The Genocide of Iraqi christians

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).

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 Semel, in Northern Iraq resulted in the death of 3000 Christians at the hands of Kurds and the Iraqi Army. This was the first atrocity committed by the new Iraqi state under Prime Minister Bakir Sidqi, 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 f violence committed as reported by the Assyrian 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 easy 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 face 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.

Assyrian Medical Society ~ Turkey Mission Release

By: Helen Talia, Chicago

www.helentalia.com

A friend from Iraq writes, “there is nothing here but dust, gravel, and concrete walls.  All over, life is wasted.”  He asked me to send pictures of foliage ~ trees, grass, plants,  flowers, you name it!  He went on to say, “I am well aware that I still exist, but I want to make sure that no one has forgotten me.  I feel as if everything around me is moving, except me.”  There is something very unnatural about these words, when we no longer feel that we co-exist in our environment, as we struggle with the duality of reason and balance.

The probability of trying to save the lives of Iraqi children was not on the agenda of any humanitarian organization.  Thirty-some years ago when Iraq was at its height and the Iraqi people lived in prosperity, the country produced some of the most renowned A-list physicians and educators known within Iraq and across its borders.

Since then, Iraq was rebuilt after the Iraq-Iran war, its infrastructure demolished again after it invaded Kuwait, followed by a U.S.-imposed embargo in 1991, and the Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

The aftermath has left a devastated nation, displaced within its own borders, and an infrastructure that continues to spiral downward, with no proper education or medical care.  It is said that more than any other nation in the world, the global disbursement of the Iraqis today makes up the highest rate of international exile.

Each time the sound of a bomb is heard, a child is traumatized, while another is orphaned.  Iraq has become a graveyard, and its terrain has turned into a wasteland.  Insurgents attack neighborhoods and set-up fake checkpoints to kidnap innocent people for the sheer love of mutilation.

How many more lives will be sacrificed, and how much more suffering will this nation endure until it is released from the bondage of the debt it seems to have innocently incurred, not by its own admission, certainly not through its own fault.  Is anybody listening?

The Gift of Life International, working concurrently with the Rotary Clubs International recently opened its gates to Iraqi children by providing them with the gift of heart surgeries with the assistance of the Assyrian Medical Society.

Thankfully, in neighboring country Turkey, the Rotary Clubs of Istanbul were far from turning a deaf ear to the cries of the Iraqi children who have paid an immeasurable price of pain and dwindling lives.

Not having proper communication channels in Iraq, the Rotary Clubs of Istanbul quickly turned to Rob Raylman, CEO of Gift of Life International, who established contact with the Assyrian Medical Society.

Therein Dr. Samir Johna from the Assyrian Medical Society in United States contacted its infrastructure in Iraq to locate and identify children who were born with debilitating heart conditions.

Back in Iraq, the response of Dr. Srood Maqdosy from Erbil and Dr. Ahmed Kasim from Basra was swift.  In a matter of days they prescreened and selected the patients, with no regards to ethnic or religious backgrounds.  The patients were then transported to Istanbul, Turkey where their surgeries were performed and recoveries took place before heading back home to Iraq.

The Rotary Clubs of Istanbul, Turkey has provided five heart surgeries for Iraqi children.  In addition to surgery costs, food and lodging, sightseeing costs have been appropriated for all five children and their escorts, usually a family member.

Little known to the world, Salwan Raed Salim, our first patent, a 14 year-old boy was born with pulmonary valvular stenosis.  He suffered from fatigability and heart palpitation, particularly following physical activity.  He underwent a successful balloon angioplasty and is reported to be in an excellent condition.  Since his surgery, he has returned home to Iraq.

Maia Mohanad Mikhael is our second patient, a 2 year-old child born with ventricular septal defect and subvalvular pulmonary stenosis. She underwent a successful open heart surgery, pulmonary valvuloplasty and closure of ventricular septal defect.  She has been reported to be in an excellent condition and has returned home to Iraq.

Enabella Azad Yousif is our third patient, a 2 year-old child born with aortic stenosis and bicuspid aortic valve. An attempted balloon aortic valuloplasty had failed. This was followed by a successful open heart surgery, and aortic valvuloplasty. She has been reported to be in an excellent condition and has returned home to Iraq.

Ali Haider is our forth patient, a 3-year old child born with transposition of the great vessels. He had undergone a successful open heart surgery.  He has been reported to be in an excellent condition and has returned home to Iraq.

And finally, Rawan Hazim Ali, is our fifth patient, a little over 2 year-old child born with tetralogy of fallot. He had undergone a successful open heart surgery for the repair of this birth defect.  He is currently awaiting his final cardiac echo in Istanbul prior to returning back home to Iraq.

With the generosity of the Gift of Life International and the Rotary Clubs of Istanbul, Turkey, the Assyrian Medical Society is thankful for the conclusion of the cardiac mission for Iraqi children in Turkey.

Perhaps no other gift is more rewarding to be gotten than the gift of life.  Humanitarians worldwide continue to do what they do best and that is to be humanitarians.

July 2009

Walk into the Arab world

Walk into the Arab World at the Los Angeles Art Walk

Thursday, July 9, 2009 6:30pm—8:30pm

Join us for a cultural event at AFSC Friends Gallery on July 9, featuring Arab artists, writers and poets, Vivian Sansour, Reem Hammad and Paul Batou. Art works by Paul Batou, Reem Hammad, and other artists are currently on display in the Colors of the Arab World Exhibition at the gallery.

There will also be olive oil tasting, music, Middle Eastern refreshments, and book sales featuring titles that delve into issues related to the Arab World.

Friends Gallery is located on the 3^rd Floor

of 634 S. Spring St., Los Angeles

For more information, call (213) 489-1900 x118  or email wshami@afsc.org.

Colors of the Arab World

Highlights the artistic interpretations of the region’s rich cultures, diverse peoples and continued struggle for peace amid historic conflicts. In an attempt to personalize and humanize their experiences, these artists have captured everyday life, coalesced among classical and historical imagery.

Featured artists:

Paul Batou

Rev. Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera

Brian Biery

Dalah Faytrouni

Reem Hammad

Sam Hassan

Muhammadi Zuhal Karamanli

Gary Simpson

Omar Yashruti

Sam Hassan

This event is co-sponsored by AFSC and the Levantine Cultural Center.

Iraqi Assyrian Medical Society

 

 

Little Miracles

 

 

Helping Those In Need Worldwide is the adage upon which the Assyrian Medical Society has been founded.

 

The Assyrian Medical Society is a direct response to today’s global dispersion of the Iraqi Assyrians, as flocks by the thousands continue to migrate to neighboring countries, reaching to anyone who will listen to their stories, crossing borders to any country that will give them a home.  Their only passport is a memorabilia filled with catastrophes met by orthopedic disabilities, spinal cords injuries, burns, and birth defects, most of which are the direct result of the war that has forever shaped the lives of Iraqis. 

 

Still, others remain trapped in wheelchairs, speechless to express their hearts’ desires, and without vision to reflect upon the daybreak that may never enter their lives ~ have met small miracles through the diplomacy of the Assyrian Medical Society which has helped shape the window to their worlds.

 

“Working concurrently with local and international organizations to develop the most cost-effective solutions to help both Assyrian and non-Assyrian patients, the organization, whose mission is to serve the Assyrian community, is based on accountability, transparency and honesty.”

 

Founded by Dr. Samir Johna and located in Encino, California, the Assyrian Medical Society is chaired by Mr. Albert Davidoo, a Certified Public Accountant, and vice-chaired by Mr. Youkie Khaninia, a Senior Product Engineer.  More recently, the organization was joined by Dr. Lorence Esho as a family physician.

 

“Less than two years old, the medical relief project of the Assyrian Medical Society has already closed over 45 cases.  Known as “Baby Kirillos,” Kirillos Faris George was only one year-old when he was brought from Iraq to undergo a corrective congenital heart surgery at the Loma Linda University Hospital in Loma Linda, California in 2007.” 

 

“Seventeen years-old Devon and his two brothers were victims of rocket explosions in Iraq, who sustained multiple injuries that lead to amputations of arms and legs are currently undergoing treatments at Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles, California.”  To learn more, visit www.assyrianmedical.org

 

~ Helen Talia, MBA, CPA

Assyrian Medical Society

Director, Chicago

www.helentalia.com

 

Paul Batou demands Audience and Respect for Iraq

Paul Batou demands Audience and Respect for Iraq

“My Last Thoughts about Iraq”

 

By Helen Talia, Chicago

 

A colorful book about Iraq‘s history and legends, people and traditions, religions and famous sites, war and disaster.

 

While a pharmacy student at the University of Baghdad, Paul Batou and his buddies did not know that war awaited them at the turn of the corner, bringing uncertainties to their lives and thwarting their dreams.  Suddenly, instead of attending lectures, they quickly learned how to sleep on an empty stomach, survive sanctions, and dodge bullets.

 

Paul gives an Olympian performance in this artistic reference manual addressing Iraq in three fundamental sections:  the history and loss of an ancient civilization ~ Mesopotamia, the betrayal of Iraq’s indigenous people ~ the Assyrians, and the tragedies of war.  The book is masterfully woven to take the reader on a journey into Iraq’s history, through the Gates of Ishtar, and the unprecedented aftermath of not one, two, or even three wars that have gripped Iraq into the 21st century and left its people defenseless and globally scattered.

 

In “My Last Thoughts about Iraq,” Paul Batou, now a native of California, constructs a poetic timeline of Iraq with himself in the middle of its early Paleolithic period, ancient civilizations ~ Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria, the Greek, Persian, and Mongol invasions, the Arab conquests, the Ottoman period, World War I and the British mandate, World War II and the monarchy, the new republic, President Saddam Hussein, the Iraq-Iran war, the first Gulf war and weapons inspections, coalition troops, and even the Iraqi death.

 

A Village Called Tin

“Did you know,

The People in my village do not know how to write their names…

They are farmers,

In a tiny village called Tin,

Embraced by the valley called Supna…”

 

Like a fetus that is being nurtured in her mother’s womb for nine months, Paul often speaks about the smallness and uniqueness of his tiny village that beams with pride in Northwest Iraq, until finally at her birth he reveals her name “Tin” to his audience.  But his beautiful virgin would not go untouched as the survival of the fittest and the downsizing of Assyrian villages at the hands of Kurds took their toll in Iraq in the 1960’s.

 

Likewise, from the very beginning, you can tell that Paul is a guy who’s fallen head over heels in love with Ishtar who accompanies him throughout the book, including the cover page.  She alone understands the history of Iraq and the secrets to love.

 

Prelude to Baghdad

In a collection of poems inspired by his art, Paul takes a flashlight and digs in the smallest and darkest places tucked in Iraqis’ spirit.  From the curse of Babylon to a hungry child in the streets of Baghdad, he dares to go places that otherwise would best remain untouched. 

 

In Iraq, school bells have been replaced with the sounds of sirens, mosque recitals and church hymns.  Music has been fine-tuned to accompany mothers wailing at the site of their defenseless soldiers’ caskets being carried to their doorsteps, killed in wars that gave birth to martyrdom.  And to the wake of bombs in the morning, children will live in fear and learn to hate.

 

Yes, in Iraq there seems to be a dark past that lingers in its people.  In Iraq there are prostitutes and hunger.  In Iraq girls have been raped, and suicide has become an alternative to communication.  But in Iraq there is “A Memory of Time and Place*” in Al Tahreer Plaza, Abu Nuwas, Saddon Street, Tel Mohammad, Baghdad Jadida, Ghadeer, Bataween, Karada, Zaiyouna, Shanashil, the sounds of Youssif Omar, the treasures of Badr, the birthplace of Jawaheree, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.  Who can forget the mid-day naps during Baghdad’s sizzling summers, and the afternoon tea time that brought neighborhoods together.  In and of itself it is an art being an Iraqi, knowing that the Tigris River divides Baghdad into two regions Karkh and Al Rasafah, and conjuring in pride that Nineveh is still the capital of Mosul.

 

The Author on Iraqis

“My goal has always been to change others by using figures of connectivity.  Despite the Iraqis having different religious beliefs, like the great Iraqi poet Badr who wrote about Jesus Christ many times and loved to be a Christian, Jawad Saleem the painter and sculptor who dreamed about absolute freedom, and Ali who lost his arms and legs in the war, I always want the Iraqis to see the beauty within and use it to love each other.  So when it comes to humanity, I speak for all, but the center of my pain is I lost Mesopotamia and I want her back.  I want to build a powerful human, and then that powerful human will build a free Iraq.”

 

“My Last Thoughts about Iraq” is a personal invitation by the author into the Iraqiness of Iraq.  Paul Batou is superb in recognizing Iraq during its hype, while keeping integrity intact throughout this tiny 76-page book, filled with memoirs of Iraq.  A unique literature with attention to the smallest of details, Paul delivers a striking message that speaks on behalf of every Iraqi child whose dreams have been sanctioned.  He demands audience and respect for Iraq and offers solution to build awareness through education.

 

Final Thoughts

Today, the country whose hands have cradled civilizations, and whose Hammurabi laws have been indoctrinated into modern judicial systems struggles to find its own peace.  Even in Jawad Saleem’s “Nesbit al Hurreya” (Freedom, Arabic) relief, the Iraqis did not find freedom. *   Finally, if Iraq could speak, it would say: “I just want to be left alone.”

                                                                                  

Title: “My Last Thoughts about Iraq”                  

Author: Paul Batou

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation                                

Year: 2007

Source: www.paulbatou.com       

                           

 

* Jawad Saleem is a celebrated Iraqi artist (1921-1961) who erected “Nesbit al Hurreya” (Freedom, Arabic) relief in one of Baghdad’s famous plazas “Saha et Tahreer.” The relief is considered by generations of Iraqis as memory of time and place.

My last thoughts about Iraq

A majestic portfolio of thoughts from Iraqi poet Paul Batou, this volume stands as a gathering of Batou’s poems, essays, and reflections, each capturing an unforgettable facet of Iraq, and collectively embodying the author’s immortal love for his homeland.

My Last Thoughts About Iraq is — in many ways — a reservoir of Batou’s emotions, hopes, and dreams. Here, he pours his heart and talents out as he rhapsodizes about his search for love, life, freedom, and peace in his native land, — once the bastion of civilization, Mesopotamia, now merely a land of pain, humiliation, and destruction.

Through the powerful pieces of this epic anthology, one will see the magnificence of Mesopotamia in another time, as well and understand the diverse elements behind its demise — the politics, wars, business, greed, jealousy. A social commentary of sorts, this work stands as a monumental tribute to the people, the heritage, and the legacy of Iraq.

www.paulbatou.com