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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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"Telling"
A poem
has enticed
my lips
to display a passionate mosaic of words
telling you
all that I am
but never
the real me.
The piano plays
smooth
rhythmic
yet treacherous
slices of remorse
patent with genes
Ah and Yes of a nationalistic breed
telling you
who you are.
Thirst quenches me
then I twisting quench
we dance Our "rigda"
under the sheet of love
only to find
a rain of knives
hailing our bodies with scars
telling us of our
ancestors.
Sharokin Betgevargiz
Connecticut, U.S.
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G O O D M O
R N I N G B E T - N A H R A I N
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WS (Baghdad) The Iraqi government
has objected to the
U.N.'s monitoring of the sales
and the distribution
of food, as well as the allocation
of some revenue to
the Assyrian and Kurdish groups
in northern
Bet-Nahrain.
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S U R F S U P !
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"I think you are doing a commendable
job. I just hope
more people take your lead and
take advantage of what
this world has to offer the Assyrian
people. I think
this is a good start, and hopefully
it will not end
here. But it is up to us not to
let it..."
-Joseph Aghassi, California
"All of my life I have spoken Assyrian,
but it wasn't
until recently until I became proud
of who I am.
Constantly being labeled as Persian
(because it was
my parent's birth place) bothers
me. Constantly
hearing my younger cousins shunning
their Assyrian
background and refusing to speak
their mother tongue
perturbs me. I am so excited
each time I read ZENDA;
I got to UC Berkeley and my family
is in Los Angeles.
This is my Assyrian connection
while I am away. Keep
up the good work!!!"
-Nira Geevargis, California
"After reading Zenda's latest issue
and knowing the
situation that occurred at the
San Jose Nisibin
Halloween party I applaud Alina
Sargiss's letter to
the AAA of San Jose. I am
appalled and disgusted
that Assyrians would discriminate
against non-Assyrians.
As an Assyrian, I am proud of my
heritage, ancestry
and community. However,
I must confess that one
of my closest and dearest friends
is not an Assyrian.
If I choose to invite my non-Assyrian
friends to an
Assyrian function I would
hope and pray that my
community would also invite and
welcome my friends.
If I had to make a choice, my community
would
lose and I would not participate
in any Assyrian
function. I myself would
never have supported nor
attended an event that did not
allow me to invite my
friends, regardless of their nationality.
We have
many Assyrians that have married
outside our culture.
Are their spouses not welcomed?
Why are we
not encouraging our people to invite
their friends
to our functions, in order to keep
them involved
in the community? Instead
we are pushing them away.
Non Assyrians are welcomed in my
home and
in my heart. Who are these
people who tell me
that my friends are not welcomed
in my community?
I am my community and I did not
make these decisions.
If the rest of my community does
not welcome
my friends, then they do not welcome
me...and it
will be their loss. These
are the types of issues
that make our generation an apathetic
one, as well as
nauseate and discourage people
like myself from
getting involved in Assyrian affairs.
Why do we hire bands like Black
Cats? They are
not Assyrian. Why are
we not playing only Assyrian
music at our parties? Why
are we not dressing in
our traditional clothing?
The Indians do. I myself
love to listen to Persian music.
I enjoy wearing
western clothing. Please
don't misunderstand me,
I'm not saying let's all go out
and make friends
with non-Assyrians. I'm simply
saying that we
shouldn't discourage people from
attending our
gatherings. If an Assyrian
boy/girl brings his/her
non-Assyrian boyfriend/girlfriend
to a party, I
believe it is better that they
are there with a non-
Assyrian rather than not being
there at all.
We will all continue to have different
opinions on
the matter. I must encourage
those that share my
opinion on the subject not to support
or attend any
function that does not allow non-Assyrians.
This is
my opinion and thoughts on the
subject."
-Sandra Gevarguize
New York
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N E W S D I G E S T
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ELIAS RE-ELECTED IN CALIFORNIA
ZN (San Jose) Mr. Ben Elias, an
Assyrian local official,
was re-elected to the City Council
of Union city,
California. Mr Elias was
elected on November 4, for
another 2-year term.
ALKHAS & BET-YOUSEP TO VISIT CANADA
SC (Toronto) The United Assyrian
Youth of Canada
has invited Hanibal Alkhas and
Yosep Bet-Yosep to
speak on November 19, 1995, 2:00
P.M. at the Assyrian
Centre in Mississauga-Toronto.
Mr. Alkhas, currently
visiting North America, is a well-known
Assyrian artist
and poet. The works of Mr.
Alkhas have appeared in
several galleries in Iran, Israel,
and the United
States. Mr. Bet-Yosep is
a familiar face around
the Assyrian communities in Canada.
Not long ago he
accompanied Ninos Aho to a similar
event sponsored
by the Assyrian Centre. Hanibal
Alkhas and Yosep
Bet-Yosep have been collaborating
on several literary
and artistic projects in California.
KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN PROPOSES
AN IRAQI FEDERATION
TN (Ankara) On Tuesday, Malik Hussein
of Jordan,
suggested in an interview appearing
in the
Financial Times of France that
Iraq should be trans-
formed into a federation of Shiite,
Sunni and Kurdish
communities. "A federated Iraq
might be the answer,"
he said in his interview, excerpts
of which were
carried by Agence France Presse
on Tuesday. "I have
the conviction that what we need
in Iraq is for us
to get credible representatives
of the three major
components of Iraq's people," Hussein
said.
Analysts questioned on this point,
however, suggested
the Kurds of Northern Bet-Nahrain
would not, in fact,
be averse to a federative arrangement,
given that
historic precedence has done little
to bolster their
confidence in the central authority
in the country.
The Assyrian population, neither
the residents of
Northern Bet-Nahrain nor the Chaldean-Christians
in
Central Iraq, were noted in any
future plans for a
new Iraqi Federation.
It remains to be seen whether a
country such as the
United States would be comfortable
in the long run
with the emergence of another Shiite
political entity
in the region which is second in
size to Iran. One
official also questioned whether
King Hussein could
convince his own people, 95 percent
of who are
orthodox Sunni Muslims, of the
need to pave the way
for another Shiite state of sorts
in the region.
WHEREABOUTS OF HARBIK BABA-OGHLI
ZN (Iran) An Assyrian family in
Urmie, Iran has begun
a search for a missing family member-Mr.
Harbik Baba-
Oghli. Any information that
may assist this family
in locating Mr. Baba-Oghli should
be emailed to
Zenda at zenda@ix.netcom.com .
1995 SOCCER TOURNAMENT IN SWEDEN
AS (Sweden) The Assyrian-Swedish
Soocer Team, BABYLON,
is the winner of this year's Assyrian
Soccer Tournament
in Sweden. Another strong
contendor in this year's
"BABYLON CUP" was the soccer team
from Linkoeping,
Sweden, which took third place.
The triumphant Assyrian
soccer teams celebrated their victory
with an evening of
Assyrian music and dance.
The Assyrian vocalist, Linda
George, entertained the guests
with selections from her
recently released compact disk.
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D I R E C T O R Y
OF THE N E W S S O U R C E S
=====================================================
AA (AAA of San Jose Newsletter)
AP (Associate Press)
AS (Assyrian Server in Sweden)
EB (e.Babylon BBS): 1-209-668-1827
Hollister, California
JS (Journal of the Assyrian Academic
Society)
P.O. Box 4102
Des Plaines, Illinois 60016-4102
NQ (Nebu Quarterly)
P.O. Box 59422, Chicago Illinois 60659
RU (Reuters)
SC (soc.culture.assyrian)
TN (Turkish News Agency)
WS (The Wall Street Journal)
ZN (Zenda Reporters):
zenda@ix.netcom.com
Toronto, Germany,
Chicago, Los Angeles, & San Jose
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C A L E N D A R OF E V
E N T S
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-----------------1 9 9 5-------------------
Sept 8-Dec 31 "Nineveh
612 BC: A Public Exhibition of
Assyrian Art and Artifacts"
Finnish Science Center, Heureha
(northern part of the Helsinki metrop. area)
Oct 1-Feb 4 Exhibition:
Assyrian Art & History
Kimball Art Museum
Fort Worth, Texas
(817) 332-8451
Nov 19
Hannibal Alkhas & Yosep Bet-Yosep
<< A Seminar >>
The Assyrian Centre
Toronto, Canada
2:00 PM
Nov 23-28
November 23, 95
-23- Exhibit/Bazaar
O'Hare Expo Center
6 PM - 1 AM
Babylon Night
O'Hare Expo Center - East Ballroom - 8 PM
Admission: $7.00
-24- Exhibit/Bazaar
O'Hare Expo Center
6 PM - 1 AM
Nineveh Night
O'Hare Expo Center - East Ballroom - 8 PM
Admission: $12.00
-25-
ACC General Body Meeting
Hyatt Hotel
11-2 PM
Lecture (TBA)
Hyatt Hotel - 2 PM
Exhibit/Bazaar
O'Hare Expo Center - 6 PM - 1 AM
Assyrian Business Ball
O'Hare Expo Center - East Ballroom - 8 PM
Admission: $15.00
FEATURED ENTERTAINERS
Evan Aghassi
Linda George
Charles Tooma
Melis Ishaya
Fatin Shabo
Wisam Zaia
Oleen Rehana
...special appearance by Walid
Nov 28
The Simmons Family Lecture Series
at the Gindi Auditorium
University of Judaism
15600 Mulholland Dr
Los Angeles.
"The West Semitic Alphabet
and the Spread of Civilization"
by Dr. Dennis Pardee
of University of Chicago
Dec 5
The Simmons Family Lecture Series
"King of the Four Quarters of
the Earth: Art, Power and
Politics in the Assyrian Empire"
by Dr. John Russell
of Columbia University
June 9-11 (1996) The ARAM Conference
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts U.S.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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Dec 31
New Year's Eve Party
Westin Hotel
San Jose, California
Entertainment: Ogen
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MEETINGS
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Thursdays
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Founders Hall 125.
Nov 10
National Executive Committee Meeting
Assyrian American National Federation
Chicago, Illinois
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CLASSES
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Mondays
Assyrian Discussion Group
BETA: AAA of San Jose
8:00-9:30 pm
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SPORTS
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Tuesdays
Boys Soccer Practice
South Valley Christian School
Corner of Blossom and Shawnee
San Jose, California
5-6:30 pm
Sundays
Boys/Girls Volleyball
Campbell Community Center
Camden & Union
Campbell, California
6-9 pm
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A S S Y R I A N
S U R F I N G P O S T S
=====================================================
NEW HOMEPAGES
A List of Books on Babylon
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/who/Jamie.Norrish/nephilim/
Bibliographies/babylon.html
Akkadian Language
http://ruurq2.sron.ruu.nl/akkadian/
Assyrian Flag
http://www.cesi.it/flags/assyria.html
Assyrian Server (in Sweden)
http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/assyr.html
Mesopotamia
http://www.singnet.com.sg/~edmonds/sumerian_
main.html
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Ancient Mesopotamia
http://sipparorinst.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/ABZU_REGINDX_MESO.HTML
Assyria On-Line
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~jatou/./
Assyrian Youth Association of Sweden
http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/assyr.html
Corpus Neo Assyrian Project:
Helsinki, Finland
http://www.helsinki.fi/science/saa/cna.html
e.BABYLON
http://www.garlic.com/~agabrial/babylon.htm
Journal of the Assyrian Academic
Society
http://www.garlic.com/~agabrial/jaas.htm
"Newsgroup"
soc.culture.assyrian
Nineveh Kids Homepage
http://www.garlic.com/~agabrial/kidsweb.htm
Syriac Comp Inst
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/gk105/syrcom/
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P U M P U P T H E V O L U M E
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ENGLISH
ASSYRIAN PRONUNCIATION with Examples
Negative
"mree-ma-na"
Negative Impression: rooshma mreemana
Positive
"msee-ma-na"
Positive Attitude: doobara mseemana
Neutral
"mool-sa"
Neutral Stand: kleta moolseta
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B A C K TO THE F U T U R E
=====================================================
B.C.(1275) King Shalmanaser
I of Assyria campaigns
against the eight Urartian districts
around Lake Van.
Shalmanaser notes that all areas
were conquered,
tribute was imposed, and the youth
were carried off
to Ashur.
A.D.(1982) The first Assyrian wordprocessor
is
developed in California using an
early IBM Personal
Computer.
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W E L C O M E T O Z E N D A
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Zenda welcomes our new on-line
subscribers from:
[CORPORATE ACCOUNTS]
Hollister BBS
AT & T Global Systems
[UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS]
University of Illinois
[INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS]
Chicago
Jonkoping, Sweden
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A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
=====================================================
Zenda wishes to thank the following
individuals:
Ramin Daniel
San Jose, California
Atour TV
San Jose, California
Assyrian
Federation of Sweden
United Assyrian
Youth of Canada
_____________________________________________________
Please limit your letters to no
more than three short
paragraphs. ZENDA will continue
to print your
comments and suggestions free of
editing, as they
were received in our mailbox.
All letters appearing
in our mailbox will be printed
in our PUMP UP THE
VOLUME section unless directed
otherwise.
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Our Next Issue will appear on Monday,
November 20, 1995.
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