The Lighthouse | "The Smallest Ally": In Remembrance of General Agha Petros |
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain |
Assyrian-Kurdish Delegation Meets Italian Foreign Minister Churches Oppose Military Strike on Iraq |
Surfs Up | "naïve like the rest of the Assyrians" |
Surfers Corner | Annual Meeting & Elections of the Assyrian Society of UK Seminar in Chicago: Impact of Sanctions in Iraq |
News Digest | Iraq Executes 10 Men For Dismembering Assyrian Artifact |
Assyrian Surfing Posts | Assyrian News in Swedish Sheikhani Belly Dancers in Colorado The Assyrian Screen Saver |
Pump up the Volume | Prescription & Copy |
Back to the Future | Tiglath-Pileser III & the 1972 Visit of Malik Ismael to Iraq |
Literatus | The Neglected Minority |
This Week in History | Naom Faiq |
Bravo | Rev. Samuel Dinkha |
Sixty six years ago today, on 2 February 1932, the Assyrian military hero and commander of the united Assyrian forces during the First World War, General Agha Petros de Baz, died in France- away from his beloved homeland of Bet-Nahrain. His body was found at a railway station in Paris, France. To date the cause of death remains officially unknown. No Assyrian in the 20th Century has been revered and eulogized as has Agha Petros who chivalrously fought the Moslem forces of Turkish and Kurdish rebels in the First World War, guided nearly a million Assyrians through the Great Exodus of 1915-18, worked as the Ottoman Consul in Urmie, established a prosperous business as a rug merchant in New York, and spoke as the chief Assyrian negotiator from 1919 until 1923. In his final efforts after the 1923 Lousanne Conference General Agha Petros wrote a letter to the British officials in London hoping to rekindle the forgotten promises for the establishment of an autonomous State for the Assyrians in Northern Bet-Nahrain. This week, on the eve of perhaps another war in our homeland in Bet-Nahrain and in remembrance of the legacy of General Agha Petros, ZENDA publishes His Excellency's "Your Smallest Ally" letter written from his hotel in London on 26 October 1923:
Dear Sir,
We beg to call your attention to the fact that our Nation, Assyro Chalde, fought throughout the War on the side of Great Britain, and lost more lives and property than any other nation, in proportion to its population. Also after the Armistice, our brave army fought side by side with the British in their Campaign in Mesopotamia, and at the present time we have five battalions under British officers in the North of Mosul, besides Gendarmes and Police. We are recognised as "The Smallest Ally."
We greatly fear the consequences of a British withdrawal form Mesopotamia. Being scattered among our war enemies, a British withdrawal would probably be followed by a massacre of all Christians. Therefore, we ask that the territory of our ancestors be "A CHRISTIAN AUTONOMOUS STATE UNDER A BRITISH MANDATE." The land we claim is our ancient land, which lies between the Rivers Tigris and Zab, and Mount Zinjar on the North side of Mosul. We had our own independence prior to the war in the North of this country. There is neither Turk nor Arab, but a few friendly Kurds and Yezidies, who ar of the same race as ourselves. We are the largest in population, and will make a strong Buffer State between Turks and Arabs.
We do not expect, and indeed do not ask for, financial or military help. We wish to stand on our own feet, in our own homeland, to defend our families, and live in peace with our neighbours, and offer in exchange our loyal services in the interest of His Britannic Majesty's Government, from whom we have received so many kindnesses in the past.
We have had long conversations with members of high standing in the Foreign Office and Colonial Office, who have shown great interest in our cause.
We need your help and we are sure you will use your influence to get justice for our homeless people, who have been so sorely tried since the outbreak of the Great War.
Another Massacre like those which have taken place in the recent past, and the Assyrian Nation will cease to exist.
We ask you to help our nation, which has in the past defended Christianity against every assault from the Moslem world. We claim to be the oldest Christians in the world. Can you, as Representatives of Christian Peoples, see this Christian remnant of a great Empire dispersed or effaced? We believe you can not, and will not.
We are, Sir, Your Obedient Servants,
General Agha Petros
Commander-in-Chief of the Assyro-Chaldean Forces
President of the National Council
Soon after, the British and Iraqi governments exiled the Assyrian
General to France where he lived until his death at the age of
52. Only one year after His Excellency's death thousands of
Assyrians were slaughtered during a series of indiscriminate killings
known as the Semel Massacre.
ZENDA
ASSYRIAN-KURDISH DELEGATION MEETS ITALIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER
(ZNAK: Rome) The Foreign Affairs committee of the Italian parliament met with Assyrian and Kurdish representatives last week. The talks were attended by Kurdish representatives Zubeyir Aydar, Necet Buldan, Mehmet Balci, Kazim Baba, and the Assyrian delegate George Aryo. Achillo Occhetto, chair of the Italian Foreign Affairs committee, said that the decisions made at the meeting followed on from earlier representations from talks held on the 10th of December. He went on to stress that the Italian parliament will do everything within its powers to help bring about a solution to the "Kurdish question." Speaking on behalf of the Kurdish and Assyrian delegation, Mr. Aydar called for economic and political pressure to be placed upon the Turkish government, in pursuit of a resolution to the issue of the Kurds, and other oppressed ethnic groups in Turkey. The Assyrian delegate George Ayro also took the opportunity to call for the cessation of the oppression of some 150,000 Assyrians who live within the borders of the current Turkish state. An Italian Foreign Affairs committee spokesperson later described the meeting as very beneficial and called for the recognition of the Kurdish and Assyrian representatives within the International community.
CHURCHES OPPOSE MILITARY STRIKE ON IRAQ
(ZNAF: Geneva) The World Council of Churches Friday recommended that its 300 members urge their governments to oppose threats of military strikes against Iraq in the UN arms inspections crisis. In a statement issued by its headquarters in Geneva, the council said seven of its members who went to Iraq this month were concerned that a military strike "would only increase the suffering of innocent people." The mission's report said UN sanctions in force against Iraq "seriously violate the basic rights of vast sectors of the population to properly feed, lodge and care for themselves," and asked for a "careful re-examination" of the sanctions.
"I am the Chief Editor of a magazine named AssyrianNews, mainly
in swedish. We write about our people in the world, mostly news
from Bet-Nahrain. But I see some very good news in Zenda. So
I am asking you if it is okey
to translate some of your news into Swedish and publish it in
AssyrianNews for Swedish readers. Those Magazines which have
news from Zenda, I can send to you .
Ahiqar DeBasso
Stockholm, Sweden
News & information printed in ZENDA is currently used in several
American, European, Australian, and Russian printed magazines,
radio and television programs. ZENDA is a source of Assyrian
news and information and with proper reference to our name any
part of our printed material may be used in bringing information
to any Assyrian community around the world. Our best wishes for
the success of your online magazine!
Youkhanna Khzyran
Toulouse, France
Adrin Takhsh
Berlin, Germany
Albert Issaco
Sutter Creek, California
Lena Mushell
San Jose, California
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & THE 1998 ELECTIONS OF THE ASSYRIAN SOCIETY OF UK
The Annual General Meeting of the Assyrian Society of United Kingdom
took place on Sunday, 25 January 1998. Minutes of the previous
year's Annual General Meeting held at the Assyrian House on 26
January 1997 were available at the entrance.
The Committee had taken the opportunity to renew the annual memberships
at the door. The membership fee being £25. The meeting commenced
after 4:00 p.m. instead of the announced commencement time of
2:30 p.m. Presumably, the aim was to ensure that all attendees
were in fact members otherwise they would not be eligible to take
part in voting. The Committee may actually have good reasons
for not issuing membership cards but I am not aware of them.
Membership cards however could have reduced the waiting time considerably.
The unbelievably patient members took the opportunity to mingle
and socialise as is the case in any Assyrian gathering regardless
of the occasion. There were children running around playing games
in a hall full of smoke. When finally everyone was asked to take
their seats, and children restrained as much as children can be,
the meeting commenced.
The Committee members took their places on the stage facing the
crowd. President David Michael started the proceedings. Following
a short prayer by Priest Stephanis Yalda, the minutes of the previous
General Meeting were read by one of the members of the Committee.
A number of motions which had been seconded were proposed as amendments
to the present constitution. One of these was a motion to introduce
a minimum five year consecutive period or selection as a member
of the Committee. Previously no such restriction existed. Apparently
the hidden agenda in respect of this motion was to try and stop
one particular member from being elected because the current members
of the committee did not personally like him. The committee did
in fact manage to get the motion passed but only to a 3-year period
and thankfully not to 5.
The method by which the Committee introduced this particular amendment
to the constitution was questionable. At first the members were
asked for a show of hands if they thought that this amendment
should be introduced. The response to this seemed to be about
50% although no count was made. The second question was if the
period required should be 3 years or 5 years. There were only
a handful of members interested in the 5 year "ban", therefore
3 year "ban" was declared passed.
Comments from the Committee and the floor of the house seem to
suggest that the Committee is looking for successors and they
are not forthcoming. From what was being said it appeared that
the Committee members had not changed much for the past 5 years.
At the same time the Committee is making it very hard for anyone
who does not frequent their closed circle to become a member of
the Committee. Does this make sense?
One member pointed out that there are Assyrians who travel from
one country to another, they do good work for the community and
they should not be barred from being a member of the Committee
for such a long period should they have enough supporters to get
elected.
The question of references was raised. Amid cheers from the floor
of the house, it was suggested by a member that if a candidate
was not recognised for his good work to the Community, naturally
he would not get the vote of the members.
What was totally undemocratic was when one of the members from
the floor stood up and presented an amendment to the motion in
question to the effect that any Assyrian who has resided in the
U.K. for 5 years or more and who has not yet become a member cannot
become a member of the Committee. There was no response from
the floor of the house to this, however the President David Michael
took it upon himself to unilaterally amend the motion and see
to it that that clause would be included but unfortunately didn't
seem to think it necessary to put the amendment to the vote.
Yours truly, although totally unprepared for a speech, could not
stand by and see the democratic rights of the members of Assyrian
society (society with a small s), not to mention the rights
of the members of the ASUK, being manipulated so simply and without
a fight. Particularly as the ASUK is the only formal representative
of the Assyrian people in the U.K. So I plucked up the courage
to stand in front of the hall full (or rather half-full) of
attendees and say the following:
I have lived in the U.K. for 20 years and I have not been a member
of the ASUK before today. There are many good reasons for this
and there are many people like me who do not come to the ASUK
gatherings and are not members, but that does not mean we don't
care for our community and that we don't want to work for our
people. The numbers of the ASUKs members are dwindling, the
number of activists are even fewer. Those children who have
got themselves a University education are not joining, there will
be others who will follow them. Others will not join because
of the hostile rules laid down as we have seen here today and
the numbers gathered here today will gradually die out. If we
are making rules we must make them in a way to get more people
to come to ASUK and join and not to run away from it.
I can see from the Income and Expenditure figures published from
the minutes of the previous year's meeting that the amount of
income derived from Social Functions has declined from £48,000
in 1994 to £20,000 in 1997, this figure has obviously dropped
so drastically because people are not willing to take part and
to follow where the committee leads. I would like to know what
if anything has the Committee done in terms ot join its Society?
Another point which warrants mention was that the minutes of the
previous meeting showed that Mr. Isaac Asia complained that in
1997, the Assyrian Cultural and Advice Centre received a financial
grant of £5,250.00 under the heading "Women Development Grant"
and that this money rightly belongs to the Ladies Group. He was
told that he was out of order because he didn't have proof, and
when he provided proof, he was again told he was out of order
because the money was donated 6 years earlier. This amount was
actually received in 1990. Apparently if you cover up something
long enough all is O.K. even if you are exposed in public.
Another motion passed was to increase the membership fee by £5.00
every year until it reaches £50, which received a favourable response
from the floor of the house. Exempting the pensioners from the
membership fee was the subject of yet another motion. One objection
to this was that often the older members are the wealthier ones
and they should not be exempt purely on an age basis. After this
motion was passed, members from the floor of the house then got
a chance to debate it. A clear case of the cart before the horse.
The last item on the Agenda was "Any Other Business". A lady
speaking in an elegant voice described how she met a couple of
English ladies at a restaurant. As it turned out one of these
ladies lives in the same Road as the home of the Assyrian Society,
Temple Road, in Ealing. The Assyrian lady could not have apologised
enough for the complaints from the two ladies over the amount
of noise from the Assyrian Society which apparently goes on until
7:00 every morning. The question was, what is anybody doing in
this Hall every night until dawn? There were disapproving voices
to her question from a few younger Assyrian men who obviously
thought there was nothing wrong with this type of behaviour.
The members listening to this lady felt for her as she voiced
her disapproval of the way the Committee has refused to send her
a copy of the Constitution out of order. The Committee members
then started talking and laughing amongst themselves throughout
the remainder of her speech. When she pointed out the dangers
of smoking, in a Hall with no windows there was loud laughter
and whistling from all quarters, from of course the smoking members.
Another member advised that at the age of 70+ he has been allowed
by the organisers of the London Marathon to join in and raise
funds for the needy Assyrians in the Middle East, and called for
support from the members.
After a short recess, the proceedings for elections to the ASUK
committee began.
The President Mr. David Michael pointed out that, according to
the constitution, members are not allowed to vote in these elections
for their first year of membership but that this rule has always
been bent in the past, and that there were two members who have
joined recently who were present. His question was should they
be allowed to vote tonight. He then called upon the active Committee
members of the time when this part of the constitution was written
to clarify the point. Of the Committee members from that time
who were present (5 of them), all agreed that the rule should
not be bent. Mr. David Michael decided their approval was not
good enough and invited members from the floor to voice their
opinion in favour of his proposal which was that a precedent should
take priority to a constitutional rule. He then declared (unilaterally
again!) that a quick agreement does not seem forthcoming and the
audience would be kept for as long as such time that it took to
reach an agreement. His word or nothing else, it appears.
Being one of the two members who had joined recently I decided
I had witnessed enough of the proceedings and as I did not know
the candidates, I called it a night and left the Hall.
In case you are wondering what happened to the member whom the
current Committee members did not want elected to their ranks,
I am informed that he declared his distrust of the proceedings
and then left the meeting.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF THE ASSYRIAN SOCIETY OF UNITED KINGDOM (JAN
- DEC 1998)
Wilson Jaso President
Aram Varda Vice President
Benjamin David Treasurer
Romeo Raphael-Khan Cultural/Art Secretary
Yako MarYako Social Secretary
Tony Solaymani Sport Secretary
Albert David Club Manager
Daniel Benjamin Club Managers
David Michael Auditor
Nabil Touma Auditor
1997 COMMITTEE MEMBERS
David Michael President
Nabil Touma Vice President
John Michael General Secretary
Wilson Jaso Treasurer
Osho Sulaiman Social secretary
William Kakoo Sports Secretary
Tom Khoshaba Public Relations Officer
Daniel Benjamin Club Manager
Emmanuel Oraha Club Manager
Ninva Ponsonby
United Kingdom
A SEMINAR IN CHICAGO ON THE EFFECTS OF THE US/UN EMBARGO ON IRAQI CIVILIAN
(ZNDA: Chicago) The Assyrian Academic Society in conjunction
with North Park University Center for Middle Eastern Studies is
presenting a lecture on the "Effects of the US/UN Embargo On Iraqi
Civilians" by Michael Bremer and Rev. Bob Bossie of the Voices
in the Wilderness. The seminar will be held on Sunday, 15 February,
at 6:00 PM in the Isaacson Chapel, 5100 North Spaulding, Chicago.
Voices in the Wilderness campaigns to put an end to the US/UN
sanctions against the peoples of Iraq. Michael Bremer and Rev.
Bob Bossie have visited Iraq on several occasions and have first
hand reports on the conditions in Iraq.
IRAQ EXECUTES 10 PEOPLE FOR DISMEMBERING ASSYRIAN WINGED-BULL STATUE
(ZNAF: Baghdad) Iraq has executed 10 men for dismembering a massive
2,700 year-old Assyrian winged-bull statue of in a bid to smuggle
it out of the country. The men had decapitated the statue and
broken the head into pieces in order to smuggle it out of the
country. The statue's head weighed almost a ton by itself and
had been smashed into 11 pieces. The Iraqi government has adopted
tough laws against the smuggling of artifacts, a practice that
has grown because of the poverty
inflicted on Iraq by seven years of UN sanctions.
ASSYRIAN NEWS: The Magazine of the Assyrian Information Center in Sweden
Sheikhani Belly Dancers From Colorado?
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Noosaakhta d'asya: Doctor's Prescription |
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Ana sneeqewin l'treh asaakhteh: I need two copies. |
BC (770's)
Argistis I, king of Urartu (later Armenia), annexes all the lands
around Lake Urmie, interrupting the flow of goods and metals from
Afghanistan and Iran to Assyria. This also stopped the supply
of horses for the Assyrian cavalry. Such deprivation causes unrest
throughout the Assyrian empire and a due to a weak royal leadership,
Assyrian kingdom began to fragment. In 745 B, in a bloody coup
which eliminated the Assyrian royal family, governor of the city
of Calah (Kalhu) elevated himself to the kingship. He called
himself Tiglath-Pileser III. By the time of his death in 727
BC Tiglath-Pileser had extended the boundaries of the empire to
the widest extend yet seen to date. He re-introduced the policy
of mass deportation of populations moving tens of thousands of
people from one corner of his empire to another.
The Ancient Assyrians, Healy & McBride
THE NEGLECTED MINORITY
Nowhere does a minority need more protection than our persecuted
people...In both the first and the second World Wars our people
fought heroically for democracy and their Christian faith, the
very nations who exploited us ruthlessly made us enemies with
all our neighbors an then left us at their mercies. The United
Nations has completely neglected her duty to protect the persecuted
minorities. I feel they have neglected their duty to mankind
itself. Even the World Council of Churches spends millions for
Moslems and others, yet nothing for the Assyrian Church and nation,
forgetting only yesterday, our homes were open for the first Christian
missionaries of Western Churches. We made them feel always at
home, indeed, the best o everything was laid at their feet.
Fred Tamimi
Assyrian Scholar and Activist
February 6, 1930: dies, Naom Faiq, Assyrian linguist, teacher,
journalist, political activist. Faiq's writings have inspired
generations of Assyrian nationalists since his death under conditions
of extreme poverty.
.
REV. SAMUEL DINKHA
Reverend Samuel Dinkha of the Assyrian Church of the East's Mar Yosip Parish in San Jose, California has recently completed his book entitled: "Sha-bikh ya Ga-Nee" or "Praise, O My Soul" in the modern Assyrian language. This 200-page, soft-cover book, is a beautiful collection of one hundred and forty hymns and spirituals written by Rev. Dinkha since 1991.
Rev. Dinkha's hymns express the different dimensions of the nature of Man and God. They speak to different personalities and eloquently satisfy our simple hunger for the deeper understanding of Truth. The second part of his book include spirituals entitled "The Alphabetical Meditations" which challenge our understanding of Christian life and help us acknowledge the limitations of our mental and physical strengths. This is a must-read book for "Assyrian" readers prepared to re-discover a thoughtful perspective on the Assyrian hymnal traditions.
Some of Rev. Dinkha's other books include "The Church & the Festivals
of the Assyrian Church of the East", "The Epic of Gilgamesh",
"The Teachings of Mar Addai the Apostle", "A History of Assyrian
Literature (2 Volumes)", and "Poems Dedicated to Man, Land, and
Life." A serious scholar of Assyrian language and literature,
Rev. Dinkha continues to spiritually guide his congregation in
San Jose, California and offer his knowledge of Assyrian language
to all interested. Rev. Samuel Dinkha lives with his wife, Maqdonya;
his daughter, Reema, and his son, Raymond who designed the cover
of his father's recent book.
WELCOME TO ZENDA
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS
University of Exeter, United Kingdom
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Santa Barbara, California
SALUTE!
This Week's Contributors:
Ahiqar DeBasso | Stockholm, Sweden | Assyrian Surfing Posts |
Francis Sargis | Santa Barbara, California | Assyrian Surfing Posts |
Raman Mikhael | Chicago, Illinois | Surfers Corner |
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