ANA ASHUR Media & Translation Desk
Self-governance for our people ([size=10pt]Chaldean Syriac Assyrian) in its historical lands[/color]
Original Arabic: Yousip Barkho
English translation: ANA ASHUR
Assyria is ravished ... Forging ... Falsification, misrepresentation, plundering and confiscation are the headlines of these times ... Those Kurdified don’t take any action in regards to this humiliation except to use the art of speech and playing numbing melodies with air bubbles ... And, of course, giving money ...
Those who are stripped of their will are peoples who are disabled, absent or excluded!! Just the same as the peoples who are sleeping or dormant indefinitely!! They are peoples who are closer to a state of death than life… They are excluded or more precisely this is what the tyrants wanted a state of unconsciousness or unworthiness, so that the tyrants could continue to appropriate and take advantage of speaking for and making fateful decisions on the peoples’ behalf!!
The intellectual bankruptcy (subconscious) surely leads to a narrow swamp, and its damage affects the morale as well as the self; when the people lose themselves they become like sludge following a flood. Consciousness is the essence, it creates the spirit which opposes all that is odd to this self, and at the same time it creates a revolution against the reality which is contrary to what the self aspires for such as perfection, freedom and confirming existence.
Self-governance for our people in its historical areas:
A legitimate demand and a national right; any one who asks for it must be saluted, because the demand is coming with an honest spontaneity and an awakened conscience, but shame will follow those who use the term self-governance for our people in its historical areas just to numb, deceit and misrepresent for a specific period of time in order to pass the most despicable plots and confuse the Assyrian National Cause; to defame belittle the legitimacy of every Assyrian who has the right to demand self-governance on their historical land- the Land of Ashur (Assyria).
We’ve been following the events for a while now, reading, listening to and watching some of the immature media through satellite channels and websites which are falsely defined as belonging to and speaking for the Assyrian Nation, that certain factions through their hard work and political efforts or through councils and conferences, are working to demand self-governance for our people in its historical areas.
I would like to quote with permission from the Assyrian writer Dr. Boutros Tshaba, few lines of his article titled:
Assyrian Nationalism its new (Assyrian Chaldean Syriac) attire, as he defined the concept and theory of "our people" as used by those who are holding conferences with their new tunes for our Assyrian identity and the sectarian, denominational names which they use, he writes: “Adjectives and names used by the “unity” callers:
“In their speeches the “unity” callers use the phrase our people and as such they divide themselves into two categories:
The first category metaphorically expresses and not frankly that the components of this “our people” is for one people without naming it and that the other names are denominational names for an unnamed people. The second category declares that every name is that of an independent nationality but that a unity amongst them is necessary in order to face foreign powers, these powers are depicted as being religious rivals or hostile ethnicities. In both cases the notion of a nation is absent and if it’s found then the nation is unknown, as for the Assyrian nation it’s definitely obscured” (end of quote)
I, the “unity” callers and all Iraqis (indigenous and intruders) as well as neighboring countries, the international community, United Nations, historians, archaeologists, those far and those near, artifacts in museums, and the witness to all these are the soil and rocks in northern Iraq (on the surface and beneath it) with the oil wealth from Assyrians’ bone deposits which were the result of wars and genocides of those who invaded the land of Ashur out of their greed for its civilization, history, and culture… Civilization’s Cradle. Assyria’s geography and history is today’s north of Iraq with its current borders.
1st question: Are you demanding self-governance on the historical lands as per the description in the above paragraph?
2nd question: Since you gave the term our people (Assyrian Chaldean Syriac) or (Syriac Chaldean Assyrian) or (Chaldean Syriac Assyrian) to identify the daughters and sons of the Assyrian nation with all its denominations and sects, and as some of you believe that Chaldean and Syriac are two ethnicities equating them with the Assyrian national identity, does that mean you’re going to work and demand self –governance for this (Syriac Chaldean Assyrian) people in its historical lands in some of the southern Iraqi governorates specifically Babel (Babylon) and its southern parts since some daughters and sons of the Assyrian nation who are followers of the Chaldean Catholic church like to link themselves to the ancient Chaldeans who historically inhabited and ruled in the south for only for 72 years?
Also some of the sons and daughters of the Assyrian nation followers of the Syriac churches are claiming that their Syriac history is Aramaean as they are, does this mean that those Syriacs and you with them are working to demand self-governance for this (Syriac Chaldean Assyrian) people in its historical lands in the Levant? For historically the Levant was the land of the Aramaeans!!! What’s these people’s idea ? Do they want to trespass over the sovereignty of a State in order to achieve their Aramaean rule?
3rd question: There’s an anomaly in all this, that these councils and conferences but particularly the one carrying the people’s name or playing the names symphony is touring and making speeches in the name of the people in the homeland and Diaspora, but as the Iraqi proverb goes [We know who cut the garment, the council is the tailor so that the people will wear the new attire]
The question is do those who are making claims in the name of the people have a mandate to decide their fate with their new symphony? Were these people elected by the people through general elections?
4th question: This Self-governance for our people (Syriac Chaldean Assyrian) in its historical lands as they are claiming, is it going to be linked directly to the central government in Baghdad, legally legislated in the Iraqi constitution and given the essential powers of self-governance and these are: Legislative, parliamentary, executive, governmental, and judicial in equality with the self-governance powers enjoyed by Kurds?
5th question: Self-governance for our (Syriac Chaldean Assyrian) people in its historical lands, there is a large segment of the population living historically in the Assyrian villages to the north of Dohuk (Nohadra) governorate, the villages in its vicinity, as well as villages in the areas of Barwari, Sapna, Nirwa, and Zakho, how is a self-governance rule going to be legislated in these areas when there’s already one constitutionally legislated for the Kurds and all these areas are within their administrative powers? Wouldn’t this be a self-governance rule within another?
How will they achieve this when we read in what the Kurds call a constitutional draft when Article III states:” A new region shall not be established within the borders of Iraqi- Kur*** an”.
Are those who are demanding this sort of “self-governance “willing to abandon the same people whose name they’re claiming? The way they’re proposing their project, they will be creating 1st, 2nd, 3rd class citizens and so on, why? Because when they ask for self-governance only in the Nineveh Plain it means that they are abandoning the people whom they are claiming to represent because they are living in Assyrian lands historically and geographically but they are now under Kurdish control, thus they will be creating pockets of self-governance here and there some linked to the central government “if this is really their aim” but what about the other areas? They know as well as we do that the Kurds will not permit such a self-governance unless it’s under their control as is happening today, and we all know what’s taking place in these areas, what method are they going to use in order to explain to the naïve people how they’re going to fail them yet again as did those who preceded them?
Are those so naïve or do they want to disregard and take advantage of the people’s passion and their longing to have power one more time on their historical lands, thus they tend to believe the hypocrites?
What’s odd is that every one is demanding the historical lands of a people whom they’re falsely calling (Chaldean Syriac Assyrian) but when they talk about ethnicity then all those who are claiming that Chaldean and Syriac are national adjectives they aren’t willing to let go of this false altercation but they attempt to pass on their lies thinking “let’s lie perhaps lies become a reality”. However, if they deceive some people for some time, they will not be able to deceive all the people all the time.
(Mosailama the liar) wasn’t a liar, an imposter or a cheap shot in the eyes of his followers rather he was seen as a leader, a wise man and a “prophet”. The same thing is happening today when we see some people being deceived with lies to the end while others link their fate to the lying leader when their interests and ambitions go hand in hand with him.
Things have developed in modern times where we see councils, conferences and leaderships claiming that which they are not and falsely claiming to realize that which they don’t believe in the first place, despite all this people clap, scramble to get in the good graces and defend these councils, conferences and leaderships, however, as time passes the public figures out their actions which contradict their words, their stands which are in contradiction with their promises and their conspiring behavior against the Assyrian national Cause.
Deceit increases and deceives those who aren’t prudent and smart, so where do they stand from reality, what’s true and what’s lies?
The most dangerous of hypocrites are those who practice hypocrisy with other hypocrites, thus for every hypocrite there’s another and the circle widens as the followers increase and all values disappear, hence virtue dies, dignity disappears and rights are lost.
Lastly these words are for my fellow Assyrians, truth can’t be hidden because you are the rightful owners of the land and its history and this is also known to all Iraqis, neighboring countries, the United Nations and the whole world. They all know that what’s taking place in Iraq but specifically its North isn’t legal or constitutional but it’s rather an act of usurpation and looting which isn’t consistent even with the current Iraqi constitution, because the Kurdish racism and chauvinism are happening under the sight of every one, but this Kurdish power ride will not last forever neither will the current Iraqi constitution. Hence, why those who are making claims in the name of the people are committing suicide, and bringing the people to peril by stripping them of their inheritance and land for their interests today but what about tomorrow, do you want to condemn your people and the coming generations to hell?[/size]
