Zinda SayZinda Says		How long, O Lord?	Wilfred Bet-Alkhas
The Lighthouse		Obelit Yadgar: The Voice & the Author	Nina Georgizova
Good Morning Assyria		Kurdish Slate Uses Photo of Kanna's Daughter in Elections Turkish Writer Fined for Writing on Assyrian Genocide Ishtar TV Begins Satellite Broadcast from North Iraq Norway's DNO Discovers Oil in Northern Iraq More Freedom to Celebrate Christmas in Gulf
News Digest		Exiled Iraqi Christians Vote with Concern About Their Future Christian Slate 740 Garners Most Votes from U.S. Iraq Expats AAI President Undermines Out-of-Country Voting Suryoyo Satellite Television to Begin Broadcast in March AssyriaSat Broadcast to Australia, Multi-Year Contract Signed Assyrian Store Manager Fends Off Robber in Fresno Toronto Student Misses the Real Meaning of Christmas	Zinda Magazine is published every Wednesday & Saturday. To register for your free Zinda notifications enter your email address in the field above and click 'Sign Up'.
Surfs Up!		Season's Greetings To the proponents of Slate 800 The Only Party for One United Nation A Post-Election Thought Letter to Mar Dinkha from Arizona Parish Priests in Rome: Stand up and Don't Blink! Battle of David and Goliath on Assyrian TV The Issue is Accountability Time to Crack A Few Eggs Why Is Barzani Offering Refuge to Iraqi Christians?	Click to Learn More ZINDA CALENDAR ZINDA ARCHIVES
Literatus		What Happened on December 15th? If Only Rocks Could Talk! Political Tenets & Its Regiment	Fred Aprim Nineb Lamassu Ivan Kakovitch
Bravo		Assyrian Restaurant Opens in San Jose

Back to the Top

Zinda Says An Editorial by Wilfred Bet-Alkhas   How long, O Lord? Tonight there is hardly any of us not wondering what it might be like to spend Christmas in the streets of Baghdad, a refugee camp in Jordan, or in a village in the Iraqi Assyria.  The stores in the suburbs of diaspora are crowded tonight, buzzing with shoppers aimlessly running from one aisle to another, reaching for the bargains.  In Iraq mere warmth and survival are on top of every family's list of desirables in 2006.  When will Christmas come to Assyria, O Lord? Painting by the Assyrian artist in Toronto, George A. Al-Bazi With this last issue of Zinda Magazine in 2005, all of us burdened with thoughts of disunity, let us not even for a few moments forget our war-torn ancestral land, the charges of fraud and irregularities in the Iraqi election, the oil-rich area of Assyria that may soon rise to become another non-Assyrian nation-state, the heightened chances of a civil war in Mesopotamia, the refugee camps where 40,000 Assyrians die a thousand deaths every night, and the unspiritual acts of the supposed religious men in our Churches.  Most importantly, let us remember the One whose message two thousand years ago changed our lives for ever and gave us a reason to exist despite 1300 years of immeasurable pain brought upon by those who never understood our faith. Spc. Andrew Figorski enjoying time off with the Assyrian children of Alqosh, Iraq. The miracle of Christmas is about the birth of the One whose star the Magi from Mesopotamia saw "in the East" and followed until it came and stood over the house where He was in the care of his Mother and earthly father.  The Magi fell down and worshipped Him.  Then they presented him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We, as a nation, have never been able to rise to our feet ever since. His message of love and unity inspired us to make long journeys to the East, to seek truth in meekness, to accept death as our prize for a place in His kingdom, never again raising our weapons against another man.  While our neighbors tore nations asunder, we calmly built more universities, hospitals, monasteries, roads, churches, churches, and more churches.  We still do.  Proclaiming His gospel of love, we let the followers of Mohammad to violate our mothers and sisters, throw our children in the air and bisect them with their swords.  We shed blood, precious blood.  We still do. Iraqi Christian children decorate a Christmas tree during a gathering at a Roman Catholic church in central Baghdad December 23, 2005. (Faleh Kheiber/Reuters) Our nation and our Church grew to greatness in suffering with every ordeal it struggled against until it began to relinquish the gospel of Unity.  The killings did not cease, yet this singular body of Christ began to escape in different ways.  Each limb calling itself differently from the body it came from.  Our one faith in Him was soon afire with indignation.  We burned some five hundred years before this Sunday.  We still do. As in every Neesan when we are reminded of life's rebirth, Christmas tells us of a renewed hope for love and unity.   In every child's glowing smile, sitting under a Christmas tree on the eve of the "Minor Feast", our faith is renewed.  After all, isn't the most important message of Christmas that we should remain steadfast in our hope for the return of peace and love where there is hatred and darkness? While we continue to wait with global interest for an end to our people's suffering "in the East" and the an end to the misdirected leadership of our guardians and their political and spiritual impotency, reporters in Iraq have been writing about the arrival of Christmas and the difficulties experienced by the people - Christians mainly - in coping with the realities of war.  The responses from every Christian man, woman, and child is the same: I know our suffering is temporary and peace will be here soon. It appears that Our Lord had always been with us "in the East".  We simply looked, but did not see; heard, but did not understand. Back to the Top

The Lighthouse Feature Article

Obelit Yadgar: The Voice & the Author Nina Georgizova Washington D.C. Enchantment, passion and yearning for love are just some of the words that come to mind, reading each page of Obelit Yadgar’s novel “Will’s Music” and listening to the author’s voice on his regular radio essays.  Often when we ask what love is, it is almost impossible to describe our feelings or even more difficult to give it a meaning. Obelit Yadgar’s book “Will’s Music” is the best definition of love you will ever find. Obelit Yadgar When we think of an Assyrian writer, the first thought that comes to mind is the history of our people, politics, language or religious matters. We cannot imagine an Assyrian writing a romantic novel about passionate love between two people. I found myself thinking the same way until a few months ago when I came across the book written by a fellow Assyrian, Obelit Yadgar I was very interested in reading this book and was impatiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Once I read the first few pages, I could not put it down.  I finished it in two days. It is a beautiful and breathtaking love story; it easily makes one cry and laugh, think and reminisce about one’s own past. Obelit Yadgar was born in 1941 in Baghdad, Iraq. His great-uncle, Benjamin Arsanis, an Assyrian writer, activist and historian, gave him the name “Obelit”, after the last Assyrian King, Ashur Ubalit (611-608 BC).  These days everybody calls him Obie. “In high school no one could pronounce my given name Obelit, so a teacher called me Obie, and it stuck,” he explains. His family moved to Tehran, Iran when he was only 1-year- old. In 1946 Obelit’s parents applied for visa to immigrate to the United States.  It was only after eleven years and his mother's death that they were granted the visa to come to America.  His mom dies at the age of 35.  “And she was the one who had wanted to come to America more than any of us,” says Obelit. “Ah well, her immigration was to another kind of paradise.” Growing up in Chicago, Obelit always wanted to be a writer. “I was always a dreamer,” he said. “They would send me out for a loaf of bread and it would be half gone by the time I got back I would dawdle and daydream.” Obelit read a lot, everything that he could put his hands on and one of his wishes was to get a doctorate degree in the English literature.  He attended city colleges in Chicago and San Francisco but never earned a degree.   Instead, his career took an unexpected turn. Another of Obelit’s passions is music and although he played no instrument and had no music education, he got a job as a host of a jazz show at a San Diego radio station. After that, Obelit worked at the classical music radio stations in New York, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Chicago. Ironically, Obelit had a stuttering problem ever since he was a little boy and he spoke no word of English when he moved to America.  Like in the case of most other Assyrian emigrants from Iran, Farsi and Assyrian were the only languages spoken in his household. “I had stuttered very badly all of my youth. As time went on, though, I started to concentrate on what I was saying and how I was saying it. That automatically slowed my speech, which helped,” he says. “When I set a goal for myself,” he adds, “I can have the tenacity of a shark until I reach it.” He has now become a well known classical music host with a great number of fans and vast expertise of classical composers and their music which he acquired by spending many hours in the libraries. “He has quite a following,” says WUWM program director Bruce Winter, where Obelit worked for a few years. “They love the way he talks and his demeanor on the air. No matter how lousy the day outside, it’s never a bad day to him. He is warm and affectionate sounding on the radio… He’s kind of a walking encyclopedia…But never stuffy. Obie talks about classical music the way he or others talk about sports – conversationally. He tells funny stories. He is not the stereotype of the stiff formality sometimes associated with classical music. With him, it’s more a conversation that he is having with people in their living room.” DAVID YOUKHANA ARIZONA Real Estate-Relocation-Investment Associate Broker Certified Commercial Sales Specialist Realty USA southwest Glendale, Arizona 85310 Click Photo For More Information 602-410-9555 This is how Obelit describes his love for radio and classical music in his own words in one if his radio essays: “I listened to shortwave radio all my life…I would spend hours transported to lands I would probably never see…In Vietnam where I served as a US Army combat correspondent my little transistor shortwave radio helped me escape to corners far away from the wars, cruelty and stupidity, ugliness and waste, death and destruction. Every day my little radio gave me one more chance to hear exotic music and voices just in case it would be my last. Growing up in Tehran, I discovered early on that our shortwave radio was my ticket to places I had only read about or seen in Hollywood movies…My radio was the doorway that would make my dreams more magical. I would turn the dial and find my own private box seat in the world’s concert halls. The music was as diverse as the languages I heard and as colorful. It opened my ears to sound, that same sound created in me a thirst fro music as diverse as the lands that composed it. The languages I heard filled my ears with tones which years later I would use as a writer and a classical music radio announcer.” “Rain always sends me deep within myself and I find lost and forgotten worlds,” says Mariette Lesueur, one of the characters of Obelit’s book. Indeed, Obelit’s deep and seductively engaging voice envelopes you like a warm blanket on a cold and rainy day. In November Obelit’s voice was heard at the “Narsai’s Taste of Mediterranean Dinner” held in San Francisco. The guests viewed a documentary, produced by another Assyrian great - Alfred Rasho of Chicago - about the Assyrians of Iraq.  The mesmerizing voice of the narrator was unmistakably Obelit’s. His voice-over performance for documentaries is just another talent now being discovered by Assyrians. “Will’s Music” is a saga about two beautiful, but totally different characters that fall in love with each other when they least expect it. In this beautiful fairy tale of love nothing is simple. The beautiful and unpredictable Mariette Lesueur bursts into Will Baskin’s life like a storm on an ordinary day. He falls in love with her voice first when she calls him at the radio station. “She had a seductive voice, hypnotic, her pace deliberate as if she examined every word,” is how Will describes it. “Her voice was a string quartet, a sonata, an operatic aria and he could hear it over and over again. Go to sleep to it. Wake up to it.” He fills Mariette’s life with love and passion. He is the Mr. Darcy of our time. “Can you fall in love with someone over the telephone? With a voice? You’re captivated. Dazzled. Enchanted… This dimension I don’t know. Never been there. And how strange it feels. Like drinking a strange brew – and suddenly your insides burst with sensations you’ve never felt before. You can’t pinpoint them, because you have no words for them.”  Their love for each other help them find the way to their true passions. “Will’s Music” is a book that you will probably never want to forget. It is for someone who was in love, who is in love or hopes to be in love. It is about a man's search for love and it is about ambition – because no matter what life throws at us we follow our dreams.  The book is intelligent and thoughtful, full of witty dialogues and language of passion. “I love you, Mariette, I love you with everything that makes me who I am.” “ I want to make love to you as if I’ve been locked away in Siberia, like Raskolnikov.” Obelit Yadgar's book will touch your heart deep down and will make you feel like an unwritten character in his book, living it all from inside.  And Obelit himself - he is a literary gem whose talents must be fully appreciated by those of us who yearn for passion and beauty. Nina Georgizova teaches Russian language at the University of Maryland and was a senior lecturer at the Kuban State University in Russia - where she instructed her senior-level students on British literature.  She was also a guest lecturer at the at the University of Bristol, England.  To review and/or purchase "Will Music" click here.  For more information about Obelit Yadgar click here.

Back to the Top

Kurdish Slate Uses Photo of Kanna's Daughter in Election Poster Yonadam Kanna's daughter is seen in an election poster used by slate #730 to confuse the Assyrian voters. (ZNDA: Dohuk)  In an effort to confuse the Assyrian voters in the city of Dohuk and other town where a majority of Assyrians reside, the campaigners managing the Kurdish Slate 730 and the officials of the Kurdistan Democratic Party use the photo of the daughter of Yonadam Kanna in an election poster. Mr. Yonadam Kanna, Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, ran in the December 15th parliamentary elections in Iraq on the election slate #740. Mr. Kanna's daughter is seen standing next to three other youth, below the large printed numbers 730 - a number close enough to Mr. Kanna's election slate #740 - which many Assyrian observers believe may have confused the Assyrian voters. To date some 1200 complaints about the election fraud have been sent to the International Election Commission of Iraq. At press time Mr. Kanna's slate had received some 5000 votes in Dohuk. Turkish Writer Fined for Writing on Assyrian Genocide Courtesy of the Reuters 22 December 2005 By Selcuk Gokoluk (ZNDA: Ankara)  An Istanbul court has fined, Zulkuf Kisanak, a writer for insulting the Turkish state in his book, "Lost Villages" on the evacuation of Kurdish, Armenian and Syriac Christian villages and a publisher for an article on Turkey's policy on Iraq. He was first given five months in jail but then the sentence was reduced to a fine of 3,000 lira (€1,870). The verdicts were issued amid controversy over Article 301 of a revised penal code, which allows prosecutors to pursue cases against writers and scholars for "insulting Turkish identity". The most high profile case so far has been against best-selling Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who told a Swiss newspaper that no one dared discuss the alleged massacre of a million Armenians 90 years ago nor the deaths of 30,000 Kurds in recent years. The prosecutions have raised concerns within the European Union over freedom of expression in Turkey, which won EU accession talks status on October 3. The government has said it will not be rushed into changing the article and needs time for new laws to take root. The Istanbul court first jailed writer Zulkuf Kisanak and publisher Aziz Ozer for five months but later reduced the sentences to fines. Ozer was fined 6,000 lira for publishing two articles which criticized Turkey's backing of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "My book was based on concrete events, backed by documents and photographs," he said. "My book is about villages that were evacuated and the tragedies that unfolded." "I was tried under Article 301 of the penal code for insulting the state," Kisanak told Reuters. His lawyer said he had appealed the court's ruling. Other Turkish writers and scholars face charges for "insulting Turkish identity", state institutions and the revered founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Such prosecutions rarely end in imprisonment and more often result in fines, acquittals or reprieves. "If the country's prosecutors actually put journalists in jail then there will be enormous pressure on Turkey ... a lot really depends on what happens with these cases," said a senior European diplomat. Ishtar TV Begins Satellite Broadcast from North Iraq (ZNDA: Arbil)  After months of broadcasting test videos and images of a serene and quiet life in north Iraq, Ishtar TV will begin broadcasting its satellite television programs on Thursday, 22 December at 6 pm, Iraq time. Equipped with the latest tools in audio-visual technology and digital programming, Ishtar TV is expected to technically produce the highest quality programs with a focus on the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean audiences around the world.  The programs will be produced in Syriac (Assyrian), Arabic, and Kurdish. Congratulations to the Assyrian Filmmaker Terrence Malick on the opening of his new masterpiece... THE NEW WORLD In Theatres 25 December 2005 Click Picture to Enter the New World In an article written back in June by the Radio Free Iraq journalist and Zinda Magazine special correspondent, Petr Kubalek, RFI's Sawsan Habib interviewed Mr. George Mansour, the director of the Iraqi Media Network (after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime) and the current director of Ishtar satellite TV. Mansour, an Assyrian, told Radio Free Iraq: "The channel will broadcast in the Syriac, Kurdish, and Arabic languages. It will aim at delivering the heritage and culture of the Chaldo-Assyrian-Syriac people to other communities of Iraq and at strengthening the relations between our Chaldo-Assyrian-Syriac people and the Iraqi people in general." He added: "I believe that now, in new Iraq, we must all work together for its benefit, for the benefit of this Iraq that we were dreaming of and fighting for." When asked about the nature of the Ishtar Satellite TV broadcast, Mansour described it as a "variety channel", elaborating: "There will be news; programs on arts, culture, and heritage; sports programs; family programs; broadcasts for children; as well as political programs." Mansour highlighted the focus of Ishtar TV: "I think the main issue is that the Arab and partly also Iraqi media has been focusing on the negative events happening in Iraq, on explosions, killing, looting, and so on. But they have not paid attention so far to the positive events that are really going on today in Iraq." Mr. Mansour in another interview commented:  "Ishtar TV enjoys the financial support of "a few of our good people who believe that it is necessary to have a democratic and objective dialogue based on the people's legal right to disagree." He continued: "We believe that the station is an obligation towards our country and people and that it is going to be distant from everything that obstructs our work that is moving towards the unity of our great nation." Norway's DNO Discovers Oil in Northern Iraq Courtesy of the Norway Post 23 December 2005 (ZNDA: Zakho)  The Norwegian oil company DNO (Det Norske Oljeselskap) has discovered oil in its first test well near the city of Zakho in Northern Iraq. The test drilling started less than a month ago. In a message to the stock exchange DNO stated that the first well within DNO's PSA's located in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, Tawke # 1 has encountered movable oil at the top of the first prospective reservoir interval. Tawke # 1, which was spudded on 28th November 2005 has reached the first prospective reservoir interval at approximately 350 meters. While drilling into the top of the reservoir section the well took influx of oil under pressure. The oil was circulated out and flared off in a controlled manner. The company reports that samples of the oil were taken confirming an API gravity of approximately 24 API. This API grade corresponds to oil produced from other fields at similar reservoir level in Northern Iraq. The forward plan is to continue drilling the full reservoir section, which could be up to 800 meters thick according to the prognosis. Thereafter wireline logging will be undertaken to evaluate the reservoir with respect to reservoir characteristics and movable oil content. DNO is the Operator of the PSA with a 40 % beneficial interest.   This is the first oil exploration undertaken following a production sharing agreement signed with the Kurdish authorities in June 2004. More Freedom to Celebrate Christmas in Gulf Courtesy of the Middle East Online 23 December 2005 By Wissam Keyrouz (ZNDA: Dubai)  Christian expatriates in the Gulf enjoy increasingly more freedom to worship and celebrate feasts, especially Christmas, except in Saudi Arabia, where non-Islamic practices still lead to jail and deportation. In the run-up to Christmas, the youths of St Joseph's Roman Catholic church in Abu Dhabi performed a religious play in the city's cultural centre for the first time. The law in the United Arab Emirates continues to ban any preaching activities outside churches. "We are very grateful to officials here," St Joseph's pastor, Father Nidal Abu Rujaili, said, pointing out that an official from the UAE religious authority attended the play. Christmas masses can be seen in shopping centres. "He also addressed the parish, stressing the importance of accepting the other and the dialogue between religions. He (also) commended the play and congratulated Christian expatriates" for the festive season, Abu Rujaili added. Abu Dhabi's Roman Catholic church stands in a complex that also houses a school and a parish centre. "We have lived here for years and we always practiced our rituals freely inside the church. But to be allowed to have a religious play outside the church is a great progress," said a parish member as he stood in the church yard. Next to the Catholic "complex," a new church for the Coptic community is being erected, while an Anglican church stands just behind it. "All churches hold their masses on Friday (which is the weekend in the UAE) instead of Sunday, so that all members can take part," he said. In Dubai, the neighbouring emirate that is fashioning itself as a cosmopolitan city, thousands of Filipinos gathered for an outdoor Christmas mass. As a choir sang Filipino Christmas carols, an Indian man guided Arab visitors into the church, where a Lebanese group was singing in Arabic. A New Assyrian Magazine From Europe Contact Editorial Office at info@funoyo.de "Christmas day is surely not a holiday here, but we feel the festive atmosphere in the city. Malls are packed with Christmas decorations," said Roni Murr, a Lebanese expatriate. Christian expatriates in Qatar got a big present from the government this Christmas as a cornerstone for a complex of churches was laid in the capital, Doha, in early December. The government of the gas-rich state has provided some 95,000 square meters (1.02 million square feet) of land to build six churches for different communities, in addition to dormitories for priests, becoming the first in Qatar, said an engineer involved in the project. Kuwait's government also decided recently to provide land for two new churches, drawing criticism from Islamist members of parliament. Islamist MP Walid al-Tabatibai considered the decision to be "in contrast with the sharia (Islamic law)" claiming that there are "20 churches in the country while the number of Kuwaiti Christians does not exceed 100 people". But a church official said there are only nine churches in Kuwait, and five of them are in rented premises. "There are some 150 to 200 Kuwaiti Christians, but there are tens of thousands of Christian expatriates in the country," the official said requesting anonymity. But Christian expatriates in Saudi Arabia do not enjoy any of the rights that their brothers and sisters do in neighbouring Gulf countries. The ultra-conservative kingdom, which is classified by the United States as a country where religious freedoms are violated, bans all non-Islamic practices. No sign of the Christmas festivities can be seen in Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by the strict teachings of the Wahabist interpretation of Islam. Those who get caught performing their rituals face jail and deportation. But this ban fails to terrify all expatriates, and some meet in "underground churches" to worship. "I was a member of a Christian praying group. We used to meet in houses and hold masses secretly," said a Christian, who lived before in Saudi Arabia. "Christmas parties used to be held in houses or in embassies, but life behind the closed doors was completely different. Nobody would realise that it is the most important feast for hundreds of thousands of foreigners living in the country," he added.

Back to the Top

News Digest News From Around the World

Exiled Iraqi Christians Vote with Concern About Their Future Courtesy of the Religion News Service 16 December 2005 Ashtar Analeed Marcus Phillip Lado, 73, casts his vote in Iraq's elections. (ZNDA: Chicago)  Yalda Hajey, draped in traditional Assyrian scarves around his neck and waist, with red and green feathers protruding from his hat, dropped his vote into a ballot box, dipped his finger into a purple ink sponge and sprang into an Iraqi jig. But Hajey's dancing mood turned somber as he talked about recent killings of fellow Christians in Iraq, including three bodyguards protecting a Christian ministry official and two men putting up posters in support of a Christian candidate. Media reports said their splattered blood covered the posters. "I'm voting for those who martyred themselves," said Hajey, 53, of Chicago, who cast his ballot on Tuesday (Dec. 13). Like Hajey, many of the tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians in the United States are deeply concerned about the future of their religious community in their native land. While the world's focus has largely been on Iraq's Muslim Shiites and Sunnis, Christians in Iraq are an important and suffering religious minority. According to Iraqi legend, Christianity first came to the region by one of Christ's original apostles, with speculation centering on Thomas, who the Bible famously describes as an initial skeptic of the resurrection. Iraq has been called an ancient root of Christianity, but its Christians say they are as vulnerable as ever, making up an estimated 4 percent of the country's 26 million population. "Christians are, in terms of history, the oldest inhabitants of Mesopotamia, known as modern Iraq," said Edward Odisho, a professor of culture and linguistics, specializing in the Middle East, at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Odisho said that Christianity predates Islam in Iraq by centuries, and "in the absence of democracy, they (Christians) have used religion as an umbrella to bring them together." Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Syrian Orthodox and Church of the East are among the Christian denominations represented in Iraq. But their numbers have decreased in recent years due to a terrorism-induced exodus to other countries. This election has allowed Iraqis living in the United States and elsewhere to vote over three days for a new government for their homeland. Of the eight American cities hosting elections, Pleasanton, California, and Skokie are expected to receive the highest Christian turnout, possibly in the thousands, election officials said. Iraqi-American Christians are voting, Odisho said, because they want to "emphasize their historical, ancient identity as the indigenous people of Iraq and as the speakers of one of the most historical languages in the world, Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke." In Skokie, some Christian clergy members arrived in clerical attire to cast their ballots. In other parts of the country, Iraqi Christian leaders were also active. "Christians are called by God and Jesus Christ himself to be one, and this is a call that we cannot be passive about," said Mar Bawai Soro, a Church of the East bishop in San Jose, California"Now, with the privilege to vote, we can go ahead and vote for political ideas and political candidates who we feel will protect our cultural and religious rights." Yalda Hajey casts his vote dressed in traditional Assyrian attire. Soro said he urged Iraqi Christians to cast ballots "because we're still very much tied to each other," referring to Iraqi Christians within and outside of Iraq. His concerns extend beyond church security to the everyday needs of Christians overseas. "We're being marginalized by majorities," Soro said. "Our people and their priorities are bypassed." Those priorities, he said, include "buildings, schools, hospitals and housing projects" for predominantly Christian towns, most of them in northern Iraq. These institutions, he said, will help Christians strengthen their "relationship to their land." That connection to the land and its Christian history is even evident among young Christian voters who have never seen Iraq. "If all of us out of Iraq come together and vote for them and support them, then things will happen over there," said Arbella Baba, 19, an American-born Iraqi Christian who lives and voted in Skokie. "I want them to be who they are without being persecuted. I think we should be able to live freely and openly without having to be afraid of what we are." She is an eligible voter under Iraqi constitutional law because her father, an American, is Iraqi-born. Voters cast ballots mindful of the past, but with an eye to the future. "I'm voting because we elderly have to lead the way for our children," said Phillip Lado, 73, speaking in his native Assyrian language. "We want to ask God to pour peace into our dear country of Iraq." Many Iraqi expatriates want a Christian representative in their native land's national assembly so the security concerns of Christians can be heard. In the January elections, one of the five Christian representatives in the temporary assembly was elected almost entirely by out-of-country voters. "We need to reach the minimum of (an estimated) 62,500 votes to achieve a parliamentary seat," Isho Lilou, an elections official, said. Election results will not be announced until ballots from around the world have been counted and submitted to Iraq. That process is expected to take several days. Out-of-country votes will be counted toward 45 "compensatory seats" of the 275-seat assembly, which will remain in authority for a full four-year term. For Iraqi Christians, the outcome could determine the stability of their community, and an opportunity for exiles to return. "We have become orphans in 54 different countries, scattered," Lado said. "We have to have representation to have our rights met like all people." Christian Slate 740 Garners Most Votes from U.S. Iraq Expats Courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor 20 December 2005 By Audrey Barrick (ZNDA: Detroit)  A slate of Assyrian and Chaldean Christians drew in the most votes from Iraqi expatriates in the United States who had earlier expressed doubts over Christian representation in the new parliament. An Iraqi Chaldean expatriate Sabraya Dawood (R) smiles as she casts her ballot for the Iraqi election at a polling station in Farmington Hills, Michigan December 13, 2005. Dawood immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 and is one of 240,000 Iraqi-Americans eligible to vote for postwar Iraq's first full-term parliament. (Photo: Reuters / Rebecca Cook) With some having traveled hundreds of miles to cast their votes at one of seven polling stations, unofficial results show a narrow Christian defeat over the Shiite party. The National Rafidain List, whose base support come from Iraqi Christians, garnered 26 percent of the vote while the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite Muslim coalition, received 25 percent, according to elections coordinator Talal Ibrahim. Last week's parliamentary vote marks a turnaround from the January election when the Shiite party received more votes over the Christian party, 32 to 29 percent. Churches in the U.S. had promoted the December election, rallying support for greater Christian representation in the full-term parliament. The recent election saw a 10 percent increase in participation compared to the first round of voting in the U.S. A total of 26,793 valid votes were cast, said Ibrahim, according to The Associated Press. Following behind the Shiite party was the Kurdish Alliance with 16 percent; a secular slate, the National Iraqi List, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi with 13 percent; and another primarily Christian slate, the Al Nahrain National List, with 12 percent. All other parties received no more than 1 percent of the U.S. vote. In McLean, Va., one of the U.S. polling sites, the Kurdish Alliance List garnered 48 percent with 977 votes; United Iraqi Alliance, 23 percent; the National Iraqi List, 12 percent; and Tawafoq Iraqi Front, a Sunni Muslim coalition, 4 percent. Final election results will not be expected until early January.  For up-to-date results see Zinda Magazine's special Elections Result page (click here). AAI President Undermines Out-of-Country Voting (ZNDA: Washington)  James Zogby, a pollster and president of the Arab American Institute, this week said he is troubled by the U.S. balloting as a whole, referring to the out-of-country voting for the first full-term Iraqi parliament which took place between December 12 and 15 in the U.S. and several other countries around the world.  Allowing U.S. citizens to vote in another country's elections, he said, sends the message that Iraqi-Americans are not full participants in U.S. democracy. Dr. James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. "We send a very conflicted message about the value of U.S. citizenship," Zogby said. "It undervalues our American citizenship." James Zogby, previously criticized by this publication for his Arab-centric views (click here), has for years supported the different Arab regimes, and has not called for reform, freedom and respect for human liberties, despite the obvious abuses committed by these regimes.   For example, Dr. Zogby ignored the plight of the Lebanese people under Syrian occupation, and did not raise the issue. He strongly opposes President Bush’s policies in the Middle East and actively worked against him during the 2004 campaign (click here). Dr. Zogby holds the opinion that a majority of the immigrants from the Middle East in the United States are of the Arab descent.  As was noted in his organization's website, a point of contention opposed by Zinda Magazine - especially in reference to the Chaldeans in Detroit as Arab Christians.  This issue was especially brought to the attention of this publication earlier this year when Dr. Zogby demanded an explanation for the comments His Honorable Walid Maalouf, the director of Public Diplomacy for the Middle East at USAID in Washington, made in an interview with the An-Nahar newspaper in Beirut.  Mr. Maalouf says: "The activists in this community [U.S.] did not want to be called "Arab American" and they established organizations such as the American Lebanese League...Several Arab Ambassadors, after September 11, told me that you alienate people when you call them Arab Americans or Muslim Americans.  This is why I believe "Middle Eastern Americans" is the best name for our community." Dr. Zogby, in a letter dated March 18th, 2005 to U.S. Agency For International Development, writes:  "It is not up to Maalouf or unnamed 'Arab Ambassadors" to define us; we have done that for ourselves." In recognition for substantial and direct contribution to USAID's public outreach to the diplomatic community, Middle Eastern and Arab American communities, as well as other key organizations with a substantive interest in the Agency's foreign assistance activities, the Honorable Walid Maalouf was a recipient of the USAID 2005 Meritorious Honor Award which he received Thursday, November 17th. The leader of a U.S.-based Middle Eastern organization, in talking to Zinda Magazine, comments: "The Arab American Institute has become, with or without the awareness of Dr. Zogby, a subversive and divisive tool for the propagation of old Arab ideologies that are abandoned today by most of the Arab world. Yes, there is a reluctance from most Arab immigrants to be associated with an Arab Nation of Osama Bin laden and his likes! The fellows from the AAI should be open minded to accept these new realities." According to a poll released earlier this month by Zogby International the attitude toward the United States has particularly hardened in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where 84 percent and 82 percent, respectively, said their opinion of the superpower had worsened in the past year.  In fact, nearly all Zogby International polls demonstrate a pro-Democratic, anti-Republican, anti-U.S. policy in the Middle East attitude - the position held by Dr. Zogby and the Arab American Institute. In a letter dated April 11, 2005, Mr. J Edward Fox, the USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs defended Mr. Maalouf's position and wrote to Dr. Zogby stating the position of the USAID and the U.S. State Department: "The Department of State and the USAID have responded with a variety of outreach activities to various Middle Eastern American communities...All outreach activities of USAID's Office of Public Liaison are fully coordinated with the Department of State, including meetings, interviews, speeches and potential participants." Zinda Magazine has in the past categorically rejected the labeling of the Assyrians and Chaldeans as "Arabs" - a position encouraged by Dr. Zogby and his Arab American Institute. Suryoyo Satellite Television to Begin Broadcast in March Reported by Afram Barryakoub, Zinda correspondent in Sweden. (ZNDA: Stockholm)  A new satellite TV channel is planning to broadcast test images as early as March 2006.  “Bahro Suryoyo TV” will be financially supported by various Syriac organizations in Europe.  These include the Syriac federations in represented by the Syriac Universal Alliance. The Syrian Orthodox Church will also be producing programs and support the programming of the Bahro Suryoyo TV. Headquartered in Södertälje, Sweden, Bahro Suryoyo TV is most likely launched via the Hotbird satellite. According to Mr Fuat Demir, a member of the preparatory committee, Bahro Suryoyo TV is not aiming to compete with the other Suryoyo satellite television - Suroyo TV:  "We have nothing against Suroyo TV; in fact we will have some cooperation with Suroyo TV. We believe that this will lead only to constructive competition, since both channels will have to sharpen up in order to attract viewers." Bahro TV preparatory committee meets in Germany to discuss the future programming, production support, and financing of the new Suryoyo-Assyrian satellite television in Europe. Intensive work is currently underway and there are many meetings and preparations. When the Syriac Federation of Sweden placed an advertisement on their homepage asking people who have media skills to apply, more than forty persons called in, of which 25 turned out to have media related studies at the university level. At a preparatory meeting in Germany on 10 December it was unanimously decided that Bahro Suryoyo channel will “ build on the legitimate base of the Syriac language, that is Aramaic, the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Syriac culture and its traditions”. Bahro Suryoyo TV will broadcast worldwide, 7 days-24 hours a day.  Fuat Demir acknowledges the difficulty to fill all available time with programs:  "We will concentrate on drama shows since our people are longing for such kind of entertainment in our own language. The hours we can’t fill with programs will be filled with music, but our Assyrian and Chaldean brothers are welcome to use the time we can’t fill with programs." AssyriaSat Broadcast to Australia, Multi-Year Contract Signed Courtesy of the Asia Pulse Businesswire 19 December 2005 (ZNDA: Sydney)  The first Assyrian worldwide television channel will be bringing its 24/7  programming to Australia's through PanGlobal TV. PanAmSat on 19 December announced that AssyriaSat has signed a multi-year agreement with GlobeCast Australia to deliver its programming through PanGlobal TV, a joint marketing alliance between PanAmSat and GlobeCast Australia, to viewers throughout Australia. AssyriaSat will be carried on the Australia Beam of PanAmSat's PAS-8 Pacific Ocean Region satellite located at 166 degrees East Longitude. As a result of this transaction, PanGlobal TV will now offer 27 channels of multi-ethnic programming to the Australian subscribers of this Direct-to-Home platform (DTH). "Diversity is what PanGlobal TV is all about and AssyriaSat brings us exactly that -- the first Assyrian programming channel for our DTH viewers in Australia," said David Ball, vice president, Asia Pacific, PanAmSat. "With programming from a multitude of countries, PanGlobal TV is the platform to turn to when looking for culturally rich television fare." Launched in October 2002, AssyriaSat is the first Assyrian worldwide television channel. Originating from the AssyriaVision (KBSV-TV) studios at the Assyrian Cultural Center of Bet Nahrain in Ceres, California, it features a wide variety of family-oriented programs, including news reports, general entertainment, cultural and educational shows. The station broadcasts its programming worldwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your are reading the last issue of Zinda Magazine in 2005.  Your favorite source of Assyrian, Chaldean, & Syriac news and information will return in the first week of January 2006.  Happy new year & thank you for making us #1 ! "AssyriaSat is very pleased to announce this relationship with GlobeCast Australia using the PanGlobal Platform on PanAmSat's PAS-8 satellite," said Dr. Sargon Dadesho, CEO of AssyriaSat. "With this agreement, AssyriaSat will be able to reach thousands of Aramaic-speaking homes throughout Australia." PanGlobal TV transmits digital television channel signals from either GlobeCast Australia's Sydney teleport or the PanAmSat Napa Valley, CA teleport to the PAS-8 Ku-band Australia beam. The teleports offer digital encoding, signal processing and transport services in addition to the uplink service to the satellite. PanGlobal TV offers backhaul to either the Napa teleport or the Sydney teleport by satellite, fiber or hybrid satellite/fiber contribution. Playout, production and Conditional Access and Subscriber Management services are also available. Assyrian Store Manager Fends Off Robber in Fresno Courtesy of the Modesto Bee 16 December 2005 By Chris Togneri Store manager Edward Petrossi, 44, was working alone when the man entered the store. It was Nov. 21, around 10:30 p.m. The man entered the Quik Stop market on La Loma Avenue and walked to a bank of coolers in the back. He grabbed an 18-pack of beer, then stood by the counter until all other customers left, Petrossi said Thursday. The man asked for a Diet Snapple drink. Petrossi left his post behind the counter to check the shelves, found they were out, then walked back to the counter. "And he followed right behind me," said Petrossi, 44. "I am very conscious of my surroundings. I felt his presence right behind me." Petrossi, an Assyrian from Iran who said he is a black belt in six martial arts disciplines, spun around and found the man thrusting a knife at him. Petrossi leaped back. "That's a really good knife!" he recalled thinking. "That's a knife that could kill me. My God, this is not a joke, I have to take this seriously." Video surveillance shows Petrossi jump into a "ready position" — knees bent, fists cocked — then grab a pair of scissors and a box cutter from under the register. "I said, 'Come on. You want the money? Come and get it,'" he said. "He dropped the beer and ran." Petrossi gave chase, catching up to the man at the front door. "I thought, 'Oh, this is the best time to kick his ass.'" Petrossi did kick the man. Footage from a parking lot camera shows the suspect tumbling through the doors and rolling into the parking lot. Still clutching the scissors and box cutters, Petrossi jumps out after him. The suspect is then seen hurrying to his feet, pulling up his sagging pants, and running away. Petrossi chased the man into a neighboring parking lot. The suspect approached a van, saw Petrossi was still chasing him, and kept running. "I knew this had to be his van," Petrossi said. "So I took my cell phone and I zoomed in (on the licence plate), focused, and … perfect. I had the photo." After snapping the photo, Petrossi and a friend who had heard him shouting resumed the chase. At some point, Petrossi found a rock on the ground. "I said, 'My God, that's a good looking rock! Let me grab it,'" he said. Gorgias Press Holiday Gift Ideas CLICK HERE Down several streets in the area, Petrossi ran after the suspect, he said. The man finally made it back to the van and got in. As he drove off, Petrossi heaved the rock through the driver's side window, shattering the glass. The thief had escaped — but Petrossi still had the licence plate number on his cell phone camera. He gave it to police, and on Wednesday, Modesto and Fresno officers arrested Corey Allen Funk, 24, in his Fresno home, Modesto police Detective Al Brocchini said. Funk is suspected of using a knife in five robbery attempts — four of them successful — from Nov. 8 to Nov. 29, all in Modesto. He was booked into county jail Wednesday night on $250,000 bail, Brocchini said. "We had three detectives working these different cases," Brocchini said. "We may have put them together, but this certainly helped." Using Petrossi's cell phone photo, investigators determined that the van belonged to the mother of Funk's girlfriend, Brocchini said. Funk's girlfriend — who authorities say did not know about the robberies — lives in Modesto. She told investigators he came to visit her several times in November and that he used the vehicle on the night of the attempted robbery at the La Loma Quik Stop. The investigation was aided by a Modesto Bee reader who saw a composite sketch of a robbery suspect in a Dec. 7 article. The woman told police the same man had robbed her at the Longs Drugs on the 2900 block of Standiford Avenue on Nov. 22. The other armed robberies occurred Nov. 8 at a Union 76 gas station in the 3000 block of Sisk Road; Nov. 12 at a Chevron gas station in the 3900 block of Pelandale Avenue; Nov. 29 at a Wonder Bakery in the 2100 block of Standiford Avenue. Petrossi laughed as he recalled his wild night. "Good things come in small packages," said Petrossi, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. "This guy had no idea what he was getting into when he came at me with a knife." He also offered the thief some advice: "Look for a real job. Make a real living. This kind of stuff won't get you anywhere." Not at the Quik Stop on La Loma Avenue, it won't. Toronto Student Misses the Real Meaning of Christmas Back Home Courtesy of the Toronto Star 23 December 2005 (ZNDA: Toronto)  Alhan Oraha, 26, a University of Toronto pharmacology postgraduate student came to Canada from Iraq in 1996.  As Christian and Assyrian in a predominantly Muslim Arab country, Oraha and her family weren’t able to share their faith or celebrate Christmas with others except at home or inside a church. Alhan Oraha says Christmas carried more religious meaning back in Iraq. There were few decorations on their Christmas tree because they weren’t available in local markets and had to be brought in by friends from outside the country. Christmas was the only time of the year when Christianity would be showcased on Iraqi TV, in a Christmas-themed movie. “I always imagined how wonderful it must be to live through a Christmas just like the Christmas movies that we used to watch as kids. “Here in Canada, people tend to take Christmas for granted. We hardly stop to appreciate the small things given to us when the other side of the world lacks them. “One thing that was beautiful was that Christmas carried more religious meaning with it back in Iraq. In North America, I find that the day has become very commercialized and is more about shopping and taking time off work than celebrating the birth of Jesus. “Many of our relatives and friends have left Iraq, which added to the bitterness of missing those who usually shared Christmas with us. As we celebrate Christmas in Canada, that sadness is still there in our hearts.”

Back to the Top

Season's Greetings

Youkie Khanania
Assyrian Aid Society of America
Arizona Chapter President

As 2005 comes to a close, I want to extend my most sincere gratitude and appreciation to Zinda Magazine and each of you for helping the A.A.S to achieve Results That Matter. It has been an exciting year as we continue to work together to improve lives of our brothers and sisters in Iraq.   Thanks to your continue's support and God bless you.

Filham Isaac
Canada

You have become part of our daily lives and it gives a great pleasure to extend our heartfelt thanks and the best of the festive time. God Bless.

Youaw T. Kanna
Australia

I wholeheartedly wish you and your Staff a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

The "Friends of Nineveh Christmas Drive" was an absolute success.  Thanks to our readers who came through in the last 2 days and helped raise a little over $3000 between December 18th and 20th.  As promised in our last issue, Zinda Magazine will donate 10 cents to every dollar donated - making our pledge total as a little over $300 this year.  Click here for more information and photos.  Friends of Nineveh Christmas Drive is organized by the Assyrian Academic Society.

To the proponents of Slate 800

Eva Shamouel
United Kingdom

Compared to Assyrians in the UK I find that Assyrian Americans are traditionally more patriotic towards their governments. In one program on an Assyrian channel from California which was the driving force behind slate 800, I saw an Assyrian lady holding a banner outside the Iraqi elections which read something along the lines of “thank you America for liberating Iraq”. Perhaps she is ingrained by the ideals of America and feels a genuine loyalty towards her country? Or perhaps she was just being diplomatic? Maybe like many Assyrian Americans she is proud to live in a democracy in which you are allowed to vote for the parties and politicians that best represent you and what you stand for.

My question is for those Assyrians who live in the West and believe in the principal of democracy and who urged people to vote for slate 800.

At the time of writing this, the partial results of the Iraqi voting figures have just been published by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. Obviously the results are somewhat flawed in that there have been hundreds of complaints about ballot fraud, etc, especially in the north of Iraq where so many Assyrians live. Despite this, those who have managed to vote have sent a very loud message about who they want to represent them and this should not be dismissed. The figures out on 20th December show that slate 740 has got 28,196 votes in Iraq and Slate 800 has 611. These figures do not include the Out of Country Voting figures which may take slate 740 to 40,000 votes.

Move Over Alicia Keys!

NINSUN POLI "For Real" Click Photo to Be Amazed

Let’s imagine slate 740 earns a seat in the next Parliament from these votes, it would mean that most Assyrian people, who made a conscious, free decision to vote for an Assyrian slate, voted for slate 740. The Rafidain slate contained purely Assyrian candidates so it cannot be said that they gained a single vote from a Kurd or Arab (as in Jacklin Zomaya’s case). If that is the case, will you honour the vote of those people – especially those in Iraq who risked their lives voting– by allowing that slate to work towards its goals?

Unlike in Saddam's day, there was no invisible gun to their heads forcing them to vote. If the voters supported your goals and your various campaigns throughout this year, they would have presumably voted for you. Will you suggest that all those thousands who voted for the ADM (Zowaa) were victims of propaganda like you did last time? You exercise your traditional American value of “freedom of expression” to the full on your daily TV program. However, when famous Assyrian singers express their opinions publicly and say they are supporting slate 740, you place an embargo on them by refusing to air them on your show and all because they don’t have the same political views as you. When my father sang ‘Bet Nahrain, Atreewa’ in an Assyrian party in Baghdad some 26 years ago the Ba’ath regime decided they didn’t like that song either, arrested him a day later and put him in prison for a month. Censorship of political views is surely something you should be against? You had access to various media outlets just as the ADM did. You had an opportunity to campaign and put your case to the Assyrian people just as the ADM did (though as we know, some of them were shot dead for doing it).

It’s not to say there is no room for constructive criticism because the ADM is not above any Assyrian that it represents. It is there to serve us, not to rule and we have the right to question it. Yonadam Kanna and other leading members of the party have visited London countless times and have always been open to dialogue and discussion. You have to accept, since you profess your belief in a democracy and a democratic process, that the majority of Assyrians who voted have voted for the ADM by a landslide. This is the wish of the people and it is not said to glorify the ADM in anyway.

It sounds very sour to say “they won because they lied”, or “they were paying voters money”, or “the voters have all been brainwashed”. Also, please think a little before you ask “what have the ADM done for Assyrians in Iraq since they won a parliamentary seat in January?” Why don’t you look at the situation in Iraq and ask “What have the Sunnis or Shiites been able to do for the Arabs since January?” The country is in a state of war and turmoil. Do you expect the ADM to ‘raise Atour from the ashes’ in that time because they have one seat out of 275? Why don’t you look at what the ADM have done in the last 26 years and more importantly, what they can potentially do if the situation stabilises and if we in the West give them our maximum humanitarian/financial/political support? Our community is too small to work from many agendas. Will you accept the decision of the majority? Or will you wipe your feet on their ballot papers and set the machine of destruction into motion?

The Only Party for One United Nation

Emanuel Kelaita
Spain

I believe that the results of the elections which are not yet known to anyone, will be good news for all the progressive people in our Nation, which comprises the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the Suryanees…three names for ONE Nation.

Remember the old movie "The Three Musketeers"? “One for ALL and ALL for One,” that is what ZOWAA is trying to accomplish so that we will not repeat the failures of World War I. The Nestorian Souraye, the Chaldean Souraye and the Suryany Souraye each fought separately, resulting in the Massacre of some 500,000 people. From now on we should all hang together otherwise we will be hanged separately.

Our Eastern Church leaders, unfortunately, have still not learnt their lesson and are still selfishly following the same policies. That is how we got crushed in the past. Do we want to repeat the same scenario?

The real omtanaye who believe in the UNITY of our Nation and NOT in splitting it into three groups will have succeeded in accomplishing their goal.

There is some bad news for the following few when ZOWAA wins:

1. These newly-established Gabbe with their different slates are knowingly trying to split our votes but they can’t win. Simply because our Nation has started to awaken and realizes that the only patriotic statesman is Mr. Yonadam Kanna. This man represents the greatest party ever established in our modern history…the ADM or better known as ZOWAA, the only party that can lead and unite our three names under one Nation.

This is the party that has made many sacrifices for the sake of our Nation in the last quarter of a century - while most of us in the Diaspora worked for our own selfish needs and even supported directly or indirectly the enemy forces, which were and are still oppressing and killing the members of ZOWAA in Atran.

We are sitting behind our computers, comfortably criticizing in the safety of our national Internet forums, Paltalk and even with some nasty articles from time to time in our national magazines. Our famous TV shows are always knocking down ZOWAA’s accomplishments, especially on our poisonous TV station in California.

I suggest that from now on our people should refer to it as the “Ashoorayet Al Jazeera TV station.”

2. Nearly six months have elapsed since the AUA’s “Famous Congress” which was held in London in July 2005. Results = ZILCH. The executive leadership of the AUA unashamedly did not mention the name Chaldean or Suryanee a single time in their 22 points of their shameful declaration. The AUA umbrella was supposedly to unite our Gabbe and our Nation.

3. The pessimistic individuals in our Assyrian forum and others - which keep sowing divisions within our Nation such as the journalist in Lebanon, the novel writer in the US, the new QASHA in Europe, and many others - they have to be ignored completely. Do not respond to their twisted articles, don’t even bother to click on their links, because you will be wasting your time and energy.

4. The great Ph.D joker of California along with his blind followers.

5. All the Shotanaye with their vicious connections.

6. All the ex-sympathizers of Saddam Hussein and his regime, which they could not stand the word “Atooraya” in the past and now they have become fanatic Ashooraye along with our church leaders.

7. The greedy Assyrians who have sold their dignity for a handful of dollars and accepting expensive gifts from our neighbors in the northern part of Iraq.

8. The blind followers of our four different Unreformed Eastern Churches, which are in dire need to be reformed. Our beloved Mar Bawai has started the revolution of uniting our Eastern Churches with his Qashe who believe in Unity and Reformation, Cheibo to our Gabbara Assyrian Prelate.

This time, the Prelate is an Assyrian Reformer Mar Bawai, not the German Martin Luther. That is why they tried to crucify him in Chicago but succeeded only in sacking him. Mar Dinkha made his grimmest mistake along with his Gang, because most of our Nation’s fiercest supporters are intellectuals, academics, true omtanaye, Ph.D holders, and professors and these men and women are gradually making an impact on our middle class. I mean the real Ph.D’s not the fake ones, are all the supporters of prelates of this caliber that believes in UNITY and that is why all the above support Mar Bawai 100% and support Mr. Yonadam Kanna because both are genuine. Each in his own field, Mar Bawai in believing in the unity of our Eastern Christian Churches, and Mr. Yonadam Kanna in uniting our three names under one Nation…that of the ChaldoAssrianSuryanee.

2005 should be marked in our NATION as the year of reckoning and a gigantic step in freeing ourselves from the selfish religious leaders in separating the ChaldoAssyrianSuryanee Nation from their selfish clutches.

You remember my article two months ago, about the “Halloween Party” in 2005. It is with great amazement that I just found out that on the same Halloween day in October 1517 approximately five centuries ago, the Greatest Reformer Martin Luther declared his intolerance for the Roman Catholic Church’s corruption and advised them to return to the teachings of the bible.

He accused the Roman Catholic Church of heresy upon heresy. His views were condemned as heretical by Pope Leo III. Later on he was declared an outlaw.

Martin Luther quoted the Apostle Peter (2. Peter 3:13) “we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.” Not the justice that was offered by the Assyrian Church of the East Synod to Mar Bawai in Chicago.

We are all very proud and honored that our modern day Reformist “outlaw” happens to be an Assyrian, Mar Bawai Soro of California. The reasons for his sacking are exactly the same as Martin Luther, because Mar Bawai in his private correspondence must have told the Patriarch what he thought about the degrading level of corruption that is going on in the Assyrian Church and the reformation that was absolutely necessary for our church’s survival, and maybe many other facts.

There are amazing similarities between the two Prelates: both were condemned outlaw’s, both hold Doctor of Theology degrees, both wanted to reform their churches from corruption, both believed in the true Bible teachings, both were deeply involved in their Bible studies, both were convinced that their church had lost sight of several central truths, both were sacked on Halloween day.

Mar Bawai was called to the Synod in Chicago on the same Halloween day because of his open letters to the Patriarch criticizing the Assyrian Eastern Church leaders that they had deviated from the true teachings of Christianity.

I believe that Slate 740 will win by a landslide, as it did in the previous election. But, in case ZOWAA does not win, remember we are going to work harder for the next four years and are ready to make more sacrifices because we are a party with a MESSAGE.

THE MESSAGE is UNITY for our One NATION…ChaldoAssyrianSuryany.

A Post-Election Thought

William Aprim
California

Now that the Iraqi elections are over, we have learned the results of our decisions, each according to his/her conclusions. Since we have known the impact of dividing our votes, we shall now attempt to look for healthy thoughts and methods to select the best practical way for a common ground to work together. We are brilliant people, we have more educated and talented people than the rest of our neighbors. We have every opportunity and potential to improve our life, our relation as one family, and most of all, we know what we want, nobody can take us for a ride. We have to make very serious resolutions before the end of this year. We have fought our battles, exhausted our quarrels, and look what we have accomplished. If this punishment is not enough to wake us up, what else we are expecting?

As a sincere approach to our mishap, we, as part of this great people, ChaldoSyriacAssyrian, would like to take the opportunity to add our thought and moral expectation to many other much highly intellectual minds that will no doubt emerge as a prelude to introducing programs of encouragement and famous words of substance. With little tool of limited mind available to us, at this stage in life, we sincerely conclude that it is only fair and wise, at this specific time, for all our existing political entities, social and religious establishments, to take this bold step as a corner stone in their life, to officially recognize the unfortunate small, but remarkable accomplishment in election victory by ZOWAA – Assyrian Democratic Movement, as a positive strong message of unity for our entire nation.

In our weak but honest understanding of all the unpleasant events and matters of discomfort coming out before the elections, including the sad environment of despair among our families, both political and religious, we must join together in condemnation of our wrong doing, seek forgiveness in our hearts, reach out and face the reality that the global political situation had presented to our people. Today, there is no other avenue of any particular interest left before us except our own healthy mind. This state of gift must be respected, its holiness dignified and made as an integral essence of our moral obligation towards our national goal. We shall never accept less than what God wanted for us, one nation, one united people, remnant of the great cradle of civilization “Assyria”.

We close our thoughts with offering sincere congratulations to the voice of our people “ZOWAA” Assyrian Democratic Movement, under the prudent leadership of Honorable: Younadam Kanna, the elite leaders and respectable members, for the brilliant performance and dedicated service to the ChaldoSyriacAssyrian nation. We extend Our prayers for both the fallen, and the living martyrs who are tirelessly serving in the Army of God, fighting for human rights and dignity of our people, in Beth Nahrain.

We pray and wish all the people ChaldoSyriacAssyrian , wherever they live, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New year, filled with good health, peace, freedom and prosperity, for ever.

Letter to Mar Dinkha from Arizona Parish

On Behalf of Concerned Members
St. Peters Parish of Phoenix, Arizona
Assyrian Church of the East
Sami Mushi
Lenny Joseph
Albert Younan
Nadia Odisho
Awia Yonan

In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to God is all the Glory.

We, members of the Assyrian Church of the East, St. Peters Parish of Phoenix Arizona, wish to inform your Holiness of our profound displeasure and disappointment in the unfair ruling of the recent Synod of our church, regarding one of our beloved and most educated Assyrian bishop of our church, His Grace, Mar Bawai Soro, PhD. We are appalled and dismayed as to what led your Holiness and the members of the Synod to reach such a harsh judgment. Your Holiness has been known in the past for your patience and long suffering character, it astonishes us to believe that this decision came from you. We love our Holy church and respect our traditions, and are coming to you as the Spiritual Father of our Church appealing to your leadership and trusting your compassion, since we can no longer stand silent and allow His Grace Bishop Mar Bawai Soro to be put away for unjustified causes.

His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East

It is with utmost respect that we write this petition to your Holiness to ask you to please reconsider your decision, since we believe that it was not made with much deliberation. The judgment came in such haste that it leads us, the Assyrian community, to believe that this must have been a calculated and prearranged matter. This also leads us to believe that along with key figures of the members of the Synod, your Holiness planned against His Grace Bishop Mar Bawai Soro in order to remove him from his position.

His Grace Mar Bawai has been loved and respected in our community for many years and it is disheartening for the Synod to take such severe actions without considering all of his accomplishments and hard work. Unfortunately, from every indication it appears that the decision was made with complete and absolute disregard as to the consequences that such an outcome would bring to our church community. Because of the swift judgment, our church stands divided yet again - divisions that might further alienate and push away any hopes of unity for our Assyrian nation.

I Corinthians 12: 14-27 states that we are all members of one body. "For the body is not one member, but many".

How can we now tell a member of "our" body you are no longer needed? Is the bible not clear on the fact that each member has its own purpose and function? Are we not less one member now? How is the body of Christ to function without a vital member of its body? Is our body not rendered broken down? The answers are very obvious and clear. This is a clear act of injustice that should be reversed without delay. His Grace Mar Bawai has changed the lives of hundreds of people, both young and old: Matthew 7: 16 "You will know them by their fruits". Had your Holiness asked, the majority of the community would gladly have given the Synod countless testimonies in favor of His Grace Mar Bawai. However, regrettably, it seems as though the judgment was organized and His Grace Mar Bawai never really stood a chance to establish his position.

It is most regrettable for us, members of the St. Peters Parish of Phoenix Arizona; to know that our very own bishop His Grace Mar Aprim Khamis was one of the principal figures leading the opposition against His Grace Mar Bawai. In the past, His Grace Mar Aprim was always quick to point out and reference as many biblical verses as he could to everyone, on the subject of forgiveness, yet he appears to have forgotten them in His Grace Mar Bawai's case.

Let us remind him of just a few that he had previously recited to us:

Matthew 6: 14”For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespass.

Ephesians 4: 31-32 "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you".

We want to inform your Holiness that we are not happy and we cannot rest with this verdict. His Grace Mar Bawai Soro, Ph.D. is too important of a figure in our church, community, and our nation, for us to just ignore the issue of his release. We will neither abandon nor desert him in this hour of need. We are members of this church and members of the body of Christ and we should be heard. This is a major concern that needs to be addressed by your Holiness and it must not be dismissed as insignificant.

As faithful members of our Holy Assyrian Church, it is within our right to question this decision and request of your Holiness to please reconsider this severe judgment. Our church is at the verge of a major division; let us not underestimate the community’s tolerance to accept every decision made without a question. As Christians and as children of God, we bear the same cross, are filled with the same Spirit and want to be redeemed through the same grace of God. Please do not undermine the abilities of the community and think, "this too shall pass away". Dr. Mar Bawai will not become another casualty of the church. We will not stand back and allow him to stand alone and become a living sacrifice but we will all stand with him, UNITED.

Priests in Rome: Stand up and Don't Blink!

Martin Mirza
Illinois

I would like to comment on the lengthy article and open letter titled " Enough Divisions and schisms" that was written by our five priests that are currently studying in Rome. It is very clear that the writer of the article has spent plenty of time to justify the unanimous decision of the Synods decree against Mar Bawai Soro. The writer/s clearly stated that "The canonical tradition of the Church of The East provides for fair trial for any bishop or cleric under accusation". The question remains. Was their a fair trial? A trial by definition is; A prosecutors must provide evidence to the defendant, provide witnesses, and translate the law that would be applied in its verbatim without any manipulations.

The five priest in Rome are earning their higher level of education to become future leaders at our church. But it seems that the single-mindedness and/or fear of reprisals from the church hierarchy made them sign on this article. The quality and the writemanship clearly states that four out of five clergy are simply a rubber stamp. Furthermore, three or four out of the five clergy are campaigning heavily to be stationed in the USA. So, it is very logical that they would do what it take to please the hierarchy..

Now, let's talk about trial fairness. Starting with accusations. Would the five clergy spend some time to respond to the accusations of a bishop due to his affairs and/or financial dealings? I am sure that they have closely monitored articles published in Zinda. How come, no one of them came forward to respond to such accusation and tell us " Enough Divisions and schisms".

Have the five priests ever thought of writing an article about another bishop who have smudged the name of our great church by a sex scandal? Oh, maybe they have not heard about it. Do they need copies of documents related to the case? Please let us know so you could prepare your response accurately and tell us " Enough Divisions and schisms". Was the bishop's trial fair? Was the Sunhados implemented accurately? Do they have a copy of Sunhados? If not, please let us know & we will provide them a copy translated in English. The five priests from Rome give the absolute authority to the Patriarch without hinting that the Patriarch is not above the law of the Sunhados.

Mar Bawai Soro, Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East for the Western U.S. Diocese

The five priests from Rome are alleging that Mar Bawai Soro's decision to reject the synod's decree was politically motivated. Wow, a meeting by His Holiness with Rafsanjani of Iran was not? A secret meeting with Barzani was not? I would like add that Barzani's meeting was pre-planned for at the time when a priest from Chicago was sent to northern Iraq. To my surprise, I was astonished to find that that same priest asked me, as a member of Mootwa ( by the way I was fired three weeks ago) that he was short on money, he was going through financial difficulties and asked me to ask the Mootwa in Chicago to get him some allowance, due to the rapid increase in gasoline prices. The very next day he announced that he was going on a four week VACATION to northern Iraq. A priest that makes $2700 a month goes on vacation for four solid weeks to Iraq. Visiting his friends, relatives after 22 years of absence. Please do the math yourselves my dear priests from Rome. That same priest was at the meeting with Barzani. Can you read between the lines. Do you see any nonpolitical motivation this scenario?

I would like to bring to the attention of my dear priests from Rome. Please stand up and don't blink. Do not become a rubber stamp. Express "YOUR" opinions freely. You won't get fired. This is the Christian way. You are new in the priesthood life. Do not start you mission on the wrong path. God will be with you. God will help you and prevent any evil from happening to you. Do not be blindfolded and follow the wrong path. We need you. We need your honest voices, not the coached voices. God bless you all.

Battle of David and Goliath on Assyrian TV

Michael Askaro
Australia

LINDA BADALOF New Year's Special Take Advantate of My Gold Package RE/MAX Santa Clarita Licenced Buyer Agent for Monica Barkley www.scvproperties.com Fluent in Assyrian COMPLIMENTARY • 1-Year Home Buyer's Home Warranty Service • Two-Months Maid Service • Two-Months Gardening Service • $200 Donation to Charity of Choice Call for details - Gifts not to exceed $1,000.00 - Provided at the close of escrow. 25101 The Old Road Santa Clarita, CA Direct: 661.284.5097 Cell:    661.645.4290 Yahoo ID: LindawithREMAX lbadalof@sbcglobal.net

Mar Odisho was talking about Mar Bawai. As far as I am concerned, they are both Msheekha by My Lord and God, Christ. So for me, they are the same as long as they call each other by their rank name which is His Grace Mar……

Mar Odisho was a shamasha at the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian church of the East, when I came to Australian in 1984. I had noticed that he was different from myself and other Shamashe. He was truly dedicated to the word of our Lord and God Jesus Christ (like I was in Iran when I was suggested by His Holiness Mar Dinkha to become shamasha), and he had a passion, for which, none of others, may have wanted to go through.

He became a priest at the time when the trouble at our church and nation was at its peak against his Grace Mar Meelis Zaiah.

He truly got what he wished for, and that was being abused and insulted by out members of the church, including my OWN UNCLE, who was a member of AUA at the time in the truth and the name of Christ My Lord and God.

As his Grace, Mar Odisho was speaking; I noticed something strange, two hearts of the same mind and belief, yet both are fighting in the name of name of My Lord and God, Christ. Mar Odisho, said that it was necessary to believe in the church that was originally built and he also mentioned about a lot of other facts about our church that I DO believe in but there are a few things that I would disagree with him and these are not new things in Australia.

A) I believe that our Church has already entered into a solid agreement with the Catholic Roman Church for the submission (as my Lord and God says, you will know the tree from it’s fruit), and the reason is images in our church that for the last 2000 years we never had.
B) Genard, the priest of Church of St. Peter and St. Pole (what should I call it, a proper church of what?? He does not even have a church and I am pretty sure that he would have one soon for some reason) believes that Jesus is God and that God died for us in his preaching in the church and on his radio show, and he preaches this under the ears of His Grace Mar Meelis Zaiah.
C) Although I agreed with his Grace Mar Odisho regarding our church’s greatest history and our beloved nation’s sacrifice but let me say that His Holiness changed all this right from the beginning, since 1984 and I had noticed that when in a conversation (in 1983) I told his holiness in his own house,“Kassi, did you know that the popes have mixed with politics and that is why they have such a power? {Along the popes earthly powers}” and his Holiness told me {in quote} “and that is what is good (O’HADKHA SPAI EELAH)”

When His Grace Mar Meelis Zaiah introduced Idles and pictures (that we had never known in our 2000 years history until around 1996-98) I asked his Grace what is with the statues and Idles? He did not give me (as a member of his church) a solid answer. His Grace Mar Meelis Zaiah, is one of the great men I have seen, but not in the spiritual way. He is excellent businessman, knowing how to convert a poor church into a financially a great church, but ask me about the spirituality? I would tell you to count the Idles first and then, how many times Genard says GOD DIED FOR US, (like the Roman Catholics say) Then I would tell you that spirituality is as much.

Mar Odisho, must talk to Genard first about his faith, then he will know what Mar Meelis is letting go (so easily, contempt against God by Genard’s speeches and the Idels), so that he can truly see the consequences of punishing a bishop who wrote two letters to His Holiness.

This letter is not being bias, but to say, fix up your problems (theologically and socially) between yourselves and stop attacking one another, I respect both sides and I want both sides fix up their problems because none are perfect as they claim to be before God and man.

There other things involved but digging up the grave, brings up the rotten smell. Do you all want that?

Fix up your front yard for it is at the front of the public.

The Issue is Accountability

Robert Hoyou
United States

I am a Christian Assyrian who was brought up from youth in my forefathers Assyrian Church of The East. Through out my life, I have served our Church with all of my heart, soul and mind for the love of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Church and my Patriarch, His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV. I was brought up into this Church showed and taught to believe and don’t question. To accept and don’t argue. To give and don’t ask. Come to the Church; partake into a mass that is supposed to fill me with knowledge and understanding. Received the Holy Qurbana and then leave till next Sunday. At least that was my understanding of my most wonderful Holy Church.

While I got involved in our Mar Gewargis youth group here in Chicago, I met a friend who became my other half through God’s mercy and grace that I truly do not deserve. Through meetings and Bible Study, I began to see understand, and discover that there was something wrong with my understanding of the Church. I thought that bring part of our Eta and receiving baptism was all I needed. I mean after all, the Church Elders are my fathers who would look out for my soul. After all, they are there to serve us as a body of believer’s right? I started to read the Holy Bible and I had discovered a lot of things that were very different from what I have seen, witnessed and believed. I had found myself in a very uncomfortable position and did not know from where to start. So, I wrote letters stating my questions and concerns to His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV and Motwa, I am still waiting for a response. I have asked numerous times to meet with His Holiness and I was dismissed without explanation. Finally, after several years, a man who graduated in theology, became a Bishop and filled in the Holy Spirit. He was willing and able to sit down with our youth group and share the wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Bible. There after, I truly prayed to thank our Father in Heaven for His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro for taking time to acknowledge us (youth), and showing that there is someone within our Eta who cares about us.

Numerous times, I have called or e-mailed His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro to address my questions or concerns, he was always willing and ready to come down to my level and share the Word of God. I was pleased to know that someone was willing and ready to educate me with the Word even if we are a thousand miles apart. His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro had accepted even someone like me who is weak in mind, body and spirit to mentor. Until recently, the Synods which took place here in Chicago, Illinois and the outcome, I have been very frustrated, confused, hurt, sad and very angry. My reasons are as follows. A letter was read in pretending to His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro regarding issues and reason that he has been suspended due to the following reasons.

1. Questioning or judging His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV
2. Mismanaging the Churches Fund
3. Changing the Eta’s Mass
4. Choices between Russia or Iran

His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro questions the judgment of His Holiness Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV on moral and accountability issues that are taken place in our Church for the last several years and he is suspended from his duties? The Holy Bible teaches us that morals and accountability are our priorities as Christian’s.

Matthew 23:16-21

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fool! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.

Our Patriarch His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV is a successor of an Apostle Simon Peter who is appointed by Christ Himself. Now the argument is this, if His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro questioned morality and accountability of our hierarchies to His Holiness Mar Dinkha, and he has been suspended, shouldn’t others be suspended for the following reasons: committing adultery, corruption, stealing, lying, keota, and misleading people in the name of God and sinning against the Holy Spirit. Again and again the Bible speaks of judgment and accountability:

Mark 3:28-29

I tell you the truth; all the sins and blasphemies against the son of man will be forgiven. But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”

It seems that we are twisting the law, Christ Himself is telling us that if anyone sins against the Holy Spirit they will not be forgiven, but yet, these individuals are still serving in our Church. Is our Holiness Mar Dinkha IV greater than Christ or Holy Spirit: If yes, then the Holy Bible needs to be corrected. If not, then why have we not punished equally all the sins of our hierarchies? What happened to leading by example? Or turn the other cheek? Or forgive and forget? Or pray for him? Or be patient? Does that not apply to certain individuals of the hierarchies, or maybe Mar Bawai Soro chooses to act like a responsible Christian and not travel in a pack of corrupt individuals much like wolves do. It seems as though other priests are corrupt and go without judgment for example, buying a VILLA in (Lebanon) for over a million dollars in Gods name, buying a lake front view home in (Australia) for $720,000 thousands dollars home to glorify God, and standing in the pulpit of Gods house misleading our people out of their life savings. How about purchasing a condo for over $170,000 thousands dollars and selling it for amount of $1 dollar to an Assyrian female in the name of Christ. Also, taking several large amounts of Church funds to settle with a Pakistani woman to prevent her from going public and exposing the truth (Chicago, IL). Better yet, how about using our Churches Tax Exemptions (Chicago) for personal use (luxury Car). What about a priest who takes money from the gift offering (Des Plaines, IL) and was confronted by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV and to his face the priest lies and denies the truth. All of this and many more are taking place in our Church today, but yet lets suspend only Mar Bawai Soro. Where is there justice for a person who is willing to sacrifice everything for the love of Christ, Church and Assyrian people? Now, before I say this, I am not defending His Grace Mar Bawai Soro, but I will defend and give my life for the cause of our Church which our forefathers kept it Holy and gave their lives for. How can we pretend that corruption does not exist? How can we keep denying that nothing is wrong? Should my child learn that this is the face of Christianity?

Matthew 10:32-33

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I also will disown him before my father in heaven.

Luke 12:8-10

“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before man will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Arise, arise servant of the living God, support the cause of righteousness and defend the truth. If anyone knows and has accepted the truth, the truth lies with Christ and will set him free to standup for Christ. If not, there your sins remain.

Second, it’s brought to our attention that His Holiness Mar Bawai Soro had mismanaged the Churches money and yet we as body of believers are still waiting for proof. What I think is that we have it the other way around. Basing on the facts and what we have seen is the accusers are guilty, not the defended.

Third he is suspended for translating the mass into modern Assyrian language. I am not sure if our Hierarchies are aware that our Eta does mass in English and Hindu, but if His Grace Mar Bawai Soro does it in Modern Aramaic, it’s not acceptable. Why the double standard? What is more important? Maintain the custom and tradition or feeding the soul with the Word of the living God. How is it wrong if someone is willing to change the mass for the body of believers to understand and apply the Word in their lives. The answer is, He is not wrong. Let your work reveal itself by the amount of Church members you have. Than the other argument is that Christ spoke the Aramaic Language and it’s important to preserve the language. Is language more important then living the Word of God, which our Hierarchies have changed in 2001 Synods by amending a rule if couple cannot get along, they can get divorce and remarried under conditions. If they have kids, it’s a five-year process and then grounds for divorce. If they are without kids, then it’s a two-year process and then grounds for divorce. Again, lets see what the Lord is telling us about Marriage.

Matthews 5:32

But I say that a man, who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

When it comes to upholding the Scriptures, our hierarchies can change them. If you were to question the reason for allowing people to get remarried more than one time and their reasons are to change with the modern times. Is it not also a change for modern time to have mass in a language more of us understand? Again, is that not a double standard?

Fourth, His Grace Mar Bawai Soro was given a choice to serve in Iran and Russia. The choices that are presented here, are confusing. Now if Mar Bawai Soro is causing problems within his Eta (San Jose, California) which is about three thousand miles away from Chicago, IL and yet His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV cannot control the situation. How then will he be able to control it from across the country and how is that going to resolve the problem? Wouldn’t it make more sense if His Grace Mar Bawai Soro would be brought here (Chicago, IL) and supervised by His Holiness Mar Dinkha himself? Maybe someone can explain that someday or can it be that the Iranian Government is after His Grace Mar Bawai Soro for standing for our people’s rights in Iran and therefore he is wanted? How dare you send him into danger? But know that I will not hold it against you, for even Joseph was betrayed and sold by his own brothers. Are you any better? The truth will remain to be seen. Why Russia? It is my understanding only certain types of Arch Bishops can act as a Hierarchies in Russia, either Orthodox Bishops, or Catholic Bishops. Does that mean if His Grace Mar Bawai Soro were to choose Russia, he will have to serve as a priest and not as a Bishop?

In conclusion, how sad is it to allow the most educated, bright, and outstanding bishop in our Eta to be suspended because of his action.

Is it possible that he cares more than anyone else?
Is it possible that he is willing to put everything at risk for the cause of righteousness?
Is it possible that he puts our people first rather then himself first?
Is it possible that he wants to bring unity within our community?
Is it possible that he wants to proclaim Christ?
Is it possible that he wants to educate our people from the blind faith that they’re in?

Or, maybe, he is doing all this for selfish reasons even if he knows that this will cause him his place in the Church among people, or maybe his life as well. All that for selfish reasons, well I truly do not believe so. Then again, lets look at the Scriptures and see what the Word has to say.

Luke 9:23-25

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my namesake will fine it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

Therefore, in conclusion I say this, it’s really sad to see the work that our forefathers preached, taught, proclaimed and most of all gave their lives for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ demolished. Yes, it’s really sad to see all the good deeds going to waste, but also Christian Assyrian Brothers and Sisters, we will keep the faith. People in the hierarchies are here today and gone tomorrow, their time will come where they will stand before the Throne of the Living God and give an account on their evil work.

To my Eta’s father His Holiness Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV, I have nothing but honor, respect and love of God for you akhoonie. I know there is nothing in your hands. I hope and pray that the Lord Himself will guide, protect and comfort you from the evildoers and their host.

Time to Crack A Few Eggs

Wilson Eashoian
California

Where should I begin? There are so many problems and not enough solutions in our nation. I always thought that our courageous and descend leaders will come out of the political sectors of our society. I have never thought it would come from the Church itself. I almost had given up that our nation someday can or want to unify. I had doubted that our nation will ask for unity regardless of where we come from, and what church or what political party we belong to.

I never thought we can ever wakeup, unite and survive because of our many corrupted, cheating, and lying leaders in the past put us in that direction. In the past, many of our leaders either sold us for money, or we were stupid enough to choose and accept them as leaders. I was very disappointed until I heard about a bishop by name Mar Bawai Soro. He made me excited and I began to believe that words of Lord in Isaiah 19 will materialize. And I thought it only takes one match to put the entire forest on fire if there is enough fuel. Knowingly or unknowingly, Mar Bawai Soro tried very hard to start a new movement and he worked very hard to create a change of paradigm among our hard headed people, especially among the Church’s leaders. Majority of our people always believe that I belong to my church and you belong to your church or I am from this country or you are from that country. There can be no unification because my church is better than yours or I pray differently than you, so I am a better Christian or I speak with a better accent than you do. The spirit of unifying the churches ultimately cost him his job. If we had country and he was running for the presidency, I would have voted for him. He is good may God bless him and protect him. We need more courageous people like him during these tough times.

After given it a lot of thinking, I may have discovered why Mar Bawai Soro was removed from the Assyrian Church of East. It was not because what he had done or what it was in the Mar Dinkha’s letter. I did not find any wrong doing per Mar Dinkha’s letter. It seams like the church insiders were very concern that if someday Mar Dinkha needed a replacement, it could have been Mar Bawai Soro because of his education, hard work, and most important, a unifier among the churches. Once you have unified the churches, you have unified our people and our nation. This vicious thinking could have played an important role in the church insiders’ decision. Or it could have been foreign government(s) pressure or influence that church decided to remove him from the church. That’s why the church dispatched two of its bishops; Mar Miles and Mar Narsai to come to the USA to discredit him. It was an orchestrated move by the church to silent Mar Bawai Soro and to discredit him by spreading rumors that he stole money from the church and he disobeyed the church’s Patriarch. Who is telling who and who has the nerve saying that Mar Bawai Soro stole money? It may have backfired on them. More and more righteous people line up with Mar Bawai Soro. The politics of personal destruction does not work here. They would better find something else or they have to answer to God and people of this nation. One of the most remembered quotes of all time came from US President Abraham Lincoln: "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time - but you can't fool all the people all of the time".

Why the Assyrian Church of East insiders are scared of the unification and Mar Bawai Soro? There must be a good reason(s) for it that they wanted him out. Let’s analyze that. I have categorized some of them that come to my mind as following:

In the case the Church is wrong because:

• Lack of adaptation to new era and 21st century.
• Afraid it may lose the grip on power, money and accountability.
• If there is a unification, there will be only one Patriarch needed not two or more (some may lose
• their power and prestige. No one will kiss their hand anymore).
• It may be influenced by foreign power or government.
• Lack of listening to its own parishioners.
• Parishioners demand accountability.

In the case the Church is right because:

• Want to preserve the old Assyrian language and Church’s heritage.
• It wants to stay out of political main stream.
• It may prevent an Islamic backlash against our people in our ancestral land.

I do not know which one of the above categories is correct. I leave it to you to decide. But whatever is, our leaders must not be coward. If they are coward, then they must not be our leaders regardless of them being in the church or out there in political arena.

Those Assyrians, who are saying that there should be a separation of church and state, are very naive. There has never been a separation of church and state in any culture even in the modern USA. Church always has been involved in politics all the times. The only difference is that church does not govern the day-to-day aspect of the life, the rule of law govern the day-to-day aspect of the life. Church is very active in politics in the USA, especially during the presidential election or Supreme Court nominee. Assyrian Church of East must be involved in the politics because it is the only organization that we have. At least church can set the stage for the unification among the various churches if not; it would be a useless organization because if our people perish, then our church(s) will perish thereafter.

The management of the Assyrian Church of East always claims that it does not get involved in politics but its leaders, specifically Mar Dinkha, meet with various foreign governments’ representatives and make wheal and deal all over the world. If getting involved is to their advantage, then they get involved in politics. If getting involved is not to their advantage, then they will not get involved in politics.

Neither any Assyrian church nor any Assyrian political party or organization has ever helped any Assyrian come to the USA as a refugee from abroad. Assyrians refugees have spent years waiting in the third country before getting asylum granted by the USA. Subsequently, they ended up spending all of their money waiting for asylum to be granted. Other refugee like Baha’i and Moslems were granted expeditiously because there was no Assyrian organization to help and to support our poeple. In fact it was the Jewish organization along with other non-Assyrians organizations helped thousands come here from Iran. Now we have almost 50K refugees in Syria and Jordan that fled from Iraq that no organization is helping them. Once refugees come and get situated, church and clubs (so called political parties) want to make them members and start collecting membership from them. This is hypocrisy.

I see Sargon Dadesho hides behind the TV camera and spread his division and pour his venom using the power of satellite TV. Why those of us that can afford a satellite TV station using this tool for our destruction and division among the various factors of the churches or political parties? Is this the right way of using this kind of technology? Instead of putting our resources together for a common useful cause, we choose to bash and demoralize our Chaldean brothers. I am not a Chaldean but I do not think Sargon Dadesho has the rights to call them sorcerer (Kharashkareh) or “Fal Patkhaneh” on the air using the resource that he obtained with the Assyrians' name. He should be ashamed of himself. Why Mar Dinkha is so silent on this subject. Where he is when we need them to unify us and to heal our wounds? He should slap him in the face and shut him up for preaching hate against our Christian Catholic people. Why we allow these things to happen unless some are benefiting from our division.

If the upcoming election in Iraq does not fulfill our nation’s needs and rights, then we may have to search for a new Assyria in the west. We shall bring only those of our people that want voluntarily to come out of there to a new place in the west. We should not drag or insist those that do not want to come out of there. At the end, if America is good for you, for me, for Mar Dinkha and for Sargon Dadesho, then it may be good for all the Assyrians too who want to come here to live a better life.

I may have made some enemies by writing this article but if you want to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs. May God bless our people.

Sponsored by Zinda Magazine

Why Is Barzani Offering Refuge to Iraqi Christians?

Polous Gewargis
Chicago

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government in North Iraq

To think about this title, the first thing which sticks in your head is the word “refuge”, as if the Christians of Iraq have never been refugees in their life. While living in Iraq since the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 B.C. the Assyrian Christians have been living as a minority and under the rule of others. While living under the rule of others, they have been persecuted and massacred without mercy. So, let us ask ourselves, “Why is Massoud Barzani offering refuge to the Iraqi Christians”? To my understanding, no one offers something unless there is a hidden goal or an ill will behind that offer, unless someone is helping a friend, a relative and other people that are so close to him, and that is a different situation. But if a stranger is offering something to you, don’t you think why is he doing this? If we go back some weeks ago, the same person offered 20 million dollars to build churches in Northern Iraq, should we ask why he is doing this now. Don’t you think that by spending 20 mil. on a complete stranger with a different religion and different nationality, some big time demands are requested? People should not be naives to accept such an offer and say it is OK , because it is not OK, and when you accept such a huge offer, you have to pay a huge price.

And now it is the refugee offer. Are there people among us who think that this is OK? To those people I say, it is not OK, because, by taking refuge in Kurdistan you will loose your identity and Barazani will have no more headache from the Assyrian Christians asking for their rights, their freedom, and their self administrative rule. Barazani is saying that the Christians are the owners of the land, I am sure by saying these words, he knows very well that they really are the owners of the land, so why he is asking them to come and live like refugees? Why isn’t he asking them to come and take the land that belongs to them in the first place (if he is an honest man). Also, he went on asking the crowd to vote for the Kurdish slates, doesn’t this tell everyone the reason for his offer is obvious and he is not an honest man, whenever he offers something he expects something in return. Therefore, Assyrian Christian brothers and sisters let us be more focus and analytic whenever something like that is thrown in the air, some of those things could be sharp and could he be harmful when we receive them. I am sure our political parties are clever and smart enough and will distinguish between a good intention and a bad one. I am not sure dough about our clergy in this case.

Assyria is our land; we will not accept to live as refugees on our land. We can live side by side with every one as equal partners as we have been doing for all these long years, but not as refugees. We can take refuge in a foreign land but not on our own homeland. I know we have been living as a minority all these years because of our numbers, but will never accept to live as refugees on our grandfather’s land.

God help our people to live freely on their land, and God bless Assyria the beautiful.

What Happened on December 15th?

Fred Aprim
California

… And the Iraqi elections concluded.

I want to say to all those who voted for our own slates, God bless you; I stand and bow my head in admiration. You are a true patriot. Thank you for caring about your people and their future and thank you for voting. To those who were capable of voting and did not, I say: You betrayed mother Assyria. I often ask myself how would these callous people answer to God and to the souls of one million martyred Assyrians murdered since World War I when they meet them in the other world.

In one of her beautiful poems, Mother Teresa asked us to forgive others, to be kind, good, honest and frank despite how others treat us because in the final analysis, she writes, it is between every single one of us and God and that it is never between "us" and "them." Indeed, this is not about this writer and certain people who many believe that they continue to cause damage to the Assyrian national cause. This writer is just curious, how do such people face God every new day? Do they really think that they are doing their people good when they support division, waste much needed votes during elections, ally themselves with the enemy, or follow in the footsteps of self-destructing or self-glorifying losers?

The Figures Speak Loudly, Again

Our people as a whole lost in this election. They scattered their votes between the two main slates of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and the ChaldoAssyrian Syriac National Council represented under slate # 740, and slate # 752 of a coalition of newly established and non-experienced Chaldean groups, a Syriac group, and the Assyrian Patriotic Party (APP). As if this was not enough, many ChaldoAssyrian Suryani seem to have voted for two non-Christian slates: the first is slate # 731 of the secular Iraqi Ayad Allawi and the second is the Kurdish slate # 730. This they did whether willingly in relation to slate 731 or due to pressure, harassment, or bribe in relation to slate 730. Our people seem to have voted for Allawi in large numbers because it is in their best interest to increase awareness for a more secular Iraq. Of course, Allawi stands on a secular platform where he supports all ethnic groups regardless to their religious affiliation.

Having stated that, the voting results still confirmed, and beyond any doubts, which native Syriac-speaking political organization the majority of our people do support. In the January 30, 2005 Iraqi national elections, our people made it clear that they supported the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM). Our people returned again to support the ADM in the December 15, 2005 elections despite the vicious and dirty campaign by the few, led by AssyriaSat and the APP. People often write and ask me to ignore those supporting these separatist groups. I simply cannot; they are our brothers and sisters and we just cannot ignore them. I know that they are misguided and deceived by empty slogans and false claims of the very few. I am just puzzled and I wonder, why cannot we simply use reason, logic, fairness, and commonsense in judging others. President Theodore Roosevelt stated: "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming …"

What troubles me is that we could not reach out to these few as we failed to make them see the truth. We failed in this endeavor. I want to ask these brothers and sisters: Is one judged by his/her words, shinny slogans, and claims or by his/her deeds? Why is it so hard to distinguish between that who is on solid grounds and that who is building castles in the sky? Yes, we must dream but dreams alone do not achieve things.

An Aware Nation is a Prosperous Nation

Modern Assyrian Language Guide Volume I by Tobia Giwargis (209) 667-6697 88 Pages U.S. $20.00 / International $25 (includes shipping) To Order Your Copy Contact: Assyrian Club of Urhai Education Committee P.O. box 577762 Modesto, CA 95357  USA

As I stated earlier in Zinda magazine, Assyrians, also known as ChaldoAssyrians, Chaldeans, Suryanis, must mature politically and stop wasting their time on trivial issues and they must stop wasting their votes during elections. Patriotism is not about stubbornness, ill heartedness, self-glorifying, personal attacks, or hatred. Patriotism is about focusing on one thing and that is the well-being and prosperity of the people. Patriotism is not about individuals; it is about the cause of the people.

We have witnessed in two elections and under very harsh criticism and personal attacks that the majority of the Assyrians (also known in Iraq as ChaldoAssyrian Syriacs) still support the ADM. Why are we wasting our votes on other groups when we know that they cannot win? Isn't that self-destructive? What are we trying to prove? I just want to ask, is wasting our vote a patriotic act? I am not against pluralism and multi party system; however, our people cannot afford wasting valuable votes one election after another. When Assyria is on the world map, then let every single thought be represented by its own group and contend with others within that political entity of Assyria. Until then, our people must mobilize their efforts and energies behind the most popular, capable, experienced, and most supported group, which is the ADM. We must give the ADM a real chance in times of freedom; give it the time to prove itself without all these continuous digressions by church and non-significant wannabe politicians. The Assyrian Church of the East should have lived up to its responsibilities and not had its synod and its destructive decisions made one month before the elections. The bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church should have stayed away from political matters. Smaller groups must come to grip with the reality of their real size and be reasonable.

In many purely Catholic towns and villages in northern Iraq, our people did not vote for the isolationist policies of newly invented Chaldeanism and slate 752. The claims that 70 to 80% of the Syriac-speaking Christians are Chaldeans and that they will gain 70 to 80% of the votes in places like Nineveh Plains, Detroit, and San Diego proved to be nothing but a mirage. On the other hand, AssyriaSat and other forums have been predicting the rise of the Assyrian Tsunami and thunder represented in slate 800, which proved to be a drizzle in a beautiful autumn day. In California, slate 800 won 240 votes out of 6,788 total voters, meaning 3.5% of the total votes. In Chicago, ADM slate (740) won 4,191 votes whereas slate 800 won only 242 votes. In many towns in Iraq, slate 800 gained no votes at all or perhaps one or two in other cases. AssyriaSat has been poisoning the minds of the viewers in Modesto/Turlock/Ceres/Manteca and the Bay Area for years. It supported and propagated for slate 798 as well; however, it won a meager 17 votes out of the total 1,841 votes in Pleasanton (not even 1% of the total votes) whereas slate 740 (ADM slate) won 812 votes in that station (44% of the total vote).

These figures tell us that those among our people who voted want unity; they stand against isolationists and they believe in the ADM, with the exception of a very insignificant minority. We must mature and stop thinking as small people if we truly want to revive our past glorious history. Another reality that I just hate to admit is that that majority of our people in the Diaspora simply do not give a damn about our people in Iraq. It is only a very small minority that has struggled to help those in Iraq and work hard and sweat to keep the Assyrian cause in Iraq alive. It is heartbreaking.

Great Anxiety

The ChaldoAssyrians are facing great dangers ahead. The Kurds continue to build the Kurdish state infrastructure in northern Iraq while the Americans are still in Iraq. A Kurdish state carved from northern Iraq is only a matter of time, because Kurds simply have the numbers. What will happen to the ChaldoAssyrians? After the partition of Ottoman Empire post World War I in 1921, the Assyrians living within the borders of the empire were divided into four separate national groups: Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian ethnic Assyrians. Are we going to live a déjà vu? Are ChaldoAssyrians yet to be divided between two separate Arab and Kurdish states? Could the ChaldoAssyrians ever rebound if they were to be divided yet again to a level of beyond recovery as some predict?

My brothers and sisters please open your eyes widely and look ahead. Save our people and unite.

Assyria is the Answer

Those who lost the elections twice and in a landslide must put their pride aside and think about the future of the people as a whole through the most powerful tool called cooperation and unity. Many Democrat or Republican candidates, for example, run in the U.S. primaries; however, when the competing candidates realize that they are not being supported by the people, they begin to withdraw, concede the defeat, and turn to support the most popular in their party in order to face the rival party. This is the norm in politics; this is how those who really are concerned about their cause act. Activism or patriotism is not about sitting in front of a camera, belittling, smearing, and attacking others day after day and year after year for reason or no reason without providing a strategy and plans for alternatives.

It is time to mature, draw the lines, and reach a mutual consensus for the sake of our children. It is time to analyze the voting results of the two elections that we had in 2005 (January 30 and December 15). Two very obvious facts stand out from the two elections: First, we cannot make it as divided denominations. Second, the ADM should be in the leading position but not seize absolute control. The ADM must reach out to all other groups now that it has proved to be the most popular among our voters and lay out a strategy. We must not allow Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) members like Abd al-Ahad Afram and Fawzi Franso Hariri who won their seats in the new Iraqi parliament by being on the Kurdistani slate from running our affairs. Furthermore, it is conclusive that the people rejected loudly the extremism in both the Chaldean and Nestorian communities even in places that are the strongholds of these two camps.

A very important strategy to bring all the fragmented pieces of the Syriac-speaking Christians of the world together and those in Iraq in particular is to fight for the historical and ancestral homeland of Assyria in Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq. Be an Assyrian, be a Nestorian, be a Chaldean, be a Suryani, be a Jacobite, be a ChaldoAssyrian, be whatever you want to be; however, lets all fight for one historic Assyria. Come and lets support the most popular group; the ADM. Come together with whatever your name is but lets have an agenda to establish Assyria; an Assyria for all and for all names. Lets act as true patriots and leave our differences behind. Lets leave the past behind us and face the challenges of the future together. Let's release today the "Free Occupied Assyria!" campaign for the sake of all our children.

If Only Rocks Could Talk!

Nineb Lamassu
United Kingdom

Last week I had a visit from a friend: Sabri Atman, a friend of integrity and convictions. He was here to meet with both Firodil and Gomidas Institutes to discuss two special Seyfo events, which Firodil Institute together with Gomidas Institute are organising for this January to coincide with Britain’s official Holocaust Memorial Day.

Whilst in London Sabri also met with prominent Assyrian personalities such as Rev. Dr. Khoshaba Georges, Mr. John Michael, and some active Assyrian youth. We also attended a special dinner organised by Gomidas Institute in honour of Prof. Hilmar Kaiser: a renowned historian and scholar who specialises in the genocide of 1915. During this dinner, Prof. Kaiser gave a short talk that touched on some changes in accessing the national archives of Turkey, which he described as, “a different side of the same coin”. He also gave a thorough analysis of the current politics in Turkey, and how these political maneuvers affect Turkey’s stance on the genocide of the Assyrians and Armenians. Later we all enjoyed the privilege of discussing many Seyfo queries with Prof. Kaiser.

On the way back to my place, the central line on the tube (subway) was abuzz as usual, creating an uncomfortable environment. The train was crowded forcing one to withdraw into a peculiar state of alienation. Yes, alienation, not just from the crowded train but from the entire world.

This was the state I found Sabri in on the train that night, when I noticed him holding a little rock in his hand. He was holding it like a mother would hold the life of her last surviving child in the palm of her hand. Not expecting such a long answer, I asked him, “What is this rock in your hand?”, and he replied:

“Since I left my village, I have not managed to return to it. For many years I dreamt of returning to that heavenly place. I have not been able to get close to reaching my village but this little rock has travelled from my village for many miles, and has managed to reach me!”

He sighed for a few seconds and then he opined, “This rock means everything to me, my roots are from this rock, and I share all my sorrow and happiness with it.”

“As you know I have been actively working for Seyfo’s recognition for a few years now. Because of this I have experienced many difficulties which I would rather spare you the boredom of listening to me telling you about them. But, I can tell you, I have received many threats and intimidations.”

“Seyfo is not about somebody writing articles and giving lectures. Seyfo is a big and complicated issue, and we must work on various levels to achieve its recognition. You see, other than being an academic matter, Seyfo is a political, historical, legal, humanitarian, and an identity issue.”

“I believe and feel there is an urgent need to work on all these levels. Every week, I travel around Europe presenting lectures. Everywhere I go, I attempt to exploit the opportunity and create a network of people who share a common belief of working on this cause. Recently, I have initiated relations with many individuals from multiple nationalities: Jews, Kurds, Turks, Armenians, Swedes, Germans and many more.”

“I am always writing for various magazines; I advocate Seyfo’s recognition in heated debates with the denialists; I strive to motivate the youth to take this issue seriously; I record the testimonies of the survivors, and in the recent past I ran a 42kms marathon for the recognition of Seyfo. Also, I have consciously tried, with a sincere objective to involve the church - the largest Assyrian institution - to become more active in achieving Seyfo’s recognition.”

“I do all this whilst I experience a huge economical crease. I scarcely have the finance, not only to do what I do but more importantly to continue doing this as I have been so far. Up to now, I have not received a single penny from anyone!”

“In conclusion, I have experienced many obstacles but this rock has carried me through. It somehow gives me the strength to continue.”

After a long conversation I asked him to share what he thinks about Turkey’s current stance on Seyfo, and he said:

“Three months ago Prof. Yusuf Halaçoğlu, the chairman of The Society of Turkish History and Ankara’s denialist think tank, stated on TRT (A Turkish national channel that can be watched all around the globe); “We are well aware of the allegations made by the Assyrians, and we follow all their activities.” And he continued by saying; “We will invite Sabri Atman to this programme, and embarrass him by proving him wrong.” I am still waiting to receive the invite! When I receive it, that is, if I ever receive it, I will gladly advocate the just case of my people.

According to Prof. Halaçoğlu, when Seyfo took place there were only 50,000 Assyrians, hence there could not have been 750.000 victims. “Of course this is nothing but an utter lie! This policy stands on a rocky foundation of denials!” said Sabri. He then continued to say, “One month ago Prof. Halaçoğlu was quoted by INKA - a Turkish news agency - as saying; “We are ready to reply to all the allegations made by the Assyrians, and we are organising a huge campaign for 2006 by agitating the 5 million Turks of the Diaspora to retaliate against these false allegations”

Then Sabri concluded, “When it comes to Seyfo we really are weak despite all the progress made to date, despite having elevated this subject to a degree where Ankara is following our activities. We must organise ourselves better and in haste in order to be ready not just to be on the defensive side but is vital to be making our own strikes.”

That night I could not stop thinking about that little rock and its relationship with Sabri. It may be a little rock but it represents the survival and the struggle of a nation. It may be an inanimate thing but it gives strength and motivates a giant, a man who is as unbreakable as the little rock itself, a man who like the little rock represents the survival, struggle and the gallantry of an obstinate people who refuse to perish.

Since that night on the train I can not stop thinking “If only rocks could talk” but I comfort myself by having the privilege of having two of them talk to me last week. How pleasant it is to converse with rocks.

Political Tenets & Its Regiment

Ivan Kakovitch
California

Exposé

Last Tuesday, December 20th, 2005, a by-line brief appeared on the web. The poster identified the daughter of the Secretary General of Zowaa – picture inclusive – standing next to a political campaign poster, ascribing slate 730 of the Kurdish Coalition.

Immediately thereafter, three responses of this blasphemous and reprehensive act were posted, and the first one stated that:

“ The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Kurdistani slate 730 in Dohuk illegally used the photo on its posters in order to confuse and disturb the Assyrian voters in the governorate.”

In all sincerity, the summation of the political aura in this part of the world stands to be accounted for a true and undisted foul play. And, the poster had simply reiterated what was to be a clear-cut mischievous political move by an accredited and a powerful political party of Mesopotamia.

Journalistic Tenets

Certainly no one can point a finger or two at the Zowaa Secretary General, for consorting with the KDP in scheming this portrait of inaccuracy. And there might be very many covert reasons for such a display, forcing some hands to commit such a cowardly act for political gains.

However, some rudimental and congruent steps were undertaken that require an immediate explanation.

1. The Webmaster chose – either for technical or personal reasons – to shut down the Forum for over 24 hours, thereafter.
2. No other postings were portrayed either Tuesday, January 20th or Wednesday, January 21st.
3. Would one be led to believe that there were no respondents to this malicious posting for a period of some 24 hours?
4. The three remaining postings displayed on the Forum, in response to the original posting show that the combined readership of this item, numbered 858 at press time.

This is the highest acclaimed readership for any piece of news posted on the Forum, and it dwarfs all that there ever was before, and probably in the future.

It is rather disturbing that the Webmaster manipulated the technicalities of the Forum to distort the facts, and to cover up the story.

HENCE, the proof that the pages of the Forum were tampered with, lies in the following:

(a) All other responses were deleted, immediately after being posted.
(b) That the Webmaster failed in his journalistic ethics, by shutting down the Forum.

Political Tenets

It is absolutely imperative that:

1. The Webmaster justifies the motives behind the shutdown of the Forum.
2. The Secretary General of Zowaa issues a declaration to this effect, one way or another.
3. No apologists are deemed necessary in this case, since it is a family matter, and only the parents are to fully explain the nature of such a mishap.

Political Scrutiny

Any leader is open to public scrutiny, at all the times, and anywhere. The Secretary General of Zowaa is no exception.

Mr. Kanna, assuming the role of leadership of the major political party of Assyria in Mesopotamia, has opened the door for checks and balances of all, all his comrades, and all members of his immediate family.

Mr. Kanna is the only individual who can clean the air of this political propaganda fiasco, and his explanation is deemed pertinent.

As a leader of the major political machine of Assyria in Mesopotamia, he is to stand and to deliver his verdict without fear of recrimination, be it from Kurdish political machine, or from Assyria residents of Mesopotamia, and to a certain extent those residing abroad.

Man and History

Assyria is undergoing the direst moments of its long history. “Human history as a process expresses laws, but does not proceed independently of man; history is made by men who set the problems of progress and solve them in conformity with the historical conditions of the epoch.” [Plekhanov].

Mr. Kanna is a hero of our epoch. He is also a beginner. [Carlyle], describes heroes as beginners. This is a very apt description. A great man is precisely a beginner because he sees further than others and desires things more strongly than others.

The broad field of activity is open not only for ‘beginners,’ but for ‘great’ men as well. It is open for all those who have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to love their co-nationals and neighbors.

Conclusion

The stance taken by this writer in this case, is not to chastise the innocent, but to strengthen the just, and to add dimensions to his probe of leadership, when such leadership is life and death for Assyria.

Mesopotamia is purportedly heading toward democracy, and in such a state, anyone over 18 is free to choose any political path, in any scope or shape. The young lady in question, who happens to be the daughter of the Secretary General of Zowaa, is not and ought not to be an exception.

Miss Kanna is free to express her political views whichever way she chooses. And even if she committed herself voluntarily to propagate the Kurdish rather than the Assyrian slates, NO one, and particularly her father, Mr. Kanna is responsible for her political stands and her political fervor.

HENCEFORTH; with the perception of being above all suspicion of harmful deeds in allowing a kin to adorn the propaganda machine of the Kurdish slate during the election campaigns, it is utterly and predictably imminent that Mr. Kanna does pursue the steps of clarification.

DEFINITELY such a clarification is to be authenticated by the Secretary General of Zowaa, himself, and, NO other apologist’s proclamation shall be acceptable.