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Arameans of
Aram-Naharaim Foundation Flourishing at the United Nations
Dear Madam/Sir;
We are pleased to inform you
that the Arameans of Aram-Naharaim Foundation attended for the
second time the annual meeting of the Working on the Indigenous
Populations. During the meeting; Aram-naharaim made a statement
entitled,,
Spiritual Colonialism and the decline of the Indigenous Aramean
people of Aram-Nahrin”
Please find below the
statement:
The Statement
Economic and Social
Council of the United Nations
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Working Group on the Indigenous
Populations; 23rd session
Switzerland;
Geneva: 18-22 July 2005
Read
Out: 18-7-2005
Spiritual
Colonialism and the decline of the Indigenous Aramean people of
Aram-Nahrin
Expanded
version of the
Oral statement: The text with
Arial Narrow Font (12 pt) + BOLD =
Not Read out Loud
Oral
statement under item: 4 Review of
developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of the
rights of indigenous peoples, including their human rights and
fundamental freedom:
(a)
General Debate
Mr.
Chairman;
In
the framework of item 4 (a); we wish to make a few remarks on the
impact of the spiritual colonialism on the decline of the indigenous
Aramean people of Middle-east.
Many indigenous peoples present at this meeting have a dark page in
their history. Some of them became victims of persecutions,
discrimination and ethnic cleansing; others became victim of
extermination, exclusion and extortion. Their lands were invaded by
strangers, the original inhabitants were oppressed merciless and the
natural resources were exploited by the invaders. Their cultures,
customs and traditions were oppressed or erased by ,,spiritual
colonialism”. Some survived while others were annihilated. They
were considered as savages and their genuine traditions and customs
were considered as backwards[1] by the then ,,civilized”
nations. Their children were forced to deny the heritage of their
forefathers- under the pretext of “education” ; a heritage kept
alive for thousands of years whether oral or in written form.
In
many cases, the injustice done to the indigenous peoples were
carried out in the name of ,,civilization”, “faith” or even in the
name of “peace” to ,,re-educate” them.
In our modern days; many Indigenous peoples still have to combat
with prejudice, exclusion, discrimination and extermination. They
have to fight for recognition, education, social equality, dignity
and for the right to be considered as human beings with qualities
and skills to contribute to the well-being of mankind.
Mr.
Chairman;
The
Semitic Aramean people, now divided into several denominations and
spread throughout the Middle East, have been in Mesopotamia, the
cradle of civilisation, for thousands of years and have made a great
contribution to the world civilizations particularly through their
language, the Aramaic also spoken by Abraham, Moses and Jesus
Christ. Today, they amount to approximately 4 million people,
worldwide, who have faced discrimination, ethnic cleansing,
genocides and continuous persecutions for hundreds of years and
still continues today.
The
contribution of the Aramean people to the world civilizations is
well summarized by the prominent British Professor
Sebastian Brock[2] of the Oxford
University, an authority on Hebrew, Aramaic and Syrian Orthodox
Church history. He says,, 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 Aramaean peoples to world culture” (Hidden
Pearl volume I: Page 27) [3]. Brock continues and
says,, 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
it” (Page 58).
In the ancient
times the cradle of the Aramean forefathers was called,,
Aramnahrin" (or:
Aram-Nahrin) in Aramaic. In
Hebrew it was called,, Aram-Naharaim"
which we encounter in the old testament. When the old testament was
translated into Greek, the term
Aram-Naharaim was translated by
Mesopotamia;
which many get familiarized with during their education.
Because of
overwhelming presence of Arameans in the southern part of
Aram-Nahrin, in the era of early Christianity, it was called
Beth-Aramaya, meaning (in
Aramaic) the house of the Arameans.
The northern part of Aram-Naharaim was called
Paddan-Aram, meaning
the
land of Aram
where Biblical figures like Abraham and Jacob have lived and walked,
which is roughly speaking situated in south-eastern Turkey. A part
of Paddan-Aram is today called Tur
Abdin in the Aramaic (Syriac) language, which means “the
mountains of the servants of the Lord”,
because of the overwhelming presence of monasteries and churches.
In Genesis
24:4 Abraham says to his servants,,
You must go back to the country
where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my
relatives.".
Abraham says,, the country” where I was born. It means the country
of his Aramean fathers; which is called paddan-Aram; a part of
Aram-Naharaim.
After
the coming of Jesus Christ, the Arameans of
Aram-Naharaim
accepted the teachings of Christ and established together with the
apostles of Jesus and the converted Jews, the Syrian Church of
Antioch[4], the second Patriarchy after Jerusalem, where
for the first time the followers of Jesus Christ were called
“Christians” (Acts 11:26). This church was the mother of all the
Churches – and the first Church established outside Israel, whose
Patriarch currently resides in Damascus, Syria.
The Semitic Arameans (‘not to be confused with “Armenians”)
underwent a change of name after they had embraced Christianity and
were then called “Syrians”[4], in order to be
distinguished from the Arameans who were not converted. However,
this should be not confused with the present-day Syrian Arabs.
According to Professor Professor Muhammed Shamsaddin Megallomatis,
many of the present-day Arabs are originally Arameans. They became
,,Arabs” after their conversion to Islam[5]
The
Indigenous Aramean people of middle-east are no exception in this
regard. Living in an area which became known to the world as ,,Mesopotamia”
and has been the scene of battles for hundreds of years between
groups and nations whose dictionary lacks words like respect and
peace; the peaceful- minded Arameans were constantly fighting to
survive.
Beside the
difficult and complex situation in the lands of the forefathers, the
Arameans of Aram-Naharaim have always tried to live in peace and
brotherhood with the other peoples in this part of the world,
treating them with brotherly respect and obeying the laws of the
countries in which they reside.
However,
we painfully observe that today’s reality is that our people are
being ignored, discriminated against, and treated as second class
citizens in their own homelands which are now occupied, and
dominated by other peoples. Their fundamental human rights are, in
turn, being violated. This only shows the world community that the
Aramean policy of love, brotherhood and obedience, which we believe
is also the policy of this very working group, is not part of the
belief system of some of the countries and peoples in the Middle
East.
Our experience from the many centuries of discrimination and
persecution proves to us that many groups and peoples are not
familiar with this concept of peaceful cooperation, but would rather
resort to the path of intolerance and fanaticism; a path which has
opened the way for bloodshed, hatred and genocide.
Our
people were
subjected to systematic discrimination and persecutions –including
forced Islamization, the deliberate destruction of our cultural
heritage, the conversion of our churches and monasteries into
mosques, and in many cases, the burning of such holy places.
The climax of terror, exclusion, and discrimination against the
peaceful minded indigenous Aramean people was reached
in 1914-1918, when approximately 600.000[6]
of them of different denominations were brutally slaughtered, whose
innocent blood is still crying for justice.
Although the
Indigenous Aramean people are faced with catastrophe, misfortune,
and devastation in the lands of the forefathers, it is not always
apparent to the international community. Tur abdin is the heartland
of the Aramean Christians of Mesopotamia. In Aramaic, Tur Abdin
means ‘the
Mountain of
Servants of the Lord’.
Even its name is a testament to its priceless value and importance.
Tur Abdin has been home to historically significant churches and
monasteries for the past 2,000 years, since the dawn of
Christianity. Tur Abdin could be compared to an antique museum
where thousands of years of heritage and history are kept alive.
This part of the world has always been inhabited by the Arameans of
Aram-Naharaim;
Recently, on 6th of June 2005[7], a bomb
attack was carried out on an Aramean priest in Tur Abdin which is
situated in south-eastern of Turkey. Thirty years ago, there were
approximately 40,000 Arameans in Tur Abdin. Because of continued
discrimination and persecution, our people were forced to flee into
the Diaspora, leaving behind the sacred land of the forefathers,
which they inhabited for thousands of years.
Today there are only approximately 2,000 Arameans left in Tur Abdin,
and dwindling. None of us would have voluntarily left Tur Abdin if
not for the discrimination and persecution.
Mr.
Chairman;
The
Indigenous Aramean people of Aram-Nahrin have not only suffered
under those who follow the path of the ,,sword”, but also under the
western spiritual colonialism of the 16th and 19th
century- carried out in the name of ,,unity”, ,,peace” and
,,brotherhood”. It was that ideology which misused the faith as a
mean not only to divide and weaken the Aramean nation, but also
making them vulnerable to those who follow and glorify the path of
the ,,sword” [8].
The
spiritual and political powers intermingling
Recently a scholarly book has been published from the hand of
Sebastian de Courtois entitled,, The Forgotten Genocide: Eastern
Christians, The Last Arameans”[1].
In this book
we read amongst others about the divide and rule politics to weaken
and subject the Arameans of the middle-east. We read,,
The first [Syrian] Catholic Patriarch had
been consecrated in
Aleppo in
1662 with French help through the mediation of Ambassador Francois
Picquet
(page 33)…. .. which
was encouraged by French
diplomats present in
Aleppo at
that time. The diplomats favoured the separation in the hope of one
day uniting the Eastern Churches with that of
Rome
(XiX).. The Catholic mission activities were strongly
supported by French Ministry of Foreign Affairs policy, which had
been reinforced in the region by creation in 1856 of a
vice-consulate in Diyarbekir at the request of the
Vatican
(page. 36)
Religious
interests mixed with political interests gives unholy ,,melting pot”
which results in devastation and degradation of human dignity! The
spiritual and political powers worked together under the pretext of
,,unity” to spiritually weaken the Aramean people!
In our days, the fanatics of the middle-east, who commit suicide by
car bombs, are blamed for such behavior. Unfortunately, one
,,forget” however to mention that it was the West who developed and
applied such a ideology – a horrible melting pot of nationalism
mixed with fanatical religion- and brought it to the middle-east
which has reached a climax of terror and devastation in our days.
Therefore,
the present-day
fanaticism in the lands of the forefathers is nothing but a
reflection of what has been created in the past by the spiritual
colonialism which affected the wellbeing of the entire region and
served as catalyst to decline of the Aramean presence in the
middle-east. According to the brilliant historian Professor Muhammed
Shamsaddin Megallomatis the present-day,, terrorism is a later
result of the earlier ideological developments in the area of the
Middle East”
and ,, It is from the Western European universities, political
parties and demented ateliers of all sorts that nationalism emanated”
[5]
Distortion
of the Aramean identity – competition between the former powers
Great Brittan and French
Although
the name of our people and its history is very well documented by
general accepted historical facts as well as by the brilliant
scholars of the Syrian Church of Antioch[9], the Roman
Catholic Church and the Anglican missionaries felt it necessary to
stick mythical names onto the minds of our people, which has caused
us to be frequently misrepresented in some media by people who have
no authority whatsoever to speak on behalf of our people.
In 1552/53 the Syrian “Nestorian” Church of the East was split into
two groups as a result of the activities of the missionaries of the
Roman Catholic Church. The part of the Church united with the
Catholic Church in 1552/1553 assumed the name “Chaldean” and with
that, the Chaldean Church (of Babylon) was born. In the late 19th
century, we see a similar thing happening. This time, being carried
out by the Anglican missionaries, with the remaining part of the
East-Syrian “Nestorians” of Hakkaria (bordering Turkey and Iraq) and
Urmia (Iran), who were wrongfully identified as “Assyrians”; purely
geographical and only applied to the “Nestorians”.
The
East-Aramean “Nestorians”
prefer,
since then, to call themselves ,,Assyrians” and try, by all means
possible, to
force this term
onto other Aramean denominations by spreading plenty of biased
information regarding the origin of our people and our language.
After
the adoption of ,,
Assyrianism”
by the East-Aramean ,,
Nestorians”;
they became so nationalistic/fanatics that they started to distort
historical facts. For example: Aramaic language they changed in
“Assyrian”
language, Aramean people in “Assyrian”
people.
Saint Ephraim the Syrian became “Saint
Ephrem the Assyrian”,
Syrian Church became “Assyrian
Church”.
In this way they try by all means possible to falsify our history
and our sacred Aramaic language. The enclosed report is a vivid
proof of these zealous attempts!
The
painful and mythical descriptions in reference to our people,
invented by outsiders, who were unaware of the Hidden Pearl[3]
- truths which have been- till the present day, buried beneath the
persecutions and ethnic cleansing of past centuries, are definitely
not in agreement with the historical facts recorded by the brilliant
historians of the Syrian Church of Antioch[9] who
enlightened the world of their time, not only with the theological
knowledge but with profane science as well.
The
nations of yesteryear who fragmented the Aramean nation of
Aram-Nahrin proclaim in our days to be the beacon of democracy and
human rights thereby shedding crocodile tears to express their
,,concern” about the fragile and complex situation of the
middle-east and continue – as if they did a good and a holy job - to
label the Indigenous Aramean people with the by themselves produced
mythical names[10]; without paying respect to the
historical facts regarding the origin of our people recently recoded
in the multimedia project: The Hidden Pearl[3].
Living
in 21st century, one would expect that the world
community finally would give our people the honour and dignity they
deserve in agreement with the historical facts so that they finally
can enjoy their minimal fundamental human rights.
Unfortunately,
the today’s reality is that the Indigenous Christian Aramean people
of Aram-Nahrin are completely ignored and excluded as if they do not
exist. What is worse is that the
“product” created by the Western spiritual colonialism in the
16th and late 19th century; which had a
devastated effect on the Aramean people in the middle-east, is now
widely glorified
by prominent
political leaders and the mainstream media; thereby ignoring the
existence of the indigenous Aramean people. Here below a few
examples will be given to explain this to you:
-
President
Bush:
(October 7, 2002),, The oppression of Kurds, Assyrians,
Turkomans, Shi'a, Sunnis and others…..
-
President
Bush: (March 16, 2003),,…
“…..All
the Iraqi people -- its rich mix of Sunni and Shiite Arabs, Kurds,
Turkomen, Assyrians, Chaldeans,……”
-
President
Bush: (April 28, 2003),,…
Whether
you're Sunni or Shia or Kurd or Chaldean or Assyrian or Turkoman
or Christian or Jew or Muslim ..
-
Tony Blair:
(March 30, 2003): I
want all Iraqis - Arab, Assyrian,
Kurd, Turkoman, Sunni, Shiite, Christian and all other groups –
Please note
how explicitly the spiritual colonialism is being glorified and
maintained by these world leaders resulting in distortion of our
heritage. Because of this glorification and distortion, our people
in Iraq is being identified by many journalists as,, Assyrians”
(a product of the Western Anglican missionary) and ,,Chaldeans”
(a product of Western French/Roman Catholic missionary) without a
reference to their Aramean origin.
Today we hear nothing ,,from the civilized nations” about
this divide and rule politics in the name of the faith. They act as
if nothing happened. The hatred they have created amongst our nation
is still present in the middle-east. The horrible contempt of those
who were brainwashed and abandoned their mother church is beyond any
imagination. All this hatred, division and fanaticism was brought to
the middle-east in the name of ,,faith” and ,,brotherhood”
LAW
OF ADMINISTRATION FOR THE STATE OF IRAQ[11]
CHAPTER FOUR – THE
TRANSITIONAL LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
Article
30, section (C) ….
The electoral law shall aim to achieve the goal of having women
constitute no less than one-quarter of the members of the National
Assembly and of having fair representation for all communities in
Iraq, including the Turcomans, ChaldoAssyrians, and others.
Another
example how the Aramean people being excluded is the,, LAW OF
ADMINISTRATION FOR THE STATE OF IRAQ”. Chapter 4, article 30,
section C is talking about,, ChaldoAssyrians” in reference to
our people in Iraq. This undesired term in reference to our people
is a mixture of two colonial spiritual products ,,Chaldeans” and
,,Assyrians”. No mention of the indigenous Aramean people!
What has been done to the indigenous Aramean people, in the name of
,,faith”, ,,education” and ,,development”, can be considered as a
kind of, Spiritual genocide” in the sense of creating hatred,
division and identity distortion. A divided nation is obviously a
weak nation!
Thank you
Gabriel Sengo
(President)
Arameans of Aram-Naharaim Foundation
P.O.
Box 178
7550
AD
Hengelo(Ov.);
Netherlands
E-mail: info@aramnahrin.org
[1]= For example : Sebastian
de Courtois, The forgotten genocide: Eastern Christians, The Last
Arameans,
(http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Forgotten_genocide.htm)
In his book, de Courtois quotes a few examples of behaviour of the
Western missionaries towards the Indigenous Aramean people of Tur
Abdin. ,, The village we were camping near was inhabited by the
by Jacobites (= Arameans). These kind people came to visit us,
together with a few notables. It is hard to imagine the ignorance of
these poor heretic priests and their belief in all
the superstitions and absurdities current in their country
(Letter from Roman Catholic Father Rhetore to father Duval, date:
7-7-1881) …. The heretics of these lands (= Arameans of
Tur Abdin) do not seem attached to the error of their ways; they
are abandoned by their leaders and feel that their sects themselves
are powerless and futureless (Letter from Roman Catholic Father
Rhetore to father Duval, date: 14-7-1881)
[2]=
http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/staff/brock.shtml
[3]= The Hidden Pearl: Three
thousands years of Aramean history, culture and faith.
http://www.aramnaharaim.org/film_arameans.htm
[4]=
ttp://www.aramnahrin.org/English/SyrianChurchOfAntioch.htm
[5]= His online article:
Progenitor of Wars and Tyrannies: the Falsehood of Pan-Arabism
(http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Muhammad_Shamsaddin_Midd_east.htm)
For more articles of
Professor Dr. Muhammed Shamsaddin on the Arameans of the Middle-East
and the influence of the colonial powers:
http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Issue_Iraq.htm
[6]=http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/ArameanGenocide.ht
[7]=
http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Attack_6_6_2005.htm
[8]= According to the
historian Professor Muhammed Shamsaddin Megallomatis; it was the
western spiritual colonialism which blindfolded the Aramean nation
of the middle-east who in our days designate themselves by strange
names imposed by outsiders, see [5]
[9]=
http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Testimonies_Historians.htm;
www.aramnaharaim.org
[10]=
http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Faq_IraqiChristians.htm#D
[11]=
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.html# |
