The following commentary was sent to us by the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, in connection with the publication of its most recent issue. Dr. Paulissian and his fellow editors previously published under the title "Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society". According to a press release, they adopted a new title to avoid confusion with the Assyrian Academic Society, a Chicago organization. The release goes on to say that "the Journal otherwise remains unchanged, and continues to be known by its acronym, JAAS."

ZENDA

Why are we suddenly the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies? More importantly, what does this portend for our readers? It must be said emphatically at the outset that the decision to rechristen ourselves is in no way intended as a hostile act towards any organization, least of all towards the Assyrian Academic Society in Chicago. For several years, there existed what can be described as a loose affiliation between the Journal and the Society. This arose largely from the fact that both the Journal and the Society were the brainchild of the Assyrian scholar Dr. Edward Y. Odisho and a small number of individuals.

But there is no mystery why our action was inevitable:  All too often, the Society and the eponymous Journal were being confused one for the other. This was an inaccurate portrayal, fueled in part by the fact that we continued publishing under the previous name far longer than we should have. In the end, our editorial board concluded that the adoption of a new name for the Journal, albeit delayed, would be the most reasonable way to eliminate any ambiguity.

The record will confirm that from its creation the Journal dedicated itself to the visionary mission of its founders, including its first Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Odisho. All of these founders moved on several years ago, but the JAAS objective remained steadfast. Our goal is a free-wheeling examination of the multi-faceted Assyrian experience, past and present. If we are to believe reader feedback, we have made great strides in pursuit of this vision. This achievement is due in large measure to the harmony and dedication of our small-knit editorial team, and it is made possible by an environment free of undue outside influence. The English section of the Journal has established a benchmark of exacting scholarship earning the respect of an increasing number of scholars. For its part, the Assyrian section has featured an increasing number of researched articles, and it is now widely considered an essential catalyst in the revitalized efforts in modern Assyrian literature. The results are far from perfect, but we are fortunate to have the same editorial team in place, and our aim is to continue to work hard to improve all sections of this publication.

If it is to remain on course, the Journal clearly cannot be a general membership organization. We know that there is little risk of this. The Journal's demands are such that very few acolytes have volunteered their services. But beyond this, the Journal cannot be seen as subordinate to the will of any other membership organization, and it must remain non-political and non-sectarian, both in fact and in appearance. This point was repeatedly driven home to us by a broad consensus of the individuals we consulted prior to our decision. We also knew in advance that the simple act of renaming the Journal contained seeds of misunderstanding.  Nevertheless, that risk had to be taken.  The choice of a new name on the occasion of our 19th edition is nothing other than a restatement of our commitment to scholarship, research, and editorial independence. Our great journey continues. We count on your continued support.

Robert Paulissian
Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies
Editor-in Chief

(ZNAI:  Chicago)  More information from the Assyrian International News Agency regarding the murder of the seven Assyrian civilians of Mangesh in Dohuk- North Iraq by armed Kurds:  While traveling in their vehicle on 13 December, 1997 the seven Assyrians arrived at a checkpoint, reportedly set up by armed PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) guerillas. The Assyrians noticed that the Kurdish guards were burglarizing the passengers of the vehicle ahead of them. In order to avoid a similar situation they tried to drive through the checkpoint. The Kurds, armed with machine guns, then opened fire on the vehicle and managed to bring it to a halt. They then ran up to the vehicle and saw that some of the Assyrians were still alive.  They reportedly opened fire and murdered the remaining Assyrian men.  The six men were Slewo Khoshaba, Samir Esho, Majid Shimon, Arkhan Hermiz, Salem Yousif and Najid Mikho. One woman, Wardia Yousif the wife of Najid Mikho, survived with a serious leg
wound until December 26 when she too was declared dead.

A press release by the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan on 21 December, 1997 denied PKK's involvement in the December 13th attack against the seven Assyrians. The press release stated that the attack was "staged by
the Turkish army together with the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) on the Assyrian village of Mangesh..."  The press release further added, "the statements accusing the PKK of this dirty provocation were put out from Duhok which is under the control of the KDP."

"I don't know how many of Zenda's readers saw the Peter Jennings series on ABC TV (documentaries; all three of them) called "Unfinished Business"- "The CIA and Saddam Hussein".  To get an idea of what it (documentary)
is all about get <http://archives.com/sections/world/cia/cia.html>.  If you haven't seen it you should contact your ABC affiliate wherever, request it, and make sure to watch everything therein. It tells a sordid tale, believe me.
It is disappointing to me when I keep on reading long essays on how the revival of the Nation of Assyria should be initiated by trying to induce whomever (never naming anyone) in either the Western World or the East to have sympathy because of the way our ancestors were mistreated by the British, Americans, and suffered etc. etc.  Did you ever see a picture of our American-Assyrians and hundreds of thousands hitting the beach at Normandy during WWII - or the Battle of the Bulge - -or the Marines at Iwo Jima?  This country took a beating like you'll never know how to give us the freedom we have today.  Freedom never comes easy, does it? It took women in the US better than a hundred years to get the freedom they have today and they still are not on equal footing - - nor are the African/Americans, Latinos, etc..

In this great country (USA) we now have the privilege to live in peace with freedoms not available elsewhere. There's a wise saying "keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole" and some can criticize the missionaries, the churches, the small social clubs, the AAA, the AUA or whatever else you want to focus on, but the real issue in the land of our roots is "oil, oil and more oil".  If you can convince the western world (NATO, et al) that it is in the "best interest of the western world (U.S.A. GB. France and mainly Europe)" to give the Assyrians or Kurds an autonomous identity in Iraq, it may take time, like it did for Israel, but you would only succeed like Israel did in 1948, when the US and GB were the first to recognize them as an independent State.  If you ask me
how this is done, I'll say that I'm not a genius and it takes a strong leader, a lot of money, a big push by the right people, a lot of human sacrifices (plus losses of lives) and a long period of time to generate the momentum.  Perhaps you may think that our ancient Church of the East and the Chaldean rite Catholic church are unproductive.  I disagree and think you should consider the whole role they have played in the past before you speak too loudly. There are two sides to every coin.  Our said churches are the main glue that has held us together
(even though they have been fractured) since we were almost annihilated during World War One.  I think that the recent effort to bring about an understanding between our Assyrian-Chaldean churches will do more to produce unity among the majority of our people than you might expect.

I  am the son of a clergyman who received his college education from the American missionaries in Iran and perhaps I should be (and am) indebted for what they imparted - - but I sometimes inquire into their real motives (converting Christians into Christianity?).  Whatever good they might have given has been paid back ten fold by those who gained from what they gave, including my father.  However, believe me, they never considered our ancestors their equal because their attitude always was that they (as the upper class elite) were ministering to their
inferiors.  If you read some the books written by some of them, you'll know what I mean.   My father came to the US in 1906 with the idea that he might study medicine and go back to the Middle East and help his people, but he was sidetracked and becoming a protestant clergyman with the belief that he could return as a missionary and help his people in Iran and Turkey.  However, after he graduated from Seminary he tried his best to have the organization for American Missions to send him back to Persia and they told him that "they (the Protestants) never send a native back to his home base!" and would never give him a reason why (between you and I
it appears that he couldn't be considered an "elite" as most American & British professionals were and are).  As a result he did his ministry here in Chicago for better than 50 years where he published an Assyrian newspaper and preached until his death in 1960.   Perhaps this letter will bring some heavy controversy, even from members
of my immediate family, but at age 83 I can say I've been through a lot and also been around for a long time so perhaps some common sense and wisdom has rubbed off on me.

I suggest that in conclusion, if you can convince our (US) State Department and have them in turn have our President agree that having an independent Assyria and Kurdistan, in the area now generally called the "no fly zone", as a buffer State for the best interests of NATO or the western world, they will be happy to consider it.  But then, how about Russia, China and the rest of Asia???  THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!  See "Unfinished Business" with Peter Jennings and you'll get what I mean. "Fools rush in, where Angels fear to tread!"  In the meantime we can always identify ourselves as those of Assyrian heritage "with pride" and have our annual Kha B'Neesan parade, etc..

Paul D. Newey
Chicago, Illinois

Greetings in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ,

The Bet-Eil Assyrian Church has established a committee to help needy Assyrians in the Middle East and Georgia.  Currently, we are seeking information in the following countries or regions: North of Iraq, Turkey,
Jordan, and Greece.  If you know of any Assyrian churches in the above mentioned areas, please let us know by providing the name of the church, its address, and phone / fax numbers if any.  In the regions that there
are no Assyrian churches, but you know of other churches that can distribute help to our people,  please let us know.  You can reach us by writing to:

 Bet-Eil Assyrian Church
 P.O. Box 54184
 San Jose, CA 95154

 Phone: (408) 559-5919  Fax: (408) 559-1618

In order to distribute the help in the most efficient and timely manner possible, we are unable to provide help on individual basis at this time. We have provided financial and medical assistance to the Assyrians in Georgia through the Assyrian-Georgian Relief Fund, and the Church of the East has been our contact to provide help for the Assyrians in the other regions of Iraq.

Thank you and God bless you.

Bet-Eil Assyrian Church

1) HUGOYE

The Syriac Computing Institute is pleased to announce the publication of the first issue of its electronic journal, "Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies". This issue features articles by:

• Sebastian Brock, University of Oxford
• Andreas Juckel, University of Münster
• Dirk Kruisheer & Lucas Van Rompay, University of Leiden
• Richard E. McCarron, The Catholic University of America

The issue also features 4 conference and project reports and 2 articles on recent publications in the field of Syriac studies.

The journal is available at:  http://www.acad.cua.edu/syrcom/Hugoye/index.html (Catholic University of America)
Mirror Site: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/gk105/syrcom/Hugoye/index.html (Cambridge University, U.K.)

If you would like to receive further notifications when a new issue is published, please register your email at the address: http://www.acad.cua.edu/syrcom/Hugoye/VolInd.html

For information on submitting articles, please see under 'Submission' on the site.

Please note that the Home site of the Syriac Computing Institute is now hosted at the Catholic University of America:  http://www.acad.cua.edu/syrcom/index.html

George Anton Kiraz, Ph.D.
Hugoye
General Editor

2) JAAS (see this week's THE LIGHTHOUSE)

Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies                            Vol. XI,   No. 2  (1997)
P.O. Box 5715, Des Plaines, IL 60016

English Section

• Forging On,  Robert Paulissian, M.D., Editor-in-Chief
• Credit where Credit is due, Erratum and Preview
• JAAS with a New Face,  Francis Sarguis,  J.D., English-language Editor
• The World Chronicle by Patriarch Michael the Great (1126-1199): Some Reflections,  Dorothea Weltecke
• Assyria and Syria: Synonyms (With a later postscript by the author),  Richard N Frye, Ph.D.
• Assyria and Syria: Synonyms?, John Joseph,  Ph.D.
• Functional and Other Exotic Sentences in Assyrian Aramaic,  Zomaya S. Solomon, LL.D.
• A History of the Chaldean Mass,  William F. Macomber, Ph.D.
• Religious Unity:
  • Janus in the Arena,  Francis Sarguis, J.D
  • Mission Impossible?, Madlaine Davis-Moradkhan,  Ph.D.
  • National Unity Above All,  Youel A Baaba
  • Fraternal Reconciliation is Long Overdue,  Francis X. Paz,  Ph.D.
  • Are we still "heretics"?,  Eshou Y Solomon
  • Our Survival Requires Assyrian-Chaldean Religious Unity,  Francis K Khosho

Assyrian Section

• Shoomaha khata d'mghalta,  Robert Paulissian, M.D., Editor-in-Chief
• Doorasha al Khoyada d'edate: Christologhya d'eeta d'madinkha,  Eshou Y. Solomon
• Yimma d'alaha wyimma d'msheekha: Porshana Pshita d'shomahe lishanaye,  Francis X. Paz, Ph.D.
• In la khoyada bas moodi?,  Tobia Giwargis
• Khamis Qardakha w'qapeeta,  Odisho Malko Giwargis
• Min Saproota d'qrawa,  Youarish Haido
• Mshadlaneeta,  Youarish Haido
• Min q'dam madnakha d'shimsha,  Youarish Haido
• Kalbta d'John Brown,  Aprim D. Yousip
• Matlee Ammaye d'atoraye,  Daniel Benjamin
• Poems
  • Dkhare d'yimmi, Daniel Benjamin
  • Yimma, Sami Bello
  • Mawta Qareera, Adeeb Goga Younan

New Books

As the Sudanese government's policy of persecution and genocide against Christians continues, particularly of the people of Nuba Mountains, the press in the West has slowly begun to pay a greater attention to the plight of the Christians in the Middle East and North Africa.  Today, Christians in Sudan are forced to flee their homes, and their churches are burned down by government forces.  Elsewhere in Egypt, Moslem fundamentalists attack and kill Coptic Christians, the largest Christian group in the Middle East.  According to one report soldiers have at times attacked the Nubian mothers and cut off their breasts with knives so that their infants would die slowly of starvation.  Christian women and girls, after being raped, are then taken into slavery. Men are usually killed.  Many who have succeeded in escaping the soldiers have joined the resistance forces.  The following is a Letter to Editors of the Boston Globe and ZENDA written by Charles Jacobs of American Anti-Slavery Group:

Your article [Boston Globe] on the black slave trade in North Africa (Slavery returns with war in Sudan, 2/8/98) provides much needed coverage to this underreported  horror. It will hopefully prompt action by those whose duty it is to defend the world's most grievously oppressed.

I say "hopefully," because as we complained in the Globe last summer, ("Where are the Liberals?" 8/8/97) mainstream human rights groups, women's groups, progressive white churches, and black leaders have been
AWOL on the issue of black slavery in Sudan and Mauritania. We reported that to our surprise, after being ignored by most traditional liberals, our cause is championed by Christian Evangelicals who have rushed to the
aid of the enslaved black Christians of Sudan. Indeed we now work with Christian groups who bravely fly into Sudan to redeem slaves for cash donated by American and European citizens. As your report states, it costs $100 to liberate a black slave from a slave trader and return him or her home.

I am sad to report that while Sudan's Christian slaves have found support here, the black Muslim slaves of Mauritania remain without powerful friends in the West. We just have word that Boubacar Massoud, North Africa's leading abolitionist has been incarcerated by the Government of Mauritania for having told French TV about slavery in his nation. Amnesty International has issued an appeal on his behalf as a prisoner of conscience. But the slaves are prisoners of something more primitive than political repression. And the black Muslim slaves of
Mauritania have no "Evangelicals" here. Not one American Muslim group has expressed interest in abolishing slavery of black Muslims by the Bedein ("white Arabs") though this clearly contravenes Koranic principles. Indeed we have only been attacked by Muslim officials for bringing the matter to public light. As we will continue to do.

For more information contact Hotline@webguy-prod.com [A coalition of Christians from various denominations].

(ZNNV: San Francisco)  The Benjamin S. Adams Estate was distributed in December 1997 among six Assyrian organizations pre-selected by the late Benjamin S. Adams in his will.  According to the declaration made in his will these moneys are to be used in providing schooling for Assyrian children and assistance for Assyrian refugees.  The Estate's $1,120,000.00 was distributed as follows:

• Assyrian Foundation of America (Berkeley, California)                                  25%        $280,000.00
• Assyrian Aid Society of America (San Francisco, California)                          20%        $224,000.00
• Assyrian American National Federation, Inc. (U.S.A.)                                     15%        $168,000.00
• Assyrian National Council of Illinois (Chicago)                                                15%        $168,000.00
• Assyrian American Welfare Council of Chicago                                               15%        $168,000.00
• Assyrian American Association of Southern California (North Hollywood)    10%        $112,000.00

Mr. Adams passed away on 12 April, 1995 in Tucson, Arizona.  Julius N. Shabbas, Editor of Nineveh Magazine, says that "When Benjamin's health was failing, he contacted me in August 1994 to assist him in the assignment of the major portion of his estate.  The last two times I stayed with Ben to discuss his will, we dwelled on the Assyrian situation in the recent past, and the present problems and struggles facing the nation, i.e. deprivation of human rights, persecutions, suffering, abandonment of their ancestral lands while seeking safe havens in various European countries, the refuge problem in Turkey, Jordan, Greece, and some other European countries; their struggle to survive in these countries and in Iraq...it became his desire to help his people (Nineveh Vol 20,#4)."  For a discussion of The Adams Estate and the reaction of the Assyrian organizations to the method of disbursement of this money read Francis Sarguis' essays entitled "Benjamin the Munificent (click)."

ENGLISH	MODERN ASSYRIAN	GENDER	EXAMPLE
Satisfaction	rwee/zoo/ta	Fem.	am satisfied: rwee/zewin
Regret	psham/ta	Fem.	regretful:  maap/shi/manta

               

BC (401)

The Greek general Xenophon and his Ten Thousand Mercenaries marched through Bet-Nahrain.  He describes the Assyrian city of Nimrud (22 miles south of Mosul-Iraq) as being deserted and that "many of the natives from the neighboring villages" had taken refuge on the ziggurat.  Two centuries earlier the capital of Assyrian, Nineveh, was destroyed by a combined forces of Babylonian and Median forces.  The Assyrian king, Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) had put thousands of men to build the city of Calah or Kalhu, later called Nimrud, and work in building his royal palace:

A palace of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, mulberry, pistachio-wood and tamarisk, for my royal dwelling and for my lordly pleasure for all time I founded therein.  Beasts of the mountains and of the seas of white limestone and alabaster I fashioned and set them up in its gates.. Door-leaves of cedar, cypress, juniper and mulberry I hung in the gates thereof; and silver, gold, lead, copper and iron, the spoil of my hand from the lands which I had brought under my sway, in great quantities I took and placed therein

Xenophon's Anabasis (III.4) & Ancient Iraq, Roux

Some 2700 years after the construction of the royal house in Nimrud (Calah), the British and Assyrian archeologists, Sir Austen Henry Layard and Hormozd Rassam, discover the palace of Ashurnasirpal II.

The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, Roaf

On that bloody day, mouths were crushed, heads were crashed,
The storm was a harrow coming from above, the city was struck as by a hoe.
On that day, heaven rumbled, the earth trembled, the storm worked without respite,
The heavens were darkened, they were covered by a shadow, the mountains roared,
The sun lay down at the horizon, dust passed over the mountains,
The moon lay at the zenith, the people were afraid.
The city...stepped outside.
The foreigners in the city (even) chase away the dead.
Large trees were being stripped of their fruit, they were being cleaned of their offshoots,
The crop was drowning while it was still on the stalk, the yield of the grain was being diminished...
On those days the kingship of the land was defiled,
The crown that had been on the head of the king...by itself...
Its king sat immobilized in the palace, all alone.
...In the Enamtila, the palace of his delights, he was crying bitterly.
...Like a great storm it roared over the earth, who could escape it?
To destroy the city, to destroy the temple,
That traitors would lay on top of loyal men, and
The blood of traitors flow upon loyal men...
The storms gather like a a flood.

The Lamentation Over the Destruction of Sumer & Ur, Michalowski

February 18, 1913:  Assyrians in Urmie and the surrounding villages collect relief funds for the survivors of the Balkan Wars.  In 1912 Turkey closed Dardanelles to shipping, and immediately after, Montenegro declared war on Turkey.  Bulgaria and Serbia mobilized their armies and took Adrianople.  In the Second Balkan War Bulgarians attacked Serbia, and Greece and Russia declared war on Bulgaria.  The Turks then recaptured Adrianople.  Serbia invaded Albania and finally peace treaties were signed between Turkey, Greece, & Bulgaria.  One year later, the First World War broke out from this same region of conflict and the Assyrians were put on the receiving end of foreign aide.

 .

Councilor Anwar Khoshaba, 59, born in Kirkuk, Iraq, is the current mayor of the city of Fairfield, Australia.  According to Mr. Khoshaba there are over 20,000 Assyrians living in Fairfield, almost 12% of the entire city's population.  He and his family emigrated to Australia in 1970.  In 1974 he  joined the Australian Labor Party and was later a campaign manager for Smithfield MP Carl Scully, the Minister for Public Works Roads and Ports.  In 1989 Mr. Khoshaba was certified as a Justice of the Peace.  The following is a brief outline of Mr. Khoshaba's political achievements:

• 1991:  elected as Councilor for Fairfield City Council
• 1992:  elected Deputy Mayor
• 1994:  re-elected Deputy Mayor
• 1995:  re-elected to the Council
• 1996:  elected President of the State Electoral Council
• 1997:  elected Mayor of Fairfield

Mr. Khoshaba is a member of the Assyrian Australian Association and Nineveh Club and has served as an advisor to the Assyrian Church of the East and the Assyrian Australian National Federation.  At a 1995 meeting with the former General Secretary of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Mr. Khoshaba had an opportunity to discuss the political and economic conditions of Assyrians in Iraq and the Middle East.

For more Information visit:  Fairfield City Council- Mayor's Column (click)

CORPORATE ACCOUNTS	UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS	PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
	Institut Orientaliste- Belgium	Chicago, Illinois
		Los Angeles, California

                             

This Week's Contributors:

Albert Gabrial	Turlock, California	Assyrian Surfing Posts
Ashur Simon Malek	Ontario, Canada	Assyrian Surfing Posts
Raman Mikhael	Chicago, Illinois	Good Morning Bet-Nahrain
Jacob Yohanan (for Nineveh Magazine)	St. Pauls, Australia	Bravo
Rita Pirayou	San Jose, California	Surfers Corner

               

Thank You For Referring ZENDA to a Friend:  

The Directory of ZENDA News Sources

ZNAA (Assyrian Academic Society-Chicago)
ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAF (Agence France-Presse)
ZNAI  (Assyrian International News Agency)
ZNAK (American Kurdish Information Network)
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrain Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNCO (Compass)
ZNCN (ClariNews)
ZNIF (Iraq Foundation)
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNIN (Iraqi National Congress)
ZNLT (Los Angeles Times)
ZNMN (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNMW (Mideast Newswire)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNQA (Qala Atouraya- Moscow)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSH (Shotapouta Newsletter)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNSM (Shufimafi Lebanese News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)