinary steps to
protect its citizenry.

What is less well known is that the Assyrian Christians of Iraq may end
up being the target of Saddam’s wrath. The recent savage murder and
beheading of an Assyrian nun in Baghdad and an increasing anti-Christian
sentiment in Iraq do not bode well for the Assyrians. The United States
would be well advised to take the plight of the Assyrians with extreme
seriousness lest we be faced with another morally troubling and
internationally humiliating debacle reminiscent of the mass Kurdish exodus
out of Iraq at the end of the Gulf War.

All of which leads to a larger point: The United States, in its ‘War on
Terror,’ has committed itself to remaking the geopolitical map of the
Middle East. Given the fact that most of the polities in the region are
the result of British and
French colonialism, it would be worthwhile
for the United States not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Rather than
regarding ethnic minorities as a means to an end, the United States should
view these regional minorities as distinct
groups whose cultural and
ethnic rights should be respected.

Should minority groups be merely used as pawns in a new ‘Great Game,’
we may unwittingly create new enemies whose plight will be exploited by
demagogues and opportunists looking for further ammunition to support
their anti-American causes. With the time to act fast approaching, it
would be worthwhile for Congress to begin an open debate on the needs and
rights of minorities not just in Iraq, but also throughout the Arab
world.

POWER STRUGGLE AMONG OPPOSITION GROUPS

Courtesy of Washington Post (Nov 12); article by Daniel
Williams

(ZNDA: Rome) Three months after the Bush administration encouraged them
to unite and create a common political platform for the future of their
country, Iraq's exile factions are locked in an ethnic, religious and
political power struggle.

Potentially important players are fighting tenaciously over rival
agendas. One of the major factions, the Iraqi National Congress (INC), is
also feuding with the State Department over $8 million in funding for
propaganda, humanitarian and other programs it is supposed to oversee,
State Department officials said. A much-heralded INC
"information-gathering" operation inside Iraq has yet to get off the
ground, the officials said, because of uncertainty in the Bush
administration about the INC's ability to get and relay useful
intelligence, as well as competing views within the Washington
bureaucracy.

Also stalled are the preparations for a pan-opposition conference that
was meant to project a vision for democratic rule if President Saddam
Hussein is overthrown. The conference was originally scheduled for late
September, but has been repeatedly postponed. The next possible date is
Nov. 22, in Brussels, but the INC is threatening a boycott. The State
Department plans to send a delegate to London soon to meet with opposition
officials in an attempt to end the infighting that has blocked the
conference, a department official said.

The arguing has put into doubt a role for Iraqi exiles in the country's
future and presents a grim preview of problems for any U.S. occupation of
Iraq.

Some of the disputes are based on ethnic suspicions and religious
rivalries. During his decades in power, Hussein has tamped down such
conflicts through repression. But by President Bush's reckoning, the new
Iraq is supposed to resolve its problems within a democratic system.

The Bush administration officially recognizes six opposition
organizations. One is the Iraqi National Congress, an amalgam of
anti-Hussein groups. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party represent the Kurdish population, based in northern Iraq.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI), an Iranian-based
fundamentalist group, claims to represent the majority Shiite Muslim
population. The Iraqi National Accord is composed of former army officers
and defectors from Hussein's Baathist party. Also thrown into the mix is a
monarchist party that embodies the aspirations of Sharif Ali bin Al
Hussein, an exiled aristocrat, to restore the Hashemite throne to
Iraq.

Bush also has authorized expansion of the opposition organizations to
include groups representing other former military officers and Turkish,
Assyrian and Christian minorities.

The INC leader, Ahmed Chalabi, may boycott the conference over the
scope of its agenda, the number of delegates and the quotas given invited
organizations. Chalabi had wanted the conference to endorse a provisional
government, with him in the lead. He also wanted upwards of 300 delegates
chosen partly on the basis of profession, gender and politics, not solely
because of ethnicity or religion.

The Kurdish parties, SCIRI and the Iraqi National Accord combined to
squash the provisional government idea and other Chalabi proposals, and to
limit the conference to about 180 participants. Fundamentalist Shiite
Muslim representatives would make up about 35 percent of the delegates, a
quota that offended secular Iraqis such as Chalabi. The Kurds would make
up 25 percent, Turks and Assyrians 10 percent. The remaining delegates
would be Sunni Muslims, the group that has traditionally ruled Iraq.

Kanan Makiya, a prominent writer and critic of the Iraqi government,
launched a fierce critique of the conference plans and called on Iraqi
exiles to deluge the State Department with statements of protest. "Where
are the independents? Where are the democrats? . . . Where is Iraq in such
a travesty of democracy and fairness?" he asked.

"If the conference goes ahead as is, it will only further divide the
Iraqi opposition, the opposite of its intended aims," said Siyamend
Othman, an independent political observer.

Last week, Chalabi walked out of a meeting of conference organizers
after SCIRI delegates criticized him for opposing the meeting. Kurdish
officials involved insist the conference will go on as scheduled. "Calls
for change are a minority opinion," said Latif Rashid, a Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan (PUK) representative in London. "There are just details that
have to be worked out."

"The problem is just one person -- Chalabi," said Hoshyar Zibari, a top
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official. "He doesn't want the conference
to take place. He is fighting for his political life."

In the meantime, the PUK and KDP have made proposals that have upset
their nominal opposition partners. The Kurdish parties plan to present a
constitution for Iraq that would grant the Kurds autonomy in an expanded
territory in the country's north. The city of Kirkuk is designated as the
Kurdish capital. The central government would control only foreign
affairs, the military and economic planning.

In effect, the Kurds want a federated Iraq divided between Arabs and
Kurds. "This is a non-starter for the Arabs," said a SCIRI
representative.

Turkey, one of Iraq's powerful neighbors, opposes anything that looks
like a step toward Kurdish statehood and has been battling Kurdish
nationalism within its own borders for decades. The Turks warned that if
the Kurds occupy Kirkuk, a city surrounded by rich oil resources, they
could face an invasion by Turkish troops. During a meeting last month in
Ankara, the Turks asked Gen. Tommy R. Franks, who heads the U.S. Central
Command that covers Iraq, not to use the Kurds in military action, Western
diplomats said. The Kurds boast a militia of 50,000 troops and their
leaders have expressed hope that an alliance with the United States would
ensure an autonomous northern Iraq.

The infighting has discouraged U.S. officials. Although the Pentagon
has tasked Chalabi with recruiting guides and logistics officers among
Iraqis to help U.S. troops in any invasion, for instance, the program has
yet to get underway.

The INC also had harbored hopes of getting funds to collect
intelligence inside Iraq via the "information-gathering" scheme. Because
of previous disagreements between the INC and the State Department, the
program was passed to the Pentagon, which agreed to pay but then pulled
back when Chalabi made the pledge
public.

Surfs Up!
Letters From Zinda
Magazine Readers

WHAT ABOUT THOSE OF US OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.?

I read "3 Percent Is Not Enough" (Zinda
Nov.4) You are calling on the Assyrians in America only
to send email letters of protest. You have overlooked the Assyrians
outside USA and (in Canada as well) have computers and read Zinda.

It is my opinion that as the politicians are fighting for "chairs"
(Chursiyi); majority of Assyrians won’t like persons who fight for
chairs but for goals and principles.

And most of us are confused and do not know what the Assyrian
politicians engaged in politics want for the whole Assyrians, other
than chairs. You may draft a letter to be emailed to whom you may
suggest, giving his name and address. Can you do that? Do you know
what the Assyrians want? I don'. All I see is confusion.

Youkhanna
Finland

PRESERVING ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS

The article by Nicolas Pelham in Saturday's FT
("Dam on the Tigris puts Assyrian past under threat") was extremely
timely in alerting your readers to the threat of destruction looming
over archaeological sites in northern Iraq.

The construction
of the Makhoul dam brings into sharp focus the recurring conflict
between the need for a reliable water source for agriculture and the
need to preserve monuments of global significance.

The British School of Archaeology in Iraq was founded in 1932 in
memory of Gertrude Bell, the first director of Iraq's national museum.
It is a charitable trust, sponsored by the British Academy, and has no
official ties with the government of Iraq. However, it has maintained
excellent relations with the National Museum in Baghdad.

We were able to bring six Iraqi scholars to London to take part in
a conference on the Assyrian capital of Nimrud at the British Museum
this year. We plan to sponsor two more to come to the Rencontre
Assyriologique Internationale in London next year.

The school has also sent conservation materials and consignments of
books to the National Museum and to Iraqi universities that, thanks to
sanctions, have been unable to obtain them for 12 years.

The British School is determined to do everything in its power to
assist Iraqi archaeologists in rescue operations and stands ready to
accept an invitation to participate in the project as soon as it is
received.

Harriet Crawford
Chairman
British School of Archaeology
in Iraq
London SW1Y 5AH

WHAT HAPPENED TO ASSYRIA FOR ASSYRIANS?

I was reading the news from your website and I
started to read this article about the Bush administration officially
recognizing six opposition organizations. One is the Iraqi National
Congress, an amalgam of anti-Hussein groups. The Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party represent the Kurdish
population, based in northern Iraq. The Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution (SCIRI), an Iranian-based fundamentalist group,
claims to represent the majority Shiite Muslim population. The Iraqi
National Accord is composed of former army officers and defectors from
Hussein's Baathist party. Also thrown into the mix is a monarchist
party that embodies the aspirations of Sharif Ali bin Al Hussein, an
exiled aristocrat, to restore the Hashemite throne to Iraq.

Bush also has authorized expansion of the opposition organizations
to include groups representing other former military officers and
Turkish, Assyrian and Christian minorities. What the hell does that
mean?

I understand the work all the different Assyrian parties are doing
for our Assyrian nation e.g. Zowaa , Bet-Naharin and the others which
I cant remember exactly what they’re called. But to me all the groups
are fighting for one cause and that is our Assyrian name and nation.
All this fighting and stuff that they are doing is helping us a bit by
George W Bush saying our name, the Assyrians, that is a big step and I
thank all the Assyrians that made sure with their letters, telephones,
and other means to contact the state department and make sure we are
included. But that’s all that has happened.

From my point of view, I think this is what will happen when Saddam
falls: Iraq will split up, there will be Arabs on one side and there
will be Kurds on the other side, and us Assyrians will have to live
under the Kurdish law and whatever they say so. In other words, Iraqi
people from all different identities (e.g. Suni, Shia, Assyrian,
Turkmon, Kurds) will finally finish from Saddam and his killings and
live a happy life. As for us Assyrians we will finish from Saddam as
well, but then enter a new chapter of living and doing whatever the
Kurds say. So we really have not gained a lot. We have just spread our
name to the world.

Why can the Kurds get a state called Kurdistan, but the Assyrians
can’t? Why can’t we have a state called Assyria as well. I’ll tell you
why. Because not only is the U.S.A. getting rid of Saddam, but they’re
fighting a Muslim country and do you think that the Muslims will stand
and let America give a piece of land to the so-called Assyrian
Christians? No way! That won’t happen. We Assyrians need to claim one
thing and that is our independence just like the Serbs and Croats did
and it worked. We Assyrians do not want to be under any other Kurdish
or Arab rule. We Assyrians want to be under our own rule with our own
Assyrian dollar, our own Assyrian government, our own Assyrian police
force, our own Assyrian army, our own Assyrian cars and so on!

Tony W.
Australia

SCRAMBLING TO THE TOP

In this week's issue of your esteemed magazine,
I came across a letter by A. Simon Malek from Canada. This letter
complained about the fact that unworthy people have scrambled to the
top of Assyrian organization thus crumbling our image.

Lots of people agree with that. In France we know full well about
the matter. (France is where Petros Ilia died ...)

To my utter surprise I read in Mr Malek's message that ... some
people like "Agha" Petros -that is how Petros Ilia is known- was SHOT
IN THE BACK !!!

Let me put the record straight here. Petros Ilia was (among other
things) a patronizer of prostitutes. He died on the street struck by a
fit of seizure (heart attack ?)on his way back from a prostitute.

Let me respectfully (to Mr Malek) point out that he should not be a
VICTIM himself of the gross campaign of publicity in favour of Petros
Ilia.

I urge Zinda to let their readers know about the "heroic" death of
"Agha" Petros.

I urge Mr Malek (and all Assyrians) to debunk the fame of an
infamous man who scrambled to the top of an Assyrian body.

Jean-Paul Sliva
Honorary Chairman
Association Assyrophile
de France

ASSYRIANS ON DUTCH TV

As a student in political science, I want to mention that a Dutch
radio station that discusses political issues has broadcasted (at
11-11-02) a documentary about Assyrians in Diaspora. The documentary
was filmed in Massachusetts, U.S.A. and was joined by our poet, Ninos
Aho, and other Assyrians. The documentary discusses the political,
cultural and theological problems of the Assyrians for 30 minutes.

For more information I refer Zinda to the Dutch Assyrian site
http://www.bethnahrin.nl/.

Fushun b'shlomo.

Gabriel Genc
Holland

MURDEROUS REPRISALS OF ISLAM

I can vouch for the reality of
the concern expressed by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales,
regarding the plight of Christian minorities in the Middle East in the
event of Western military action.

As a former chaplain of the Church of St Nicholas in Ankara,
Turkey, at the time of the last Gulf war, I saw many eastern
Christians who were forced to abandon their ancestral homes in Iraq's
Kurdistan because of the violent backlash against them by extremists,
or simply by enraged fellow countrymen. I learnt from exhausted,
frightened refugees that victims were taunted with "Go and get help
from Bush and Major" as they fled for their lives.

Should George Bush and Tony Blair decide to invade Iraq, God
forbid, I fear no number of Predator drones armed with Hellfire
missiles or SAS commandos will be able to protect Christian and other
minorities across the whole Islamic world from murderous
reprisals.

Dr Williams is justified, as a Christian leader, in drawing
attention to this aspect of the tragedy that will surely unfold if
this wicked and unjust war is allowed to take place.

Rev
Frank Julian Gelli
Brentford,
Middx
England

Surfers
Corner

LA
VOIX DES ASSYRO-CHALDEENS: 14 NOVEMBER

In our radio broadcast of November 14th, you will listen the reports
realised on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd in London (United Kingdom) by our
reporter Antoine Yalap during the meeting of the Assyrian political
parties to confirm the selection of the committee which will be
responsible to designate the persons to represent the Assyrians at these
meetings concerning our positions on the future of Iraq at the conference,
and to discuss common objectives and produce a declaration stating
Assyrian needs in a future Iraq. Among these reports, you will notably
listen to those of:

- Shimun Yako, representative of Assyria Liberation Party
(G.F.A)
- William Eshaya, representative of Iraqi opposition,
military field
- Shimun Yako, representative of Bet-Nahrin Democratic
Party (Iraq)
- Eshaya Isho, representative of Assyrian National
Organisation
- Paulus Dinkha, representative of the Party of
Bet-Nahrin's Union.

You will also listen to community announcements, the songs of the last
album of Farmo Markos, which has just appeared, with your favorite songs,
Linda Linda and Wardi Wardi; a song of Linda George, Gudid Nuhomo; a song
of the last album of Emad David; a song of ashur Bet-Sargis, which will
remind you of the beautiful time of the 70's; and a song of Lazar Malko.
We end our broadcast on a very beautiful song of Aboud zazi's new
album.

La Voix
des Assyro-Chaldéens
www.aacf.asso.fr

LOS
ANGELES: ASSYRIANS ON ABC NEWS ALL WEEK

Please tune into ABC News, Channel 7 (Los Angeles) at 5:30 and 11:30
p.m. , November 11-15, to see David Jackson's daily report on Assyrians
and his interview and candid talk with Mr. Yonadam Kanna, Secretary
General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa).

UC
BERKELEY OUTREACH EVENT IN SAN JOSE

The staff of Nisan Assyrian Recruitment & Retention Center at UC
Berkeley will be on hand in San Jose, California to educate local Assyrian
high school students about opportunities at UC Berkeley and prepare them
to apply.

What:
UC Berkeley Outreach Event
When: Friday, November 15, 2002 at 7
pm
Where: AAA of San Jose (Shotapoota)
20000 Almaden Road, San
Jose

Literatus

THE KURDISH LEADERSHIP: A POLICY OF SUPPRESSION

For years now some of us have been optimistic with the Kurdish
officials’ stand from the Assyrians in north of Iraq. But past experiences
have given us some warning bells that we amazingly have ignored. Many
Assyrians have continued to rely on that slim hope in what they called
Kurds’ leaders spiritual awakening, an awakening that was supposedly to
inspire justice when dealing with the Assyrians. Justice to those same
Assyrians, who have given the Kurds so much support in the past 40 years
despite the fact that the Assyrians have seen nothing from the Kurds but
massacres, persecution and suppression for centuries.

The Kurds brag about assigning the Assyrians five seats in the regional
parliament, but they do not talk about that they have manipulated the
process where they control the elections of 1992 in a manner by which they
had a control over the fifth seat through the puppet so-called Kurdistan
Christian United List organization. It is outrageous how the Kurd’s refer
to this assignment process as a favor done to the Assyrians! Let the Kurds
understand that this is not a favor as they claim rather a legitimate
right the Assyrians have in their ancestral lands. Today, the Kurds
continue to declare that Assyrians make only 3% (making the Assyrians,
amazingly, half of the Turkomans population) when they know very well that
the Assyrians clearly make 5-6% of the Iraqi population.

From the latest release of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) of
Nov 8, 2002, it becomes obvious that the Kurds are continuing in their old
evil ways and that the Assyrians' rights in northern Iraq is not even a
whistle in the Kurd’s Opera. The approval that came from the north Iraq
regional parliament for the two Kurdish parties (KDP) and (PUK) proposed
constitutions, defines the reality that Assyrians must find an alternative
route to deal with the Kurds. It seems to me that to rely on the Kurds'
any longer is clearly a national suicide. I do understand that the Kurds’
constitution proposals were approved by the Kurds themselves in a
parliament that they control undisputedly and I understand that these
proposals might not even see the light since there are other sides in the
Iraqi opposition equation on top of foreign influence that might change
things, still, the Kurds’ actions, proposals and approval translates to
intents of ill treatment, unfairness, and suppression, among other things
and that is the important point.

Yes, a very active segment in our society does deplore such treatment
and expresses its rage from such oppressive activities and release them on
our local web sites, but what next? Who is listening to our cry? The Kurds
understand that all this is harmless, because we continue to operate like
amateurs whose directionless voices have been lost in the abyss of the
web. It is obvious that in today’s world politics, those people who make
much noise get somewhere and that is why the west today has been, and for
the last 11 years, speaking of the Kurds’ and not the Assyrians’ cause.
While we were speaking and arguing among ourselves, the Kurds were
knocking on the doors of the White House, the Congress, and speaking to
world leaders. Today we finally read an official release from the ADM
pleading for justice but is that enough? Someone told me yesterday that he
was expecting a demonstration by Assyrians in north of Iraq in front of
the Northern Iraq Regional Parliament! He said, the Kurds could not do the
Assyrians more harm that they have already, especially when the world is
watching today. If we in the free west are not doing much for the
Assyrians in north of Iraq, should we expect much from the ADM than their
moderate release? If we cannot mobilize the 2 million Assyrians in the
free west to bring our voice to the civilized world, do we then have the
right to demand more from the few hundred thousands divided Assyrians in
northern Iraq living among some three to four million generally hostile
Kurds?

So what next?

Few have argued that the Assyrian leadership in northern Iraq have
failed to invest in the Assyrians’ own power, regardless to the population
figures, and that they have entrusted the Assyrians’ future in the hands
of their prosecutors and today we are logically paying the price! These
few rely on examples around the world of small populations, yet strong
people, living in the middle of a hostile region dominated by their
enemies. If that was the case, then one has to ask why then did we fail
and how would we rectify that?

This question should be directed to us in the Diaspora. Indeed, I turn
to us and ask: What is with this inconceivably chilling reaction towards
our own people in our ancestors’ land? It is us who are supposed to
empower our people in northern Iraq. How could we remain so damn
cold-blooded while our own people are crying loudly for help? One has to
give credit for individuals like Dr. Ron Michael and others who
established the Assyrian American League (AAL), but is that enough? Where
are we, the Assyrian masses in the Diaspora from all of this? If we cannot
organize few protest campaigns in North America, Europe and Australia to
reflect to the civilized world the Kurdish repeated suppression of the
Assyrians, shouldn't we then stop this inner-community cry out that is
going nowhere? What would it take to make us care? A repeated Simele!

Fred
Aprim
California

SADDAM HUSSEIN'S DELUSION

Courtesy of the New York Times (14 November); article by Amir
Taheri - editor of the Paris-based journal Politique
Internationale.

(ZNDA: Paris) Following Syria's vote for the Security Council's
resolution demanding new weapons inspections in Iraq, the Arab League
voted Sunday to urge Iraq to comply with the American-sponsored
resolution. On Tuesday the six Persian Gulf Arab monarchies in the Gulf
Cooperation Council likewise urged Iraq to cooperate. On 13 November Iraq
complied with the resolution.

An Iraqi priest holding an incense holder at "The Lady of
Salvation" church during Sunday Mass in Baghdad, Iraq - AP
Photo/Hussein Malla

All that Arab support for the Security Council must have hurt Saddam
Hussein, for he is the self-appointed champion of the Arab cause. His
basic assumption is that there is a single Arab nation stretching from the
Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. At different times, history chooses part of
this mythical nation to assume leadership. In Saddam Hussein's view, it is
now Iraq's turn.

This dream of power is not only problematic for Iraq's neighbors and
fellow Arabs. It is problematic within Iraq. As early as 1969, Saddam
Hussein spoke of his determination to strengthen Iraq's uruba (Arabness).
This was no easy task. Although all the people of Iraq do feel that they
are Iraqis, not all regard themselves as Arabs.

Historically, only part of the 7,000-year biography of the land that is
Iraq could be described as Arab. The rest is covered by Sumerian,
Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Elamite, Urartan, Persian, Byzantine,
Mongol, Mamluk and Ottoman periods, among others.

Iraqi architecture, music, cuisine and daily rituals reflect this rich
diversity. The word Iraq is Persian, meaning lowlands, as is Baghdad,
which means God-given. The names of Iraq's two great rivers, the Euphrates
and the Tigris, are Greek.

Iraq is also the home of 11 living languages, some of which, like
Elamite, are twice as old as Arabic. As much as 25 percent of the
population are ethnic Kurds, speaking two languages (Surani and Bahdinani)
and following a variety of religions, including Zoroastrianism. Then there
are Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians, Nestorians and Sabeans, most of them
Christians, and Turkmen, who are Muslims.

Arabic is the mother tongue of some 68 percent of the population,
providing a strong linguistic bond. But the ethnic Arabs are divided
between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Saddam Hussein does not tolerate hyphenated identities. Under him no
one can be Kurdish-Iraqi or Sabean-Iraqi. You have to be Arab. His problem
has been how to Arabize Iraq.

In 1970, he opened the Ottoman archives, in which Iraqis were
classified as either Ottoman or Persian subjects. He prepared a policy of
mass expulsion against the Persians, even though many prominent Iraqis —
including Rashid Ali al-Gailani, the father of Iraqi nationalism, and
Muhammad al-Jawahiri, the greatest Arabic poet of the 20th century — had
been classified as Persian during Ottoman rule.

The mass expulsion of the Persians was implemented from 1972 on. By
1980 nearly a million people had been driven out. Needless to say, the
overwhelming majority of those expelled had been born and raised in Iraq,
regarded themselves as Iraqis and spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. To
replace them, Saddam Hussein decided to import a million Arabs, especially
from Egypt. Very soon, however, he decided that the Egyptians were lazy
and cared too little about his dreams of empire and conquest.

In 1980 he decided to Arabize the Kurds. Over the next 10 years, more
than 4,000 Kurdish villages in the north of the country were razed, their
inhabitants transferred to southern Iraq and scattered among the
Arabic-speaking majority. For Saddam Hussein this was a double coup,
because the transplanted Kurds were Sunni while the Arabs among whom they
would live were Shiite, a religious group disfavored by Mr. Hussein's
regime.

Under his vision, Iraq must be fully Arabized by force and, if
necessary, through genocide. He also wants Iraq to secure control of the
principal source of Arab wealth: oil. That means either the direct
conquest of the Persian Gulf states or their indirect domination. He has
shown that he is fully prepared to go to war to fulfill this vision and
has done so on four occasions since 1968. His quest for weapons of mass
destruction is simply one strategy by which he hopes to dominate the
region.

"There are times in history when the leadership of a nation is small,"
Saddam Hussein said in a speech in 1977. "There are other times when the
nation is smaller than the leadership. A great nation with a small
leadership gets nowhere. But a great leadership can drag a small nation
along to greatness." Saddam Hussein has dragged the people of Iraq, and to
some extent the rest of the Arabs, into several tragic adventures in the
past three decades. Soon, he may drag them into yet another, one that may
be his last.

Bravo

MELAMMU - A STURDY FIVE YEARS

The convening of the 5th annual Melammu conference marks a maturation
of the event, and a record number of presentations - forty-three
submissions - spread over five days of presentation. The venue this year,
in western Austria, the Tyrol, gave an opportunity to experience another
university town in Europe steeped in Germanic culture but alive to the
latest technological support systems. From 3-8 October in one of the
lecture rooms at the Leopold-Franzens-Universitat in Innsbruck were
concentrated an attentive audience of ancient and medieval historians, art
historians, economists, epigraphists and numismatists. The topic "Commerce
and Monetary Systems in the Ancient World: Means of Transmission and
Cultural Interaction," attracted a diverse crowd, many new faces, and some
regulars. More and more of the presentations are enlivened by power point
aided visuals, offering maps, charts and object images that enhance
understanding of very detailed presentations.

In part due to its setting, this meeting was dominated by German
language presentations and discussion, a language essential to ancient
studies but not always easy to follow in the many accents in which it was
presented. The presence of two scholars from St. Petersburg marked a first
for participation from the Russian Republic. Prof. Dandamayev, and his
daughter Maryam (art historian at the Hermitage) were a welcome addition.
The level of discussion and enthusiasm for the Melammu approach is growing
among a wider group of ancient historians. Medievalists who are able to
step out of the confines of their own period to discover relations with an
expanded vision of time and space are still few, especially scholars in
Syriac studies. Perhaps the spirit of inquiry and fellowship that marks
these meetings will penetrate into seminary enclaves and insular
departments in Syriac studies in the future.

The theme for the next meeting, in keeping with the broad approach of
Melammu: The Intellectual Heritage of Assyria and Babylonia in East and
West, will be on IDEOLOGIES OF POWER AND SACRED KINGSHIP. The local has
not been decided for 2003 but in 2004 the conference will convene in
Padua, Italy. Papers presented at the Chicago meeting (2000) are in press
now and the volume from the Ravenna meeting (2001) on historiography
should appear within six to seven months. The Ravenna volume and the
Innsbruck volume will carry the logo of the Assyrian American National
Federation in thanks for its token donation to the Melammu effort.

[For a
complete coverage of this year’s Melammu Conference in Austria see the
current issue of the Assyrian Star magazine at P.O. Box 2880, Worcester,
MA 01613 or email: [email-masked]
.]

Calendar of
Events

Visit the Zinda Magazine Calendar at http://www.zindamagazine.com/calendar

Thank
You!

Zindamagazine would like to thank:

Jacklin
Bejan
(California)

Petr Kubalek
(Czech
Republic)

Dr. Eden Naby-Frye
(Harvard
University)

Pierre
Toulakany
(California)

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