Arameans of Iraq: The East- Aramean Chaldean bishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk sounds the alarm bell

Gregorios John Bar Hebreaus

3-3-2010: Exodus of the Arameans of Mosul continues undiminished: According to UN report already 720 Aramean families (4320 people) have left Mosul

1-3-2010: Peaceful demonstration on Sunday 28^th of February 2010 by the Aramean Orthodox and Catholics in Baghdeda (Qaraqosh), northern Iraq

27-2-2010: Council of Churches in Iraq appeals to the government to protect the Aramean people in Mosul, Iraq

26-2-2010: The Arameans of Mosul: A new Exodus and Ethnic cleansing is going on

18-2-2010: The Arameans of Iraq again victim of killings and bloodbaths:

24-12-2009: A Christmas “message” for the Arameans of Mosul: Four Aramean Churches attacked and one Aramean killed

26-10-2009: Exactly one month and one day after the dramatic appeal of Iraqi President to the United Nations, two car bombs were detonated in the neighborhood of the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq

1-9-2009: Arameans of Iraq: The East- Aramean Chaldean bishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk sounds the alarm bell

29-8-2009: Totally unfounded or has it a grain of truth in it? Greater- Israel and the ethnic cleansing of the Arameans of Mosul and surroundings in Iraq

14-7-2009: The Special UN envoy to Iraq, Mr. Ad Melkert, wants extra protection for the Aramean Christians in Iraq

13-7-2009: Seven Indigenous Aramean Churches in Baghdad (Iraq) attacked by car bombs

4-5-2009: Aramean blood continues to flow in Iraq…

15-11-2008: Iraq: The bloodshed of Aramean people and bombardment of churches continues undiminished

27-10-2008: Attempt of ethnic cleansing Mosul: The Aramean Srebrinica. Who is responsible and why?

14-10-2008: Aramean indigenous nation of Iraq: Removal of article 50, exclusion, killings, persecutions, displacements and ethnic cleansing in Mosul erea

2-9-2008: Again two Arameans killed in Iraq

Killing of Priest Yusuf Adel Abudi

4-5-2008: Again a Aramean spiritual leader is killed in Iraq. This time: The West- Aramean Syrian orthodox priest Yusuf Adel Abudi in Bagdad

11-4-2008: Through all the misery: Miracles happens in Iraq

6-4-2008: Funeral of the West- Aramean Syrian Orthodox Priest Yusuf Adel Abudi

Killing of Mgr. Faraj Raho

1-3-2008: East- Aramean Chaldean bishop of Mosul, Mgr. Paulus Faraj Raho was abducted on 29-2-2008 in Mosul.

13-3-2008: The East- Aramean Chaldean bishop Paulus Faraj Raho killed in Mosul

14-3-2008: Friday 14-3-2008: Funeral of Mgr. Faraj Raho in St. Addai Church in Karemlesh

16-3-2008: Mgr. Paulus Faraj Raho: A Great Spiritual Leader and a Worthy Sheppard in Charge of Jesus Christ

23-2-2008: Aramean centre for art and culture has been opened in Ankawa, northern Iraq

7-1-2008: Aramean Churches and institutions in Iraq under Attack

22-8-2007: AINA: The international lie- and hate machine and the cause of killing, persecution and decline of the Arameans of Iraq

Killing of Priest Ragied Aziz Gannie

3-6-2007: East- Aramean Chaldean priest Ragied Aziz Gannie brutally murdered in Mosul along with three deacons by Muslim extremists

25-5-2007: Terror against Arameans (including "Assyrians" and Chaldeans) of Iraq. Ethnic cleansing of the Indigenous people of Iraq

Killing of Isoh Majeed Hadaya

22-11-2006: The West- Aramean Isoh Majeed Hadaya killed by terrorists in Iraq

Killing of Priest Paulus Iskandar

12-10-2006: Aramean priest Iskandar beheaded in Mosul (Iraq)

Aramean people: Aramean people (not to be confused with ‘Armenians’) speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Abraham, Moses and Jesus. They are the indigenous people of what was called in ancient times Aram- Nahrin, in our days it is called ‘Mesopotamia’.

Some Arameans today identify themselves with “Assyrians”, because of the spiritual colonial hate generating activities of the Western missionaries and diplomats in the Middle-East in 16th and 19th centuries. Other Arameans became known as “Chaldeans”. However all of them are Arameans.In Turkey, the Arameans are called: Süryani. In Arabic they are called Al- Suryan.

Arameans of Iraq: The East- Aramean Chaldean bishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk sounds the alarm bell

Dutch Version

On 27-8-2009 an article was published on the website of www.catholicnewsagency.com, titled “Amid violence, Iraqi archbishop ‘more pessimistic than ever’ about Christians’ future”

(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16963)

Archbishop of Mosul, Mgr. Louis Sako has been interviewed. He is describing a very pessimistic and hopeless situation of the Aramean Christians in Iraq. Basically, he sees no good in it and almost considers the situation as lost. The Arameans of Iraq consist of various denominations:

The West- Aramean Syrian Orthodox

The West- Aramean Syrian Catholics

The West- Aramean Melkites

The East- Aramean Nestorian Chaldeans

The East- Aramean Nestorian Assyrians are divided into: The Assyrian Catholic Church of the East (Since 1976) and the Ancient Church of the East (Since 1968).

Although exact numbers are unknown, however before 2003, there were around 800.000 Arameans in Iraq. Their number is unfortunately reduced to 400.000 or even less. Mgr. Sako says at the end of interview, “Church leaders and Christian politicians are also not doing enough to cooperate to confront common problems,…” Mgr. Sako is tackling here a very sensitive and important issue which factually will result in the complete downfall of the Aramean nation not only in Iraq but in the entire Middle-East.

Because of severe division and mutual hatred, injected in the hearts of a part of the Aramean nation in Iraq by the colonial powers in the 16^th and 19e centuries, the Arameans are not able to put aside their differences to deal with the current problems.

And this makes their situation very precarious. You cannot blame the Islamic extremists for everything you experiences in these difficult times. There are many possibilities to work together and try to improve your situation. Other groups in Iraq face similar problems, if not worse! Yet, they succeed much better than the Arameans do, under these difficulties and chaotic circumstances to adequately deal with the situation. The words of Mgr. Sako describe the current situation dramatically as he says, “I feel more pessimistic now than ever before. We do not have the same hope that we had before,”

Mgr. Sako is not the only one who lamenting on the terrible situation of the Arameans of Iraq, other Christian leaders ventilate the same hopelessness on the rough situation, if not worse. Unfortunately they seem not to be able, even under these terrible conditions, to climb over the spiritual wall of hatred, division and extermination created by the colonial powers in the 16^th and 19^th centuries and extend the hands of cooperation.

The worst form of hypocrisy however, is that the perpetrators of this hatred and division shed crocodile tears in front of the camera’s and have their mouth full of “Christian unity” and “brotherhood”. However when the camera’s disappear they continue as business as usual and thicken even more the wall of division and hatred. One just may ask the question: For how long will the Lord be patient to let this happen?

Related articles:

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http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Aramean_Spiritual_Genocide.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Mosul_Aramean_Srebrinica_27_10_2008.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/English/Miracles_In_Iraq_11_4_2008.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Mosul_Aramean_Srebrinica_27_10_2008.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Arameans_In_The_Media_Misinformation_8_6_2009.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Turks_Kurds_Aramean_monastery_St_Gabriel_28_2_2009.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Indigenous_2009.htm

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Did you learn something from this article? Do you want to help the Aramean indigenous people? Please click on these links and help us:

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/AramNaharaim_Volunteers.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/HelpUs.htm

Amid violence, Iraqi archbishop ‘more pessimistic than ever’ about Christians’ future

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16963

Kirkuk, Iraq, Aug 27, 2009 / 08:24 pm (CNA).- Louis Sako, Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk, has said that Iraqi Christians are facing “bad days” as “ineffective” security cannot prevent criminality and violence targeting Christian minorities. Many of the Christians who remain are in such fear that they too want to leave Iraq, he said.

The future of Christianity in Iraq, even in the short term, now “hangs in the balance,” Archbishop Sako said in a phone interview with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Christians lack the protection of militia and have become “easy targets” for criminals, he reported.

Violence and the lack of jobs and services have encouraged many Christians to leave. There are now only 300 Christian families in southern Iraq and less than 400,000 Christians in Iraq as a whole. Within the past decade, their numbers have declined by 750,000.

In the northern city of Mosul, a former Christian heartland, many Christian families are “too afraid to come back.”

At one point in the interview, Archbishop Sako warned of rising extremism.

“Iraq is going to a narrow form of Islam,” he commented.

“I feel more pessimistic now than ever before. We do not have the same hope that we had before,” he told ACN. “In fact I am not seeing any signs of hope for the future. Our whole future hangs in the balance.

“We are experiencing bad days. Every group involved in criminal activity seems to be active.”

Archbishop Sako called Iraq’s security system “ineffective” and “unprofessional.”

“The government and the police are doing their best but they are incapable of controlling the situation,” he reported, saying that Christians are generally being attacked not because they are Christian but because they are seen to be defenseless.

Even one crime, abduction or killing makes the whole community want to move, he reported.

The archbishop spoke from Kirkuk, ten days after a Christian father of three was shot dead and a doctor was abducted on his way home in the city.

The turmoil is not localized to one part of Iraq.

“Every day, there are explosions – in Baghdad, Mosul, so many different places,” he added.

In July, militants attacked seven churches in Baghdad, killing and injuring dozens. Last week nearly 100 were killed in a series of attacks.

“Living in this climate, the Christian people are afraid. They are really worried. Despite what we tell them, encouraging them to stay, they want to leave,” Archbishop Sako said.

He reported that the people have lost patience with the country’s politicians. The prelate also called on Western countries to pressure Iraqi political groups to reconcile and try to reduce conflict and restore law and order.

“There can be no proper security without a real reconciliation. The only people who seem to be benefiting from the situation at the moment are the criminals. This has got to change,” he explained.

Archbishop Sako noted the crucial importance of interfaith work for coexistence between Christians and Muslims. While the archbishop is involved in initiatives in Kirkuk, such as hosting a Ramadan dinner this weekend, they are generally not replicated elsewhere in the country.

The work is small scale and involves individuals rather than the large groups crucial for attitude changes.

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