Posted by Sadie from ? (160.129.27.22) on Friday, September 05, 2003 at 12:27PM :
In Reply to: Technically... posted by Jeff from d14-69-37-23.try.wideopenwest.com (69.14.23.37) on Friday, September 05, 2003 at 11:57AM :
: ***
: ... he came to the convention from Iraq and he has been living there for weeks or possibly months. He is living there and trying to make things better, but going about it the wrong way. He also mentioned that the common theme he hears over and over again is that the Assyrians in Iraq feel like they are alone and isolated...they want Assyrians in the diaspora to help them, either by coming to Iraq and sharing their expertise, or in some other way.
: He talks the talk, and he walks the walk...we just disagree with him on religion and statehood. The other Assyrians, he said, are cowards, and he is right. Quite a few people were upset that he said that, but he repeated it just in case nobody heard. The Assyrians just talk the talk in America... nobody is DOING anything.
xxx What does he think about the Kurds, Turks, & "Arab" Iraqis? Does he think they are misguided because they are Muslim? Does he work on establishing contacts, not only within the community, but with the neighbors of Assyrians in Iraq? I'm just curious....
xxx I think that a lot of Iraqis I know are working on the situation in Iraq - for instance one person I know has an office in Baghdad & a few of his friends are working to establish business connections there, if not offices. It's hard, you know, with the mess the occupation has created. & maybe someday I can go there to teach in a university, after I get this degree, of course.
xxx It's fine if Joseph wants to be so religious, I suppose.... But he is emotionally strong & too idealistic because he hasn't faced as much hardship as the indigenous Assyrians, I think. He doesn't know all of the realities, yet, & will he ever know those realities, I don't know.... He is not of the area, which is probably obvious to everyone he meets, & so all the "locals" treat him differently, perhaps better, than those Assyrians who are indigenous. I'm just hazarding a guess, here.
-- Sadie
-- signature .
Follow Ups: