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The Plight of
Assyrians in Iraq
By Hermiz Shahen
The Assyrian Homeland
within Iraq
“Assyrian “ is a genuine nationality of Mesopotamian ancestry. Since the
fall of their capital, Nineveh, 25 centuries ago, they have survived
oppression and massacre by oppressors in the Middle East. Assyrians are
extant. Though their racial identity has been suppressed, their political
status annulled, and their social standing derogated to that of a minority.
The Assyrians are neither Arab nor Kurd; they are not Moslems, never were,
and shall never be. In addition, the modern nomenclature, “Chaldean” refers
to another Mesopotamian ancestry derived of the Assyrian dynasty. The
distinction of Chaldeans today is their affiliation of Assyrians to the
Papal Church, while the rest of our people continue our adherence to the
mother church, the Assyrian Church of the East.
For years, oppression hangs like a plague over the Assyrian people in their
ancestors’ homeland. A large part of our population has fled, scattering in
every corner of the world for its survival. The bitter facts and crimes of
genocide committed against the Assyrian nation, particularly during WWI and
continuing since that time, have left deep marks and painful memories. One
cannot find a single Assyrian, whether from Turkey, Iran, Syria or Iraq, who
was left unscathed by this uncivilized behaviour and rampant barbarity.
World governments have long ignored the agony of Assyrians and their plea
for help. In a way similar to the fate of the Armenians and the Pontic
Greeks, the genocide against the Assyrians has not been universally
recognized, which only adds to the continuing pain of our people. The
passage of time has done nothing to ameliorate this rank injustice, and
Assyrians can no longer remain silent. Our people particularly in Iraq,
Iran, Syria and Turkey, are not allowed to complain about their inhumane and
unjust treatment. If those of us in the free world do not speak on their
behalf, no one else will.
Rightly or wrongly, Assyrians in the West are not given to loud and noisy
public demonstrations regarding their national tragedy. They have
demonstrated for centuries that their culture strongly favours peace and
industry. They have always pursued their goals in civilized dialogue, not
through violence.
ASSYRIANS REMEMBER THEIR
MARTYRS
Assyrian communities throughout the world commemorate the Assyrian Genocide
and Martyrs day, on 7th August each year. This is to respect
those in our community who lost their lives to save their nation. Last
August 7 marked the eighty-eighth commemoration day of the Genocide
committed by the Turks (with the assistance of several Kurdish tribes). This
campaign of mass extermination was launched against the Christian Assyrians,
under the slogan of Holy War (Jihad). As a reward, Turkey helped the Kurds
to settle in the Assyrian territory of
Northern Mesopotamia
(entailing, of course, the expulsion of the Assyrians). Northern Mesopotamia
is now unlawfully known as “Kurdistan”. This barbarous genocide led to the
deracination of about 750,000 Assyrians. Thousands of villages and towns
were lost to the Turks and Kurds in the region of Van, Turkey, as well as
the region of Urmia, Iran. All the Churches, holy books and finery were
looted, burned and destroyed. Children and young women that escaped the
sword were taken prisoners while thousands more fell into the trap of forced
conversion to Islam. Their choice was between the sword and Islam; many
martyred.
In the month of August 1933, a massacre of Assyrians took place in the
district of Simel in the State of Nineveh/Iraq. This slaughter too was
committed in the name of the Jihad, and it was no less horrific than the
previous ones. It brought death and destruction to over three thousand
innocents. The perpetrators in this case were members of Kurdish and Arab
tribes, under the direct supervision of the Iraqi Armed forces.
The September 11 Tragic Event
Assyrians, all over the world stand
resolutely against terrorism. The September 11, 2001 catastrophe in the USA,
followed by the October 2002 Bali bombing, has deeply shocked this nation.
Assyrian organizations from all over the world extended their heartfelt
sympathies and condolences to the people of the United States and of
Australia, and especially to all those families, whose loved ones were
victimized by such heinous crimes. Assyrians stand in solidarity with all
peace loving people around the world against terrorism, incursion, war,
poverty and exploitation.
Since the barbarous attack of September 11 on the USA, the Western media
have pointed their fingers at Moslem fanatics of Middle Eastern origin. As a
consequence, this has fuelled more hatred towards Christians in that part of
the world. We receive a stream of reports indicating that our brothers and
sisters over there are confronted, harassed, interrogated and treated as
suspects more than ever before. Because we are associated with the West and
against Islam, many of our Middle East churches have been torched, and
several priests and nuns have been imprisoned or murdered.
The horror that hit the U.S. and Bali, the graphic display of death and
indiscriminate killing has dented humanity’s confidence in itself. Terror of
this magnitude inevitably affects everyone on our small planet; no one can
escape the fallout. Yet, we should remember that such violence is almost an
everyday occurrence in the Middle East, in countries such as Iraq, Turkey
and Israel.
For years, Western countries have deluded themselves into
thinking that they could appease these extremist movements or perhaps simply
ignore them. It is very sad to say, but the tragic
loss of so many thousands of
lives has forced the West to take stock and to consider the fallacy of
previous assumptions.
The inescapable fact is that
the homeland Assyrian Christians are at the mercy of radical groups or
governments with the same mindset as the perpetrators of the recent attacks.
Under the name of Allah or Jihad, there is a continuing effort to inflict
the worst acts of genocide against both the Jewish and Christian people. In
the latter category, this includes Assyrians, Copts, and Maronites, who
continue to experience savage treatment, which has resulted in their
children remaining scattered throughout the world in Diaspora.
Assyrians And Saddam's
BA’ATH Regime
After the tragedy of Simel,
successive ruling governments in Iraq continued their inhuman policies
against the Assyrian people, and without question, the ruling Ba’ath party
of Saddam committed the worst atrocities. Those who protest the coalition
efforts to liberate Iraq are naïve innocents unaware of what suffering, such
as that of the Assyrian people at the hand of Saddam, really means in human
terms. When they compare President Bush to Saddam Hussein, their ignorance
of history is sickening to the moral mind, if one considers the last 35
years in Iraq.
Over the past 35 years, over one million of our people have been forced to
flee their homeland and seek refuge in the West. Those who remained in Iraq
faced assassinations, kidnappings, land expropriations and forced
conversions to Islam. There has also been a state of linguistic-cultural
pressure through a ban on teaching the Assyrian Language, restrictions on
the practice of religion, sanctions against the use of Assyrian names for
newborn babies.
Also during the past 35 years, Saddam has destroyed over 300 towns and
villages, which had been home to our people for thousands of years, to say
nothing of the historical monasteries. These properties were subsequently
expropriated by the Kurdish paramilitary organizations that ostensibly took
over the government in the "Safe Haven" zone of north Iraq.
A master of the twisted word, Saddam used the 1977 census to force Assyrians
to either declare either Arabic or Kurdish nationality. Those who lived in
areas whose majority were Arabs were registered as Arabs, whereas those who
lived in areas whose majority were Kurds were registered as Kurds. Those who
insisted on declaring themselves Assyrians were interrogated; their
declaration was deleted from the lists and changed to Arabic or Kurdish.
Thus, the Assyrian who lived in the middle and south was registered as Arabs
and the one who lived in the north was registered as Kurd. The same scheme
was repeated in the census of 1987.
Sadly, though, Saddam’s successes within Iraq to smother the legitimate
identity of an ancient people weren’t enough. It is an odd twist of fate
that United Nations delegates kept asking “where is the smoking gun.”
Perhaps, they should have asked, “where is the smoking candy?” Had they done
so, their question would have led them to the first international use of
WMD for terror by a sovereign nation – in Australia, no less!
Assyrians Suffered The First WMD Attack Outside Of Iraq
Assyrians who have fled the persecutions of Iraq have been privileged to
enjoy the freedom and democracy of Western society. However, this did not
stop the Iraqi regime from pursuing them, particularly in Australia and the
U.S.A. Assyrians in Australia had the dubious honor of experiencing the
first chemical and biological attack by Saddam Hussein's agents. In November
1978, the Assyrian delegation to the Eleventh World Congress of the Assyrian
Universal Alliance convened in Sydney. The five-member delegation attending
from Iraq had brought along poisoned sweets, packaged in Iraq, which they
offered to the other delegates.
The poisoning was identified as being mustard gas (a form of chemical weapon
also used by Iraq in its war with Iran and Kuwait). The Australian Health
Authorities and the Hospital discovered that this form of poisoning causes
necrosis or death of the body tissues. At least nine people suffered from
this poisoning and the perpetrators escaped back to Iraq before facing
charges.
Regrettably for the Assyrians, no international action was taken at that
time to publicize Iraq’s use of such destructive weapons. This may have been
due to the lack of international focus at the time on Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction, or perhaps the Assyrians were not considered sufficiently
important as human beings and as citizens of this world.
With all the protests against President Bush and The Prime Minister of
Australia and the courage of brave coalition servicemen and women, one must
understand the true consequence of what will happen to a just people if Iraq
remains under the control of the past BA’ATH regime.
Threats Facing
Assyrians In Their Homeland
Assyrians presently living in their homeland in Northern Iraq are
experiencing a systematic ethnic cleansing campaign by the Kurdish leaders
who have assumed leadership of the region following the Gulf War. The Kurds
in the North are using similar tactics to those of Saddam Hussein. They are
confiscating the Assyrian lands; they are forcing emigration and terrorizing
Assyrian civilians, including their political leaders.
Vulnerable Assyrian villagers seeking a right of return to their home
abandoned under duress during the 1960's and 1970's, and following Saddam's
Anfal campaign, have been prevented by Kurdish security agents at various
checkpoints dividing the nation. Kurdish authorities have gone further,
issuing a law that will make them potentially able to illegally transfer
expropriated Assyrian lands to Kurdish squatters. The decree has the
potential of allowing the Kurdish occupation forces de facto confiscation of
Assyrian lands, enabling them to sell these to their Kurdish supporters at a
fraction of their real market value. Assyrians are rightly concerned about
the potential that this law will lead to discrimination of Assyrian
existence in northern provinces.
ASSYRIAN DEMANDS
Recent developments in Iraq may lead to the division of the country along
ethnic and religious lines, a division that is vehemently opposed by all
parties concerned which undoubtedly will further unsettle Iraq and the
region. The Assyrians have always strived to maintain the territorial
integrity of Iraq . The Kurds have been calling for a federation that would
include the over 3,000 years old Assyrian cities such as Dohuk, Arbil, the
oil rich city of Kirkuk, and other parts of Assyrian heartland. Assyrians
found themselves compelled to counter their demands, because as the
indigenous people they are more entitled to their territories than those who
come to Assyria as invaders.
Specifically, Assyrians demand an autonomous region within federal Iraq, in
Nineveh (Mosul) province. There, Assyrians have maintained a continued
presence, albeit much diminished, in the form of towns, villages, ancient
sites and monasteries. Assyrians contend that it is in the interest of the
region and of the world for the continuous presence of Assyrians in that
area. " Therefore our appeal to the World Governments is to help us at
this critical time in aiding the resettlement projects of our people and the
rebuilding of their destroyed villages and support the Assyrian demands for
autonomy in their homeland as guaranteed in article 53 of the new Iraqi
Constitution as the only way for Assyrians to survive. Assyrian
communities worldwide have and will continue to express their sincere
gratitude for the tireless efforts in the defense of freedom by the United
States of America, Australia, Britain and other Allied countries of the
willing, to hold and defend the values of democracy and the universal cause
of human rights. God bless the leaders of the coalition countries who have
risen above the self-serving rancour of Saddam’s supporters abroad to
vigorously pursue democratization of Iraq and may he give them the strength
to stay the course.loss of so many thousands of lives has forced the West to
take stock and to consider the fallacy of previous assumptions.
The inescapable fact is that the homeland Assyrian Christians are at the
mercy of radical groups or governments with the same mindset as the
perpetrators of the recent attacks. Under the name of Allah or Jihad, there
is a continuing effort to inflict the worst acts of genocide against both
the Jewish and Christian people. In the latter category, this includes
Assyrians, Copts, and Maronites, who continue to experience savage
treatment, which has resulted in their children remaining scattered
throughout the world in Diaspora.
Assyrians And Saddam's
BA’ATH Regime
After the tragedy of Simel,
successive ruling governments in Iraq continued their inhuman policies
against the Assyrian people, and without question, the ruling Ba’ath party
of Saddam committed the worst atrocities. Those who protest the coalition
efforts to liberate Iraq are naïve innocents unaware of what suffering, such
as that of the Assyrian people at the hand of Saddam, really means in human
terms. When they compare President Bush to Saddam Hussein, their ignorance
of history is sickening to the moral mind, if one considers the last 35
years in Iraq.
Over the past 35 years, over
one million of our people have been forced to flee their homeland and seek
refuge in the West. Those who remained in Iraq faced assassinations,
kidnappings, land expropriations and forced conversions to Islam. There has
also been a state of linguistic-cultural pressure through a ban on teaching
the Assyrian Language, restrictions on the practice of religion, sanctions
against the use of Assyrian names for newborn babies.
Also during the past 35 years, Saddam has destroyed over 300 towns and
villages, which had been home to our people for thousands of years, to say
nothing of the historical monasteries. These properties were subsequently
expropriated by the Kurdish paramilitary organizations that ostensibly took
over the government in the "Safe Haven" zone of north Iraq.
A master of the twisted word, Saddam used the 1977 census to force Assyrians
to either declare either Arabic or Kurdish nationality. Those who lived in
areas whose majority were Arabs were registered as Arabs, whereas those who
lived in areas whose majority were Kurds were registered as Kurds. Those who
insisted on declaring themselves Assyrians were interrogated; their
declaration was deleted from the lists and changed to Arabic or Kurdish.
Thus, the Assyrian who lived in the middle and south was registered as Arabs
and the one who lived in the north was registered as Kurd. The same scheme
was repeated in the census of 1987.
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