Subj: ZENDA (Vol II,#13; 4/29/96) Date: 96-04-29 02:47:14 EDT From: zenda@ix.netcom.com (Zenda) To: zenda@ix.netcom.com April 29, 1996 Volume II, Issue 13 ***** ***** * * **** ** * * ** * * * * * * *** * * * * * ****** * * * ** * * * * ***** ***** * * **** * * A Weekly Online Newsletter Serving the Assyrian Communities Around the World ===================================================== THE L I G H T H O U S E ===================================================== OUR ASSYRIAN ROOTS We recognize the ancient roots of Mesopotamian civilizations, and we do not differenctiate between the Assyrian, or Babylonian, or even the Sumerian civilization. Rather, we perceive all ancient cultures that flourished on Mesopotamian soil [Bet-Nahrain], as more or less assimilated by the Assyrian to the point that they are no longer ethnically separable from each other. Legend has it that during their reign, the Assyrians poured legions and settlers into the occupied lands especially the southern area of Mesopotamia, 'Assyrianizing' it. Of course, this is legend, but the fact remains that our Assyrian culture was able to absorb all the other branches. What preceded the Assyrians in Mesopotamia is regarded to be a part of Assyrian culture, and what emerged, was a new unified entity. Those civilizations that reigned in Mesopotamia after the destruction of Assyria and Babylon, had their influence on the region's basic civilizational structure but not to the degree of severing its bonds with its original people. In a sense, the ancient blood is still streaming in the veins of the descendants of the inhabitants of Assyria. They share a common history, and a common racial-national designation. Atour (Assyria) as a country no longer exists, but we have attachment to, and are proud of, the soil upon which our Assyrian ancestors trod, and by far more in the history of the land of our beloved homeland which served as the cradle for a succession of civilizations. Youab Benyamin [An Excerpt from the article written for The Ashurbanipal Libary Newsletter, Vol 2,#2 -1989] ===================================================== G O O D M O R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N ===================================================== TALABANI & BARZANI DISAPPOINT U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (ZNRU: Ankara) Rival Iraqi Kurdish separatist groups were unable to reach a peace agreement in talks last week with a U.S. delegation in northern Bet-Nahrain. The feud between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has cost about 3,000 lives and split the region into rival zones. But there have been no serious clashes for over a year. U.S. State Department official Robert Deutsch met separately with KDP leader Massoud Barzani and PUK leader Jalal Talabani in northern Bet-Nahrain. The Kurdish groups began fighting in 1994 over control of the ancient Assyrian city of Arbil and the distribution of revenues from a makeshift oil trade at the Turkish border. HASHISH SEIZED IN A CAVE (ZNRU: Diyarbakir) Turkish forces killed 10 Kurdish rebels and seized seven rifles and 700 pounds of hashish in a cave in the Hakkari province of northern Bet-Nahrain. Security sources say the latest death tolls brings to 186 the number of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas killed during a large-scale offensive which began April 5. Almost 19,000 people have died in the PKK's 12-year fight for autonomy or independence. ===================================================== S U R F S U P ! ===================================================== "I recently began surfing through many irc's and I have set up an Assyrian room on The Dalnet server. The address is sanjose.ca.us.undernet.org and when you are there, you join the room #assyria. I think it will be a lot of fun if a lot of Assyrians are there!" Joseph Agassi Cal State Univ Stanislaus Turlock, California -------------------- "Just read the message on the donation of close to a million dollers from Budwiser to our nation. I was wondering how we were able to achieve this milestone? Was there an individual involve in permoting the idea? If so I believe we should recognized his/her efforts." Lena Mushell San Jose, California [According to the latest issue of Nabu Quarterly (see last issue) the source of information for this article was Mr. Eddie Rayis, an employee of Annaheiser Busch Company, who may also have been the driving force behind the Budweiser Calendar and the $1 Million contribution.] -------------------- "Thank you for your note, and for ZENDA, both of which I received today. As to Assyrians in South America I am afraid I don't have very much information. I know my father has relatives in Brazil, specifically in Rio de Janeiro. There also are Assyrians in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with whom we are in touch." Gladys Warda Uruguay -------------------- "IT IS A GREAT FEELING TO FIND OUT THAT THERE IS SO MANY ASSYRIAN ALL OVER THE WORLD ON LINE. I AM A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN TURLOCK CALIFORNIA AND WOULD LIKE TO OFFER MY SERVICES TO WHOM EVER THAT NEEDS IT.CHECK OUT MY HOMEPAGE ON : http://www s2.sonnet.com.bella.htm KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ZENDA." Bella Daniel Turlock, California -------------------- "I'm glad to have found your handy and useful newsletter. As an attorney and editor, I'm pleased to see anything that promotes Assyrianism and/or the free exchange of information. I would appreciate it greatly if you could place me on your e-mail list for subsequent issues of Zenda. Thanks." Tay Sarguis San Francisco -------------------- "I enjoy reading your weekly newsletter and appreciate immensely your untiring efforts in creatng it. I am working on a screenplay in conjuction with one of Hollywood's screenplay writers, concerning the events that took place in Iraq (or Bet Nahrain as you would like to refer to it). The novel is based on real life stories gathered of Iraqis from the year 1977 to 1992. It depicts all the hardship that Iraqis indured as a result of Saddam Hussein's reign in power. The novel covers the miseries felt by Shia Iraqis, Kurdish Iraqis and Assyrian Iraqis. Please forward any "real life" stories you are aware of that Assyrians witnessed such as deportations, mass executions (ethnic cleansing) or chemical bomb attacks. I will make an exerted effort to include as many of the real life stories as I possibly could. We are hoping that the screenplay gets picked up by one of the networks or cable television operators and transform it into a 'made for TV movie'." Mark Allister California -------------------- "Got my first issue of your newsletter and enjoyed reading its contents. Am looking forward to the many issues I expect to get in the future. Your selection of international news concerning our Assyrian brothers in all parts of the world is excellent. In a prior issue sent to me by another of your subscribers, you quoted a Reuters press release saying thet there were 250,000 Assyrian/Jews in Israel. It might be interesting if you could follow up and this and see if you can find out from whence these Jews came and whatever else you can discover about them. I am presently reading a copy of a book written back in l841 by a medical missionary, ASAHEL GRANT, M.D. [1807-1844]. The name of the book: "The Nestorians; or, The Lost Tribes". In the book, by making comparisons of the Nestorians of both Urmia and Kurdistan with the known Jewish tribes in the same area, of their physical features, customs, foods, language, and other factors, the writer tries to convince the reader that the so-called Assyrians (a/k/a Nestorians) are really the Ten Lost Jewish Tribes taken into captivity by the Assyrians as the story is related in the Old Testament of the Bible. The University of Michigan library has an original copy of the book and there is a company who will, for a price, make copies of it upon request. The book also has a library of Congress Number DS131.G77 and perhaps you can check it out there. The facinating thing I find about the book is the description of the Assyrian people of both the plains of Urmia and the mountains of Turkey (Kurdistan) at that time; whether you believe the premise of his hypothesis or not. The author's descriptions are very well done and challenge the imagination of the reader and I'm sure some of your subscribers might like to read the book, believe it or not. Now that I read that there are 250,000 Assyrian/Jews in Israel who do not know Hebrew and have to have a proposed dictionary of Syriac to Hebrew, it really piques my curiousity as to whether these are the Jews that Grant describes as those living near the "Nestorians" in Kurdistan and Urmia. I knew a Jew from Urmia who years ago would come to the Assyrian churches to dinners because he knew the language well and loved the food (dolma, kipti, rissah, mashee. etc.) which I was taught to love. We have lost some of these dishes during the diaspora of those ancestors to Bagdad, Syria, Jordan, etc. where many of our older customs and foods have had a strong Arab influence. I'm in my 82nd year and the newer generations are quite different than the ones who came to the US in the teens, twenties, and thirties, before WW II. Anyhow, we are all of the same blood so I have learned to eat dolma that is wrapped up like a cigar, etc. and other variations of the foods I learned to love as a child. I was born in Minneapolis, MN. in 1914 and mom and dad came here in 1906; but grandpa (maternal) had come to Chicago in 1902, so our perspective is a bit different. Perhaps some of your 300 subscribers may have some comment on GRANT'S book, if they have been exposed to it, amd perhaps they know more about the so-called "Assyrian/Jews". This should be an interesting subject to investigate. Please let me know what you need from me to fulfill my obligation on my subscription to your newsletter. If any of your other readers wish to communicate with me, you are fee to give them my e-mail ID. May I close with push'b'shana and Alaha minookhun." Polus Nweeya (a.k.a. Paul Newey) GYQS35A@prodigy.com ===================================================== S U R F E R S C O R N E R ===================================================== What is going on in your community? Any lectures, meetings, and parties? ZENDA wants to know. By informing other readers you help bring our "virtual community" closer to its core. We welcome all social, religious, and political activities that pertain to the Assyrian communities around the world. The Assyrian nation, living and dynamic, colorful in all aspects of its cultural and religious attributes, is a breathing socio-political system stretched from one continent to another. Let ZENDA help chronicle the celebration of the millenium- our existence- with every article you send, new reader you introduce, and the community activity you mention to us. Stagnation no more! ===================================================== N E W S D I G E S T ===================================================== TURKISH BOAT CARRYING ASSYRIANS IS STOPPED IN GREECE (ZNRU: Greece) A Turkish speedboat with 12 Iraqi passangers, possibly Assyrians, was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard officers. The boat's captain was identified as Amance Gorgu, 28, from Istanbul. The "illegal" passangers included three women, three men, and six children. They are currently in police custody in Greece. The Turkish captain appeared before a public prosecutor Wednesday to face charges of illegal entry into Greece and smuggling illegal immigrants. Greek officials say Turkish smugglers charge up to $4,000 a person to ferry illegal immigrants across the Greek border. Between 1992 and 1995, 22,900 illegal immigrants have crossed from Turkey to Greece, 9,590 of them in 1995 alone. Not long ago a similar boat carrying 18 Assyrian passangers sank in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and all passangers were killed. ASSYIAN STORE OWNER KILLED IN BURGLURY (ZNDA: San Diego) A 65-years-old Assyrian-Chaldean liquor store owner was gunned down on April 18. Sleiman Hallak who lived in the Skyline area of San Diego, California, a member of the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Church in El Cajon, was an enthusiastic supporter of the Assyrian-Chaldean community. Known as "pops" to his clientele, Mr. Hallak was liked and well-respected in the business circles. On April 18 at 10:30 a.m., while Sleiman was tending to his business, an armed assailant wearing a ski mask enters the liquor store, fires several shots, takes some cash and runs away. Mr. Hallak having received seven wounds to the head and chest dies on the premises. Sleiman leaves behind his wife Suaad, seven children and a number of grandchildren. THE FILM "JESUS" IS AVAILABLE IN ASSYRIAN (ZNDA: San Jose) The most widely translated film in history and on the life of Jesus Christ is now available in Assyrian. Distributed by Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelistic and missionary Christian movement, "Jesus" was dubbed in Assyrian by a group of Assyrian artists in Lebanon. As many as 100 Assyrian-Lebanese have been involved in the translation of this 120-minutes long film which is also considered "the most accurate film ever made about Christ." "Jesus" was filmed on location in Isreal with a cast of 5000 Israelis and Arabs, and every word spoken by Jesus is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke. For more information and to order a copy contact The Jesus Film Project: P.O. Box 72007 San Clemente, California 92674-9207 ===================================================== D I R E C T O R Y OF THE N E W S S O U R C E S ===================================================== ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly) ZNRU (Reuters): ClariNet Communications Corp. ZNSC (soc.culture.assyrian) newsgroup ZNUP (United Press International) ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com) ===================================================== C A L E N D A R OF E V E N T S ===================================================== New Dates & Updates May 3 ----------------------------------------------------- May 3 General Membership Meeting Assyrian American Assoc. of San Jose BETA: 20000 Almaden Rd, San Jose 7:30 pm May 24-27 Assyrian State Convention of California Fairmont Hotel San Jose, U.S.A. May 24-25 Memorial Weekend Games Chicago, U.S.A. May 25-26 2nd Assyrian Community Networking Conference Fairmont Hotel San Jose, U.S.A. June 1 Nineveh Choral Concert Conducted by Maestro Nebu Issabey Santa Teresa High School Auditorium San Jose, U.S.A. 8:00 pm June 9-11 The ARAM Conference Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A July 1-5 RENCONTRE ASSYRIOLOGIQUE INTERNATIONALE Praque, Czech Republic July 4-7 Assyrian Olympics of California San Diego, California Thru Aug 15 "Beirut: Uncovering the Past" Profiles recent UNESCO archeology efforts The British Museum London, England August 12-14 SyrCOM-96: Second International Forum on Syrian Computing Symposium Syriacum Uppsala University Dept of Asian and African Studies Box 513 S-751 20 Uppsala Sweden Fax: +46 18 181094 Witold.Witakowski@afro.uu.se Aug 29-Sept 2 AANF National Convention Red Lion Inn Hotel Modesto, U.S.A. ----------------------------------------------------- ENTERTAINMENT ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- REGULAR CLASSES & MEETINGS ----------------------------------------------------- Mondays Assyrian History Class "Assyrian History: 18th Century thru Present Instructor: Wilfred Alkhas BETA on 20000 Almaden Rd, San Jose, Calif Class begins on June 3 Fridays Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at Modesto Junior College 1:00 pm Founders Hall 108 Modesto, U.S.A. ----------------------------------------------------- CLASSES ----------------------------------------------------- Thursdays Nineveh Choir: Maestro Nebu Issabey BETA: AAA of San Jose, U.S.A. 7:30-9:00 pm ===================================================== A S S Y R I A N S U R F I N G P O S T S ===================================================== New Site(s) Nineveh On-Line http://www.nineveh.com/~agabrial/nol.htm Akkadian Translation Service http://www.leonardo.net/musofire/trans.html ===================================================== P U M P U P T H E V O L U M E ===================================================== ENGLISH ASSYRIAN Geography rshaam-aar-aa [M] Geology ydaa-aar-aa [M] History taash-ee-taa [M] Note: pronounce "aa" in "baahra" (light) ____________________________________________________ F = Feminine M = Masculine P = Plural ===================================================== B A C K T O T H E F U T U R E ===================================================== B.C. (4000) City of Uruk in southern Bet-Nahrain included two major religious centers: Kullaba and Eanna where Anu and Innana (Ishtar) are worshipped respectively. The city covered an area of 400 hectares and according to a legend its walls were built by its legendary king Gilgamesh. << Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, Roaf >> A.D. (December 1958) Mar Paulos II Cheikho is elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Church. << Ashurbanipal Library Newsletter, April 1989 >> ====================================================== L I T E R A T U S ====================================================== *** THE LAWS OF UR-NAMMU *** 2100 B.C. If a man divorces his primary wife, he must pay her one mina of silver. If a prospective son-in-law enters the house of his prospective father-in-law, but his father-in-law later gives his daughter to another man, the father-in-law shall return to the rejected son-in-law two fold the amount of bridal presents he had brought. << The Ancient Near East, Pritchard >> ====================================================== T H I S W E E K I N H I S T O R Y ====================================================== April 29, 1972: Malik Yakub Malik Ismael is Awarded the Assyrian Star Medal of Honor at the Congress of the Assyrian Universal Alliance. May 1, 1847: Opening of the Assyrian Room at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France ====================================================== B R A V O ====================================================== From Nabu Quarterly: Fourth Quarterly 1996 Chicago- Peter Jasim and Firas Jatou have completed a computer program which can search through any text field written for a database such as the entire commercially available WhitePages directories in the United States and abroad. This will enable these two members of the Assyrian Academic Society, to find all last and first names that may be recognized as Assyrian (i.e. Younan, Esho, etc). ====================================================== W E L C O M E T O Z E N D A ====================================================== Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from: CORPORATE ACCOUNTS Chemical Safety Centennial Contract Services Quantum Corp Sandoz Corp Assyrian Australlian Academic Society UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS Paderborn University, Germany PERSONAL ACCOUNTS San Jose, California Sweden San Francisco Germany Canada ====================================================== A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S ====================================================== Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals & organizations whose contributions appear in this issue: Vivian Hammi San Diego, California Youab Benyamin Chicago, Illinois Albert Gabriel Hollister, California Nabu Quarterly Chicago, Illinois ____________________________________________________ ZENDA will continue to print your comments and suggestions free of editing, as they appear in our mailbox. All letters will be printed in our SURFS UP! section unless directed otherwise. We urge you to submit your community and church activities, personal accomplishments, and meeting/ school events to Zenda no later than Sunday, 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time. ----------------------------------------------------- Our Next Issue will appear on Monday, May 6, 1996. ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- From zenda@ix.netcom.com Mon Apr 29 02:47:00 1996 Return-Path: zenda@ix.netcom.com Received: from dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.11]) by emin08.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id CAA23537; Mon, 29 Apr 1996 02:46:58 -0400 Received: from sjx-ca27-27.ix.netcom.com (zenda@sjx-ca27-27.ix.netcom.com [204.31.235.91]) by dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com (8.6.13/8.6.12) with SMTP id XAA02751; Sun, 28 Apr 1996 23:38:02 -0700 Message-Id: <2.2.16.19960429064321.0bbf6786@popd.ix.netcom.com> X-Sender: zenda@popd.ix.netcom.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (16) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 23:43:21 -0700 To: zenda@ix.netcom.com From: Zenda Subject: ZENDA (Vol II,#13; 4/29/96)