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Posted by parhad (Guest) - Tuesday, June 1 2004, 22:42:17 (CEST)
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Date: Tuesday, 1 June 2004, at 1:11 p.m.
The Assyrian Christians' Dilemma in Iraq: Outlook and Solution
Fred Aprim
California
Introduction

...first things first. At the end of this puff piece you`ll find a bibliography. There`s no real reason for it to be there except it looks nice. Those who admire Fred will assume he`s read those books….and since they don`t read any themselves, they`ll never know. But I can tell you he hasn`t read any of them. What he does is look in the index and glossary for key words and phrases such as “you owe me”….”that`s mine”…”Assyrians”…”dirty Muslims”….and then he reads those paragraphs or lines and sees how they can be twisted and stood on their head..sort of like his readers were.

Aprim no more understands the nature of our Heritage than Hanna does or Peter. These boys are Christians first..their second characteristic is an immense grudge they carry where they blame Muhammad for their failures in life. but let him tell it.
The United States and the United Nations continue their efforts to establish the foundations for what they envision as a federal, free, democratic, and pluralistic Iraq.

..it`s good to start out with bullshit..sets the tone and prepares the way for the rest of it…I`d suggest hip boots and a shovel from here on out.

However, there are those opinions that realize that the experiences of the last 83 years make it impossible for the various ethnic and religious groups, especially the Assyrian Christians, to live in peace in Iraq.

…no shit. And you all thought this wat was gonna make you safe…remember? It just HAD to come to a war or how would you Christians be SAFE? What happened…lose faith in your own bullshit?
…oh by the way…he`s talking about Assyrian Christians…not Assyrian Muslims. The Christians ran to China…the Muslim Assyrians stayed and built a glorious Islamic Empire based on the art and culture and learning of BetNahrain. Just replace the word “Assyrian”n with “Christian”…or combine them into Asstian.
The latest events in Iraq have opened old wounds and reminded the Assyrians of certain realities that could not be ignored.

…they opened a lot of wounds for Muslims as well..they even opened wounds on Christians you Asstians won`t recognize..and then of course there are the wounds YOU encouraged be opened on everybody in Iraq. There are parents to 500,000 Assyrian children who had wounds opened in them by the United States with your blessings…then there are the old reminders of the Levies you boys are still proud of…same collaborators you want to make martyrs and heroes out of today because they help the enemies of Iraq attack and kill the people. You Asstians are a dismal reality that can no longer be ignored…but if you think you`re going to be rewarded for this duplicity by getting even a toadstool in Iraq..as a reward for betraying the nation yet again…think again.

They have begun to express many concerns, especially after the rise of the Islamist groups and Kurdish influence, the inclusion of Islam as the official religion of Iraq, and the making of Shari'aa (Islamic Law) a source of legislation, as instituted in the newly published Transitional Administrative Law of Iraq, also known as the Iraqi Fundamental Law. Article 7 - A of the this law states:

…You should have thought of that before you prayed for Saddam to be toppled. These competing factions are exactly what the United States had in mind all along…as they installed religious nuts in Iran.

…The nation IS Islamic…you are a minority, a religious one that seeks to glorify itself by appropriating the Assyrian Heritage that is the common legacy of all Iraqis irrespective of their religion, time of residence, countries of origin and any other backwards criteria you seek to impose on people.
"Islam is the official religion of the State and is to be considered a source of legislation. No law that contradicts the universally agreed tenets of Islam, the principles of democracy, or the rights cited in Chapter Two of this Law may be enacted during the transitional period. This Law respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice."

…there should be such freedom in the new America where Muslims are being discriminated against as Jews so recently were.
These events worried the Assyrian Christians. The Assyrians base their concerns on realities on the ground and a traumatic history. They feel that only an Assyrian administrative enclave in northern Iraq could stand a chance of guaranteeing their survival.

…buzz off. No one is going to make a Christian ghetto in Iraq for the United States to support. You boys can`t talk to each other….you gonna dialogue with your Muslim neighbors? You gonna sign treaties with them? Who the hell do you think is going to have to prop your enclave up….you?
Assyrians and the Making of Iraq

…he means Christians and the undoing of Iraq..also by Christians. We`ve heard it all before. First of all it`s Aprim`s own take on history..has nothing to do with the facts…and even then he leaves out all that would contradict him. This is quack history for ducks and geese.
In 1921 and as the mandated power over Iraq post World War I, Great Britain played a significant role in creating this artificial country called Iraq. Still, it was not until 1926 that Great Britain, Turkey, and Iraq agreed on the present Turkish-Iraqi frontiers. In October 1932, the extraordinary efforts of Great Britain paved the road for Iraq to enter into the League of Nations (Replaced by the United Nations after World War II) as a sovereign and independent state. However, reality on the ground was something completely different. Dodge explains that Iraq was a territory inhabited by a diverse and divided population run by a small clique of mainly Sunni politicians who could not control the country without the help of British airplanes [1]. The British relied on certain tribal leaders and Baghdadi politicians to run Iraq while ignoring the rest of the ethnically and religiously diverse population. Many of the Baghdadi politicians were members of the fallen Ottoman military and political institutions, who were the reason behind the Assyrian massacre few years later.

…ho-hum
The British mandatory obligations, writes Dodge, were based on Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant. The article stated that a Mandate could be terminated only when a "Community shall be able to stand alone without the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by the Mandatory" [2]. The British failed miserably in establishing a true democratic and stable state before leaving Iraq; therefore, subsequent problems throughout the history of Iraq fall on the shoulders of the British failed policy.
Historians agree that the Assyrian national awakening verged among the Assyrians by the end of nineteenth century [3]. It was during World War I (1914 – 1918) that the Assyrian national movement was at its peak. However, the 1933 Simmel massacre of 3000 unarmed Assyrians (including women, children, and old men) in north of Iraq by the Iraqi army and the looting of Assyrian villages by Arab and Kurdish tribes crippled this movement and forced the Assyrians into cultural and political isolation. The massacre was the work of Iraqi army with the approval of Iraq's Minister of Interior [4]. Assyrian nationals realized that the Iraqi authorities would not hesitate to use ruthless force against innocent and unarmed civilians on any pretext.

..he doesn`t mention how Christians who Iraq had allowed to enter the country, to escape slaughter by Iranians…turned around and went to work for the British occupiers of Iraq…how they wore their uniforms and carried their weapons and fired on Iraqis, their hosts…Aprim expectsIraqis not to notice..not to learn to distrust these bastards. The same thing is happening all over again,…collaborators are being shot and more will be in the months and years to come. The United States will be happy if all Iraqis go on shoting each other forever..allowing private companies to come in and work the fields…pay Iraq royalties and then sell them arms with that money so they can shoot each other..and you boys helped.
Others argue that aside from the Simmel massacre, acts of oppression and persecution against Assyrian Christians (also known as Chaldeans, Nestorains, Jacobites, and Suryan) in Iraq were isolated cases, occurring at certain times or locations, until the coming of the Ba'ath regime in 1968.
Ba'athist Ethnic Assault on Assyrian Identity
After 1968, Ba'athis policy turned toward the repression of ethnic groups in Iraq. Three events directed at the Assyrians profoundly effected the position of the Assyrian Christians:
1. Consider the followings:
a)...In 1970, the Late Mar Eshai Shimun, exiled Assyrian patriarch since 1933, was invited officially to visit Iraq and was treated as a head of state. Later, a presidential decree restored to the patriarch his Iraqi citizenship that was revoked in 1933. In doing so, the Iraqi government expected to accomplish something in return. It asked the patriarch to establish an Assyrian army to fight the Kurds in northern Iraq. The Iraqi Army, made mainly of Arabs living in plain land and southern marshes, has proven that it was neither capable nor fit to decisively win a long war against the Kurds. The battle zone was north Iraq mountainous region, not familiar to Arabs. However, the patriarch refused. He was assassinated in San Jose in 1975 under very controversial circumstances. Many Assyrians point at the Iraqi government as the instigator of the assassination plot.
b)...The Iraqi government did not give up on the idea of using Assyrians to stop the Kurdish revolt. In 1972, the government invited one of the earlier Assyrian freedom movement leaders, malik Yaqu Ismael, who had escaped Iraq since 1933 as well. However, he too refused to take part in such an enterprise. Coincidentally, he too died in 1974, quite suddenly.
c)...The government's efforts continued along this course. In the 1980s, the Iraqi army created a special battalion (Malko Force) headed by few government loyalists and tricked many Assyrians to join the force; however, the plan failed and many Assyrians were killed in battles in northern Iraq.

…there`s no secret to tricking Christians…you just tell them they`re going to get something special. It isn`t Assyrians Muslims despise..it is Christians..and then not all Christians either. The ones they reserve their anger for are the ones who use Christianity as an excuse to meet in churches and teach sedition in the language of Christ. These fools are heroes and nationalists to you..to any government they are potential traitors and collaborators..as recent events in Iraq show…the Christians who work and get along in Iraq, you call traitors and sell-outs and Kurds and Arabs and what not. YOU are the ones who point the government`s finger at yourselves by this aberrant behavior…then you say you`re being persecuted.

You break a country`s laws…you will be punished..it`s only persecution to those of you suffering from a persecution complex…although in your case you deserve to..it isn`t a complex at all..because you ARE disliked..intensely…but not for your status or ethnicity and not even for your religion..but for the slimey cowards you are.
2. When these attempts, meaning pitting Assyrians against Kurds, showed signs of failure, simultaneously the Iraqi government began a carefully planned Arabization policy of the Assyrians. The government continued a zealous policy of dividing the Assyrians along denominational lines, something previous government practiced but to a much lesser degree.

…lookit the fool. No one has to split Christians! Look at them in America where they could all UNTITTY…and yet they divide and divide and divide some more. Besides…if you`re so pleased to be Americanized..what`s so awful about being Arabized…or have you noticed that the entire BetNahrain area of the MidEast is MUSLIM???
3. The third threat to Assyrians rose from the ascent of the fundamental Islamic reaction in Iraq in the aftermath of the Gulf War, even among the Kurds, represented by Ansar al-Islam group. Saddam's Ba'athist regime began to institute measures to placate Muslim extremists. These measures were detrimental to secular and moderate Muslims but most damaging to Assyrians, Yezidis, and other non-Muslims.

…more bullshit…Aprim feels persecuted as a person..he feels slighted as a great thinker and writer. After I told everyone we were busted French kissing in a toilet he bade a tearful farewell to Assria and disappeared to Syria for a year…the boy is unstable as hell…the last hold he has on any chance to be Grat, is to be the historian and scholar of Assria. Half the stuff he makes up, the rest he willfully garbles..all of it to point in one direction…HE has been slighted…HE assumes Christians are all like him…HE speaks for all of them..and HE wants an enclave where he can do away with all opposition..like they all do on their forums..that`s what they really want..an entire neighborhood where they can ban and delete people.
The Effects of Ba'athist Ideology on Assyrians

…considering Assyrian Muslims worked at formulating the ideology…you can say it was inspired by Assyrians.
The ideology of the Ba'ath regime is manifested from its two most popular mottos: a) Umma 'Arabbiyah wahidah dhat risalah khalidah (One Arab Nation with Eternal Mission), and b) wahhdah, hurriyyah, ishtirakiyyah (Union, Freedom, Socialism). In the Ba'ath ideology, there are only Arabs (whether Moslems or Christians) in the Greater united Arab region that extends from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Arabization policy articulated by the Ba'ath regime included the implementation of policies that were to slowly but surely Arabize the younger Assyrian generations. Some of these policies included, only for example, forcing Assyrian teens into Arab youth groups and into certain Ba'ath youth camps for indoctrination. Other policies included prohibiting parents from giving their newborns Assyrian names and forcing these parents to give these newborns Arab names.

…in Portugal you have to select names for your children from an official handbook…they don`t want a lot of Mick Jaggers…or Ringo Starrs…it`s a misguided effort to retain some control over their culture..certainly understandable when a nation has been in the gunsights of the Christians for so long…makes perfect sense and before blaming the Iraqis you have to consider what was being done to them and is still being done to them. When the French refused to back Bush`s illegal war, the name of French Fries had to be forcibly changed to Freedom Fries..what`s that but the same fucking thing?
The Iraqi government went on to nationalize private Assyrian schools where Syriac (Assyrian) language was taught, and in certain cases abolished the right to teach the language.

…because they saw what was being done under the guise of teaching the language of Christ…in America Spanish was banned from the work place and English was declared the national language. Assyrian “schools” were all Church schools taught in basements…and what was being taught wasn÷t science and literature…it was the bible and then how Iraq belongs to Christians..those Syriac manuscripts are no different than Voodoo textbooks “taught” in Haiti..they don`t qualify as schools or textbooks anywhere.

Furthermore, the government tricked youngsters into talking about what their parents discussed at home, a policy that built psychological and communicational barriers between many parents and their young children. Parents became terrified to discuss political matters in front of their children at home. Last, and quite significantly, but not least, the Iraqi government began to force Christian students to attend Islamic religious classes that taught the Koran.

…more bullshit. If parents have built such little trust with their children..it`s their problem. In America today parents can get in trouble with authorities for discussing a whole range of topics at home, in the workplace and at school.

Islam does not force people to become Muslim..end of story..the only people who EVER forcibly converted people are the Christians..and it`s attested to in real scholarly works..not this kind of trash.
Despite the presence of the freedom of worship that existed during the first twenty years of the Ba'ath rule, the situation changed later. After the Gulf War and during the embargo, the Ba'ath regime became increasingly isolated, especially after the establishment of the No-Fly Zones in the north and the south. The Ba'ath regime had to find a powerful and effective denominator that will help it to gain much needed support. The Ba'ath government found the answer in the use of Islam through the following steps:

…Iraq was under attack all those years..with Christian blessings. It`s understandable they would react as they did…how do you suppose Darkies fared in America on 9/12? How many people legally in America have been hauled off to jail or deported and humiliated? Had no one declared war on Iraq it would not have been necessary for them to degfend themselves..and they WERE under attack..weren`t they? They had good reason to fear…didn`t they?

…I you scream out because I shove my foot up your ass..we just can`t blame you for screaming..we have to examine my foot to see what made you scream…had no one attacked Iraqis to begin with…or Palestinians..they would never have had to defend themselves in these ways…besides, if you`re going to let Americans off by saying “some elements” were mistaken..then how about not tarring and killing all Iraqis for what some leaders did? That`s always been the Assyrian way…what you practice now is the Hebrew way…smite them ALL…even the children and animals.
- Modifying the Iraqi flag by adding to it the most venerated expression in the minds and hearts of many Moslems: alahu akbar (God is Greatest).

…in America they want “under god” in their daily lives..so what.
- Systematically promoting Islamists policies through government agencies, which were secular in nature previously.
…you mean like Bush`s Faith Based Initiatives…and school vouchers for religious basements?
This gained the regime popularity with many Islamist groups, a few inside Iraq but mostly from neighboring regions, including al-Qa'ida, as certain reports claim. Whereas before the early 1990s the regime had been a threat to the Assyrians primarily as an ethnic group, in its later years it turned into a threat for the Assyrians as Christians as well. Thus, the threat was complete, ethnically and religiously.
…bullshit. Iraq has the greatest respect for its Assyrian Heritage..what it loathes is the attempts made by your idiot priests to claim all Assyrians can only be Christian. And they have never attacked Christianity as a faith..but rather you boys who hide behind religion to do your dirty work.

Saudi Arabian money poured into Iraq and many regions in northern Iraq that had never seen mosques before were now venues for extensive mosque constructions.

…didn`t you all cry and yelp for money to rebuild your churches?
The Effect of Islam
Before I proceed, it is necessary to define the use of the two words: Moslems and Islamists. Few make the mistake of using the two words analogously; however, that is not necessarily the case. A Moslem and a Christian could live side by side, as many argue; however, it is impossible for a Christian to live in peace with an Islamist (fanatic Moslem) because of many fundamental differences and issues, which some of them are addressed in this article.

..it`s impossible for you Asstians to live in peace with yourselves…I can`t stand you and you can`t stand each other. Fanatic Christians weren`t too welcoming of Darkies, cross or no cross…after just one attack. You`re all the same.
It is a well-known fact that the East has been always a spiritual place with clerics who play a major role in society. If we look around us, whether in Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, India, Pakistan, Philippines, or Indonesia, we could learn many lessons about the Islamists/Christians modern conflicts. In fact, this conflict is wider than many think; it exists in African countries as well, countries like Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, and others. Even Europe could not escape the hatred; one can never forget the atrocities committed by extremists in the Balkans under the name of Islam and Christianity.

…try to remember the 500,000 Assyrian children killed by Christian Sanctions with your blessings…though the evidence is there plain as day in front of you…not in some Syriac manuscript of 500 years ago…you refuse to believe a word of it because it flies in the face of your fairy tale…
The fundamentalists are behind this much hatred, especially when they emphasize on certain verses in the Koran to legitimize their propaganda. The Koran states in the Dinner Table chapter (5:51): "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." This is popularized despite being told for example that Hind, the daughter of al-Nu‛man, expressed her wish to Khalid Ibn al-Walid, a great Moslem army leader during Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia and Syria, that he protects the Christian community. He responded by saying, "This is our obligation, and our Prophet has asked us to do so" [5]. When the Islamists argue that a Christian cannot rule over a Moslem; the essence of democracy is challenged and threatened. If a Christian cannot nominate himself/herself for a high position in the Moslem world, without living the risk of losing his/her life, the fundamentals of democracy are lost. Now that Kurdish Ansar al-Islam and the Wahabi Bin Laden's al-Qaida are inside Iraq, the future for Christians is gloomier than ever.

…bullshit. Try to imagine a Muslim in America now demanding the right o be placed in the highest offices? It was the Christians all along who started the Crusades and carried them on…it has been Christians who looted India. Afghanistan and so much of the Orient…it has been Christians bringing world wars and it was Christians who ganged up to attack Turkey for the oil. You people are the bloodiest and most barabairc the world has ever seen…and you have the nerve to smear Islam?
Other chapters in the Koran include sayings that are discomforting to Christians. The Koran, for example, denies the Christian's concept of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. The Koran in the Women chapter (4:171) says: "O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector."

…exactly so..it is blasphemy to have Virgins deflowered by gods…why would a god beget a son…why would you eat him and drink his blood…why do you Christians pray to idols and worship at the feet of dolls? This is all forbidden to Msulims and strikes them as gross…so what`s it to you? Have you read your bloody bible yet in which whole cities are wiped out and children fucked?

Of course, by followers of the Book it is a reference to Christians and Jews; Allah is God; Isa is Jesus; and Marium is Mary. The Koran's general position is that Jesus was just another prophet and basically a good man. In fact, the Koran looks at the core of the Christian belief, i.e. the crucifixion of Christ and his glorious rise, as a lie. The Koran (4:157) says: "And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure."

…like any sane person buys that crap…you got to be kidding? You Christians haven`t been spreading slanders against Islam and Muhammad???
The Islamists promote feelings that destabilize any society that include diverse ethnic and religious groups. In my opinion, nothing on paper (including a constitution) could stop the oppression and persecution of a Christian in Iraq as long as the Shari'aa is made officially "the source" or "a source" of the constitution.

…it would also seem that nothing cvan stop a Christian from betraying his neighbors and country either…at the behest of a foreign Christian army..you people have made yourselves odious by your ACTIONS…no one dilikes you for your religion…Islam is tolerant of your religion and certainly respect their own Assyrian past…but they don`t like traitors and cowards and people who go on foreign payrolls to destabilize the country and return to benefit from the death and destruction…Christian OR Muslim…they hate the BEHAVIOR and you boys have always sought to hide your dastardly behavior behind Christ…so you can say you`re being arrested because of CHRIST!

I believe that liberal interpretation of the Shari'aa enjoys far more acceptance among moderate Moslems than that of the Islamists' dovish interpretations. This becomes extremely crucial when interpretations of certain somehow vague Surah or Surat (chapter in the Koran) or Hadith (narrative relating deeds and utterance of Mohammed and his companions) are left in the hands of fundamentalists to interpret the way they see suitable without strong or loud opposition. There is potential for great danger represented in any cleric who could cause chaos, destruction, and wholesale massacre with one simple fatwa (religious edict).

…how about one man who steals a presidency then defies the U.N and ever sane bit of advise because he wants that oil? You think that kind of person could be harmful too? We have as many extremist nuts in power as any Islamic State.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Islamists would not hesitate to cause damage to their own mosques and use propaganda to blame the "Christians" (represented here in the United States) in order to arouse passion and hatred against both the helpless indigenous Christian population and the occupying "Christian Crusaders."
…you mean like standing by while the Towers are attacked…so you can blame Iraqi children?

The hatred mounts despite the fact that the indigenous Christian population in Iraq is more Iraqi than it is American.

…the only indigenous religion…you mentioned religion…to Iraq is that of Ashur, Ishtar and the rest…Christianity is indigenous to Israel..and Islam to Arabia. Your RELIGION isn`t indigenous..no matter how many times you try to fool people with that line..you are NOT indigenous for being Christian..you belong in Iraq if you are IRAQI..never mind the religion..and you are traitors to Iraq for loyalty to Christ and your masters.

Many Iraqis look up to America because of its laws of personal liberty, justice, and freedom that are offered to all its citizens. The April 27, 2001 issue of the Detroit News (www.DetNews.com) reported about the largest and most comprehensive survey of mosques in America that was released at the time. "The Mosque in America: A National Project" had reported that there were 1,209 mosques in America in 2001. Additionally, the Constitution of the United States does not declare Christianity as its official religion. Still, Islamists will refer to the United States as the "devil state."

…and Christians revolve around an “Axle of Evil”. There have been churches in Iraq since the beginning..if their numbers have diminished it is for the same reason the Christians have…less Christians means the need for less churches..and Christians and churches have made themselves unwelcome by openly backing ANYONE who would come liberate their religion..imagine Muslims in New York asking Libya to come liberate them…and you`ll see fireworks.
Despite the fact that Article (7-A) of the Iraqi Fundamental Law grants the freedom of religion to non-Moslems; however, that same article declares Islam as the official religion of Iraq. Therefore, the law allows certain rights for Christians to exist, however, they are never equal to the rights of Moslems. Christians therefore will remain as second-class citizens with reduced legal rights that are subject to the Islamic State and the interpretation of certain individuals of the Shari'aa.
…If there was any truth to this..if there was even ONE example you could cite of a right a Muslim will have that a Christian won`t…you`d have posted it in caps. You just say these things…there`s no truth in them at all. Hopefully you will not have the right to teach sedition in the language of Christ…I hope like hell they stop you from doing that.

...to be continued...

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same old same old... parhad - Tuesday, June 1 2004, 22:42:17 (CEST)
- old same old same parhad - 06/01 22:43

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