Click Here to Email )

Stage 1 Production is proud to bring this spectacular show to Turlock! Dariush & Faramarz Aslani will share the stage in Turlock for an unforgettable concert! 1 Night, 1 Stage, 2 Legends!

Buy your tickets before they are all gone! Visit participating stores!

Information: 818.395.1414
Turlock : 209-648-1765 Red Entertainment

Join Dariush on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Dariush2000

Join Faramarz Aslani on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/FaramarzAslani

The Best Assyrian dancer 2011

TAOAJ ENTERTAINMENT

www.redentertainment.net

Assyrian Schools Reunion 2010 Video

Letter from US House of Representatives to Hillary Clinton
CLICK TO READ THE LETTER

Seyfo in the Western Assyrian dialect means sword which was the weapon of choice of the Turkish and Kurdish perpetrators of the 1915 Assyrian Genocide. Seyfo center is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of awareness of this genocide among the Assyrian youth worldwide. Seyfo center also functions as a research organization focused on the genocide while working diligently to gain recognition from world government of the atrocities committed by the Turkish regime at the time and its Kurdish allies. Seyfo center is a non-religious, non-sectarian, non-political organization and is not affiliated with any political party, political organization or government.

Please join "SEYFO CENTER-U.S.A BRANCH" and tell your family and friends about Seyfo.
With your help and support, we will become stronger.

Assyrians in Iraq Must Be Protected By Iraqis and Americans

Assyrian International News Agency

PRESS RELEASE OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF THE ASSYRIAN CHURCH OF THE EAST REGARDING THE RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS IN BAGHDAD

More Iraqi Christians Consider Leaving Iraq After Attack on Baghdad Cathedral

BAGHDAD -- Vian Jabburi, a 22-year-old Roman Catholic, was celebrating Mass in Baghdad with her father on October 31 when Al-Qaeda militants stormed the church.

Shot through her shoulder during the ensuing siege, Jabburi survived. Her father was also shot and slowly bled to death, while she lay helpless at his side in a pool of her own blood.

"Nothing resembles this experience. Nothing," Jabburi tells RFE/RL as she breaks down in tears at her father's funeral. "The situation was very, very difficult. I still don't know whether it was reality or just a nightmare. I do not know. I really don't know.

"We were bleeding for four or five hours without receiving any help," she adds. "I will leave it to God. He is the only one who can take our revenge."

Jabburi is among thousands of Iraqi Christians who suffered through years of sectarian violence in Iraq but is now considering whether to stay any longer.

A funeral Mass for the victims of the attack was held at Baghdad's Mar Yusuf Church.

Raad Ammanuel, head of the Office of Christian Endowment in Baghdad, says the attack has caused many Iraqi Christians to rethink whether they have a long-term future in Iraq.

"Those who have an injured member of their family or lost a loved one, they are talking about leaving the country," Ammanuel says. "We do not want this to happen and we do not encourage it. But still, we can not stop people from thinking this way. I have been discussing this with them. But what can I say and how can I reply when they ask me if I am going to bring back the ones they have lost?"

'This Is Our Country'

But other Iraqi Christians are adamant in their determination to stay. Among them is the family of Hanan Fadhil, a math teacher in the Karrada district whose cousin was killed in the October 31 assault.

"They want to destroy the country and create divisions and conflicts," Fadhil says. "We've been living here all our lives and we are not going to leave Iraq. We will stay. This is our country. I was born in 1956 and I'm now 54 years old. I've been here since then. How can I leave this country?"

Baghdad's heavily fortified Karrada district has been an island of tolerance in Baghdad, where Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have continued to live alongside Christians in relative harmony.

Luis al-Shabi, a Chaldean priest at the Mars Polis Church there, says most residents blame criminals and extremist fanatics for violence that has targeted Iraqis of all faiths.

"When a country is not stable, such things can happen. It happened many times in mosques and it happened also in [Christian] churches many times," Shabi says. "One of them is this recent disaster.

"But I have to say that Muslims do not do such things," he continues. "Those who commit such acts are not believers of Islam nor Christianity and not even in God. When they have the chance, they come to kill and to massacre people regardless of whether the victims are Muslims or Christians."

Targets Of Al-Qaeda

Indeed, Iraqi Christians have faced the same pattern of beheadings, kidnappings, rapes, and extortion that plagued Iraq's Shi'ite and Sunni communities during the years of chaos after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and before the surge operations of 2007 brought relative stability.

An Iraqi Christian woman (right) holds a picture of her son who was killed in the attack.

That violence caused many Muslims to leave their homes, along with the hundreds of thousands from Iraq's Christian minority who have fled the country.

During the rule of Saddam Hussein, there were an estimated 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq -- many of them Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, but also a smaller number of Roman Catholics.

Exact figures are impossible to confirm, but some estimates say two-thirds of Iraq's Christians have left the country since 2003 -- leaving fewer than 450,000 Iraqi Christians there today.

Al-Qaeda militants want the exodus to continue. On November 3 they threatened to carry out more attacks against Iraqi Christians.

The Islamic State of Iraq, which claimed responsibility for the Baghdad cathedral assault, linked its warning to allegations that Egypt's Coptic Church is holding women captive if they convert to Islam.

The group -- an umbrella organization that includes Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other allied Sunni insurgent factions -- is also demanding the release of Al-Qaeda prisoners held in Iraq.

Inflaming Sectarian Strife

Abu Gaith, a 28-year-old Sunni Muslim from the Karrada neighborhood, thinks Al-Qaeda has a deeper motive for targeting Christian churches.

"Everything is clear. The goal is to create problems and aggravate the already tense situation," he says. "The attackers are trying to create new opportunities and light a fire near a barrel of oil. They want the situation to go back to how it was two or three years ago, when there were sectarian conflicts between Sunnis, Shi'a or battles between Muslims and Christians".

Are Iraqi security forces able to protect Christians, or any other Iraqis, from violence?

Western security analysts have come to the same conclusion, saying a weakened Al-Qaeda in Iraq is now trying to rebuild its reputation through high-profile terrorist attacks.

Jane's Security and Military Intelligence Consulting -- part of the British-based Jane's Information Group -- says Al-Qaeda in Iraq is trying to reignite large-scale and prolonged sectarian violence through focused attacks, particularly in Baghdad. It also warns that a wave of attacks across the country in late August suggests the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities has given the terrorist organization the space it needs to rebuild.

The analysis from Jane's concludes that the inability of Iraqi politicians to agree upon a new governing coalition has been detrimental to the abilities of Iraqi forces to maintain security.

Residents of the Karrada district agree. "The only reason for what happened, not only [at the cathedral] but for what is happening every day, is the incompetence of [Iraqi] security forces, especially those deployed in the Karrada district," says Ahmad Jassim, a 40-year-old Shi'ite Muslim who owns a minimarket close to the cathedral in Karrada.

"We know there is a checkpoint or a police car in front of every church," he continues. "Now, how did the gunmen enter the church? Were there clashes before? We did not hear about clashes, which means [the gunmen] entered very easily. Again, how did this happen, especially in Karrada, which is almost like a military camp now?"

That sentiment reflects the concerns of many Baghdad residents -- whether Shi'ite, Sunni, or Christian -- who say they have little confidence in the protection provided by Iraqi security forces as the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq continues.

: . . . . . . .
. . . .
. " " . " " " " " " " " " " " "

. ... - " " .

Robert David

His Beatitude Mar Narsai De Baz Passed Away

The late Metropolitan had received the precious Body and Blood of our Lord (Qurbana Qadisha) and Khusaya, as heard the reading of the Sacred Scriptures a few hours before his passing. He was solaced by the prayers of His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV and brother prelates present in Phoenix and globally, as well as the prayers of all the faithful and the presence of his family members. The funeral will be conducted at Mar Gewargis Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois (USA) at a date and time that will be announced in the very near future.

TERRI BROWN

Tribute to Assyrian veterans

www.robertdavood.com

MAR AWA

EVIN AGASSI DVD ON SALE NOW

$10.00 Only

Larsa Hall Floor Plan for EBI & Siamak Jastan Concert

Over Sold Out

Sargon Hakimi

Next AACCOT President

2012

Assyrian Schools reunion 2011

Tickets Online

Body of Missing Hiker Recovered in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park services is reporting that officials have recovered the body of Hormiz David, a 22 year old male from Modesto, one of three hikers reported missing last month.

According to a written statement from the National Park Service, David was found in the Merced River, approximately 240 feet from the base of Vernal Fall by Yosemite Rangers and Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel at approximately 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 5, 2011.

Officials said recovery operations took approximately four and one half hours to complete and required technical rigging and swift water trained personnel.

David had been missing since July 19, 2011, when he, Ninos Yacoub, 27 year old male, of Turlock, CA, and Ramina Badal, 21 year old female, of Manteca, CA, were witnessed being swept over the 317 foot waterfall. The area where the three were swept away is signed as a dangerous area, and the group had crossed a metal guardrail placed there to keep visitors away from the fast moving water. River water levels in Yosemite continue to remain higher and colder than usual for this time of the year. Visitors are urged to exercise extreme caution when in and around waterway in the park.

Yosemite National Park Rangers and SAR personnel are continuing recovery efforts in the Merced River, below Vernal Fall, for any signs of Yacoub and Badal. The Mist Trail, leading to the top of Vernal Fall, will intermittently and temporarily be closed until recovery operations of Yacoub and Badal are completed. The trail remains closed until approximately noon on Saturday, August 6, 2011.

The search area included in the recovery effort is one of the most rugged areas of the Merced River. Yosemite Park Rangers and SAR personnel continue to exercise caution while searching along the slippery rocks and while near the high, fast moving water of the Merced River.

NEWS -----NEWS

Requesting Yosemite National Park to allow searches to continue for 3 victims swept over Vernal Fall

DARIUSH & FARAMARZ ASLANI July , 23LARSA BANQUET HALLTURLOCK,CAStage1Production presents: Dariush & Faramarz Aslani Concert at Larsa Event Center, Turlock, California, Saturday July 23rd, 2011

Two Legends on One Stage......July 23rd.

Information : 818-395-1414 or check Red Entertainment on Facebook or www.redentertainment.net

---

Click on video

Rose on PMC Top 10

Assyrians' Plea to Australian Government

Black March Sydney, Address: The Significance of Australia's Intervention in Iraq and the Contemporary Assyrian Genocide." - i.e. Speech by Ray Elishapour


We, as members of the Assyrian, community, together with our Australian brothers and sisters of many faiths and backgrounds, have gathered here today to raise our voices in outrage at the violence that has been visited upon our peoples in our ancient homeland once known as Ashur or Assyria, the country known to us today as Iraq.

We have gathered here today because of the horrendous genocide that is unfolding in Iraq even as we speak, a genocide that, if left unchecked, will see every man, woman and child of Assyrian descent, ethnically cleansed from their indigenous homelands.

Three weeks ago, the ongoing attacks on our peoples culminated in fifty eight of our brothers and sisters being ruthlessly murdered as they peacefully gathered for Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq.

We call on all governments of civilised nations, and in particular, the Federal government of Australia, to publically acknowledge and condemn the ongoing attacks on Iraqs Christian population and apply firm diplomatic pressure on the Iraqi government to ensure greater protection of Iraqs indigenous Christian population.

We call on the Federal government to recognise the plight of our brothers and sisters in Iraq and provide, in the spirit of the UN Refugee Convention, safe Asylum for the Assyrians that have left Iraq in search of protection.

The stalling tactics implemented through various levels of government bureaucracy serve as a time consuming ploy. However, such tactics undermine the efficacy of Australias refugee program and place Australia in breach of its obligations under international law. The situation in Iraq today is growing progressively worse as thousands of genuine refugees seek protection from racially motivated violence and persecution these are, however, pleas and begs for mercy that are so often categorically denied.

We urge the Federal government to review its policy concerning the rights of refugees seeking protection within our borders In particular, we urge the Federal government to recognise as genuine refugees all Christians of Iraq who seek asylum in Australia.

As both the frequency and severity of attacks on Christians in Iraq escalates, it is undoubtedly clear that genocide and ethnic cleansing is unfolding with impunity against our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

HUMAN RIGHTS
The acts committed against Iraqs indigenous Assyrian Christian population are heinous and the most severe of human rights violations The significance of this is that human rights are universal and inalienable. Every person has the same rights, regardless of where they live, their race, or their religious, cultural or ethnic background. It is therefore an obligation for all States to prevent the flagrant abuse of its citizens. At this time, the State of Iraq is failing badly to uphold its obligations to protect its citizens and as a Liberating force the Australians, Americans and British invaders have turned their heads from these murders.

Furthermore, it is relevant to consider that according to the international community it is impossible for a person to exist without being the bearer of these inherent rights the characteristic of being human is what enables those rights to subsist within them in short, the right to live in peace, without fear is an essential right that is owed to every human being, a right that nobody can or should ever take away.

As the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom entered Iraq on the premise of establishing peace, freedom and democracy for its peoples, those civilised nations now have a distinct responsibility to protect and safeguard the minority Assyrian population of Iraq from the terrorism that arose from the instability created by their very own actions.

This responsibility to restore peace, freedom and democracy has not been kept. This no more evident than when one considers the no less than 66 attacks on Assyrian Churches since 2004. This is an appalling statistic. However, much more appalling is the immense loss of life; the large number of men, women and children who have been massacred by the scores in the years following the downfall of the tyrant.

An advisor to the recently elected Iraqi Government has recently stated that 9 out of 10 terrorist attacks against the Assyrian ethnic minority in Iraq are successfully quashed and effectively neutralised by Iraqi security forces, how much more then is the hostility that rises against the remnant of the former Assyrian Empire, and how much more evidence of ethnic cleansing is necessary before the international community, perhaps with Australia at the helm, leads the world in preventing the annihilation of one of the worlds oldest and most culturally rich civilisations.

Unfortunately the reaction of the international community to this consistent abuse of human rights and indeed genocide can only be described as apathy and indifference. The practical result of this is that little if anything has been done, practically or otherwise, to prevent the destruction of the indigenous Assyrian, Christian people of Iraq, peoples who constitute one of the worlds oldest communities.
It is incumbent, and we insist on urging the Australian government and the Australian public to consider the impact of this impending disaster and its responsibilities to protect human sanctity and inviolability. No peoples are deserving of such atrocities, and it lies within the power of the Australian, US and UK governments to protect these struggling peoples.

GENOCIDE
Australia has a very clear and unequivocal responsibility owed to the Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Every single day there are countless forces mobilised against these indigenous peoples with the sole intent of destroying them and forcing them into exile through fear and violence.

There has been a mass exodus of Iraqs indigenous Assyrian Christians, marking a significant genocide through violence and exportation Iraqs indigenous peoples are now treated as second class citizens in Iraq, where Iraqi security forces are apathetic to their situation and nobody bothers to acknowledge their plight.

Their cries fall on deaf ears, as nobody lifts even a finger to assist the wounded and the fallen the majority of those injured in Iraq, not ten days ago were taken to European countries for medical treatment. While we are grateful for their intervention, and the care they have offered as a semblance of a common humanity, we must remain ever skeptical for until the Assyrians and their Christian counterparts are entitled to manage their own affairs in Iraq, how can our people ever be truly secure? Without a Sovereign Independent area or at least a Regional Democratic Government with Autonomy, How can the Assyrians ever be afforded the same virtues of Life, Liberty and Self Determination the inalienable rights of every human being?

To live free from fear of persecution and wanton, arbitrary punishment;

To live free from fear of death, with liberty and right to a secure life;

To live free and to practice ones culture and religion without homogenising forces

These are the only demands of the Assyrian peoples within those nations to be treated to the same uniform, minimum standard and recognised as the indigenous people of Iraq. Our brothers and sisters in the Middle East wish to be enabled and given the right to self determination and the right to the protection of their loved ones. The horrors of terrorism imprison the population through fear people are frightened into submission, failing to comprehend the madness of the violence around them. Without knowing where the terrorists will strike next, our people are stuck with constant fear and apprehension, in circumstances that are both physically and psychologically debilitating.

The Genocide implemented against the Assyrians of Iraq today has evolved from the earlier methods visited upon them at the hands of the Ottomans, it is no longer the sword that claims the head of our brothers and sisters, the new face of terror is one which mindlessly destroys itself at the very moment he claims another 58 innocent lives this is an unequivocally heinous and insidious genocide that serves to remove the indigenous Assyrians and ethnic minorities from Iraq, if there is no intervention by the invading, Coalition of the Willing.

Where once there was peace and multiculturalism, there is now only the charred remains of a forgotten society, as all the streets lay tainted and marred by the blood of Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq, a community subjected to constant genocidal attacks.

The Indigenous Assyrians have been pressed to the point of extinction following Australias invasion of Iraq. Over 1 million of our Assyrian brothers and sisters have been forced to leave their homes and life in Iraq due to the genuine fear of physical harm and murder they have been forced to abandon their country and to dissipate into Diaspora abroad. The number of Assyrian inhabitants in Iraq, has dropped dramatically from nearly 1.5 million to under 400 000 due to the mass exodus and targeted terror campaigns.

The Australian militarys involvement in the invasion and resulting destabilisation of Iraq places it in position of special opportunity, and also important responsibilities under the Genocide Convention It is pursuant to this responsibility under the Convention that we call upon the Australian Government to take the following course of action

• For the Government of Australia to encourage and ensure that there is established a Security Force to protect the people and buildings that belong to the Indigenous Assyrian Community, to be made up of the Indigenous peoples themselves as the Iraqi Government and Security forces have demonstrated apathy and disregard for the welfare and security of the Indigenous and Christian peoples; and,

• For the Government of Australia to acknowledge the distinct ethnic identity of the Assyrians in Iraq and their claim to a separate national identity that is historically descendant from the Ancient Assyrians. This places the Assyrians as distinct from the national identity that is an extension from the state of Iraq, and known as Iraqi; and,

• For the Government of Australia to acknowledge the acts of violence perpetrated against the Assyrians, as constituting the International Crime of Genocide. Consequently the perpetrators must be punished in the appropriate manner, according to the international convention and the victims must be subsequently and effectively safeguarded against said crime; and,

• For the Government of Australia to encourage the International Community to designate a region in the North of Iraq where the Assyrian peoples as the Indigenous people of Iraq may govern themselves, enjoying the right to self determination and independence as a Nation State, whereby they may protect and safeguard their own interests as a separate National entity, free from bigoted persecutions and treatment as second class citizens, or

• For the Government to promote and act towards designating a safe haven where Assyrians may live as an autonomous region within the Iraqi Nation, protected from racial and religious persecution, with the capacity to protect themselves from Islamic Fundamentalists and Terrorists and where they may be free from being treated as second class citizens based on their ethnicity and religious identity, where they may be able to live free from genocidal attacks and other violence.

---

Iran Assyrians support Iraq's Christians

Christian Assyrians protest in Modesto

Assyrian Schools reunion members with Interview on Ninveh Tv.

About the November , 13 event

209-648-1765

209-202-0905

209-535-1560

209-996-4029

209-667-2378

209-664-0130

209-277-3296

818-943-0014

818-203-9335

408-268-2465

408-375-7342

619-768-3778

Assyrian Schools Reunion

2010

Turlock

California

Assyrian Dj's

NEW OFFER

The Modern ground

Assyrian Persian Poetry Book

With Farsi Language

ON SALE NOW

CliCk Here

Red Entertainment

VALENTINES DAY

---

---

---

---

Archdiocese of Australia and NZ: Ordinations in Sydney diocese

Agassi's redemption song

Enduring a rocky relationship with an overbearing father, Mike Agassi, a former Iranian Olympic boxer of Armenian-Assyrian descent, the future champion was

Click to play

---

---

Assyrian Church keeps the faith after fire

TARZANA - They had survived a millennium of religious persecution and the exodus from the Middle East.

But on the first Sunday after a raging fire tore through the Tarzana sanctuary that many considered their second home, members of the San Fernando Valley's largest Assyrian church said they will do as they have always done: stand strong in their faith.

"We lost all of it - but we did not lose our hope," said Ramona Youhanna, 25, of Northridge, one of hundreds who celebrated Mass on Sunday in a makeshift sanctuary at St. Mary's Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East.

"We are going to start from zero, but we will make it better than it was. This is God's house, Jesus' house."

The church caught fire at 6:35p.m. Friday at 5955 Lindley Ave., sending flames 150-feet from its soaring stained glass windows into the darkening sky.

Although some parishioners were attending Bible and Aramaic study classes that evening, and worshippers had been arriving for services, no one was injured in the blaze, firefighters said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

On Sunday, hundreds of parishioners filed past what had been their church - its white brick facade now a gaping black hole; its pews, velvet drapes, vestments and choir robes now ash and charred remains.

Many wiped away tears as they entered the incense-filled banquet hall to recite ancient chants, pray and hear words of comfort by the Rev.George Bet-Rasho, the pastor of St. Mary's Parish

"We have faith," said Helen Bet-Rasho, the pastor's wife. "As Assyrian people, we are used to things like this. They kill our people, we come out stronger. They burn our churches, we rebuild them better."

In recent years, St. Mary's has seen more members come from war-torn Iraq, as Christians from their ancestral homeland continue to escape heightened insurgency that has destroyed their churches.

"It is heartbreaking," Helen Bet-Rasho added. "But we really believe when one door closes, another great door opens. We're looking forward to seeing what's behind the new one. God is good."

Before the service, a dozen Los Angeles firefighters from Tarzana Station 93 chopped holes in the scarred church roof to inspect the remains.

One firefighter said that, despite the potential for arson, investigators had yet to find evidence of foul play.

But a spokesman with the Fire Department said the House of Worship Task Force continues to investigate, and may know the cause of the blaze, as well as cost of the damage, in the next few days.

The task force was formed in 1996 after several houses of worship in the Southeast part of the nation burned as a result of arson. Concerned about the trend, the Fire Department's arson investigation section launched a task force in Los Angeles with various law enforcement agencies.

Some Assyrian church members were incredulous that anyone in America would want to harm their church.

"We were raised in the church since childhood. I felt like my mother was on fire," said Benyamin Khamis, 63, of Encino, a native of Iraq.

"If there is somebody who did this, it's for no rhyme or reason."

Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia, presently Iraq, where the last and largest concentration of Aramaic-speaking people in the world have lived for thousands of years. Those who follow the Church of the East trace their origins to 33 A.D. when it was founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle as well as Saint Mari and Saint Addai.

Since the Valley congregation moved to its Tarzana location from North Hollywood 12 years ago, the church has served hundreds of Assyrians and was the first to open a school and host the Valley's first Assyrian festival.

For the community, the church also helps to preserve the Assyrian language and culture that some worry could become extinct.

What's important is not the fire that destroyed their sanctuary, St. Mary's Parish members said. It's the unity of the church.

"Sadness and happiness, because we are all gathered together, we will all stand together," said Gladis Barko, 62, of Granada Hills, a choir member.

"It is very emotional, seeing our God's house burning. But to have faith - we are the church."

Tarzana church heavily damaged by fire

Fire and law enforcement officers today were investigating a fire that heavily damaged a church in Tarzana,a Fire Department spokesman said.

The blaze broke out around 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, 5955 Lindley Ave., said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters saw smoke and flames through stained-glass windows, and eucalyptus trees in front of the church were engulfed.

It took 92 firefighters less than 30 minutes to extinguishthe fire, as dozens of parishioners gathered to watch. There were no injuries, but the church was heavily damaged, Humphrey said.

As in all such fires, members of a House of Worship Task Force will investigate the cause, which was still unknown today.

Support by:

. . .

admin@robertdavood.com

Mr. Obama, What About the Christians of the Middle East?

Paul Batou

The oppression of the Iraqi Christians started when Arabs occupied the land in the seventh century. Their method of wiping out Christianity from the region involved the implementation of a simple rule: either convert and follow the Islamic banner or pay heavy taxes (which many Christians could not afford) or face war.

Looking at more modern history, the first genocide of the 20th century began on April 24, 1915. By 1918, 2.65 million Christians including 750,000 Assyrians, 1.5 million Armenians, and 400,000 Greeks were killed by the Ottoman Empire and the Kurds. The Assyrians called this genocide "seyfo" which means sword. In 1933, the massacre of Simmele, in Northern Iraq, resulted in the death of 3000 Christians at the hands of the Iraqi Army. This was the first atrocity committed by the new Iraqi state under after gaining independence from the British in 1932. My village Tin, in Northern Iraq, shared a similar fate in 1961.

The American occupation in Iraq did not end the struggles of the native Christians. Under the watch of our Democratic government and the newly established Iraqi government, Christians continue to face persecution. Here is a list of some of the acts of violence committed as reported by the Assyrian International News Agency:

• A two month infant was kidnapped, beheaded, roasted, and returned to his parents.
• 14 year old Ayad Tariq was considered a "dirty Christian sinner" and decapitated.
• Fr. Paulos Iskander (Paul Alexander) was kidnapped, beheaded and dismembered.
• Five priests were kidnapped and released after ransom was paid. Five other priests and three deacons were murdered.
• 59 churches were attacked or bombed since June 2004: 40 in Baghdad, 13 in Mosul, 5 in Kirkuk and 1 in Ramadi.
• At least 13 young women were abducted and raped, causing some of them to commit suicide.
• Female students were targeted in Basra and Mosul for not wearing veils; some had nitric acid squirted onto their faces. Elders of a village in Mosul were warned not to send females to universities.
• Mahdi Army circulated a letter warning all Christian women to veil themselves.
• Christian businesses were targeted. 95% of liquor stores were attacked, defaced or bombed. 500 Assyrian shops in a Dora market were burned in one night
• Children were kidnapped and forcibly transferred to Arabs and Kurdish families.
• Property was confiscated by Kurds in the North and in the south by Shiites and Sunnis.
• Kurdish authorities forced public works projects to divert water and other vital resources from Assyrian Villages to Kurdish villages.
• While the Arabs protest for one Muslim killed in Europe, they are silent for what happen to the Christians of Iraq, the people of Darfur, or the Coptic in Egypt.

Yes Mr. President, I did like your message to the Arab world in Cairo. I am not against your action of praising Islam or the Quran, but you failed to address their oppression against non-Arabs or non-Muslims who live in the Middle East. We build 12,000 Mosques in the United States, and many thousands more in Europe, yet not one church is allowed in Saudi Arabia. Mr. President, you failed to ask why. I know the answer, because we are infidels and forbidden in their land.

I know we are a democratic and civilized nation and they are not. I know we are strong and forgiving while they are weak and loud. We should not have to improve our image to the Middle East, for we have freedom that millions of Arabs and Muslims enjoy and take advantage of. I have lived in Iraq for 33 years; I know how they treat their people in the streets and in the prisons. Their prisons are many times worse than what occurred in Abu Ghraib. In your message you try to build a bridge to the Islamic world, but you left the non-Muslims in the Middle East angry and alone. They deserve your support, they love freedom as much as we do, and now they face extinction. Fifty percent of the Christian population has left Iraq with the other half facing the continuation of a long, bitter genocide -- and it will be under our watch. An Islamic nation without Christians, a Middle East without diversity, will only become more radical.

Paul Bato is a native Iraqi artist. He is a 1982 pharmaceutical graduate of the University of Baghdad. He was denied entry to the Baghdad Art School because he was not a member of the Ba'ath party. He continued his arts studies while in pharmaceutical school. His first art show was in Baghdad in 1980. In 1982 he was forced to work as a pharmacist and a medic during the Iran-Iraq war for five years in the army. When it ended in 1989 he left Iraq with his family and moved to Los Angeles, where he continues to create art. In 2007 he published his first book of poetry, titled My last thoughts about Iraq.

Two Iranian Women Arrested for Converting to ChristianityIn a dramatic session before the revolutionary court this past weekend, documented by Elam Ministries, Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were told to recant their faith in Christ. Though great pressure was put on them, both women have refused to give in. Maryam and Marzieh were originally arrested on March 5, 2009 and have suffered greatly while in prison, suffering ill health, solitary confinement and interrogations for many hours while blindfolded. In a dramatic court room, the deputy prosecutor, Mr. Haddad, questioned Maryam and Marzieh about their faith and told them that they had to recant in both verbal and written form. They responded, "We will not deny our faith."

As the questioning continued, Maryam and Marzieh made reference to their belief that God had convicted them through the Holy Spirit.

Mr. Haddad told them, "It is impossible for God to speak with humans." Marzieh asked him in return, "Are you questioning whether God is Almighty?" Mr. Haddad then replied, "You are not worthy for God to speak to you." Marzieh said, "It is God, and not you, who determines if I am worthy."

In the eyes of the court, Maryam and Marzieh's only crime was their conversion to Christianity, but these young women have stayed strong and clung to their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They are now in prison awaiting their verdict.

Although the Iranian Parliament has not yet passed a threatened new apostacy bill, over the last 20 years Iran has punished many converts to Christianity through torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings. Please pray for these courageous women of God.

By Ann Buwalda
Jubilee Campaign USA

With the advent of the First World War in 1914, the Assyrian Church and Nation suffered greatly at the hands of the Muslim powers of the day. In 1918, the catholicos-patriarch Mar Benyamin Shimun XIX (1887-1918) was martyred by the Kurdish chieftain Ismail Agha (Simko), and the Assyrians were left at the mercy of the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish neighbors. With the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, the Assyrians were left without a homeland of their own and the promises of the Western superpowers were forgotten and left unfulfilled. In 1920, the majority of the Assyrians were moved to the Bakuba Camp near Baghdad, being moved from Urmia, Iran. They lived in horrible, sub-human conditions; tens of thousands lost their lives along the way to Bakuba from 1918 to 1920.

Click to play video

Click to play video

Click to play video

TURLCK ,CA 2009

urmi.org

AssyrianHuman Rights Committee

Write a complain letter to Urmia - Salmas

Assyro - Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese

ASSYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE (AHRC) LETTERS FOR Honorable Mr. Younatan Bet KoliaPresident of the Assyrian Universal Allianceand His eminence,
Ayatollah Sistani at 08/29/2009

English version

Farsi version

Aug, 7 is Assyrian Memorial day, a day when theAssyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) community worldwide remembers its Martyrs. Reflecting the Assyrian Diaspora, events are planned for San Jose, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam, North Iraq, Syria, Iran and other locations.

August 7 was chosen to commemorate Martyrs Day because in 1933, between August 8 and 11, the Iraqi army, led by Bakir Sidqi (a Kurd), entered the Assyrian town of Simmele and its surroundings, in north Iraq, and massacred 3,000 Assyrian men, women and children, after they had been promised safety if the men surrendered their weapons. According to Colonel Stafford of the British Army:

A cold blooded and methodical massacre of all the men in the village then followed, a massacre which for the black treachery in which it was conceived and the callousness with which it was carried out, was as foul a crime as any in the blood stained annals of the Middle East. The Assyrians had no fight left in them, partly because of the state of mind to which the events of the past week had reduced them, largely because they were disarmed. Had they been armed it seems certain that Ismail Abawi Tohalla and his bravos would have hesitated to take them on in fair fight. Having disarmed them, they proceeded with the massacre according to plan. This took some time. Not that there was any hurry, for the troops had the whole day ahead of them. Their opponents were helpless and there was no chance of any interference from any quarter whatsoever. Machine gunners set up their guns outside the windows of the houses in which the Assyrians had taken refuge, and having trained them on the terror stricken wretches in the crowded rooms, fired among them until not a man was left standing in the shambles. In some other instance the blood lust of the troops took a slightly more active form, and men were dragged out and shot or bludgeoned to death and their bodies thrown on a pile of dead. (read the full account

here

Though inspired by the Simmele massacre, August 7 has become a day to remember all Assyrian martyrs. Assyrians also commemorate April 24 (called Seyfo, or sword), but that is specific to the Turkish genocide of Assyrians in World War One, in which 750,000 Assyrians were killed (75%), as well as 400,000 Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians.

In Chicago, home to 90,000 Assyrians, a commemoration will be held on Friday evening. A letter from Maria Pappas, the treasurer of Cook County, in which Chicago is located, was sent to Assyrian residents of Chicago; Pappas expressed her support for Martyrs Day.

In Detroit, home to 100,000 Assyrians (mostly of the Chaldean rite), a commemoration sponsored by the Assyrian Democratic Movement will be held on Friday evening.

The Assyrian American Association of San Jose (AAASJ) will host a commemoration in San Jose on Friday evening. In a press release, AAASJ said:

On Friday, August 7th, 2009, the Assyrian American Association of San Jose will host a memorial event in remembrance of Assyrians who have given their lives for the preservation of their cultural and ethnic identity. The event, which includes informative speeches and lectures by renowned Assyrian activists, theatrical & musical performances, a candle light vigil, poetry and more is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm at San Jose State University's Music Hall.

August 7th, known in Assyrian as "Shava b'Dabakh," marks a significant national holiday among the Assyrian community worldwide. Originally commemorating the 1933 massacre of Assyrians in the Iraqi city of Simele, the day has evolved to honor all Assyrian martyrs thereafter. The recent bombings of 7 Assyrian churches in Iraq highlights the ongoing persecution of the indigenous Assyrian community, adds to the gravity of this year's memorial, and underscores the event's theme, "Simele, Never Again: A past and present revelation on the Assyrian Nation's fight against oppression and genocide."

The following organizations are participating in this year's memorial:

• Assyrian Academic Society
• Assyrian Aid Society Santa Clara Chapter
• Assyrian Democratic Movement Santa Clara Chapter
• Assyrian Evangelical Church of San Jose
• Assyrian Foundation of America
• Assyrian Presbyterian Church of San Jose
• Assyrian Student Association at SJSU
• Assyrian Universal Alliance
• Assyrian Universal Alliance Americas Youth Chapter
• Bet Eil Assyrian Church
• Church of Pentecost
• Mar Yosip Assyrian Church of the East
• St. Mary's Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church

In ancient Assyria this festival was celebrated for 12 days, with people from all over the empire joining the celebrations. More than 1000,000 people celebrate the Assyrian year 6759 in all world

• I Love youMom

  How much I love you I can't say:
  It's more than words can hold.
  You're all at once my rich, red clay,
  My potter and my mold.

  Yours the words that shaped my voice,
  The spirit within mine.
  Yours the will that shaped my choice,
  My fortune, and my sign.

  How lucky I was to have had you
  At the core of me!
  Wise and good, you always knew
  Just what I could be.

  And so I came to be someone
  Whom I could be proud of.
  For this I give my swollen sum
  Of gratitude and love.

  If I could give my mom the world
  Or anything she wanted,
  I'd give her my own heart and soul
  And leave my own heart haunted.

  I'd take upon myself her life
  With all its strife and pain,
  And let her ease into some space
  Where she could live again.

  The pain for me would not be pain,
  At least not for a while;
  For I'd be doing it for her,
  And I would see her smile.

  I wish that I could take her heart
  And cleanse it with my tears,
  And make her sorrow go away,
  And answer all her fears.

  I wish, I wish, but then I can't,
  As I watch helplessly,
  And take her in my arms and say
  I wish that it were me.

  But loving is a hard, hard way,
  With all the pain it brings.
  And yet there is no other way
  To touch the heart of things

  
  

  ---

  Eddie yadegar in Turlock

  ---

  
  

  
  

  To see video click on photo

  Vandals make off with

  Virgin Mary

  
  

  A handmade Italian marble statue of the Virgin Mary was vandalized and stolen from a Turlock church Saturday night and the entire incident was caught on surveillance video.
  The St. Thomas Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church was not the only house of worship to be vandalized over the weekend. The First Presbyterian Church, located just a few yards from St. Thomas was also burglarized and ransacked.
  The video from St. Thomas shows one man in a sleeveless shirt run up the fountain steps and forcefully push the statue out of the grotto, sending it toppling down to the ground and smashing the head.
  The man runs off into the darkness and moments later a four-door sedan is seen driving away from the church. The car stops a short distance away and three men are then seen running back to the statue. One man in a long-sleeve shirt picks the statue up and runs back to the car with it.
  Parishioners arriving for mass on Sunday morning found the broken shards and the statue missing.
  Everyone was very, very sad and mad and asking why did this happen to the Virgin Mary, said Albert Benjamin, a committee member at the church.
  Benjamin said the church installed the security camera about a month ago because someone had tried to break into a donation box outside the church.
  The statue of the Virgin Mary was custom-made in Rome and is valued at $3,000. It had been installed at the church about two years ago, Benjamin said.
  St. Thomas Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church is located at 2901 N. Berkeley Ave., just about a block down from another church that was vandalized.
  The First Presbyterian Church at 2619 N. Berkeley Ave. was broken into sometime between Friday and Saturday afternoon, said Lisa Landis, an administrative assistant at the church.
  The burglary was discovered around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. A window of a modular building used for youth activities was smashed in and the thief or thieves took some cash, soda and ice cream, and left behind a television and video equipment, Landis said.
  The room was also ransacked and writings were left on the walls.
  It is unknown if the two incidences of church vandalism are related or if they were two random occurrences.
  Anyone with information on either case is asked to contact the Turlock Police Department at 668-5550.

  
  

  ---

  
  

  
  

  
  

  ---

• 
  

  HOSSEIN ZIAI, Ph.D. (Harvard)
  Professor of Iranian and Islamic Studies, Director of Iranian Studies
  UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

  About my poetry book

  The Modern Ground on Tue, 8/19/08, Hossien Ziai Said:

  I read your poems, they are very fine and I ma sure will be best when arranged with music and sung in instrumental accompaniment.
  

  
  
  

  EDUCATION
  Ph.D. Harvard 1976.
  B.S. Yale 1967.

  BIOGRAPHY
  Hossein Ziai, Tenured Full Professor of Islamic and Iranian Studies, and Director of Iranian Studies at UCLA, where he has taught since 1988. He received his B.S. in 1967 in Mathematics & Physics from Yale University, and his Ph.D. in Islamic Philosophy from Harvard University in 1976. Prior to his position at UCLA, Ziai has taught at Tehran University, Sharif University, Harvard University, Brown University, and Oberlin College. Dr. Ziai has published several volumes and numerous articles on Islamic philosophy, especially the Iranian/Islamic Illuminationist tradition. His books include: (1) Philosophy of Mathematics (in Persian); (2) Anvariyya (The Realm of Lights)(3) Knowledge and Illumination; (4) Shahrazur's Commentary on Hikmat al-Ishraq; (5) The Book ofRadiance; (6) The Philosophy of Illumination; (7) The Ball and Polo Stick, or the Book of Ecstasy; (8) Ibn Kammuna's Text on Illuminationist Physics. He has also contributed many chapters to edited volumes including: "Beyond Philosophy" in Myth and Philosophy, edited by Frank Reynolds and David Tracy. "The Source and Nature of Authority" in The Political Aspects of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Charles Butterworth; and three chapters in The Routledge History of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman. He is also the author of numerous articles on Islamic philosophy and on Iranian/Islamic intellectual traditions. Ziai has offered numerous papers at national and international conferences.
  

  UCLA COURSES TAUGHT
  Iranian 103A: Introduction to Classical Poetry, Prosody, Metrics, and the Poetic Arts.
  Iranian 103B: Introduction to Classical Persian Prose and its Typology.
  Iranian 103C: Contemporary Persian Prose and Poetry
  Iranian 104: Philosophical Texts: Farabi, Avicenna, Sohravardi, Shirazi, and others.
  Iranian 140: Topics in Classical Persian Poetry. Selections vary from year-to-year and include Hafez, Rumi, Sa'di, Nezami, and others.
  Iranian 141: Introduction to Analytical Persian Prose. Selections Vary from year-to-year and include: Siyasat Nameh; Partow Nameh; Safar Nameh; Kitab-e Insan-e Kamel; Jame' al-Hikmatayn, and others.
  Iranian 142: Persian Ethics: (detailed syllabus listed on the class site).
  Iranian 220 A&B: Topics vary and include Hafez, Rumi, and Sa'di
  Iranian 250: Topics vary and include selections from philosophical and mystical texts.

  ---

  
  

  HAFEZ

  School of Truth
  O fool, do something, so you won't just stand there looking dumb.
  
  If you are not traveling and on the road, how can you call yourself a guide?
  
  In the School of Truth, one sits at the feet of the Master of Love.
  
  So listen, son, so that one day you may be an old father, too!
  
  All this eating and sleeping has made you ignorant and fat;
  
  By denying yourself food and sleep, you may still have a chance.
  
  Know this: If God should shine His lovelight on your heart,
  
  I promise you'll shine brighter than a dozen suns.
  
  And I say: wash the tarnished copper of your life from your hands;
  
  To be Love's alchemist, you should be working with gold.
  
  Don't sit there thinking; go out and immerse yourself in God's sea.
  
  Having only one hair wet with water will not put knowledge in that head.
  
  For those who see only God, their vision
  
  Is pure, and not a doubt remains.
  
  Even if our world is turned upside down and blown over by the wind,
  
  If you are doubtless, you won't lose a thing.
  
  O Hafiz, if it is union with the Beloved that you seek,
  
  Be the dust at the Wise One's door, and speak!
  

  ---

  
  

  Assyrian Online Dictionaries BENYAMINO

  http://www.benyamino.com/dictionary

  

  
  ASSYRIAN MUSIC WRITER

  
  

  
  Click to play Boye Mohat

  Poem : Robert David

  Music & Singer : Reymond

  Thank you very much for your timeandgood jobon my ( Boye Mohat ) poem.

  you are the best Reymond

  ---

  
  

  
  

  

  Click To Play Video

  
  

  Zataka poem