Yaar 26, 6746 Volume III Issue 15 May 26, 1997
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T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A
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The Lighthouse...................... Will We Ever Strike
the Right Path?
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............ Turkey's 2-weeks-old
Incursion
PKK's Meeting with Egyptian Officials
Syria & Iraq's New Trade Relations
Surfs Up............................ "Kudos to ZENDA"
Surfers Corner...................... Know Any Assyrian
Graduates?
News Digest......................... A Profile of the
New Iranian President
Calendar of Events.................. The Assyrian Legacy
Lecture in Chicago
Entracte............................ Family Picnic in
Chicago
Intelligentsia...................... Classes and Seminars
Assyrian Surfing Posts.............. Illustrations from
Syriac Bibles
Pump up the Volume.................. Occupied & Unoccupied
Lands
Back to the Future.................. Xerxes' Attack on
Babylon
Moslems Attack on Jacobite Church
Literatus........................... An Ancient Assyrian
Elegy
This Week in History................ George Aprim Hoyen
Bravo............................... The Art-Lovers in
San Jose
INC Recognized www.Nineveh.Com
The Directory....................... News Sources
Bshena.............................. Motorola & Berkeley
Salute.............................. Zeineb & Esha
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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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WILL WE EVER STRIKE THE RIGHT PATH?
Within the last half-century we have succeeded to found groups based on socio-political and religious themes. Ourwardly, this seems to be progress, but in comparison with people of other nations, it is regress.
In non-official group discussions regading this situation, a few factors usually get blamed. Some of these factors include a shortage of funds, absence of nationalistic fervor, laci of sacrificial spiriit, crippling power of splits in our religious denominations, the black sheep in the fold, and tight purses. The real cause is THE ABSENCE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT OF OUR SKILLS. The shortage happens to occur in a land whose organizational and cultural advancements are second to none.
While people of advanced societies everywhere are benefitting from good management of professional skills, our people are completely destitute of it. Consequently, there is an absence of unity, absence of sincere nationalistic sentiments, absence of economic power and an absence of the goal to strive for together in our community.
This system, or an absence thereof, does not lead us to meaningful partyism and does not offer a hope to live by. Instead it keeps us homeless and always on-the-run. It lulls our troubled spirits into a state of living in vain dreams, depriving us of moral confidence which does not encourage us to claim our political rights.
Furthermore, it creates within us an unfortunate condition, which is a loss of national ties; thereby giving way to a dissovling society. It plants within us the evil seed from whcih springs the bitter crop of total neglect towards our peers and toward the elder members of our families. IT has led us to a state of total passivitiy regarding those who put down their most precious belongings...their lives, in an effort to direct our steps toward our national salvation.
Finally, but among the most important, it has subjected us to a state of toal oblivion of our grand old history, of which the achievements have served as the basis for the perfection of modern culture, technology and religion.
Taking all these factors into consideration, we need to
have the courage to change our present system of aimless wandering by creating
a system into which the incorporation of our nationally owned skills should
be a prominent constituent.
Fred Adams, M.D,
Modesto, California
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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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TURKEY'S RECENT INCURSION INTO NORTHERN IRAQ CONTINUES
(ZNRU: Ankara) About 40,000 Turkish troops, backed by tanks and fighter-bombers, drove into Iraq on May 14 in the largest cross-border action in two years. Iraqi Kurdish officials said Turkish troops had pushed 200 km (125 miles) into northern Iraq, a far deeper penetration of Iraqi territory than past incursions. Over 1,300 Kurdish separatist guerrillas in the past 2 weeks have been killed. Turkish air and ground forces have attacked almost all the camps of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK in Northern Iraq. PKK guerrillas have attacked a small oil installation in Adiyman in southeast Turkey. Ankara has also asked Iran to seal its border to the PKK. In reply, Iran condemned Turkey's cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and called for the unconditional withdrawal of Turkish forces from the area. The pro-PKK DEM agency reported Turkish jets and Cobra helicopters were bombing parts of the Metina area. The agency said around 100 sorties had been flown in the last two days from Turkish bases at Diyarbakir and Malatya to the Zap valley. DEM agency also said that the Turkish military had suffered "heavy losses," including 12 soldiers killed by PKK landmines. Much of the Arab world, already leery of Turkey's growing security ties to Israel, has condemned the move across Iraq's international border.
Last week Turkey claimed that Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian
troops had build up near the borders of a Kurdish enclave where Turkish
troops are fighting Kurdish rebels. Lebanon's Council of Ministers
has condemned Turkey's incursion and Syria denies massing troops along
its border with northern Iraq but it accused Turkey of pushing the region
to the verge of "maximum provocation." Some 200 Kurdish demonstrators forced
their way into the United Nations' European headquarters in Geneva on Thursday,
forcing their way past security guards and smashing glass doors. The protesters
were demanding action by the international community to halt action against
their people by Turkey. They stormed into the main area of the building,
the Palais des Nations. A defiant Turkey has shrugged off pleas from Baghdad
and its own NATO allies to cut short its anti-guerrilla campaign in northern
Iraq, ferrying in fresh men, food and supplies by land and air.
The fresh wave of air attacks follows reports that Turkey's
Iraqi Kurdish allies had driven the PKK out of the key northern city of
Arbil in a bitter settling of scores over the weekend. A spokesman for
the Iraqi National Congress, citing satellite telephone contacts in the
area, told Reuters the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), backing the anti-rebel
effort, had overrun all six PKK offices in Arbil and executed prisoners.
"Among the PKK and allied parties, there was a total of 58 dead, 28 of
whom were killed after capture," said the spokesman, based in London.
EGYPT ENTERS THE ARENA OF NORTHERN IRAQI POLITICS
>From Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
Jalal Talabani, leader of PUK, met with Foreign Minister
Amr Moussa during a visit to Cairo last week and said the removal of the
Baghdad "dictatorship" was the solution to Iraq's problems. Talabani
said the Kurds were fully behind Iraq's territorial integrity. "We
are against any and all plots that aim at dismembering Iraq. We are
all for the national unity of Iraq," he said. Talabani's visit came
weeks after a delegation from the rival Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP)
held similar talks with Egyptian officials. Both the PUK and KDP share
control of the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq where some four million
Iraqi-Kurds are living. The KDP-PUK struggle is often fueled by neighbouring
countries. Turkey fears that a strong Kurdish-Iraqi presence could set
an example that the Kurdish-Turks may want to follow. Iran has often tried
to use the KDP-PUK clash to rein in both parties and allow itself a strong
leverage in the north of Iraq. Iran is known to favour the PUK.
While in Cairo last week, the leader of PUK condemned
Turkish incursions into northern Iraq, in hot pursuit of Kurdish insurgents,
declaring that any action by Turkey to defend its security should be confined
to its own territory and not spill over into neighbouring states.
Turkey has been trying for more than a decade to crush activists of
the leftists PKK. The PKK claims to represent Turkish Kurds. PKK
fighters often take refuge on Iraqi territory to escape Turkish troops.
Talabani, whose group is seeking self-rule for the Kurds of northern Iraq,
said Iraq's territorial unity was not threatened by Kurds but by the "dictatorship"
in Baghdad. "We believe that the problems of Iraq could only be solved
through democracy. We are calling for a democratic, multi-party,federal
Iraq," he said. Only a democratic regime will be able to lay to rest
Iraq's ethnic problems, Talabani added.
According to Moussa, Talabani's visit to Cairo was part of a "series of contacts" Egypt is undertaking with all parties concerned with the situation in northern Iraq. The reactivation of the Egyptian interest in northern Iraq should convey to Washington the message that Egypt will always remain a leading country in the region, an Egyptian diplomat said. Cairo's renewed interest in having contacts with the Kurdish leader comes at a time when Turkey has intensified its military cooperation with Israel. Talabani's visit to Cairo coincided with a visit by Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign minister of neighbouring Iran. Last week in Tehran, the PUK signed a peace deal with the Iraqi Kurdish Islamic movement to end their mutual clashes and help restore minimum stability to norther Iraq. Egyptian officials declined to say if they discussed the situation in northern Iraq with the visiting Iranian delegation.
SYRIA AND IRAQ TO COMMENCE TRADE RELATIONS
(ZNUP: Damascus) The Syrian-Iraqi border, closed since
the early 1980s, might reopen to allow exchange of goods and access for
businesses. A Syrian trade delegatio to Iraq on its return from a four-day
visit to Baghdad, said that the Syrian government would not oppose that
businessmen travel through or that goods be exchanged in line with the
U.N. oil-for-food deal. Iraq and Syria are discussing the possibility of
exporting Syrian food, agricultural and industrial products as well as
medicine to Iraq. The two countries severed ties and closed their
borders in the early 1980's after they exchanged accusations of sabotage
attempts against each other. Syrian oficials have previously affirmed that
the Baghdad visit has no political objectives and that Syria's position
toward Iraq remains unchanged.
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S U R F S
U P !
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"I would like to submit my cousin to be included on your
list of Assyrian students who are graduating this semester...I would greatly
appreciate this and I may add, this is a great way of letting Assyrians
around the world see some of the achievements our people are attaining.
Kudos to Zenda!"
Rony G. Youkhana
Illinois
[Several readers have kindly submitted the names of a recent Assyrian gruduate. We are certain that many more remain unlisted. Please help us identify the future leaders of the Assyrian nation. See SURFERS CORNER.]
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"Just to let you know, The Assyrian Athletic Club of Chicago
is inviting all Assyrians in the area to a family picnic on Sunday, June
15, 1997 at Linne Woods located at the corner of Dempster and Ferris in
Morton Grove.
Emphasis will be on Games for all ages, lots of picnic
games. So bring the kids, Mom and Dad and join us. See ya."
Sargon B. Yalda
Chicago
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S U R F E R S
C O R N E R
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ZENDA readers are invited to respond to the following
request(s) by either
directly writing to the author or sending a reply to
ZENDA.
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KNOW SOMEONE GRADUATING THIS YEAR?
ZENDA wants to know if you, your Assyrian friend(s), or
relative(s) is
graduating from a college or university. Please
submit your entries by
Sunday June 1. Include the following information:
Student's Name
Name of College/University
Major (i.e. Biology, Electrical Engineering)
Degree (i.e. B.S., M.D.)
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N E W S
D I G E S T
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A PROFILE OF THE NEW IRANIAN PRESIDENT
(ZNUP: London) Iran's president-elect, Mohammed Khatami is a middle-ranking cleric who has lived in the West, speaks three foreign languages and has relatively liberal views on censorship and women. Although moderate by Iranian standards, Khatami is not expected to bring about a significant change in Iran's foreign policy after his inauguration in August. But Khatami, 64, is expected to effect a significant measure of social change that may have wide-ranging consequences. He was born in Ardakan in the central province of Yazd. The son of a cleric, he studied at the religious seminary in the holy city of Qom and took degrees in philosophy and educational science at Isfahan and Tehran universities. Returning to Qom in the early 1970s, he became active in the opposition to the Shah as a loyal supporter of the future founder of the Islamic republic, the late Ayatollah Khomeini. He worked closely with Khomeini's son, Ahmad, and also with future Iranian leaders. In the late 1970s, he worked in Hamburg, Germany, as head of the city's Islamic Center. After the fall of the Shah in 1979, Khatami returned to Iran and was elected to parliament. Outgoing President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani appointed Khatami minister of culture, where he gained a reputation for reviving Iranian music and cinema. In 1992, Khatami was fired from the Cabinet. It is said that hardliners within the political-religious establishment objected to his liberal views. He launched his presidential campaign from the lowly position of head of the national library. But his message of tolerance and advancement of women quickly whipped up a mass following that surprised even his campaign managers. Young people rallied to his banner as he represented a relaxation of the strict Islamic code that would permit satellite TV dishes and other aspects of western culture. For this reason, Khatami was opposed by the conservative hierarchy, who made no secret of their preference for the parliamentary speaker, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri. However, analysts say that ultimate power will remain in the hands of spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a known conservative. An author of two books, Khatami speaks English, German and Arabic. He is married and has three children. At this time nearly 20,000 Assyrians live in the northeastern region of Azerbaijan and the capital city of Tehran.
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C A
L E N D A R
OF E V E N
T S
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Jun 21
"The Assyrian Legacy: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow"
North Park College
Center for Middle Eastern Studies at North Park College
Magnuson Campus Center
Alumni Dining Hall
3225 W. Foster Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-4895
Phone: 773-244-5785/6
Pre-registration $15
$10 - For Students
$20 - Registration after 6-14-97
Registration Includes Lunch
Main Speakers
Dr. Mark Mkrdichian
Peter Jasim
Abdul Massih Saadi
Reverend Sarhad Jammo
Dr. David Bundy
Dr. Gabriel Yonan
Robert DeKelaita
Bishop Mar Bawai Soro
An Assyrian Academic Society Event
http://www.aas.net
Jul 20
A Concert by the Assyrian Violinist, David Yonan
Mathaeikirchstrasse 1
Musikinstrumenten Museum, Curt-Sachs Saal
Berlin
11:00 am
Aug 26-Sept 2
Assyrian American National Convention
Hyatt Regency Dearborn
Fairlane Town Center
Detroit, Michigan
All Single,double,triple,quad rooms: $95 per day
Reservations: (313) 982-6880
Reservations must be made by August 7.
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E N T R A C T E
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Jun 13
Father's Day Dinner Dance
AAA of Southern California
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
Entertainer: Isam
$ 5.00 ; Fathers Free
8:00 pm
Jun 15
Family Picnic
The Assyrian Athletic Club of Chicago is
Linne Woods
Corner of Dempster and Ferris
Morton Grove, Illinois
June 28
Welcome Home Party
Entertainer: Ashur Sargis
AAA of Southern California
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
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I N T E L L I G E N T S I A
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CHICAGO
Assyrian Athletic Club Soccer Development Program
Ages 7-14
7:45-9:45 pm
Mondays
Warren Park Gymnasium
Western Avenue & Devon Street
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1997-98
Syriac Classes Taught by Dr. J.F. Coakley
Elementary Syriac
Instructor: J. F. Coakley
Basic Syriac grammar and syntax
with selected readings from the Syriac Bible and
other early texts.
Readings in Syriac I
Historical and theological texts, and early poetry
Readings in Syriac II
Special attention to exegetical texts and to reading manuscripts.
MODESTO
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Fridays
Founders Hall 108
Modesto, U.S.A.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD Assyrian Boy Scouts
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
9:30am to 12:30pm
Sundays
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
Assyrian Student Union
California State University, Northridge
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
6:00pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
SAN JOSE
Nisibin School
Assyrian Language Classes
Ages 5-14
10:00-1:00 pm
Saturdays
AAA of San Jose BETA
20000 Almaden Road
Citizenship Classes
Mondays & Tuesdays
7:00 pm
AAA of San Jose BETA
20000 Almaden Road
Maestro Nebu Issabey's Nineveh Choir Practice
AAA of San Jose BETA
8:00 pm
Thursdays
TORONTO
Nisibis School
10:30-1:30
Saturdays
The Church of the East
Toronto, Canada
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A S S
Y R I A N S U
R F I N G P O
S T S
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Bible Illustrations from Syriac Manuscripts
http://www.netadventure.com/~soc/Bible/SyrMs/
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P U M P UP THE V O L U
M E
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English Modern Assyrian
Occupied
mit/maa/raa/naa [M]
Unoccupied
khir/naph/sha [F]
___________________________________________________________________________
F = Feminine M = Masculine
P = Plural
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B A C K TO THE
F U T U R E
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B.C. (482) Babylonians, in response to the Persian conquerers'
repressive
measures against their city, revolt against the Persian
king, Xerxes
(Khashayarshah). Xerxes attacks Babylon and captures
Babylon after a few
months and demolishes its fortifications. The Great
Temple of Marduk is
then burnt to the ground and incorporates this region
with that of Assyria.
<< Babylon, Oates >>
A.D. (1001?) A Moslem crowd in Baghdad attacks the Jacobite
Church of Mar
Thoma and in the ensuing confusion the church burns and
collapses. A great
number of people perish. The Moslem lawyers put
the blame on the attackers
and no further attacks were made on any church in that
region.
<< The Nestorian Churches, Vine >>
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L I T E
R A T U
S
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AN ANCIENT ASSYRIAN ELEGY
Why are you adrift, like a boat, in the midst of the
river,
your thwarts in pieces, your mooring rope cut?
Your face covered, you cross the river of the Inner City.
How could I not be adrift, how could my mooring rope
not be cut?
The day I bore the fruit, how happy I was,
happy was I, happy my husband.
The day of my going into labor, my face bacame darkened,
the day of my giving birth, my eyes became clouded.
With open hands I prayed to Belet-ili:
You too have borne a child, save my life.
You, why do you keep praying to me?
My husband who, who loved me, uttered a cry:
Why do you take from me the wife in whom I rejoice?
Years on end,
Inner City, you sounded a wail.
All those many days I was with my husband,
I lived with him who was my lover.
Death came creeping into my bedroom.
It drove me from my house,
It tore me from my husband.
<< Your Thwarts in Pieces, Your Mooring Rope Cut;
Erica Reiner >>
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T H I S W E E K
I N H I S T O R
Y
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May 27, 1970: dies, George Aprim Hoyen, world-famous
Assyrian musician, at
age of 54 in Los Angeles. Maestro Hoyen had conducted
several symphony
orchestras.
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B R A
V O
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HAVE ASSYRIAN ART, WILL BUY IN SAN JOSE
The Assyrian community of San Jose, California has in
the first quarter of
this year spend nearly eleven thousand dollars toward
the purchase of
Assyrian art, books, and tapes. The Cultural Committee
of the Assyrian
American Association of San Jose has informed ZENDA that
over $7000.00 of
Hannibal Alkhas' paintings and $4000.00 of various Assyrian
authors, and
poets, mainly that of William Daniel and Rabbie Nimrod
Simono's books and
tapes were purchased since the beginning of this year.
A small portion of
the proceeds will be used in funding cultural activities
in San Jose.
NINEVEH.COM
RECOGNIZED BY THE IRAI OPPOSITION GROUP
The Iraqi National Congress, comprised of several opposition
groups to the
government of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, has recognized
www.nineveh.com as
"an excellent site...thoroughly professional, exciting
and informative."
The INC website, located in London, can be accessed at
http://www.inc.org.uk.
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the D I R E C T O R
Y
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ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrain Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNMN (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSH (Shotapouta Newsletter)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)
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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
Motorola Corp
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Berkeley, California
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S A L
U T E
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Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations whose
contributions appear in this issue:
Zaineb Istrabadi New York, New
York
and the following individual(s) for introducing ZENDA
to our new readers:
Esha Tamraz
San Jose, California
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*********
In Our Next Issue:
An Exlusive Interview with the US/Canada Representative
of the Assyrian
Democratic Organization, Abgar Maloul.