From zenda@ix.netcom.com Mon May 12 05:14:25 1997 Return-Path: Received: from dfw-ix15.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix15.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.15]) by mrin64.mail.aol.com (8.8.5/8.8.5/AOL-1.0.1) with ESMTP id FAA10252; Mon, 12 May 1997 05:14:23 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix15.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id BAA16961; Mon, 12 May 1997 01:55:50 -0500 (CDT) Received: from sjx-ca73-53.ix.netcom.com(207.93.129.117) by dfw-ix15.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id sma016863; Mon May 12 01:54:48 1997 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970511235353.00696f60@popd.ix.netcom.com> X-Sender: zenda@popd.ix.netcom.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 11 May 1997 23:53:53 -0700 To: zenda@ix.netcom.com From: ZENDA Subject: ZENDA I (Vol III, #13 ; 5/12/97) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Yaar 12, 6747 May 12, 1997 zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz zz z zzzzzzzzz z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z zzzzzzz z z z z z zzzzzzz z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz z zz zzzzzzz z z Volume III, Issue 13 A Weekly Online Publication of ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency -Section 1 of 2- =========================================================================== T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A =========================================================================== -Section One- The Lighthouse...................... Knanaye Christians Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............ Iraqis Flee Troubled Homeland Surfs Up............................ "practice an open-door policy" Surfers Corner...................... AAS Dictionary Project August 7 Martyrs Day in Canada Nabu Books Assyrian Dictionaries Joseph Davida's Gift for ZENDA News Digest......................... Assyrian Man Arrested in Connecticut AUA to Celebrate Mtakasta's 40th Maronite Commander Gets Life Sentence Presidential Elections in Iran Second Earthquake Hits Iran Saddam Goes Online -Section Two- Calendar of Events.................. San Jose, Los Angeles & Turlock Entracte............................ Father's Day in LA Intelligentsia...................... Classes and Seminars Assyrian Surfing Posts.............. Assyrian Travel Words Pump up the Volume.................. Free & Freedom Back to the Future.................. The 350 Kings Puzzle Repercussions of British War on Iran Literatus........................... The Horseshoe Nail This Week in History................ First Assyrian Association in Tehran Bravo............................... Peter Jasim The Directory....................... News Sources Bshena.............................. HMTT, UCI, Ontario, Loma Linda Salute.............................. Daniel, Firas, Rita, Lena, Albert, Chris & Vivian =========================================================================== THE L I G H T H O U S E =========================================================================== ASSYRIAN (SYRIAN)-JACOBITE KNANAYA CHRISTIANS Modern Knananites are the descendants of Assyrian-Jacobite Christians who migrated to the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India in the Fourth Century, led by Thomas of Kana (Knai Thomas). Many of today’s Knanaya Christians believe that they are descendants of the Jewish groups that, after the final Roman conquest in the First Century A.D.,fled to the Malabar coast in India. According to a brief historical note found in the official North American Knanaya Diocese's website Knai Thoma (Mar Thoma) was a wealthy merchant from Kana who founded a colony of 400 Syrian Christians with instructions from the Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Yusthedius, in India. Among the noted pilgrims was Joseph of Urhai or Edessa who sailed in 3 ships arrived in India in 345 AD. The ships carried the flags of Kind David, Rome with the Cross, and King Abgar of Edessa. The leading ship was called “Babylonia.” Knananites who lived on the south side of Kodungalloor river are known as Southists (Thekkumbhagor) and the St Thomas Christians who lived on the north side are called Northists (Vadakkumbhagor). In India Knananites do not intermarry with the St. Thomas Christians. It is also noted that “Knananites believe that their customs and rituals are a continuation of ancient Jewish practices such as the position of the bride standing on the right of the bridegroom during the wedding ceremony, burial of the dead to face East to Jerusalem, the priest's black velvet cap which is similar to the Jew's head gear, the "kiss of peace" ceremony during Eucharist, the blessings given by parents and grandparents their children and grandchildren, reminiscent of the Old Testament blessings. During Easter celebrations Knananites partake with unleavened bread and drink wine made of coconut milk and plums reminiscent of the Jewish malzot and red wine during Passover night. The Knanaya marriage ceremony includes the bridal canopy that may be equivalent to the Jewish nuppah; the ceremonial bathing on the eve of the wedding that may be parallel to the Jewish mikrah or ritual bath: and singing of Old Testament songs on the eve and on the day of the wedding. All these customs and rituals are exclusively practiced by the Knananites and so distinguish them from the native Christians."* In 1599, only half a century after the first major division in the Assyrian Church of the East in Bet-Nahrain, the Portuguese Archbishop Menesis of Goa assembled a synod in which he forcibly changed the Syrian teachings that existed since the arrival of the Knananites to Latin. The Portuguese then drowned the Knananite Patriarch Ahathallah. In 1653 under the leadership of Reverend Itty Thomas, a Knanaya priest, 25,000 Syrian Christians pledged the Bent Cross Oath and refused to accept the Latin teachings. Thereafter, the Knananites, as with their Assyrian brethren in Bet-Nahrain of a century before who were divided into the Assyrian Church of the East followers and the Chaldean Catholics , were divided into the traditional and Catholic Knanaye Christian sects. On April 15, 1951, Mor Clemis Abraham was ordained as the third bishop of the Knanaya Diocese by H. H. Ignatius Ephraim I, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. He was then elected as the Malankara Metropolitan in 1957. For his valuable services to the Syrian Church, Mar Clemis was honored by Patriarch Ignatius Zakka Iwas I as "Kooberneeti Hakeemo" or the Wise Man. Mar Clemis visited Pope John Paul II in 1980 and currently resides at Mar Ephraim Seminary at Chingavanam, India. Today, there are 63 Knananites parishes served by 68 Knanaya priests around the world, of which 9 are managed under the North American Knanaya Diocese in USA and Canada. As of 1996 there were 350 Jacobite Knanaya families living in North America. There are approximately 2500 Knanaya Catholic families in North America. Marriages between the Knanaya Catholics and Knanaya Jacobites are allowed. All the traditions and rituals practiced by the Knanaya Jacobites are also practiced by the Knanaya Catholics. ZENDA *For more information see http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~grjosep/knanaya.html =========================================================================== G O O D M O R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N =========================================================================== IRAQIS FLEE TROUBLED HOMELAND The death of 17 illegal Iraqi immigrants in a shipwreck off the Turkish coast last week has once again cast the spotlight on the human tide fleeing oppression and economic hardship in Iraq. Since punitive economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq following its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, a vast wave of Iraqi immigrants have risked their lives to escape to a better life in Europe. The Ahmad family was just a small part of the exodus, fleeing Iraq three years ago and setting themselves up in Istanbul before deciding to pay a smuggler 3,000 dollars per head to land them on the Greek island of Samos. But on Sunday morning at least 17 of the family, including four women and five children, drowned when the two small Turkish boats carrying them overturned off the Dilek peninsula after setting out from the Turkish port of Kusadasi. The Iraqi government gives no figures for the number of immigrants leaving the country, but month after month groups of illegal Iraqi immigrants are uncovered. In Romania last March truckloads of Iraqis were found entering the country from Bulgaria and Turkey, and a similar cargo was uncovered near Grenoble in France in November heading for The Netherlands. The following month the Dutch authorities uncovered a clandestine network that had managed to provide between 4,000 and 5,000 Iraqis with forged passports, while 15 Iraqi immigrants in jail in Cyprus swallowed detergent in a mass suicide attempt because they were terrified of being sent home. Iraq is still smarting from the highly-embarrassing defection of its flag-bearer, a weight lifter, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. A survey by the US periodical Foreign Affairs estimated that three million Iraqis, out of a total of 22 million, were now living abroad. Many are educated middle-class professionals, and many are Christians. Although Iraq is a secular state, church officials in Baghdad estimate only 500,000 Christians remain in Iraq, compared to around three million in the 1980s. "It is a big problem, all the young boys want to leave to go abroad," said a European businessman in Baghdad. Each Iraqi wanting to leave the country first has to pay 400,000 dinars (333 dollars) to the government. According to another Western businessman, most of them then head for Amman and do the round of consulates there in a desperate bid to find a third country that will take them. However, most of them return demoralized to Iraq. "They have great difficulty obtaining visas, even in usually welcoming countries such as Canada and New Zealand," he added. Patrick Rahir Agence France-Presse AFP May 1997 =========================================================================== S U R F S U P ! =========================================================================== "Schlomo, I want to thank you for sending me ZENDA. I would like to read more about ZOWAA and every important distion with the Kurdisch partys. I would like to read about the conection ZOWAA have with the Turkisch govement. I'm a Assyrian women fron Tur-Abdin and want wish you good lucky with your work. Attiya Sweden "Some members of the Assyrian American Association of San Jose have asked that our Association respond to one particular comment appearing in a letter in Zenda (April 21, 1997), under the signature of Lena Mushell. Unfortunately, the Association thinks it is best to let the matter pass unanswered. The letter in question by Ms Mushell provides a summary of a meeting of "a small group of people" (those are her words), held at the "Beta" on the evening of Sunday, April 13, to celebrate the birthday of Zowaa. Since the Association will not respond, we feel obliged to at least offer a clarification. Ms Mushell states in part "The meeting started half an hour late while everyone was waiting for Jackie Bejan, VP of AAA and Sargon Yaldaei, president of AAA, of which neither showed up. Their lack of interest and respect for the celebration was disappointing to everyone present in the meeting." We do not question Ms Mushell's good intentions, but frankly we are disappointed at her own "lack of interest and respect" for the facts. By her own account (see 4th paragraph of the letter), Ms Mushell represents the Santa Clara County Chapter of the Assyrian Aid Society, and presumably she speaks for this group, which is the tax-exempt arm of Zowaa. This group and any other will better be served when those who represent it in public statements avoid invective and inaccuracies. It is a well-known fact that the AAA of San Jose is a social and cultural society, and it is governed by a policy of non-partisanship, and non-sectarianism. This policy was not invented for the sake of Zowaa or anyone else. Many of our members are supporters of one political group or another (including Zowaa in some cases). As individuals they are free to do so long as they do not isolate our Society and the Association in a political corner. Political groups, and sectarian groups too, fill an important function in the overall shaping of our identity. So do societies such as our own. Although our Association is a private, and by "membership only" Society, we have always sought to practice an "open door" policy, and have always believed that the expression of thoughts and exchange of ideas between our people should be made under our own roof. This translates to making our physical facility, free of charge available to a variety of Assyrian groups, even those with a very small audience. There has never been a requirement in our by-laws, or in prior practice, which mandates the attendance of our officers at every event or celebration. The record will show that this event was hardly the first one where some of our officers were absent, others present. Lena Mushell was understandably disappointed at the low turnout for this Zowaa meeting. I would suggest the she perhaps needs to look at deeper causes for this. Meanwhile, we find it odd that Ms Mushell should vent her frustration by pointing the finger at the absence of one or two people. Presumably she plans to have other events in Santa Clara County for the benefit of the Assyrian Aid Society. I have no doubt that everyone living in this Country is quite aware of the importance of excellent public relations requirement for promotion of any idea or cause, especially when it comes to charitable organizations. If the Santa Clara County chapter of AAS is looking for ways to revitalize itself in our community, I would suggest that perhaps the leadership of AAS should examine their public relations policy, and the spokes people who officially are representing it. To this date the AAA of San Jose has not received any statement of appreciation for the use of the facility from Zowaa, but regardless to that and Ms Mushell's negativity will continue to practice it's "open door" policy until such date that the members decide differently. Jacklin Bejan San Jose, California [Mrs. Bejan is the Vice-President of the Assyrian American Association of San Jose, California.] ************** "I would like to know if anyone suggested to video-tape Dr. Ashur Moradkhan's lectures in order to educate others over the Assyrian TV programs around the country. Also the video-tape could be sold to the people who want to used in their homes." Sam Kosa San Diego, California [Dr. Moradkhan's language classes are recorded in Southern California. For more information write to: AAA of Southern California 5901 Cahuenga Blvd North Hollywood, CA 91601 ] =========================================================================== S U R F E R S C O R N E R =========================================================================== ZENDA readers are invited to respond to the following request(s) by either directly writing to the author or sending a reply to ZENDA. *************************************************************************** May 4, 1997 Dear ZENDA Readers: It is part of the mission of the Assyrian Academic Society to foster cultural awareness and to nurture a sense of ethnic identity among the members of the Assyrian community. Language is a very important part of culture and a potent symbol of ethnic identity. In consequence, one of the main goals of the Assyrian Academic Society is the preservation and standardization of the Assyrian language. Pursuant to this goal the society is sponsoring and providing administrative support and supervision for a project to create comprehensive dictionaries of the eastern and western dialects of both the modern and classical Assyrian languages. These dictionaries will help establish a standard for the modern literary language and will also help preserve the richness of the vocabulary and idioms of the contemporary dialects. The data for these dictionaries will be entered in a computerized Assyrian Language Database System (ALDS). The use of an electronic database will allow continuous updating so that results of continuing field research on the contemporary dialects and newly created terminology can be incorporated. This database will permit the creation of various bilingual dictionaries. Priority will be given to compiling English-Assyrian and Assyrian-English dictionaries, but the creation of other bilingual dictionaries based on the ALDS is also envisioned. Work has already begun on the ALDS, and it is hoped that within eighteen months a basic English-Assyrian dictionary for the eastern dialect of Modern Standard Assyrian will be published. In addition a proposal to obtain major funding from various foundations is nearing completion and will be sent out in the next two months. In the meantime, the Assyrian Academic Society is soliciting tax-deductible donations to support the ongoing work on the ALDS and the basic English-Assyrian dictionary. Funds are necessary to provide a full-time salary for the principal lexicographer. Consequently, the Assyrian Academic Society would like to ask for your continuing support for this important project. Sincerely, Tony Khoshaba Project Coordinator Assyrian Academic Society Dictionary Project (AAS-DP) Dr. Mark Mkrdichian President of the Assyrian Academic Society ************** The Shamiram Assyrian Association Inc. of Canada will be holding a ceremony to honour the Assyrians Martyrs Day on the 7th of August, 1997, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The SAAC will hold a meeting for all interested individuals or groups who wish to participate in this important community event. Please write to or call the Executive Committee: Shamasha Moshi Sarkis, President.......... (905) 318-6174 Mr. Awni Odisho, Vice-President........... (905) 387-1369 Shamiram Assyrian Association Inc. P.O.Box 37003, Barton Postal Outlet Hamilton, ON L8L-8E9 CANADA Ashur Simon Malek Ontario, Canada ************** Assyrian Dictionaries Currently Available at NABU BOOKS: 1. Ogin Manna's SYRIAC-ARABIC DICTIONARY $40.00 2. Rev. S. David's ENGLISH-ASSYRIAN "CHALDEAN" DICTIONARY $30.00 3. Oraham's ASSYRIAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY $30.00 Send check or money-order to: NABU BOOKS PO BOX 59422 CHICAGO, IL 60659 (For postage & Handling add $3.00 for first and 50 cents for each additional book. International orders: $5.00 and $1.00 for additional book). ------------------------------- [ZENDA has received a collection of books, journal articles, and past issues of Assyrian magazines from Mr. Joseph Davida of San Diego, California. The subjects vary from the history of accounting in ancient Bet-Nahrain and Hammurabi's Code of Law to the complete report of the Committee of the Council on the Settlement of the Assyrian in Iraq in 1935. A 455-page book entitled "The Thrones & Palaces of Babylon & Nineveh" was among Mr. Davida's generous gifts. The staff of ZENDA wishes to thank Mr. Davida for this most valuable contribution and promise our readers that the information received will be publicly shared in the future issues of our newsletter.] =========================================================================== N E W S D I G E S T =========================================================================== ASSYRIAN MAN ARRESTED ON A FELONY WEAPONS CHARGE IN CONNECTICUT (Bristol Press: Bristol) David Khezrabad Sargisian, 40, a resident of Plainville, Connecticut, was arrested on a warrant charging him with possession of sawed-off Mossberg shotgun, a felony punishable by up to five years in jail. The gun was seized by police during a raid on April 4 after the initial arrest on April 3 when Sargisian was charged with stalking his girlfriend and a male companion with a .38-caliber handgun. Sargisian was then released on a non-surety bond and will be arraigned April 21 in Bristol Superior Court. Sargisian's girlfriend, Anita Grieco, told police that he had bomb-building materials in the garage where he does automotive repairs. Police also found 126 rounds of ammunition and liquid Mercury that can be used in making detonators. Sargisian denies all charges and claims that his girlfriend set him up. Sargisian, also known as Davood Sargusuab-Khezrabad, and his brother, Baba, are Assyrians from Iran. Anita Grieco has told police that her ex-boyfriend was involved in guerrilla warfare as a youth in Iran. David and Anita have an 18-month-old son. AUA RALLY TO HONOR 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MTAKASTA'S FOUNDING (ZNDA: San Jose) The Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) is hosting an open political rally honoring the 40th anniversary of Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) or Mtakasta. ADO representative from the U.S. and Canada will speak on Mtakasta's 40 years of political and national struggle, objectives, current activities, and the future of the Assyrian nation from Mtakasta's point of view. The rally will be held in the Assyrian-American Civic Club of Turlock, California on Wednesday, May 21, 1997 at 7:00pm. LEBANON'S CHRISTIAN COMMANDER SENTENCED DESPITE POPE'S VISIT (ZNRU: Beirut) The High Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest court on Friday sentenced the Maronite Christian warlord Samir Geagea to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a minister in 1991, ignoring pleas to wait until after Pope John Paul's historic visit to the country. Geagea led the Lebanese Forces (LF) militia in the 1975-90 civil war. First he was sentenced to death for the car bomb attack on then defence minister Michel al-Murr. But the sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment as it had already done in two other cases in which it earlier found Geagea guilty of killing a Christian politician and a former Christian militia official. Geagea is currently serving the two life sentences in an underground defence ministry cell. The court ruled that Geagea ordered the 1991 assassination bid against Murr, a Greek Orthodox politician who is now interior minister and deputy prime minister in the government of billionaire Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Gaagea was previously found guilty of the 1991 murders of Christian politician Dany Chamoun and his family and of Dr Antoine Zayek, a founder of the Lebanese Forces. Geagea is also awaiting trial in a fifth murder case, the 1987 murder of Sunni Moslem prime minister Rashid Karami who was killed when a remote-controlled bomb blew up a helicopter in which he was travelling. Geagea is the only sectarian militia leader from the 1975-90 civil war to have faced trial and some Christians see the authoritiess' actions against him as indicative of a government bias against their minority community. Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronite church, has taken up Geagea's case, publicly stating that the authorities should either try all former civil war leaders for their crimes or none at all. (Geagea) has been held for more than 1,100 days in a narrow underground cell where he is deprived of sunlight, fresh air, correspondence, company and access to the media. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN IRAN (ZNRU: Tehran) Iran will announce the names of approved presidential candidates on Thursday, allowing 12 days to campaign for May 23 polls to replace President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The candidates were being chosen by the Guardian Council out of 238 who had signed up to run in the elections. Candidates are screened for their allegiance to Iran's religious leadership and the Islamic system of government established after the 1979 revolution. The polls appear to be shaping up as a two-horse race between parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri and Mohammad Khatami, a former minister of culture and Islamic guidance. Rafsanjani is barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive four-year term. His term ends on August 3. MAJOR EARTHQUAKE HITS NORTHEASTERN IRAN (ZNUP: London) The second devastating earthquake this year has rocked northeastern Iran. At ZENDA press time it has killed as many as 2,400 people, destroyed 135 villages and injuring 6,000 others. It registered 7.1 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was located was 230 miles (370 km) southeast Mashhad. France has announced it is sending 40 tons of relief supplies to the region and Iran is appealing for help from other countries. As many as 50,000 people have been displaced because of damage. In February, a quake registering 6.1 on the Richter scale killed thousands in northwester Ardebil region of Iran. IRAQI REFUGEES BROUGHT TO U.S., IMPRISONED IN CALIFORNIA (ZNUP: Los Angeles) 25 Iraqi refugees who say that they helped U.S. government try to overthrow Hussein were jailed in Lancaster, California. They are facing deportation as suspected spies or terrorists and "potential national security risks." The Los Angeles Times says all 25 belonged to or were affiliated with CIA-backed resistance groups in Iraq. The refugees claim they were lured to the United States with the promise of asylum after they assisted in a failed bid to oust Hussein last summer. The CIA's $100-million covert operation collapsed in disaster August 31, according to court records and an attorney for seven of the detainees. The Times says eight Iraqis, all educated professionals including a commercial pilot, engineers, a journalist and a physician, have been held at the moth-balled Mira Loma County Jail in Lancaster since March. Their wives and children recently were granted political asylum. LAST WEEK'S KEY VOTES IN THE U.S. CONGRESS (ZNMN: Washington) The Senate passed an $8.4 billion spending bill (HR 672) to fund disaster relief for flooded regions as well as military operations in Bosnia and Iraq. The Senate also amended S 672 to ease the impact of last year's welfare reform law on some 500,000 elderly legal immigrants who receive the entitlement Supplemental Security Income. Under the new law, they are to lose SSI eligibility in August 1997. With this vote, the Senate extended the cutoff to October 1. This law will affect many Assyrian elderlies in the United States over the age of 65. SADDAM GOES ONLINE (ZNDA: San Jose) On the occasion of Saddam Hussein's 60th birthday,Nahj Computer Services has created a website to receive congratulatory messages from the Iraqi president's fans around the world. It must be noted that there are currently no Internet facilities in Iraq and Saddam's mailbox resides in Jordan. All messages are printed and hand-carried to Baghdad. The website is located at http://chat.com.jo/iraq/page2.htm . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -End of Section 1 of 2