By Seyfo Center, Web Team
In the autumn of this year, Ahna Media in the Netherlands launches "The Seyfo Documentary". In this documentary, a camera crew of Ahna Media follows Sabri Atman in his battle for recognition of the Seyfo, over the past two years. The documentary should contribute to a global awareness of the events in 1915. The proceeds of this documentary are intended to help the Seyfo Center, for their work in the coming years.
More information will follow after the summer when the promotion of this documentary will be in full swing.
By Web Team, Seyfo Center
SWITZERLAND - On Sunday, July 6 2008, approximately 100 people from all over the world participated in the climb of the Rigi mountain in Switzerland. The climb was marked by the commemoration of the victims during the Assyrian Genocide of 1915. On top of the mountain there were symbolically a large number of black balloons released with the text: 'Turkey should recognize the Assyrian Genocide'.
The program consisted of a short lecture on Saturday evening, the climb on Sunday morning and a lunch on Sunday afternoon. In the Assyrian (Suryoye) Association in the village of Ibach, an hour drive from the Syrian Orthodox monastery in Arth, a short presentation was held by Mr. Sabri Atman, chairman of Seyfo Center. During the lecture, the participants were told the importance of the recognition of the Seyfo and encouraged to climb the Rigi mountain the next day.
The following is the preface written by honorable Professor Henry William Fredrick Saggs for the book Assyrian National Question at the United Nations by Dr. Sargon Dadesho.
Civilization has always been under threat from the forces of barbarism. Without a strong arm to defend it, it can be destroyed.
From the beginning of the third millennium B.C. the civilization upon which our own is based took root in the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates in south Iraq. In the course of the next two millennia its influence spread out, towards Iran, Turkey, Syria, and the borders of Egypt. But small warring kingdom in the west and fierce migrating peoples in the north and east threatened the stability of the civilized order. Expanding Mesopotamian civilization needed a defender. It found it in the kingdom of Assyria.
Herald Sun
PROTEST groups disrupted mass at St Patrick's Cathedral this morning, calling for a meeting with the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart.
About 15 victims and representatives of victims of clergy sexual abuse protested outside the cathedral as well as around 100 members of a Campbellfield church demanding the reinstatement of their former priest.
By Salim Abraham
GroundReport.com
On a sizzling summer afternoon in 1974, my mother was trailing behind me, running hastily home to escape one of the stone battles that raged between neighbourhoods in Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli.
Once we crossed the sand bridge that separated the Assyrian quarter from the rest of the city, we were out of the slingshots’ range. This one was the last battle youngsters from the Assyrian quarter fought against Khanika, a neighboring Kurdish quarter, as the government soon tightened its policing of neighborhoods.
The weapons in the battle were giant slingshots (called stone canons) and ghee can lids; the ammunition was stones. It was like a real war with trenches dug along the frontlines of the fighting neighbourhoods. At the time, I was seven years old. I didn't understand what was going on; why such wars broke out. The only thing my mother told me was: "It's a fight between us and the Kurds."
I don’t remember the logic behind those fights and how they were planned or started. But I do recall that the Assyrian quarter was vibrant and buzzing with life and robust youngsters ready to defend it and shut it off to intruders.
By Scott Jaschik
scott.jaschik@insidehighered.com
InsideHigherEd.com
Scholars of the Armenian genocide have long accused Turkey of using its financial support to promote the idea that a genocide didn’t take place or that the jury is still out — views that have little credibility among historians of genocide.
An incident in 2006, only recently being talked about publicly, has some scholars concerned that Turkey and its supporters may be interfering in American scholarship. The chair of the board of the Institute of Turkish Studies, which is based at Georgetown University, resigned at the end of 2006, and he says he was given a choice by Turkish officials of either quitting or seeing the funding for the institute go away.
Having never sought public office before, Brendan is not a professional politician. He's a local family man and small business owner who is fed up with the disaster in Springfield and politics as usual - and he's decided to do something about it.
A lifelong resident of Glenview, Brendan attended Glenview’s excellent public schools and graduated from Glenbrook South High School. Brendan went on to obtain his undergraduate degree in political science at Loyola University Chicago. He then earned his law degree, with honors, at DePaul University College of Law where he served on both the DePaul Law Review and the Moot Court Appellate Team.
Brendan is an entrepreneur, operating his own law firm since 2003. He represents individuals, families and small businesses in corporate, litigation and real estate matters. Brendan has also worked with the pro bono agency “The Center for Disability and Elder Law” since 2000 and he continues to represent needy and elderly clients on a pro bono basis.
By AssyriaSat Staff
kbsv@aol.com
To: Catholic News Agency
The Assyrian Global Television Network, AssyriaSat, finds your article tilted, “Assyrian bishop explains his journey into communion with the Catholic Church”, published on June 5, 2008 very tasteless and offensive.
As a media, we believe that integrity-based journalism is a must, especially for a religious magazine such as CNA. There has been a whole lot of misrepresentation of facts in regards to the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE) and the expulsion of ex-bishop Bawai Soro in various Catholic news magazines. This relaxed standard undermines journalism's integrity, the reader’s intelligence and the integrity of the publication on the whole.
Ex-bishop Bawai Soro, aka, Ashur B. Soro, was defrocked in 2005 for misappropriation of church funds and fraudulent conversion of the titles of the church properties he held in his trust during his employment with the ACOE to his own sole corporation. The ACOE court case against Soro was so strong and solid that the Santa Clara Superior Court judge found it unnecessary to go to a trial and granted ACOE a Summary Judgment in October 2007. Perhaps your investigative reporters could look into this case in dept for future reference.
By Ken Joseph Jr.
www.assyrianchristians.com
Washington D.C. -- The driving force behind “The Biden Plan”, Senator Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware in a recent conversation confirmed that “The Biden Plan” involves more than three divisions of Iraq.
Generally seen as a proposal to allow Iraq to grant autonomy to “Shiastan” in the south, “Sunnistan” in the middle of the country and “Kurdistan” in the North, Biden confirmed that his plan also included the Assyrian Province.
