From zenda@ix.netcom.com Mon Feb 24 06:02:03 1997 Return-Path: zenda@ix.netcom.com Received: from dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.10]) by emin24.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id GAA26779; Mon, 24 Feb 1997 06:02:00 -0500 Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id CAA24509; Mon, 24 Feb 1997 02:59:34 -0600 (CST) Received: from unknown(139.87.92.218) by dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id sma024400; Mon Feb 24 02:58:54 1997 Message-Id: <3.0.32.19970224010012.006b5bb8@popd.ix.netcom.com> X-Sender: zenda@popd.ix.netcom.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 Demo (32) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 01:02:01 -0800 To: zenda@ix.netcom.com From: ZENDA Subject: ZENDA I (Vol III,#2 ; 2/24/97) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Shvadt 24, 6746 February 24, 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 2 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...................... Assyrian Delegation From the North -an exclusive interview- Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............ Assyrian Father & Son Killed in N/BN Surfs Up............................ "Assyrians are the proud people..." Surfers Corner...................... The Assyrian Rights Advocacy Group News Digest......................... Assyrian Delegation Meeting in San Jose -Section Two- Calendar of Events.................. ACNC '97 (May 24) Entracte............................ No New Entries Intelligentsia...................... Classes and Seminars Assyrian Surfing Posts.............. Womens Lives in Ancient Mesopotamia Pump up the Volume.................. Reason and Logic Back to the Future.................. Sumerians Vanish Sumerians Inhabit Southern Bet-Nahrain Literatus........................... "What are you to the Land?" This Week in History................ Assyrian National Fund of 1917 Bravo............................... A New Assyrian-Canadian Radio Program The Directory....................... News Sources Bshena.............................. ZENDA Welcomes New Readers! Salute.............................. Ninous, Ramin, Firas, Jackie, Carlo, Ashur, Rita, & Christoph =========================================================================== THE L I G H T H O U S E =========================================================================== On Sunday 9 February a lecture for the controversial Assyrian political figures from northern Iraq, Butros Zkharia and Romel Shimshun, was organized at the Assyrian American Association of San Jose's BETA (community hall). As many as 200 Assyrians from Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties were present to commend, question, castigate, and condemn Misters Potros Zkharia,one of the five Assyrian representatives in the Kurdish Parliament, and Romel Shimshun, an Officer of the Assyrian Patriotic Party's Central Committee (Gabba Atranaya Atouraya) in Northern Iraq. As was expected a few members of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) and the two Assyrian guests impetuously criticized one another on the accomplishments of the two Assyrian political parties, Zowaa and Gabba Atranaya in the North. At one point Mr. Ladimer Lachin of Zowaa and his party members withdrew from the assembly at the community hall and were importuned to return later in the evening. Gabba Atranaya has been called "a Baathist tool", "a creation of Saddam", "an evil instrument to undermine the control of Zowaa in the North." A few days later, Wilfred Alkhas of ZENDA, had an opportunity to interview both representatives in San Jose on the night before their departure from California. The following is the complete text of this exclusive interview. ZENDA: Mr. Zkharia, can you please tell us about your role in the politics of the North? Butros: I'm one of the six Assyrian representatives in the Kurdish Parliament who filled the vacant position of Martyr Francis Yousip Shabu. ZENDA: I thought there were only five representatives. Butros: There are five representatives that ran on the Assyrian Democratic Movement's election ticket and the sixth Assyrian representative is a member of a Kurdish party. ZENDA: So you must be a member of Zowaa? Butros: No, I was only elected on their political ticket. ZENDA: This demonstrated the magnanimity of Zowaa's political views to allow a non-Zowaa member run on its ticket as an Assyrian. Right? Butros: I leave these political talks to Romel here. There are eight political parties in the Kurdish Parliament: six Kurdish, one Assyrian (Zowaa) and one Communist. I must admit that I am also very disappointed with the treatment we have been receiving in the U.S. for expressing our views. ZENDA: Is it true that some of the donations sent to Zowaa from Europe and the U.S. never reached the Assyrians in the North? Butros: No, not true. The monies that reach us through non-Assyrian humanitarian groups may or may not reach the Assyrian villages as was true last year with the financial assistance we received in re-building our homes. Only two villages were Assyrian and the rest were Kurdish. However, any money that is sent directly to Zowaa is used for Assyrians and none is handed over to the Kurdish groups. ZENDA: (Turning to Mr. Romel Shimshun of APP) Would you tell our readers a little about the history of APP? Romel: APP was founded on July 17, 1973 after the official visit of Malik Yaqu d'Malik Ismail in February 1972. An Assyrian youth movement had begun immediately after the issuance of a decree by the government of Iraq to grant Assyrians their "cultural rights". Our members have been working diligently in Iraq to help our people. Through years we've met with the AUA's Sam Andrews and other Assyrian political figures. In 1981 some of our friends decided to pursue armed struggle and went North to support Zowaa and the Kurdish insurgencies. ZENDA: Your name was first mentioned in ZENDA a few months ago which began a chain of distasteful letter-writing and phone calls from certain members of Zowaa and the Assyrian Aid Society. Mr. Mikhael Jajou of Zowaa went as far as demanding my immediate removal from the office I held until recently in the Assyrian American National Federation. They denied your existence all together. Why is it that only recently did we learn about your political party and why are Zowaa members so sensitive about your existence? Romel: We were prepared to arrive in the U.S. in 1995 as journalists. Unfortunately due to economic difficulties we were forced to change our plans. We only traveled to Europe in June 1995 and stayed until July 1. Then we asked the Assyrian Universal Alliance for its assistance in obtaining visas to the U.S., which they did. We were likewise assisted by the Assyrian Federations in Sweden and Germany and the Tur-Abdin Federation in Holland. This time we decided to stay away from the North for a little longer period (of two to three months). ZENDA: Who have you met so far? Romel: We've met with the representatives of all major Assyrian political parties in the U.S. ZENDA: What is the major difference between the political platform of your party and that of Zowaa? Romel: We believe in reaching our political objectives through diplomatic means and not by taking up arms against a government. Unlike Zowaa we also believe in sharing ideas and cooperation with all existing Assyrian political parties in the North. Despite of what has been propagated in the U.S. there are other political parties in the North, namely Bet- Nahrain Democratic Party and the Assyrian Patriotic Party. Since our numbers are small, we must all work together. Assyrians in the U.S. and Europe are led to believe that there are two to three hundred thousand Assyrians in the North. Nothing could be farthest from truth. There are less than fifty thousand Assyrians remaining among the millions of Kurds. Our numbers are small and continue to dwindle. Therefore we must work together to find a better political solution. We also believe that Assyrians are not a minority group, but a representative population of Iraq and must be treated as one. ZENDA: How do you feel about Zowaa and their political views? Romel: We are unhappy with their growing ties with the Kurdish constituency in the North. Be sure that Zowaa's views do not represent the views of the Assyrian majority in the North. A statement of our intent for closer cooperation was sent to Zowaa on 21 May, 1991. Zowaa by then had was then the voice of our people, especially in Dohuk. APP is an alternative political party for the Assyrian masses in the North, especially in Dohuk. Zowaa did at one point agree to a common leadership when a joint meeting was organized with Zowaa's Mr. Mikhael Jajou. Nothing substantial has been done since then. ZENDA: Who are the members of your Central Committee? Romel: Mr. Nimrod Betu is our Secretary General, Mr. Yalda Khoshaba and myself are officers in the Central committee, and Mr. Teery Botros in Germany oversees our Foreign Relations office. ZENDA: How are your activities funded? Romel: All our funding comes from our members in Iraq and outside. ZENDA: Is it true that Iraqi Baath Party helped your members in the 1970's to create APP as an Assyrian Baathist Party? Romel: Iraqi Baath Party has worked very hard to convert many Assyrians into Baathists and has in fact succeeded as many of our Assyrian-Iraqi friends here may be able to name a few. (Other Assyrian-Iraqi guests present in the room nodded their heads in agreement). Assyrian Baathism exists but Assyrian Patriotic Party is not a Baathist party and has no ties with the government of Iraq. In fact Mar Ishai Shimun's visit to Iraq helped to undermine the growing power of the Assyrian Baathist movement in Iraq (by this time other guests began speaking in Arabic, a language not spoken by the interviewer). ZENDA: What can you say about your members? Romel: Over 90% hold a college degree or better, particularly those in the North. ZENDA: How do you plan to publicize your views in the North and to the Assyrians in Europe and the Americas? Romel: We publish a newsletter called "Letters from Athra (the Homeland)" which we hope will provide you with more information about our future activities and political views (He then opened his briefcase and handed Mr. Alkhas a copy of this newsletter). We also write extensively in the Kurdish journals about Assyrians and our goals. ZENDA: Where does Zowaa stand in proximity to either of the two major Kurdish parties, Barzani's KDP and Talebani's PKU? Romel: Zowaa, it seems, has maintained a neutral stand between the two political parties, but Barzani believes that Zowaa has closer ties to Talebani's group which in turn is backed by the government of Iran. We believe that there should be no divided sentiments against either Kurdish or Arab powers in the region. ZENDA: Does AAP have any ties with the Baath party of Iraq? Romel: No, we have no ties with the Baathists. I will also say that Iraqi Baathist party has no ties with any other Assyrian parties. These are just rumors. ZENDA: Then do you deny that you have contacted or are still in contact with William Shawil (an Assyrian Baathist) in the past? Romel: No, I don't. (Pause) You have to realize that since the 1970's many Assyrians became Baathist. If they wish to contact us, unlike other groups which do not promote diplomatic means to achieve our goals, we are willing to listen and work towards a common leadership for the Assyrians. =========================================================================== G O O D M O R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N =========================================================================== ASSYRIAN FATHER & SON ARE KILLED BY KURDISH MOB IN NORTHERN BET-NAHRAIN Press Release: February 12, 1997 Assyrian National Congress (ANC) Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party (BNDP) http://www.betnahrain.com A heinous crime was committed on Monday February 10, 1997 in the city of Shaqlawa, Northern Iraq, against an Assyrian family by Kurdish thugs and assassins. According to a communique issued by the information Bureau of Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party in Arbil,an Assyrian father, Mr. Lazar Matti, and his son, Mr. Hawel Lazar Matti, a member of BNDP militia, were dragged and murdered in the streets of Shaqlawa by elements of an Islamist Kurdish group who were obeying a call issued in a sermon last Friday by a Kurdish mulla to revenge the murder of a Kurd who was accused by the Assyrian community of committing a forced marriage against the teenager daughter of Mr. Lazar Matti. More than 200 armed Kurdish bandits forced their way into the home of this Assyrian family and burned the building. Next they went to the local prison, where the Assyrian father and his son were held, dragged then in the streets and murdered them in a most barbaric fashion seldom seen in the civilized world. This crime was so barbaric, it forced Mr. Massoud al-Barzani to visit Shaqlawa to claim the situation and ordered the arrest of those Kurds who took part in this massacre. His government pledge to punish those who committed the crime. The history of the past six years , since the Kurds took control of the region, show that not one Kurd has been punished for previous assassinations and murders of several Assyrians. Members of the Political Bureau and the Central Committee of Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party in the reign met with the Kurdish officials and urged them to put an end to such heinous crimes committed against the Assyrian Christian minority in the Northern Iraq. Otherwise, the Kurdish government will be held responsible for the consequences. The Assyrian National Congress has appealed to the Secretary General of the United Nations and to all human rights organizations and world governments to condemn this latest atrocity committed against our defenseless people in Northern Iraq. The president of the ANC, Dr. Sargon Dadesho, spoke with several high officials of the Clinton administration and congressional leaders regarding the situation in Northern Iraq. He made a special presentations to the officials of several European governments and Iraq opposition groups. The ANC is urging all Assyrian organizations and mass media outlets to condemn this latest killing in Shaqlawa. Let the world know that we will not stand idle and see our compatriots murdered by uncivilized thugs in our ancestral homeland. Our deepest condolences to Lazar Matti family and the Assyrians people. see http://cgi.pathfinder.com:80/@@E09@96UAeoh69AkA/cgi-bin /boards/read/11/ 3200/1 ******************* AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LEADERSHIP OF KURDISH DEMOCRATIC PARTY - IN IRAQ, AND TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENT Bet- Nahrain Democratic Party. United States Chapter voices its condemnation with the harshest critique and sadness, in response to the recent abominable, inhumane act of barbaric crime inflected against two members of our Assyrian people on February 10, 1997, in the city Shaqlawa (North Iraq). We call upon you to expedite your commitment and resolve it with the harshest but just and impartial settlement. This matter can only be justified by your utmost willingness and readiness to publicly execute all those fanatic, criminal thugs who breached the law, if any exists at the present time, including the clergy man (Mulla) who irresponsible incited with direct provocation leading to such heinous onslaught against two innocent victims Mr. Lazar Matti and his son, Mr. Hawel Lazar Matti, a member of BNDP. May god rest their soul in peace. In light to what is occurring in Northern Iraq for the last six consecutive years, ever since the allied forces declared the demarcation Parallel 36 under their protection, numerous fatal assaults have been inflicted upon innocent Assyrian citizens. Ironically, none of all such atrocities have resolved in any court conviction against any Kurdish assailant. Let it be a reminder to everyone, that the Assyrian people in the Diaspora disapprove such callous responsibility, that will lead us to revise our dogma toward the Kurdish cause. And in a wake of all these atrocities we like to remark and advice you that the Western countries, especially those who share a joint military contingency in the reign, abhor and protest such cowardly act of in just and barbarism, which might also lead them to orchestrate a conspiracy to alter the situation. So lest not to see you all falling victims, that also leads to total collapse and anarchy in the reign, due to this continuous unresolved Assyrian indigenous matters. We ask you to bare a conscious mind and stand righteous in view of all responsibilities and protect the innocent Assyrian people. Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party- USA [Unconfirmed reports to ZENDA indicate that Mr. Masoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party attended the funeral of the two Assyrian victims and later promised that the perpetrators will be judiciously censured.] ******************* IRAQI NATIONAL ACCORD ESTABLISHES ITSELF IN NORTHERN IRAQ (ZNRU: Amman) An exiled Iraqi opposition group said Saturday it had reestablished a presence in northern Iraq and had met Kurdish faction leaders to coordinate efforts to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi National Accord said in a statement it had also sent delegations to Iraq's neighbors Turkey and Iran as well as unnamed Arab countries to revive international links. "The movement has succeeded in redeploying in northern Iraq, opening new bases in the towns and villages in the liberated areas of Iraqi Kurdistan," INA said in a statement. Most members of the movement, which set up offices in Jordan a year ago, divide their time between London and Amman. ******************* KURDISH LEADERS OF KDP AND PUK MEET IN TEHRAN (ZNUP: Tehran) The leaders of two rival Iraqi Kurdish factions are in Tehran for talks with the Iranian government on their ceasefire in northern Iraq, Iranian radio said Saturday. The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, Jalal Talabani, and the number two leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party, Nitchravan Barzani, arrived in the Iranian capital Friday, the radio said in a report monitored in Kuwait. The radio said the two delegations would review the latest developments in the Kurdish autonomous zone of northern Iraq with Iranian officials. It is not known if they will negotiate with each other. On Oct. 23, the PUK, which has been supported by Iran, agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with the KDP, which received Iraqi military backing to take control of the northern Iraqi city of Arbil last August. The two groups had maintained an uneasy truce since the 1991 Gulf War, but they began fighting each other in 1994 over differences about sharing the tax revenue of the Kurdish zone. The fighting flared into full-scale war on Aug. 31 when the KDP, with Iraqi tanks, seized the zone's virtual capital, Arbil, in protest against what it saw as Iranian support for PUK attacks. The Iranian news agency, IRNA, said Saturday's talks had been requested by the KDP. =========================================================================== S U R F S U P ! =========================================================================== "is their a scaned image of the painting " kaleske shamiran" on the net. if yes where. if no why not..:) i want/need a copy of it for my home page..." Sender Unknown La Trobe University Australia ["Kaleske Shamiran" refers to Queen Samiramis of Assyria's war chariot.] ******************* "I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THE NEWS LETTER. I AM TRYING TO FIND RESTURANTS AND FUNCTIONS FOR OUR FAMILY. ASSYRIANS ARE THE PROUD AND THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF THE WORLD AND I MISS THEIR COMPANY. Rachel Hosanna San Clemente, California ******************* "The font used in emailing zenda works well on machines where the font is scalable (such as MS Windows). I have my email forwarded to me to the place of my work. You see I move quite a bit, and so I set up a forward file from alumni.cs.uwm.edu to where ever I happen to be working. Right now I am at HP and on the machine I am on, the font, iso-8859-1 does not exist, but iso8859-1 does exist (a difference of a hyphen). Furthermore, the font is not scalable and is too small for easy reading. Could you select a font like -adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18-180-75-75-p-94-iso8859- which is far more readable." Joe Davida San Diego, California [Depending on the type of computer you are using and the fonts you have installed you could be looking at something quite different from what we intended. The formatting of any text that we send depends on the default text formatting of your email software. Apparently we do not carry the font you have requested; however, we continue to look for a similar type of font that may be as readable and scalable as you have suggested.] ******************* "Is it possible to get previous issues of zenda online?" Ben Telya Modesto, California [We intend to place all ZENDA's previous issues on our future web site. Stay tune for more information in the very near future.] ******************* [Mr. M.K. Warda of Hartford, Connecticut, a ZENDA reader, passed on to immortality on 15 February, 1997, at age 28. Our staff, on behalf of the readers of our newsletter wish to offer our deepest sympathies to the Warda family. May God bless you and give you strength in these difficult times.] * ******* * * * =========================================================================== 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. *************************************************************************** THE ASSYRIAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY GROUP ESTABLISHES ITSELF ON THE INTERNET Beloved Assyrians: The Assyrian Rights Advocacy aka ARA - a newly founded cyberspace committee currently comprising twelve members - lacks the vim of ardent, altruistic Assyrians. ARA (al-ara@allover.com) is an e-mail discussion list akin to its parent Assyrianlink (assyrianlink@allover.com), both whereof are sponsored by Gil Chamaki. The moderator of ARA is Raman Michael and his two advisors are Rita Knight and Ramsen Isaac. The dual purposes of ARA are 1) to champion the human rights of Assyrians throughout the globe, but especially, of those trebly downtrodden in North Iraq and 2) to broadcast awareness of the Assyrian nation throughout the world via the media, Internet, circulars, etc. For more information about ARA, please refer to our Web site at the following address: http://www.assyria.net/al-ara ARA is new and inexperienced, actually, and therefore is seeking erudite and experienced patriots who will to selflessly expend time and effort in communicating our plight to world governmental and non-governmental organizations. Anent the recent murder of Mr. Mati and his son, ARA has composed a letter based on AINA's press-release, and will soon send it out via e-mail to U.S., U.N., and international human rights offices. Unfortunately, the onerous moil the few of us are undertaking is quite overwhelming, and hence, my call to fellow Assyrians. If you have the desire to join our nisus, then contact Raman Michael at: erbil@wwa.com. The only criteria for subscription to ARA is that of being an Assyrian and additionally, that you join Assyrianlink as a regular or digest member. Please my beloved, ARA needs impassioned Assyrians who desiderate the amelioration of our oppressed nation. Sincerely, Shamasha Mark Youwanes Representative Member of ARA Phoenix, AZ =========================================================================== N E W S D I G E S T =========================================================================== A BRIEF REPORT ON THE MEETING OF THE ASSYRIAN DELEGATION FROM THE NORTH HELD AT THE ASSYRIAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SAN JOSE'S COMMUNITY HALL As reported by ZENDA readers who attended this meeting on February 9 (ZNDA: San Jose) Two Assyrian representatives from Northern Iraq, Butros Zkharia (Christian Aid Program in Northern Iraq - CAPNI) and Romel Shimshun (Gabba Athranaya Atouraya) began their talk by introducing themselves and discussing their representative organizations. Mr. Carlo Ganjeh, a member of the Association and the president of the Assyrian United Organizations of California, presiding over this meeting. Mr. Zkharia said that he is a member of Kurdish Parliament occupying one of the five seats given to the Assyrians. He said the main objective of his organization is humanitarian and has no connection with any political organization. The goal of this organization is to help needy families, farmers and students. Mr. Shumshun introduced himself as a member of Gabba Athranaya, established in 1973 in Baghdad. The goal of establishing this party at that time was to unite educated Assyrians in order to preserve the Assyrian cultural heritage in Iraq. However, its activities were kept secret until two years ago when the leadership which is now in the North, decided to work in the open. Its members do not believe in arm struggle and basically think that with diplomacy and dialogue can resolve all issues with any other political party. During question and answer session, Mr. Shimshun mentioned that Mr. John Nimrod of AUA had helped them in getting visas and organizing rallies during their visit. Gabba Athranaya was established is 1973. Its activities since then prompted repeated questions from the audience, but no clear answer was given. From the audience, the ones who were in Iraq at that time, did not recall any Athranaya party, the only party that almost everybody had heard of was The Assyrian Baath Party. This party was mainly established by the Iraqi government to help move the Assyrians to the North and have them fight against the Kurds. At that time the Shah of Iran was supporting the Kurds (Mostafa Barezani) tremendously and the Iraqi Baath party was trying to persuade the Shah to stop his financial and military aid to the Kurds which he eventually did. Moving the Assyrians to the North was an alternative solution to the Kurdish problem. Nevertheless, the members of this party later acted as informers to the Baath party which resulted in many arrests and executions of Assyrians. Mr. Shumshun in his answers said that he did not recall if the Assyrian Baath Party ever existed and the reason nobody has heard of the Athranaya party was that it had been working in secret. Mr. Zharia who was elected as an alternate member of the Kurdish Parliament during the 1992 elections, was running on Zowaa's ticket and replaced martyr Francis Yousef Shabo. When he was asked if he still was a Zowaa member and why there was a need to establish another humanitarian organization where Assyrian Aid Society has already been helping our people in the North since 1992. He answered that he had never been a member of Zowaa even though he was running under their ticket. He also added that for the last couple of years no humanitarian aid has reached our people and this prompted them to start the Christian Aid program. One person asked him that general understanding is that it should be very difficult for a member of Kurdish Parliament to travel to Baghdad, but he was informed by his relatives back home that Mr. Zkharia travels to Baghdad often. Mr. Zharia replied that members of Zowaa also travel to Baghdad so it is not something unusual and he does not visit his relatives in Baghdad as often as he would like. It needs to be noted that during the question and answer session both representatives referred to themselves as Iraqnayeh (Iraqi) not Assyrians which bewildered members of the audience. In conclusion, the representatives did not answer the questions thoroughly and people left the meeting with many thoughts in their minds: What all this means to the future of our people in the North (Homeland)? Will it ever be possible for the Assyrian Nation to resolve its problems internally and without involving foreigners? Will it ever be possible to hold our leaders accountable for their actions? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -End of Section 1 of 2