The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum

=> My commentary

My commentary
Posted by Jeff (Guest) jeff@attoz.com - Thursday, January 29 2004, 16:59:59 (EST)
from 69.14.56.182 - d14-69-182-56.try.wideopenwest.com Commercial - Windows XP - Netscape
Website:
Website title:

I don't know whether or not "Nile" is male or female, but this person makes several good points in the discussion, which I will summarize below:

*** First, Nile posted in search of translators and used the term "Syriac" to describe our language. One of our patriots cried fowl and Nile responded with "Do you prefer Aramaic?" My read on this is that Nile isn't concerned with symantics. The point is that translators are needed. Who gives a flying FUCK whether it's called Syriac, Aramaic, or Surath?? That's not the point!

*** Second, one of our patriots tries to say that the language that you speak is INHERENTLY and AUTOMATICALLY linked to your identity. Nile quickly proves that person wrong with a simple example.

>>You wrote: Besides, if Chaldean is a seperate and
>>distinct identity from Assyrian it means
>>: that you would have your own language,
>>: called Chaldean.
>>
>>Wrong. Bolivians have a seperate identity than Mexicans but they speak the same language. People with different communal identities can speak a shared language. Secondly, we are trying to forge one identity between the two. Go ahead and critisize, but the vast majority of Chaldeans have been decent enough to accept Zowwa (originally an Assyrian organization to represent them) They have the numbers and the villages. So, why spew hatred towards them when they are trying to work with Assyrians to help forge one identity. If you prefer, they can go ahead and create a Chaldean governate with Chaldean language and block you out completely. (Actually they would probably be better off since they are the educated class of Iraq and are respected from all sectors of Iraqi society (except Assyrians...how ironic) So you should be appreciative that they are attaching Assyrian to their name. (What incentive do they have when they constantly hear disrespectul comments from you. It is amazing that all this hatred is one-sided. Do you see Chaldeans constantly critisizing and saying hateful things against Assyrians. If so, let me know and I will speak out against it it because we are a cosmopolitan and cultured people who reject racism and hate against others. (yes there may be some who prefer to continue with a seperate identity but there is no malice or hatred attached to it) Despite all the attacks against them, the majority is willing to work and forge a new identity.

**** Below is another pointless attack, with Nile's reasonable response:

>>You wrote: So why would you need to translate your documents to Syriac or Arabic or any other nonesensical language, if you have your own language?
>>
>>I'm confused with this statement. The documents will be in English. So what do you mean, why do you have to translate it in Arabic? It is the official language of Iraq. Frankly it is beautiful and a very rich language and I am proud that I speak it!!!!!!!!( In fact I even like it more than Aramaic/Chaldean/Syriac/Non-essential language/Assyrian (whatever you call it!)
>>So, if you want to call Syriac or Chaldean a non-essential language, we can. So, can you recommend people who can translate into a non-essential language.
>>
>>Nile

*** Nile, I know several people that can translate from English to Arabic and English to Surath. Please send me an email at jeff@attoz.com

*** Below is another foolish attack, and Nile's smart response.

>You wrote
>: Again, with all due respect, it's the Chaldeans
>: who are differentiating themselves from the
>: Assyrians. That means they are the ones who
>: have contempt for the Assyrian nation, it's
>: language and it's heritage.
>
>That is not true. Differentiating yourself from another group does not mean contempt or hatred. The reasons that Chaldeans differentiate themselves from Assyrians is more complex than to which you are willing to admit. In the past, all the inhabitants of these villages in the Nineveh Plains would selfdentify themselves by their village.
>
>You wrote:
>
>but their bishops are the ones who espouse racism, hatred, and malice by distinguishing themselves as a seperate and distinct identity, (i.e. Sarhad Jammo and his cronies) and writing letters against the Assyrians.
>
>Response: Wrong again: Bishops pushing for the US to put a Chaldean on the Governing Council and being recognized as a seperate and distinct identity from Assyrians does not mean they espouse hatred and malice towards Assyrians. They simply feel that Chaldeans have become or are a seperate communal identity than Assyrians. Secondly, I am against this as are the majority of Chaldeans (atleast with whom I have met) who are willing to forge a new common identity with Assyrians. So, why are you hostile in trying to link the two communities back together.
>
>You wrote:: As for the Chaldeans being more educated thanthe Assyrians, please prove this statement. I'm very intellegent, so don't insult me with hear say. Base your statements on facts, names, etc.
>
>Response: Reread my post carefully, I did not say they are more educated than the Assyrians. I stated that they are one of the most educated of Iraq. I am completly against the idea of superiority against any people whether Kurd, Arab, Turkomen.
>
>You wrote: As for the numbers, I'm an Iraqi who grew up in Iraq and I know there's hardly any Chaldeans in Northern Iraq. The majority of the people who live in Nineveh/Mosul province call
>themselves Syriani, who admit they are : Assyrians.
>
>Response. Yes there are a lot of Syrianis in Qara Qosh area. I would be elated if they considered themselves Assyrian. From last I heard they consider themselves Arab and speak Arabic. Correct me if I am wrong. Also, I heard that they rejected the initiative that the curriculum in the schools be in sureth because they consider themselves Arab. As for the bulk of the other villages - AL qosh, telkaypa, bayqofa, telesquf, butniya I am not going to tell you what they call themselves. Instead I will ask you to go ask them what they consider themselves and by the way, this is the only area where we can establish an administrative area. So go on, keep direspecting them by telling them to drop thier communal identity and dictate to them what name they should call themselves (Assyrian by itself) But at the end of the day, it is they who decide what to call themselves not me and not you.
>
>You wrote: The Chaldeans, on the other hand, are largely concentrated in Baghdad, and are :synonomous with the Baath, that's why they are rich. I just went to Iraq so I know what I'm talking about.
>
>Wow, I did not know that the term Chaldean is synonomous with Baath. Here we go again with disrespect toward Chaldeans. Ok, I have an idea. We can just start calling ourselves Baath instead of Chaldean to signify our communal identity and that way we don't have to listen to Assyrians say "Oh you are not the Chaldeans of the past. With all due respect, you must have been raised in the US or in a very seculed village to make such a statement and to understand the political economy of Iraq. Maam, Chaldeans joined the Baath party like all other sectors of Iraqi society. Secondly, many Chaldeans belived in the party due to its secularism.

*** And at the end, the patriot pretends to know where the translations can get done! That's the icing on the cake. All you have to do is accept Jesus and I'll tell you. Fair enough?

>:
>I do however, have a suggestion for you as to
>: where you can get these translations done,
>: but you have to admit that you are Assyrian,
>: first. Fair enough?
>
>Look, I have no problem telling people I am Assyrian. But the problem remains that there exists a Chaldean communal identity now. So, what are you going to do? I'm I going to tell my 65 years old Aunt, you know Aunty, you have been wrong your whole life. You are not a Chaldean so start calling yourself an Assyrian. And 500,000 people will follow her example and all start calling themselves Assyrian. Get real!!!!Why not say to her, historically we were one but we broke off from each other. Now we are trying to reunite. So, now we should use the term Chaldo-Assyrian. If you are against this, that is your right. But I will continue to encourage Chaldeans to call themselves Chaldo-Assyrian. Lastly, you should not fear anything. Because if there will be schools for our community in in Iraq that will teach history, then people will learn their history correctly, So after a generation or two, after they learn that term Chaldean came into use by a split in the church, then people may choose to start calling themselves simply Assyrian. But you keep forgetting something very important. It is irrelevant that Chaldeans started off as a church denomination because in the year 2004 it signifies a particular group of people who come from a particular set of villages who practice a particular form of Christianity and who speak a particular form of Sureth. So, its your choice, forge a political or social link with them by Chaldo-Assyrian or go seperatly. But to ask us to give up our communal identity completly is not going to happen.
>
>: Your friend in Chado-Assyrianism,
>: Nile



---------------------


The full topic:



Accept: text/xml,application/xml,application/xhtml+xml,text/html;q=0.9,text/plain;q=0.8,video/x-mng,image/png,image/jpeg,image/g...
Accept-charset: ISO-8859-1, utf-8;q=0.66, *;q=0.66
Accept-encoding: gzip, deflate, compress;q=0.9
Accept-language: en-us, en;q=0.50
Connection: keep-alive
Content-length: 10101
Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Cookie: *hidded*
Host: www.insideassyria.com
Keep-alive: 300
Referer: http://www.insideassyria.com/rkvsf/rkvsf_core.php?She_doesn_t-1fwy.Fnow.QUOTE
User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20030208 Netscape/7.02



Powered by RedKernel V.S. Forum 1.2.b9