Subj: ZENDA (Vol II,#29 ; 9/9/96) Date: 96-09-09 00:48:47 EDT From: zenda@ix.netcom.com (Zenda) To: zenda@ix.netcom.com Eelool 9, 6746 September 9, 1996 ***** ***** * * **** ** * * ** * * * * * * *** * * * * * ****** * * * ** * * * * ***** ***** * * **** * * Volume II, Issue 29 A Weekly Online Publication of the ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency ===================================================================== THE L I G H T H O U S E ===================================================================== SADDAM'S FORCES MOVE THRU CITIES AND VILLAGES IN NORTHERN BET-NAHRAIN Saddam Hussein's tactical alliance with the Kurdish rebel faction, KDP, to retake the northern city of Arbil was a calculated move. Just weeks before the implementation of a $2 billion oil-for-food deal which would have allowed Iraqi oil back onto world markets for the first time in six years , the Iraqi leader exploited a split in his Kurdish opponents, extended his influence towards the key Turkish border, and found a proxy force to police provinces he lost control in 1991. While the Assyrian conventioneers in California were enjoying the first of the 3 nightly parties in Modesto, Iraqi troops and tanks supporting the Kurdish rebel faction of Masoud Barzani took the northern city of Arbil, raising the Iraqi flag and ending five years of fragile autonomy from Baghdad in a few hours of intense artillery bombardment. According to the New York Times, Iraqi's entry into fighting between two Kurdish factions disrupted a covert CIA operation intended to overthrow Saddam Hussein. CIA agents were forced to leave Iraq last week after Iraqi troops occupied the northern city of Arbil. The retreat left only a fragmented group of agents, including Iraqi military defectors and Kurdish rebels, to report on the area. President Clinton signed a secret order in January, telling the CIA to give weapons and military training to the groups seeking to overthrow Hussein. The order, which expanded on the mission already in place, also directed the agency to install spying equipment, the report said. Although the Iraqi armed forces have left Arbil, U.S. officials have said Hussein's regime has infiltrated a secret police force to root out the opposition in the area. The policemen have arrested about 1,500 suspected Iraqi, Kurdish, and possibly Assyrian opposition figures. The Times reported that the operation was orchestrated with the help of Jordan's King Hussein, the support of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and through the Iraqi National Accord opposition group. The United States is spending $20 million this year on the program to get rid of Hussein, the Times reported, calling the sum an increase of about $6 million on a budget that has been in place since 1992. Last week, the United States unilaterally fired 44 cruise missiles at military targets in southern Iraq to punish Saddam and still struggles to find international legal grounds for having done so. Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller said on Thursday that a military thrust into northern Bet-Nahrain was not imminent, despite military threats to root out Kurdish separatist rebel bases there. Witnesses said heavy military preparations were in progress near Turkey's porous border with Iraq. The stepped-up activity followed Ankara's announcement that it was preparing to set up a security cordon inside northern Bet-Nahrain to halt Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) infiltration. A foreign ministry spokesman said the zone would be five to 10 km (three to six miles) deep, but Ciller refused to go into details. Iran has denied that its military forces are present in northern Iraq. Rival Kurdish factions continued to fight on Sunday and KDP radio confirmed its forces had killed 300 PUK fighters and demanding the rest surrender. After invading Arbil, Saddam and the KDP moved towards Chamchamal. It was the first front towards Sulaimaniya. The Degala-Koi Sanjak route leads to the region's main electricity power supplier, the Dukan dam. The power lines, running from Sulaimaniya to Arbil and the KDP-held city of Salahuddin, were destroyed during the Iraqi shelling of Arbil and other positions of the PUK. Guerrillas of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), backed by Iraqi government forces, captured the strategic town of Degala and overran the major town of Koi Sanjak, extending an offensive in defiance of U.S. missile strikes last week. PUK leader Jalal Talabani told the British Broadcasting Corporation by telephone that thousands of people were fleeing Koi Sanjaq. Talabani said the U.S. missile attacks on southern Iraq had done nothing to stop Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from continuing his attacks in the Kurdish-held north. ===================================================================== G O O D M O R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N ===================================================================== ASSYRIAN CLERGYMEN KILLED DURING THE KURDISH ATTACKS (ZNDA: San Jose) According to the Assyrian Democratic Organization (Mtakasta) Rev. Benjamin Alaadin and Deacon Sarguis of Mar Gewargis Church of the East Parish were killed during an artillery rocket attack on the village of Diana in northern Bet-Nahrain. The rockets were fired from the positions of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in a major offensive against the rival faction KDP on August 26. ===================================================================== S U R F S U P ! ===================================================================== "Thank you very much for sending me ZENDA, I enjoy all the information connected with Assyrians. Now I am sending you some material which can give you a survey about my writings. The list is originally written in German because I use to write in my own language. The translation was made by help of Francis (Sarguis). But now there are two of my books translated into English by financial help of the Assyrian United Organization of California (Carlo Ganjeh) and I hope will be printed soon. Francis Sarguis did a very good editorial work and it was very helpful that we could work together twice when he came to Europe. At this time I am working on a new edition of my first book 'Assyrians Today' (1978) which has partly to be re-written. I also hope that this book will be translated into English parallel to the German 2nd edition. I will provide Zenda with some news and information, but for now I am sending you my publication list and some material connected to the Holocaust book as Table of Content, Foreword by Zulch (1st ed.1989), Epilog by the late Rudolf Macuch the eminent scholar of Assyrian studies as well as an early book review by a German scholar. If you like you can make use of it. Certainly I will have some questions concerning your teaching work, this will be included in the 'Assyrians in U.S.-Chapter' of the above mentioned book. I hope we will be in contact. P.S. ZENDA- is the name connected to the iranian root -zende/life?" Dr. Gabriele Yonan Berlin, Germany [Dr. Yonan is the author of the book "The Assyrian Holocaust" to be published in English in the near future. She is also the mother of the Assyrian violinist, David Yonan, who has continuously astonished the music world and his Assyrian listeners with his musical talents and love for the Assyrian classical music. Dr. Yonan's list of publications is available upon request from ZENDA and will also be included in our nearly-completed homepage. Also, Dr. Yonan's reference to the history class refers to the Assyrian History Class taught by Mr. Wilfred Alkhas in San Jose, California. Lastly, Zenda is the Assyrian word for the "spark" or "genesis" of a fire. As Dr. Yonan points out it resembles the word "Zendeh" in the Farsi language which means "alive".] "In your last week's issue a fellow Assyrian from Australia named Kym Tank asked if the language spoken by the Assyrians also known as Church of the East Christians is "Assyrian". I told him in a previous e-mail posting that in Chicago the Board of Education calls the language AKKADIAN, but when checking with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago the Librarian informed that the language we speak is NEO-ARAMAIC and the Church liturgy is a dialect of ARAMAIC (old Aramaic also known as "leshana ateeka"). He said that originally the Assyrians spoke a dialect of AKKADIAN until about the 1st century A.D., but the language has not been in use since then and our people have been using Neo-Aramaic with Syriac writing characters. I'm asking him for his sources to support this conclusion on his part. The Oriental Institute is well known for its archeological research and has translated a lot of the Assyrian cuneiform tablets, etc.. If anyone else has more expertise in this matter please let us all know. This librarian said that the Chicago Public schools and the Board of Education is WRONG in calling the language we use AKKADIAN. I do not know how they came to their conclusion and expect that they would have done more research before they labeled the language as they have. Any other comments on this subject will be appreciated and I will be happy to respond to anyone who extends e- mail directly to me. Raba shalamee" Paul Newey Chicago, Illinois GYQS35A@prodigy.com "I would like first, to express my gratitude toward Zenda's staff and let you know that I am grateful and proud to see zenda news on my E-mail. It is an ideal way to inform and unite the assyrians around the world. Secondly, I have a request from you: could you please give me the name and E-mail address of the woman in San Jose, who is the Senator of California. I believe I have seen her name and E-mail address in zenda news two or three weeks ago, but I didn't keep a copy of it." Janine Jacoby Phoenix, Arizona [Anna Eshoo is the only Assyrian woman presently serving the United States Congress. She can be reached at annagram@hr.house.gov .] ===================================================================== S U R F E R S C O R N E R ===================================================================== Look for our first ZENDA MARKETPLACE message sent along with this week's issue. We are pleased to announce that Teach Yourself Modern Syriac CD-ROM is now available for Windows machines. In the future, we will bring you information on other Assyrian books, music, art works, and items of interest. ===================================================================== N E W S D I G E S T ===================================================================== The following is an exact text of the contents of an Appeal by the Assyrian National Alliance(ANA) to President Bill Clinton. The Assyrian National Alliance is comprised of the: Assyrian Universal Alliance-Political Arm Assyrian Liberation Movement (Khoorara) Bet Nahrain Democratic Party-Iraq Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) Assyrian National Alliance - September 1, 1996 President Bill Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 Honorable President Bill Clinton: The Assyrian National Alliance (ANA) has received information regarding the attack by Iraqi army units on the city of Arbil in North Iraq, and expresses its extreme concern for the safety of the people of the area, and in particular our Assyrian people in our ancestral homeland. We urgently appeal for the immediate intervention of U.S. forces to save and protect the population from this criminal army. The declared policy of the U.S. government has been to protect the Iraqi people above the 36th parallel under applicable U.N. resolutions. U.S. assurances to maintain this policy have been the principal source of hope for the security of the people of the area from the forces of Saddam Hussein. Operation Provide Comfort, spearheaded by U.S. armed forces, has been successful for the past five years in providing security for the Iraqi population north of the 36th parallel. This protection must be continued, and the population must not be allowed to be brutalized by this criminal army once again. We are particularly concerned with previous use of chemical weapons by this same army against unarmed civilians. Very Truly Yours, Ishaia Isho Coordinator ===================================================================== D I R E C T O R Y OF THE N E W S S O U R C E S ===================================================================== ZNAR (Archeology Magazine) ZNAS (Assyrian Sentinel) ZNMN (Mercury News) ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly) ZNNY (New York Times) ZNRU (Reuters): ClariNet Communications Corp. ZNSC (soc.culture.assyrian) newsgroup ZNTN (Turkish News Agency) 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 ===================================================================== N e w D a t e s & U p d a t e s --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thru April 6 The Ain Ghazal Exhibit Smithsonian Institute Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Washington D.C. --------------------------------------------------------------------- E N T E R T A I N M E N T --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- R E G U L A R C L A S S E S & M E E T I N G S --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fridays Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at Modesto Junior College 1:00 pm Founders Hall 108 Modesto, U.S.A. Saturdays Nisibis School 10:30-1:30 The Church of the East Toronto, Canada Nisibin School 10:00-12:00 pm BETA of the Assyrian American Association of San Jose San Jose, California ===================================================================== A S S Y R I A N S U R F I N G P O S T S ===================================================================== N e w S i t e (s) Directory of the Assyrian Organizations and Businesses http://www.cs.utoronto.ca/~jatou/ypages.html ===================================================================== P U M P UP THE V O L U M E ===================================================================== ENGLISH ASSYRIAN Pregnant btden/taa [F] To Give Birth dya/la [M] dyal/ta [F] Abortion mar/khash/ta [F] Pronunciations: a as in bat b big s sit aa make ch church sh shovel a: father d dog t top aw awe f fun td [tdlaa=three] e let g go th thigh ee leak h hit TH those i kid j judge v van i: like k kite w way ou ouch l link y you o: boat m make z zip oi boy n not zh pleasure u: boot p pot u pulley q [qaatdoo=cat] * 'do-nut r red _____________________________________________________________________ F = Feminine M = Masculine P = Plural ===================================================================== B A C K TO THE F U T U R E ===================================================================== B.C. (734) Still the primary inhabitants of Gaza, the Philistines were conquered by the Assyrians. << National Geographic Magazine, September 1996 >> A.D. (1979) The first Assyrian radio station begins regular broadcasting in the Assyrian language in Ceres, California. << Zenda >> ===================================================================== L I T E R A T U S ===================================================================== DARK EYES "Nahrain" come join me! Called out her sister, pulling her to her feet to wind their way between the crowded tables. They were heading towards the long, human dancing chain, created by hundreds of dancers of all ages - old women and men, young boys and girls, holding hands, shaking up and down to the beat of the drums, and moving sideways and forward in intricate steps in a unique harmony to the sounds of music. With every movement of the dancers, the chain was moving slowly like a wave towards Nahrain. Dragged by her sister, she found herself at the end of the dancing chain. On her left, an eight year old boy joined the dancers, grabbed her hand and jumped excitedly, stamping his feet in imitation of her dance steps, in an attempt to learn the secrets of the most popular Assyrian national dance, the khega. Nahrain enjoyed the music, the crowds, the magic feeling of being among so many relatives, neighbors and friends. It was as if she was being embraced in the arms of a large family, the arms of mother Atour; she new that away from them she was lost. It was the same feeling she had when listening to stories her grandfather told her of their old village's festivals. Suddenly the little soft hand let go of hers and a stronger one grabbed it instead. Glancing to her left she saw a young man was now beside her. She recognized him immediately. It was Sargon, the young man from the neighborhoods. Looking into his eyes, she turned away blushing, casting down her eyes shyly. His looks touched her soul. She could feel her heart beating. Everything around her suddenly changed, colours become brighter and the music seemed distant. She could only hear her heart beat to the song of his eyes, all faces around her were smiling. She wondered if Sargon sensed this enchanting feeling, could he hear the beat of her heart? She dared not to look again in those black, velvet eyes, she feared the truth. Nahrain wanted to enjoy this seductive moment a while longer, perhaps till the end of the evening. The dance was now getting faster. Her body swayed lithely to the music, her dark brown hair flowed over her shoulders like the waterfalls of Nineveh. Her brown eyes shone joyfully in the night. Then the music stopped. The young man disappeared into the crowed. The party was over, but her heart was still beating. She wondered why this always happened to her when ever she met those dark eyes, she asked herself again did he feel my heart beat; as she went outside to wait for her sister. There was Sargon again, approaching her, looking in her brown eyes he gently said "Look at the stars in the sky, they are still dancing to the melody of your heart beat", and went on his way. Later, while walking home under the summer, star-filled night sky, she turned to her sister and said "Look up there, the stars are still dancing." Nahrain, are you drunk?" her sister asked. She turned to her and replied, "Yes I am drunk on the warmth of Sargon's dark eyes". -Atouraya ===================================================================== T H I S W E E K I N H I S T O R Y ===================================================================== September 7, 1956: Mar Ishaya Shimun, the Assyrian Patriarch of the Church of the East, addresses the Anglican clergies of the Canterbury, London in the Assyrian language. ===================================================================== B R A V O ===================================================================== Ms. Marian Yonan of Modesto, California was elected as the new Executive Secretary of the Assyrian American National Federation during the last official meeting of the AANF Executive Committee at the Assyrian National Convention in Modesto, California. Ms. Yonan is a ZENDA reader and is completing her undergraduate studies at University of California, Davis. ===================================================================== W E L C O M E T O Z E N D A ===================================================================== Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from: CORPORATE ACCOUNTS Shandwick International PacBell Samsung UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS Cal State University, Stanislaus PERSONAL ACCOUNTS Chicago, Illinois Kiev, Ukraine ===================================================================== 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: Sharokin Betgevargiz San Jose, California Christoph Aktas Sunnyvale, California Ninous Bebla San Jose, California Francis Sarguis Santa Barbara, California Jeanclaude Toma Milpitas, California Esha Tamras San Jose, California AssyrianLink Assyrian Academic Society of Chicago ___________________________________________________________________ ZENDA prints 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 the activities of your local and national Assyrian communities, 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, September 16, 1996. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Join us next week for our complete coverage of the elections, official reports, discussions, and the madness of the 63rd Assyrian American National Convention in Modesto, California. ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- From zenda@ix.netcom.com Mon Sep 9 00:48:13 1996 Return-Path: zenda@ix.netcom.com Received: from dfw-ix9.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix9.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.9]) by emin09.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id AAA03609; Mon, 9 Sep 1996 00:48:10 -0400 Received: from sjx-ca21-19.ix.netcom.com (zenda@sjx-ca21-19.ix.netcom.com [204.30.65.83]) by dfw-ix9.ix.netcom.com (8.6.13/8.6.12) with SMTP id VAA11489; Sun, 8 Sep 1996 21:36:23 -0700 Message-Id: <2.2.16.19960909044104.586f70a8@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, 08 Sep 1996 21:41:04 -0700 To: zenda@ix.netcom.com From: Zenda Subject: ZENDA (Vol II,#29 ; 9/9/96)