To our Aramean organizations that belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Aramean Greeting

Arabic

 20150306

The Aramean Democratic Organization sends a serious call to all Aramean organizations, clubs and institutions, specially the members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, to draw their attention to the dangerous situation of our Aramean people today and the emergency state of the decline of the Aramean national awareness among the members of these institutions.

Sons and daughters of our Aramean people have made tremendous efforts and great sacrifices in defending our Aramean people and in the establishing of the institutions and churches. This work was to defend our Aramean people and to maintain its Aramaic language and culture and to spread awareness and national feeling in the hearts of the Aramean youth and new generations who are our hope for the future. Also to protect the Aramean identity especially in the face of "the Assyrian" continuous campaigns that aim to cancel the Aramean Identity and to assimilate the Aramean people by imposing a strange Assyrian identity on it.

The relationship between these Aramean organizations and the Syriac Orthodox Church, has not always been good. It depended on the mood of the Syrian Orthodox Church leaders who were not always honest with the issue of the Aramean name and identity. This church always tried to control the decisions of the Syriac/Aramean national organizations in line with the goals and interests of some members of the Syrian Orthodox clergy, exclude some priests who are loyal and honest with the true Syriac Aramean identity of the church.

Since the inauguration of his holiness Ephrem II as a new patriarch for the Syriac Orthodox Church, he works to impose a false identity and name on our Aramean people and on the followers of the Syriac orthodox church, namely the so called “Assyrian” or the long labeled one the “Syriac Chaldean Assyrian”. This is indeed contrary to the true Syriac Aramean name and identity of the Syrian Orthodox church as it is clear in the writings of its great fathers and authors.

Not to mention the positions of some bishops and priests and some of the workers in the committees and church institutions who don’t care intentionally or unintentionally. It seems that sitting on "prestige" chairs is the goal and ultimate aspiration for many of our people.

The Aramean Democratic Organization believes that there must be the following to start correcting the situation:

1.    Our organizations have to disrupt their collaboration with the Syriac Orthodox Church according to the principle "separation of religion from politics." The churches of our Aramean people, and in particular the Syriac Orthodox Church, are a spiritual treasure and should not be exhausted with politics.

2.    Stop all attempts aiming at imposing a false identity like "Assyrian" and "Chaldean Syriac Assyrian" on our Aramean people. The first issue for Patriarch Ephrem II and other bishops and priests should be the work for a Christian unity of the Syriac Aramean churches not to interfere in the work of the organizations.

3. Insisting on holding and defending the Syriac Aramean name and identity in all possible meetings that are held under the leadership of Patriarch Ephrem II which he invites to under a motto the so-called "unification of our people," but in fact they are only attempts to domesticate our organizations and tame them as a first step to impose false names on our Aramean people.

4. Uniting the efforts of the Aramean Syriac organizations and collaborate to work together to reach clear goals and unified strategy for the good of the Aramean nation and its future.

Aramean Democratic Organization