The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

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Posted by Jeffrey (Guest) - Sunday, March 22 2015, 5:33:41 (UTC)
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7 things you didn’t know about Assyrian Christians

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BY Daniel Costa-Roberts March 21, 2015 at 1:46 PM EDT
An Assyrian woman attends a mass in solidarity with Assyrians abducted by Islamic State fighters in Syria, March 1, 2015. Islamic State militants have taken hundreds of Assyrian prisoners in Iraq and Syria. Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters

An Assyrian woman attends a mass in solidarity with Assyrians abducted by Islamic State fighters in Syria, March 1, 2015. Islamic State militants have taken hundreds of Assyrian prisoners in Iraq and Syria. Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters

On NewsHour Weekend Saturday, we travel to Alqosh, a Christian town in northern Iraq just 30 miles from the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Alqosh was overrun last summer by ISIS fighters and then recaptured with the help of Iraqi Christian and Kurdish militias this past August.

Fighting to protect Alqosh is an Assyrian Christian militia known as Dyvekh Nawsha. But who are the Assyrian Christians?

Here are seven things you should know about this ethnic minority group, whose members are spread across the world.

Assyrian Christians — often simply referred to as Assyrians — are an ethnic minority group whose origins lie in the Assyrian Empire, a major power in the ancient Middle East.
Most of the world’s 2-4 million Assyrians live around their traditional homeland, which comprises parts of northern Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. In recent years, many have fled to neighboring countries to escape persecution from both Sunni and Shiite militias during the Iraq War and, most recently, by ISIS. Members of the Assyrian diaspora are spread out all over world, including roughly 100,000 in the United States, according to a 2009 U.S. Census Bureau survey.
The official language of the three main Assyrian churches is Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken. Many Assyrians speak Aramaic dialects, though they often speak the local languages of the regions where they live as well.
Assyrians have been the victims of persecution for centuries, including the Assyrian genocide, in which the Ottomans killed at least 250,000 Assyrians during World War I. Iraqi Assyrians have faced increased persecution following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, including attacks on Assyrian churches – some estimate that 60 percent of Iraqi Assyrians have fled the country since the Iraq War began.
Tens of thousands of Assyrians in Northern Iraq have fled persecution at the hands of ISIS, which demands that Christians living under its control take down their crosses and pay the jizya, a tax on religious minorities. Those who do not pay face a choice between exile and death. ISIS has also attacked Assyrian villages, killing or imprisoning hundreds. Assyrian leaders describe the campaign of violence as genocide.
As part of an effort to rid their territory of pre-Islamic relics, ISIS militants have destroyed ancient Assyrian artifacts at the Mosul Museum and razed the remains of ancient Assyrian cities.
Assyrian groups have renewed calls for the creation of an Assyrian autonomous region in Northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, a traditional Assyrian stronghold.

Visitors look at Assyrian mural sculptures at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, March 8, 2015. Islamic State militants have desecrated Assyrian relics and ancient sites. Photo by Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters

Visitors look at Assyrian mural sculptures at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, March 8, 2015. Islamic State militants have desecrated Assyrian relics and ancient sites. Photo by Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters
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Ashor • an hour ago

Great article!! Accurate and on point. I was in Northern Iraq less than a year ago and I saw many of the Assyrian villages including Alqosh where the Assyrian flag was proudly flown and some of the village elders stated with enthusiasm that it's a town of all Assyrians
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janelle • 2 hours ago

Very disappoInting article, especially the lack of factual information being stated is gut-wrenching. Alqosh is a village NOT an Assyrian Militia, as a matter of fact it's CHALDEANS' Whom reside in the village of Alqosh. This whole article sounds like it was written by an Assyrian crying for attention, please revise.
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James janelle • 25 minutes ago

Chaldeans are Roman Catholic Assyrians, hence why all "Chaldeans" live in northern Iraq in and around Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria.
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aliruba • 9 hours ago

Shi'ite militias have never attacked Assyrians. In fact, Assyrians and Shi'ites have always had a strong relationship, and join each other during both Christian and Muslim Shi'ite celebrations.
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