ZENDA - September 28, 1998

We are gathered here tonight to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Assyrian American National Federation. This Federation was founded on the premise of a national tragedy—the 1933 massacre of the Assyrians in Similie.

Mr. President, with your permission, I would like to take this opportunity to observe a moment of silence in memory of our Assyrian brothers and sisters who passed on that fateful day in 1933.

We came together as a nation 65 years ago to serve our people in the homeland and pledged to work together to preserve our Assyrian identity, culture, history and language. At this very moment, as I address this body—we as Assyrians in the United States are facing yet another national tragedy—the Americanization and loss of our youth.

As a nation—our fundamental responsibilities are two fold: First, to educate our youth on our rich history and language, as well as, FACILITATE—and by that I mean raise funds for students—enabling and encouraging them to pursue their academic careers. And second, to embrace the thoughts, ideas and concerns of the younger generation of Assyrians in this country.

During the course of this Convention, a budget of $15,000 was approved for the education committee. While this is a 50% increase over last year’s budget—it is still not enough—we need to INVEST in our future—our youth.

Investing not only in their education—but more importantly—instilling a strong Assyrian identity in them so that they will continue to work towards raising the consciousness of those around them so that one day someone may say, “Assyrians—yes—I have heard of them…”

Education. Education. Education.

Without it our Assyrian identity will be lost—or even worse—misrepresented in the historical archives of the world. Knowledge is power—without it, we as a nation in diaspora will never be able to attain our mission of maintaining our heritage and language into the next millennium.
In today’s world we are in dire need of an “intellectual” --rather then military—army if you will. A forefront of educated individuals in this country will in turn render a monetary influence. With knowledge and a sound financial base—we as a nation will be able to build a vocal lobby movement in Washington.

Two days ago I attended a lecture by Dr. Walid Phares sponsored by the Assyrian Academic Society. His talk focused upon the Maronites-—the Lebanese Christians—who are dealing with sorting out their national identity. They are struggling to overcome arabization and we Assyrians need to help them solidify their roots and become one.

Assyrians have been facing the same problems for thousands of years---struggling to preserve our national identity, overcoming hardships, massacres and migration. We have persevered a long road—let us not forget the challenges we have faced—but let us learn from our history and move forward.

We as a nation must always remember and focus upon the ultimate goal of all of our activities: our parties, our picnics, our festivals, our seminars—these are all ways and means for us to fulfill the goals set forth by the founders of this Federation: to preserve our Assyrian culture.
Perhaps there are those in the audience tonight who may question the accomplishments of this Federation. It is always helpful to receive constructive criticism—however—I implore you—come forward in the spirit of unity—don’t simply sit on the sidelines—join us—help us—be proactive in communicating your thoughts and ideas to this organization.

This Federation needs to progress with today’s technology. We need to provide a dynamic forum for our youth to want to participate—we need to put forth programs that are of practical yet tactical in nature to inspire our youth and be eager to attend these gatherings for reasons other than of a social nature. And that means that we need to listen to the voice of our future—our youth—to understand and embrace their perspectives—and move forward.

After all—at the end of the day—we are all working to achieve the same goal—to preserve our Assyrian culture, language and history.

Thank you.

Isaac G. Sargiss

Mr. Isaac "Ike" G. Sargis, the keynote speaker at this year's national convention, is a former president of the Assyrian American National Federation from 1972 until 1974. He delivered his speech on September 5th at the Sunday Night Banquet.

"On behalf of the Assyrian American National Federation and the Assyrian Academic Society, I would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for your participation our education program for the 65th Assyrian Convention. The sharing of your talent and expertise will always be welcomed. Thank you very much."

Elias Hanna
AANF
Education Chairman

"We are delighted to learn that a great number of Assyrian mass media leaders have welcomed the assemblage of "International Union of Assyrian Mass Media" to be held in Tehran on November 1 through 4, 1998, and who have asked us to be more explicit on the statement: "means to our national goal" made in our Assembly Announcement.

No one can deny that our ultimate sacred goal is deeply rooted within the existence of every decent Assyrian. However, we do realize that to achieve this ultimate goal, there is much to be accomplished.
The national goal we have in mind is the creation of an even closer alliance between all the Assyrian Mass media leaders. We propose to create most effective means to have our Assyrian Voice be heard, louder and clearer within the world community.

To propagate our message through the far reaching nations, making it to be known that Assyrian, the cradle of civilization, is not buried in the history.

To make the international organizations recognize the righteousness of our Assyrian nation.
We, therefore emphasize on the urgency of requesting all Assyrian press media leaders to participate in this international forum.

Assyrians of the World, Unite!

Melinda Younan
The Committee on International Relations
Tehran Assyrian Association
Tehran, Iran

CIR is chaired by Dr. Wilson Bet-Mansour of Tehran, Iran. An invitation was extended to the staff of ZENDA Magazine to participate in the International Union of Assyrian Mass Media conference. Special arrangements were made to facilitate the entry of our staff to Iran and our hotel accomodations. ZENDA was also informed that the Iranian embassies abroad are prepared to issue visas with less restrictive regulations toward the Assyrian media officials. ZENDA will not participate at this year's Tehran conference.

"The following is a rebuttal on Rita Pirayo's protest against the Assyrian American Association of San Jose's TV program commemorating the Assyrian Martyrs Day, that appeared in Zenda, Volume IV, Issue 23, September 14, 1998 , SURF'S UP section:

I am in total agreement with Rita's disappointment with how we the Assyrians for years on have been disparaging the commemoration of our Martyrs. For years, Assyrian organizations have developed this ostentatious show of pretentious mourning and sorrow over the loss of centuries long of our honored Martyrs. These so called commemorations have become a yardstick with which Assyrians measure the loyalty and sincerity of each other's nationalistic views and stands. These routine programs of a table displays of photos of our Martyrs have been used by many of the leaders or spokes people of our political and non political organizations, as an ample opportunity to present their organization's propaganda as the only means by which these organizations can reap their balance due of self-praising
and glory, regardless of the sincerity of our Martyrs and their cause.

The above being said, I would like to point out a few things that I am in disagreement with Rita's opinion. First of all Rita starts out her displeasure using the words "our Assyrian association in San Jose". It is an accepted fact, when an individual proclaims their allegiance and membership of an
organization, that person must have realized the facts behind their membership and that their obligation or devotion is not limited to the payment of the annual membership dues; further, the payment of annual membership dues, $25.00 or $2500.00 does not permit any individual to purchase their way into an organization, and give them an open season ticket to constantly criticize and demerit the qualities of individuals in the organization or the quality and quantity of their works; however with a membership comes the responsibility and diligence of painstaking efforts in improving and enhancing all that needs
improvement and enhancement.

Rita could have done a great service to the Assyrian community, if she were to have shared any AudioVisual resources which she may have, relating to Assyrian Martyrs of any massacre or genocide
of our people. For that mater, if Rita had other significant resources that could have made more serious and everlasting affect on "Assyrian Youth" watching the mentioned TV program, then she should have volunteered to assume the responsibility of hosting the Assyrian Martyrs Day commemoration TV program; if she had been refused the privilege; then I would have been the first one to echo her disappointment.

Armenians being similar in culture and religion to Assyrians, have also shared the same struggles and fate for centuries. They along with our own families, ran for their lives avoiding extermination by the Turks, Kurds and Persians. It is also known that the Armenians are better in documenting and preserving their historical resources than we the Assyrians have been.

During the Third Assyrian American Community Networking Conference held in Modesto on May 25, 1997, I presented a talk in which I stressed the important responsibility that every Assyrians has to maintain, preserve and spread all resources of our culture and history.   I made the statement that every
Assyrian is a single page in our nation's history book and I urged that these pages which have remained apart for too long must now be brought together.   A few individuals commented on this subject, but it was soon forgotten.   It is our own misfortune that most Assyrians would rather discuss some ridiculous issues to show off their own individual or group pride and greatness, it is also a great disappointment that most Assyrians don not have the patience, the talent nor the means of doing serious investigation
and research to acquire such valuable information!    So if the Armenians have something that indirectly portrays the story of our own people's genocide, then by GOD we should use those resources, and
that is what was done.   So your conclusion as to the reason for using the said video, is not correct.

If toleration of such actions are not what you want and you want to revert to those "serious consequences" you mentioned, then get to it and do your share, and do not just cry about it. No one can prove their patriotism by crying out to the public of the damages being done by others. You are just as
irresponsible for not doing something about it since you also acknowledge that " This is not the first time that our organizations and our so called leaders ignore the importance of our history ....", you knew of this happening before, and you are still crying and blaming other for not doing anything about it.

I urge Rita or any other Assyrian woman or man who claim competence, to take on the responsibility of leading this local organization, since the current board term will end in December 1998. Anyone who believes that they have more of what it takes to run a small Assyrian organization, should stand up strait and announce their candidacy to lead these organizations. I would like very much to see what Rita has to offer to teach the "Assyrian youth" about our history.

Sincerely,

Esha Tamras
San Jose, California

"It was a Sunday like any other. My mother and I went to church, where Reverend Aslan took great care in making the announcement, that a wonderful young man ahd a heart attack at the age of 18, and died in his mother's arms within 10 minutes. Suddenly everyone started crying. The young man was Steve Lazar.

I had only seen him from afar. I knew his parents- a very nice couple, and true believers. But the sorrow in my heart was real. My heart was heavy and my tears would not dry. Everyone in the Assyrian community was talking about the loss. This was a national loss.

A group of us from the church together with the Pastor went to his home to pay our care and respect to his parents. What we saw there was amazing. The house and garden were full of people and every few minutes someone would walk in through the entrance. The parents were inconsolable. His mother was talking about him and said: "Steve was a gift given to us from God and we enjoyed him for 18 years. he belonged to God. Lord gives and Lord takes. Blessed be the name of the Lord." His father, a physician said: "I have saved so many people. But I could not save my own son."

At the funeral, on a sweltering Wednesday at 1 PM, close to 2000 young, old, of many nationalities had gathered to say good-bye to Steve. With a wonderful service and music, the Minister said he knew that Steve was with Jesus now. He had given his heart to Jesus in a young age, and through hs faith he had reached and touched so many people. He was a member of the church choir and always volunteered his services to others.

Steve's school principle remembered how Steve was a do-er and finisher, always motivating the ones around him. he was generous, bright in academics, and had registered in the UCLA Pre-med program. He had even found a group to worship with and was planning to witness to his new friends, and show them the way.

He volunteered in hospital and had prepared and computerized the Vacation Bible School Program for the children in the church. That was supposed to start the Monday following his death. It was later canceled.

His friends talked about his goodness and caring for others. It is amazing that in his short life he had accomplished more than a full lifetime! Where did all this come from? All this love and caring and wisdom in an 18-year-old, that by all accounts he was still a child.

From all that I've heard, it was the spirit within him that enabled him to see good in everyone, and be willing to dedicate himself in saving others. As sad as it was, seeing the number of people that came to the funeral, even in his death Steve shook the consciousness of Assyrians in this area and brought us together in love and unity. Like a bright star he shined in the sky for a short time, and made a difference, and just as quickly he was gone. My heart stays heavy and eyes tearful. I am so proud of who he was and so sorry that I never met him."

Germaine Merza
San Jose, California

The Assyrian Academic Society is proud to host a lecture presented by a well-known scholar, Dr. Imad Chamoun. Dr. Chamoun was born in Saryn, Lebanon. He received a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Islamology from Kaslik University, Jounieh in 1994. He is currently a doctoral candidate working on a second Ph.D. in Political and Religious Sociology at the Lebanese University, Rabieh. Dr. Chamoun has served in many academic and professional capacities in Lebanon. He has published extensively in
Arabic and his publications include, A Message to the Christians in Lebanon, Ayotoullah Fadlallah: A Call for Dialogue or Dhimma? . Additionally, two studies titled, Fundamentalism in Lebanon and the Middle East, and The International and Islamic Human Rights were published in 1993 and 1994. Dr. Chamoun is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

This lecture will be presented at the Assyrian American Association located at:
1618 W. Devon, Chicago, Illinois
Sunday, October 4, 1998
4:00 p.m.

Should you need more information, please visit the AAS web site (Click Here)
or call us at (773) 461-6633.

We look forward to seeing you.

The Assyrian Academic Society
P.O. Box 3541
Skokie, Illinois 60076
http://www.aas.net

POPE MAPS OUT A JUBILEE TRIP TO IRAQ

With the permission of the Catholic Times we reprint the following article which appeared on Sunday, September 20, 1998. Catholic Times is a weekly Christian newspaper published in Manchester, United Kingdom. Tel: 0044-161 237 5590:

Ur it is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, the prophet revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and it is a testament to the glories of ancient Mesopotamian culture. Yet its ruins sit on an unmarked road virtually forgotten, visited only occasionally by intrepid tourists. The Pope has expressed interest in visiting Ur along with such other sites as Bethlehem, Nazareth and Mount Sinai, ideally in 2000. There is little to be seen in Ur apart from its impressive ziggurat, or temple. In antiquity, Ur was the capital of Sumer and an imortant commercial centre in Mesopotamia, the fertile land that stretched between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city reached its zenith at the close of the third millennium BC under
Ur-Nammu. The King sponsored arts and literature, promulgated man's most ancient collection of laws and revived agriculture.

But his name is most associated with the ziggurats, or stepped towers, that he erected in several cities. They were similar to the pyramids of Egypt, but had no tombs or chambers. His massive, 86ft-high ziggurat in Ur with its three flights of 122 steps each is among the best preserved. The city fell to marauding tribes from present-day Iran in 2004 BC and was abandoned. Its monuments remained under a blanket of dust and earth until 1922 when an expedition led by British archaeologist Leonard Woolley began uncovering its splendors. The expedition was partly financed by Christian missionaries, and Woolley wanted to prove Abraham had really lived in Ur, said Dony Youkhanna, assistant head of Iraq's Antiquities Department.

In a residential quarter, Woolley came across a clay tablet inscribed with name 'Abram'-a chance discovery that caused a sensation at the time. But not all are convinced. 'This is not enough proof. Abram was a common name in the context of the Near East in those days', said Behnam Abu al-Soof,
Iraq's leading archaeologist. Ur itself seems ignored. In Nasiriya, the nearest Iraqi city to the ruins, which are 230 miles south of Baghdad, no sign points to Ur, the ziggurat, the tombs or the traditional home of Abraham. The ancient city measuring two miles by three miles, is surrounded by military installations, including one of Iraq's main air bases. For security reasons, always a concern in Iraq. It is sometimes not possible to climb to the top of the ziggurat or take photographs.

The following article is based on a report written by The Sunday Telegraph's Con Coughlin on September 27, 1998 in a conversation with Sami Salih, one of Saddam Hussein's most senior advisers and the mastermind behind Iraq's sanctions-busting operation to obtain arms for oil, who recently defected from Iraq.

It is midnight at Saddam Hussein's presidential palace in Baghdad and the crowd of terrified men, women and children gathered in the Zahour room thinking they are all about to die. All of them have been dragged from their homes - most of them still in their night clothes - by Saddam's dreaded Amn al Khas, the Special Security Service. No explanation has been given for their arrest, other than that Saddam is demanding their immediate presence at the palace. Among their number is Sami Salih, one of Saddam's most senior advisers and the mastermind behind Iraq's sanctions-busting operation to obtain arms for oil.

Saddam came into the room. He was drunk. He was red-eyed and wild. He was waving his gun around and screaming abuse. At that moment there was no one in that room who believed they would survive the night. The reason for Saddam's rage quickly becomes apparent. Earlier in the day his two daughters and their husbands have returned home from Jordan, whence they had fled several months earlier. The high-profile defections of Saddam's two sons-in-law, Hussein Kamel and Saddam Kamel Hassan (the two men are brothers), to Jordan in August 1995 provoked the biggest crisis of Saddam's 20-year reign.
Hussein Kamel had been in charge of Iraq's illegal chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, and his brother head of presidential security. They fled to Jordan with their wives after becoming involved in a feud with Saddam's son, Uday. Between them they were able to provide Western security chiefs with a damning account of how Saddam's regime evades UN weapons inspection teams.

Despite the enormity of their treachery, Saddam nevertheless succeeded in luring his recalcitrant relatives to return to Baghdad. The defectors had quickly become disillusioned with their treatment by the West. They had expected to be swept off to America and feted. But because both men were deemed by the allies to have blood on their hands, they were obliged to remain in Jordan, where they found themselves under virtual house arrest. In addition, their wives were homesick. By promising his daughters - on his word of honor as their father - that no harm could befall them or their families, Saddam was able to exploit their unhappiness and persuade the two couples to return.

They were escorted to a Mercedes parked outside the palace. They both had a haunted look in their eyes. But they did not seem to see anyone. Their epaulettes had been ripped from their uniforms. Once he had snared the defectors back to Baghdad, Saddam wasted no time showing he had no intention of honoring the pardons. At the border the Hassans were immediately separated from their wives and driven to the presidential palace. They were shown straight away to Saddam's office.

At Saddam's insistence, the brothers were forced to sign papers sanctioning their immediate divorce from their wives. Saddam then personally tore off their badges of rank - Hussein Kamel was a lieutenant-general, his brother a lieutenant-colonel, ripping their uniforms in the process. Saddam ordered them to stay at their father's villa at Assadiyah, on the outskirts of Baghdad, while he deliberated on
their fate. Later that same evening Saddam ordered commanders of his special security forces to round up relatives and associates of the two disgraced men. He told the security officers to bring them to the Zahour room - one of the palace's main reception areas for visiting dignitaries.

From the moment Saddam came into the room it seemed he had only one thing on his mind - revenge. Saddam started to shout. He said Hussein Kamel and his brother had shamed everyone in Iraq, and in
particular their family. "You must remove this shame," said Saddam, "You must get hold of them
and cleanse this stain. Get rid of them." By this time some of the women were screaming for mercy, believing Saddam was about to shoot them. They were not sure whether Saddam was referring to them, or to the two defectors. The children were quietly sobbing, clinging to their parents for protection and comfort. Saddam then gave orders to his commanders and staggered out of the room, his gun still in his hand. The occupants of the room were herded at gunpoint outside into the cold night air. There they were made to wait in the presidential compound.

At about 4 am three 41-seater Toyota buses pulled into view. They drew up by the crowd, and the security guards forced everyone to take a seat. The buses drove off and made their way through the suburbs of pre-dawn Baghdad. After about half-an-hour they came to a halt. One of the guards climbed on to the bus. He told them that they must all keep very quiet. Anyone who made a noise would be shot.
Everyone obeyed the guard's instructions and they sat quietly, not daring to speak a word to each other.
The coaches had been parked a few hundred yards from Hussein Kamel's family villa. As his eyes became more familiar with the neighborhood, Salih could see that the adjoining houses had been evacuated and were now empty.

All around Hussein Kamel's villa he could make out the distinctive silhouettes of Iraqi special forces units. They were dressed in olive green combat gear; some of them had face masks. All of them were heavily armed. Some distance away Salih could see a top-of-the-range silver Mercedes, which he knew belonged to Uday Hussein, the Iraqi leader's son. Standing at the side of the car was a figure with a video camera, who appeared to be filming the activity. A calm settled over the whole area like the lull before a storm and the only sound one could hear was the muffled sobs of the women and children held captive on the bus. The silence was eventually broken when a bullet-proof Mercedes pulled
up in front of the Hassan villa. One of the occupants, using a loud hailer, called out to those inside the house: "You must surrender. You are surrounded. You are not in danger."

The occupants of the villa responded with a burst of automatic gunfire directed at the car, which sped off. Within seconds groups of special forces unleashed a hail of gunfire at the villa. Windows were
smashed and the air was filled with pieces of flying masonry. Inside the buses, which had a grandstand view of the unfolding gun battle, the women and children were screaming with terror. The buses offered no protection against the bullets. And everyone was convinced that they were all going to be massacred at any minute. Every detail of the assault on the villa was being recorded on video by a cameraman dressed in special forces battle fatigues. The shooting lasted for several hours. There was a burst of activity, and then a lull, as the attacking forces worked out what they were going to do next.

As the hours passed, the defenders were picked off, one by one. The defectors' father was the first to die. Then Saddam Kamel, the former head of presidential security, was killed. A sister of the brothers and her son were shot in another round of shooting. Finally the only people inside were Hussein Kamel and a few bodyguards. Uday emerged from his Mercedes, which was parked a safe distance from the fighting. Uday and his brother Qusay were under instructions from their father not to become directly
involved, but Uday could not resist supervising the operations. He issued orders to the special forces commanders, and a few minutes later soldiers moved into position carrying rocket-propelled grenades.

Two rockets were fired at the main doors of the villa, and they were destroyed. The furnishings inside the villa caught fire. The whole place was quickly filled with smoke. Then, amidst all this confusion, a group of Uday's soldiers ran into the villa. Three of Uday's men found Hussein Kamel cornered in an upstairs room. Hussein Kamel shot the first man five times in the stomach. But one of the others managed to return fire, hitting Hussein Kamel in the shoulder. As he fell to the ground, he begged for mercy. The special forces brought Hussein Kamel out of the villa. He was wearing a white shirt and blue trousers. There was a big red patch on his left side where he had been shot. By now all the shooting had stopped, and the terrified witnesses on the three buses were watching through the windows to see what happened next. Even the children were quiet.

The soldiers led Hussein to the front of the house next door. Uday and his entourage were there, as was the cameraman. Hussein Kamel was thrown on to the ground. A group of soldiers gathered around him. Uday was there, egging them on. One of the commanders put his foot on Hussein Kamel's throat, pinning him to the ground so that he could not move. He then pulled out his pistol, placed it against Hussein Kamel's head, and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly. The soldiers standing around the body gave a loud cheer. Uday pushed through them. When he reached the body he spat at his former brother-in-law. The cameraman, who had filmed the whole grisly episode, took his leave. He had to make a copy of the day's events on videotape. Later this would be handed to Saddam Hussein so that the Iraqi dictator could see for himself that his orders had been obeyed.

The remaining soldiers went into the burnt-out villa and brought out the other bodies. The two soldiers who had been killed in the shoot-out were placed on a truck and driven off to Baghdad, where they would be buried with full military honors. The bodies of the defectors, their father, sister and nephew were loaded on to a garbage truck and taken off, never to be seen again.

Con Coughlin
Sunday Telegraph
September 27 1998

The Lighthouse	65th Assyrian National Convention's Keynote Speech
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain	Kurdish Rivals Sign Peace Agreement
News Digest	Assyrian Class Opens in Armenia, Funds Disposal Questioned Tower of Babel Becomes Topic of Debate U.S. Congress Passes Foreign Workers Bill
Surfs Up	"an ample opportunity to present their organization's propaganda"
Surfers Corner	The Future of Assyrian & Syriac People in the Middle East Pope Maps Out a Jubilee Trip to Iraq
Calendar of Events	Parties in London and Chicago
Assyrian Surfing Posts	Assyrian on the Move The Banquet of Ashurnasirpal
Khudra	September 1998
Pump up the Volume	Coin & Money
Back to the Future	Assyria vs. Babylonia and the Bederkhan Bey Massacre of Tiyari People
Literatus	Bloodbath in Baghdad
This Week in History	Dr. Peera Sarmas
Bravo	AUA Foundation Scholarship Program

Oct 3	CHICAGO, ILLINOIS UNHEARD VOICES CLLICK HERE Assyrian Human Rights in the Middle East A Conference Sponsored & Organized by the Assyrian Academic Society Registration Fee: $20 - $10 for students (Registration fee includes lunch) North Park University Anderson Chapel 3225 West Foster Avenue Speakers in order of appearance: Wilfred Alkhas (ZENDA), Dr. Don Wagner, Elahi Hicks (Human Rights Watch), Adrin Takhsh (Free University of Berlin), Elise Auerbach (Amnesty International), Abdulmesih BarAbrahem, Dr. Imad Chamoun (Lebanon), U.S. Congressman Rod Blagojevich, Robert Dekelaita, & Dr. Walid Phares.
Oct 24	CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ASSYRIAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY'S 15TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY Dinner/Dance Party Entertainer: Ogen Location: Edens Banquet Hall 6313 N. Pulaski Avenue Cocktails at 7:30 PM Dinner at 8:00 PM Tickets: $35 per guest To order tickets call (773) 461-6633
Nov 14	LONDON, ENGLAND ASSYRIAN SOCIAL PARTY TO BENEFIT ASSYRIAN AID SOCIETY Organized by the Assyrian Aid Society (United Kingdom Branch) Location: Assyrian House, Ealing Time: 8:00 PM Entertainer: Nawfal Shamoun from Germany All proceeds will be sent to the Assyrian Aid Society in Northern Iraq Our aim is to raise a minimum of £10,000 < > ~ $16,000.
Nov 18	TORONTO, CANADA LECTURE: "ASSYRIANS AFTER ASSYRIA" Lecturer: S. Parpola, Asian and African Studies, University of Helsinki Location: University of Toronto Presented by: The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies The Society was founded in 1980 to stimulate interest among the general public in the culture, history, and archaeology of Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria, and Turkey). Each year it presents a symposium and lecture series. For further information, Grant Frame at gframe@chass.utoronto.ca
Dec 3-6	CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE CLICK HERE A Sample of Presentation Topics at MESA '98: Gary David, Wayne State University "Becoming Americanized" vs. "Becoming American": Concepts of Assimilation and Acculturation in the Arab and Chaldean Communities of Detroit Daniel P. Wolk, University of Chicago The Emergence of an Organized Assyrian Diaspora: The Role of Discourse Against the Khachaqoghé ("Thieves of the Cross") Ninette S. Fahmy, University of Exeter Human Rights of Minority Groups and the Copts of Egypt Magnus Bernhardsson, Yale University Reclaiming History: Iraq, Britain and the Samaraa Antiquities (1918-1936) Various Presentations on: Settlements and Settlement Policy in Northern Mesopotamia from the Third Millennium to the Ninth Century AD [4 presentations] Selcuk Aksin Somel, Bilkent University Chrypto-Christianity in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire To Register Click Here
Through 2001	CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS NUZI & THE HURRIANS: FRAGMENTS OF A FORGOTTEN PAST Hurrian settlements in Bet-Nahrain during mid-2nd millennium B.C. Hurrians settled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers during the mid-second millennium B.C. The Pharaohs of Egypt sought marriage alliances with them and the Hittites feared them. More than 100 objects excavated by Harvard between 1927 & 1931 Harvard University's Semitic Museum -cuneiform tablets -seals -glasswork -pottery -beaded jewelry -lion statuettes from the temple of Ishtar at Nuzi

ENGLISH	MODERN ASSYRIAN	GENDER	EXAMPLE
Money	zoo/za	Masculine	Earning Money: qneta d'zooza
Coin	sha/mo/na	Masculine	Old coin: Shamona ateeqa

SEPTEMBER	FEASTS & MEMORIALS	ASSYRIAN CHURCH
1	Mor Malke	SOC
4	Memorial of Mar Qardagh	CCC
6	The Fast of Mar Elijah	ACE
8	Memorial of the Birth of Mary Nativity of the Virgin Mary	CCC SOC
9	Mor Julian the Hermit	SOC
11	Memorial of St. Papa the Patriarch	CCC & ACE
14	Feast of the Holy Cross Discovery of the Cross (Patriarchal Day)	CCC & ACE SOC
15	Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows	CCC
18	St. Matthew the Hermit	SOC
24	Mor Eugene & Mor Demitrius	SOC
25	Memorial of Mart Meskanta	CCC

CORPORATE ACCOUNTS	UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS	PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
	Radford University University of Arkansas	Modesto, California Nottingham, UK

Dr. George Habbash	United Kingdom	Surfers Corner News Digest
Zaineb Istrabadi	New York	Literatus
Firas Jatou	Toronto, Canada	Calendar of Events
Nadia Joseph	Chicago, Illinois	Surfers Corner
Marc Mar-Yohana	Chicago, Illinois	Calendar of Events
Johnny Michael	London, England	Calendar of Events
Alina Sargiss	San Jose, California	The Lighthouse
Andreas Schmidt	Germany	Good Morning Bet-Nahrain

Daniel Benjamin	Chicago, Illinois
Martin David (3 accounts)	Modesto, California

T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A