Aramean Organizations sent a letter to the United Nations and ask for the protection of the Aramean people of Iraq.

Dutch Version

Nr.: 2010-3-23/5

Netherlands, 23^rd of March 2010

Re: More than 5000 Arameans moved out of Mosul

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq

His Excellency Mr. Ad Melkert,

New York

United States of America

Your Excellency;

We, the undersigned, the Arameans of Aram-Naharaim Organization and the Aramean Democratic Organization wish to convey our sincere concerns to you regarding the deteriorating situation of the Aramean Indigenous nation of Iraq and other minorities in the Mosul area.

The Aramean people (not to be confused with ‘Armenians’) speak Aramaic, ^[1] the language spoken by Abraham, Moses and Jesus, through which they have made a very important contribution to world civilizations. ^[2] This ancient Semitic people, now divided into several denominations and spread throughout the Middle East, amount to approximately 8 million people worldwide. The various Aramean denominations in Iraq are also known as religious designations such as “Syrian Orthodox”, “Syrian Catholics”, “Chaldeans”, “Assyrians”, “Greek Orthodox” and “Greek Catholics”. ^[3]

Since the beginning of February 2010, the forces of intolerance and fanaticism in Mosul area started to attack, threat, kill and expel our people from the city. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ^[4] more than 5000 people have left Mosul for outlying areas for security. In addition at least 15 Arameans have been killed.

What is now taking place before the eyes of the world is a ferocious attempt of ethnic cleansing by the forces of abyss who do not understand the meaning of words like respect, peace and brotherhood, but rather prefer the ‘law of the jungle’ and the path of fanaticism and bloodshed.

Your Excellency, this is a repetition of the events of 2008 which were also carried out in Mosul against the Aramean Indigenous nation by the same diabolical forces. In several letters ^[5] to the UN and the Iraqi government we asked action to be taken to prevent the ethnic cleansing of this area of its original inhabitants who have been present in this region for thousands of years. In 2008 the central government promised an investigation to these atrocities. Unfortunately, it is still unclear who have been responsible for this hideous attempt of ethnic cleansing. ^[6]

In our letter of 31^st of October 2008, ^[5] we proposed to the United Nations that the following necessary measures should be taken:

1. To urge the Iraqi government to conduct an independent international inquiry under the auspices of the United Nations to ensure transparency and reliability on the atrocities which took place in Mosul.

2. To bring the perpetrators of the atrocities against our nation before the international court of justice.

3. Many of the displaced Aramean Christians fear to return back to Mosul. Therefore we ask the UN to assist the displaced Arameans and non-Arameans back to their homes in Mosul and offer them a complete compensation, including repairing their destroyed homes and damaged cultural or spiritual buildings, and provide them with security guarantees to facilitate a general feeling of safety.

4. To put the Mosul area under UN protection until the Iraqi Government is strong enough to provide the minimum security for the citizens of Mosul, including Aramean Christians and others.

If these suggestions and proposals were even partially implemented, the current cruelties would not have been taken place, nor would the situation be as serious.

Your Excellency, these evil forces of intolerance and fanaticism are not familiar with peace, respect and mutual cooperation. For this reason we believe that the international community has the moral obligation to protect the Aramean Indigenous nation of Iraq, also known as “Assyrians” or Chaldeans, by forcing peace under UN assistance in this area. This will facilitate a general feeling of safety among the various Aramean denominations and prevent our nation from leaving the area.

Furthermore, contrary to other groups in Iraq, the Aramean Indigenous nation does not have their own militia to protect themselves. Since the central government has proven not to be able to provide the Aramean Indigenous nation with the minimum protection to prevent this savagery, we ask the United Nations to arm our nation under UN supervision to be able to protect themselves and to deal with this lawlessness.

The marginalization, persecution and exclusion of our nation for hundred of years and their precarious situation in these days, in which they are threatened with ethnic cleansing from the lands of the forefathers, is not exclusively due to the forces of fanaticism and intolerance, but it has its roots in the colonial intervention of the 16^th and 19^th centuries whereby nationalism and fanaticism was brought to the Middle-East. The colonial intervention, implemented on cultural, social, religious and academic level, gave the final blow to the Aramean nation and accelerated their downfall in the lands of the forefathers.

Finally we trust that you have noticed our sincere concerns and will consider the precarious situation of the Aramean nation in Iraq to thwart the plans of the invisible powers, whose ultimate goal seems to be ethnic cleansing of the area of its Indigenous Aramean nation at any cost. It would be a great loss to mankind if the Cradle of Civilization would be cleaned of its original inhabitants by those who apply and enjoy the law of the jungle instead of the law of respect, brotherhood and solidarity. Today something can be done to prevent this happening, tomorrow may be too late!

Respectfully Yours,

Footnotes:

[1] More on the Aramaic language:

http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Interview_Chairmain_Aram-Naharaim_27_6_2007.htm

[2] The contribution of the Aramean nation to world civilizations is well-summarized by a world- renowned Eminent Oxford University Scholar Professor Sebastian Brock, a specialist on Aramaic (Syriac) and Hebrew, who said “Almost all societies are dependent upon the use of writing, but very few peoples realise that the great majority of the world’s scripts can be traced back to a common ancestor, an alphabet invented in the Middle East four thousands years ago, which was subsequently refined by the Phoenicians and the Aramaeans who spread it throughout the known world. It is thus without doubt one of the greatest gifts of the Aramean peoples to world culture.” (Hidden Pearl volume I: Page 27)

“…Nevertheless it is undeniable that the simple Aramaic alphabet of 22 letters has had the most extraordinary impact on the development of alphabetic writing systems throughout the world. Indeed, it is very hard to imagine how human culture and scientific learning could have progressed without (the Aramaic language).” (Hidden Pearl volume I: Page 58)

[3] More on the various Aramean denominations: http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Interview_Chairmain_Aram-Naharaim_26_6_2007.htm

[4] http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/UN_Office_Coordination_Humanatarian_report_Iraq_6_3_2010.pdf

[5] 6^th of May 2008: Letter to the Secretary General of United Nations:

http://www.iraqichristians.org/English/ArameansOrganisations_UN_Iraq_Help_10_5_2008.htm

31^st of October 2008: Letter to the Secretary General of United Nations:

http://www.iraqichristians.org/English/Aramean_Organisations_Letter_UN_31_10_2008.htm

22^nd of April 2008: Letter to the Iraqi Government:

http://www.iraqichristians.org/English/ArameanOrganisations_Protection_leaders_Iraq_25_4_2008.htm

[6] According to the Iraqi Lawmaker, Mr. Osama Naijfi, the Kurdish militia were involved in this atrocities: ‘"Investigations have been completed and proved the involvement of Kurdish militias in the displacement and killing of Christians," Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki reportedly said during a discussion with Iraqi lawmakers, according to Osama Al Nojaifi, a deputy in the Iraqi parliament.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/kurds-seen-behind-attacks-on-christians-1.139181

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

Do you hate corruption and favoritism? Do you think that this had caused our nation into Diaspora? Do you want to do something against it? Are you courageous? Welcome than to Aram-Naharaim

Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

It is forbidden to publish this publication, in whole or a part, without the permission of the Aram-Naharaim Organization.