Assyrian Voice Emagazine

By Abbey Mikha

Recently there have been bombings in Beirut, Lebanon which killed forty three and injured two hundred forty persons. There have also been a lot of natural disasters in the world lately. For example an earthquake hit Japan in the past which devastated the country and the Japanese people received a lot of aid and the attention of the world media. In Mexico there has also been a earthquake and a hurricane which killed many as well.

People are dying all over the world, some from natural disasters and others from human evil, terrorism, and human foolishness. There have been continuous suicide bombings in Baghdad! When have the suicide bombings ever stopped in Iraq since 2003? Mosul has also been cleared of the Assyrian Christians. For the first time in the history of the world there are no Assyrian Christians in Nineveh. The Assyrian Christians are living in refugee camps in the North of Iraq and they are suffering to say the least with no hope for the future. There is also a continuing war in Syria where Assyrians are being terrorised by ISIS and are being forced to flee the country. There have also been recent terrorist acts against the Russian aeroplane which exploded in the Sinai Peninsula Egypt and killed everyone on board. And yesterday was a dark day when seven terrorists killed one hundred twenty one innocent people in Paris, France and injured three hundred fifty, ninety-nine of which are in critical condition.

An interesting comment that was made on social media was by humanitarian activist and actress Angelina Jolie. She said, ”Whilst everyone talks about ‪#‎Paris no one mentions the ‪#‎ISIS attack in ‪#‎Lebanon yesterday. I pray for both countries.”

It is true we should be praying for both countries and all the countries around the world who are suffering as a result of terrorism especially. We are all human beings. When an innocent person dies whether they are Lebanese, Japanese, Mexican, American, French, Canadian, African, or yes even Assyrian tears should well up in your eyes and your heart should ache. Why? Because these are innocent people whose lives were taken and are being taken!

Ashur Giwargis the chairman of the Assyrian Patriotic Movement recently responded to Angelina’s comment and said:

“270 innocent Assyrian women, men and children were abducted by ISIS and nobody cared. 200.000 Assyrians were expelled from their homes in Syria by Kurds and Turks and through ISIS and nobody cared. 1 million Assyrian out of 1.4 million have been expelled from Iraq after its American “democracy” and no one cared …. but when another Sep/11 takes place in any place in West, with the same hidden facts … all cry, while the western countries are obviously supporting terrorism in the middle east. What a shame.”

The most significant fact Ashur Giwargis gives is that these western countries are obviously supporting terrorism in the Middle East and herein lays the human foolishness. Terrorism is a monster and this monster is becoming larger and larger. Instead of slaying this monster the world seems to be feeding it. Besides this previous major point the issue is that no one nation is better than another. What happened in Paris at the hands of ISIS is heartbreaking and the acts of immoral criminals who are not in their right mind. In one day everyone has heard about what happened in Paris because the media is all over this story. CNN is featuring this story right now. They are talking of hardly anything else.

What has happened to the Assyrians in the past years and months has hardly been given any attention by the world media. Our people have been expelled from Syria from their homes! Our people have been banished from Nineveh! Our people have been abducted and even killed and nobody cares. This is unreal and so unfortunate.  Do we not exist?  Yes, we do exist but your reasons for ignoring us are not logical.

I remember the voice of a political science professor in my first year in university when he said, “People are not equal.” I always believed that God created people as equals, but when I see what is happening in the world and the way that some events are given priority above others, who deserve equal attention in the media, I say yes professor you knew what you were talking about when you said, “In politics people are not equal.”

God rest the souls of all the innocent who died in Paris yesterday and God rest the souls of all the forgotten people who were killed all over the world including Assyrians whilst being innocent yet ignored by the media.