non-Muslims in the Middle east

H

Hebrew

New member
One of the reasons why I post on this board (aside from the fact that I have a lot of respect and admiration for a people as ancient as mine) is because I believe that it is in the best interest for all non-muslims in an overhwhelmingly Muslim mideast to get to know each other better. The sad facts are that this region has been less than hopitable to non Muslims recently. In my homeland Islamic terrorists loudly proclaim that they will not allow an "infidel entity to exist on sacred Islamic territory. Copts in Egyot are persecuted, Christians have been reduced to a pitiable minority in places like Bethlehem and Nazareth and even Lebanon.

I know that some Christians dismiss this as "zionist propaganda" and attempting to create a muslim- christian divide. Sorry to break it to them but suffice it to say that Middle East jihadists have long chanted "Today Saturday, tomorrow Sunday" - al-yom al sabt wa ghadan al-ahad. This alludes to their war against the Jews first, then followed by the Christians.
 
We can all say that our parents and relatives have been the victims of prejudice, even wittnessed premidated homicide of our fellow Christians. I disagree with your statement only because every religion, including ours have had their own "terrorists" or fanatics who are bent on doing the same thing our islamic counterparts are doing. Of course since 9/11 and even before, islam has had a bad wrap and of course most of the attrocities we know about aside from Nazisim is from Islamic fundamentalism. History has shown that all three major religions have had their faults and made grievious mistakes that have carved the world today. We can't deny that there are those who are bent on destroying what God has created. Who do we really blame, if anyone for that matter?
 
You have both come up with great points but in all honesty, all middle eastern people/cultures are stubborn and abusive of their power. Yes, the majority muslim Middle East is not favourable to Christians and Jews but the same can be said about Israel not being favourable to its Arab population. Who is to say that Assyrians would treat minority groups with respect. We struggle to respect each other let alone non-Assyrians. We have people on this very website who run Assyrian groups, who individually talk of killing people of a certain background.

Therefore dialogue should be between all sides/cultures/religions with the bigotted element not allowed to take part.

Hebrew, I do get heated under the collar quite regularly especially with the Israeli/Palestnian issue but I want to you be rest assured that I am not attacking you as an individual when I talk against the Israeli government and military. In fact, I am glad that you are part of this website. I might be able to learn something from you in regards to the Israeli/Palestinian situation. I actually have a friend here in Japan who used to be in th IDF and although we disagree on many issues, we are still able to understand the other point of view and have learned a bit from each other.
 
there is a point to that

arab christian have always have been stuck in the middle of everything---

to extermist arab muslims (not all arabs act this way, only the nut cases that get all the media attention---we do forget that there are normal civilized arabs in the middle east) we are the enemy and to the jews we are just arabs (treated like anyother arab muslim or not)---

skipper
 
Sorry for going off topic
I consider middle eastern Christians as outsiders........When asked my ethnicity I don't say Arab, instead I have to explain that I'm Assyrian bla bla.

Society labels U and that makes U feel like an outcast...........There is so much racial profiling and it's everywhere and so it's hard for people with a nonEuro culture to adapt.............Minorities like Christians and Jews in the middle east are considered 2nd class citizens and have no power at all. Lebanon use to be Christian, but now U see a huge decrease. When a country is ruled with religion you are bound to get discrimination..............

The Iraq government is going to end up in another disaster because of the whole religion thing......
 
well i am half christian arab--i still consider myself half arab

what else would you consider an arab christian who isnt assyrian or chaldean as?

skipper
 
skipper said:
well i am half christian arab--i still consider myself half arab

what else would you consider an arab christian who isnt assyrian or chaldean as?

skipper
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I didn't say anything bad about being called an arab :bangin:
 
didnt say you did--

i thought you were trying to say that arab christians arent arabs

wasnt trying to be mean---sorry if it came off like that


skipper
 
I beleive that Arabs control too much of the middle east, I would say that half of the middle east shouldn't even be theirs since they originated in the deserts of Saudia Arabia. The Jews should have Isreal, Assyrians should have Assyria, and all other minorities should have their lands back.
 
there are a lot of things that we feel should be...but arent for whatever reason, and lots of us think this way. i think it hurts us in the end when we view things this way. we need to learn to accept things as they are and try to make the best out of them. itll help make the world a better place....things that are done with in the past should be left in the past. we need to deal with our present and future...and stop repeating the same mistakes over and over without learnin from them
 
we shouldn't be prejudice even though the majority of those that hurt christians (im sticking to christians for personal reasons) were muslim arabs. of course people, expecially in this country mix up the two. all arabs are not muslim and all muslims are not arab. if they can see the distinction and understand the two maybe a lot this hating on wouldn't occur. islam is going through something, i have no freaking clue what it is. it seems that they are heading towards some fanatical, older mentality as if mohammad has risen and is trying to take over the world. i don't hate on all muslims, i have had a few friends who are muslim. i dunno if you can say there is some sort of catch-22 thing to all of this hoopla. i say make dolma not war.
 
Damail said:
I beleive that Arabs control too much of the middle east, I would say that half of the middle east shouldn't even be theirs since they originated in the deserts of Saudia Arabia. The Jews should have Isreal, Assyrians should have Assyria, and all other minorities should have their lands back.
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It will happen eventually. The world has already come to know the horrific threat of extremist Islam. It is a continuation of Islamic imperialism that began when the Arabs invaded the middle east and North Africa, imposed their language and religion on the natives and represses (and continues to repress ) their indigenous indentity (see Berbers of North Africa and Zoroastrians in Iran among others.)
 
Moja Moja said:
You have both come up with great points but in all honesty, all middle eastern people/cultures are stubborn and abusive of their power. Yes, the majority muslim Middle East is not favourable to Christians and Jews but the same can be said about Israel not being favourable to its Arab population. Who is to say that Assyrians would treat minority groups with respect. We struggle to respect each other let alone non-Assyrians. We have people on this very website who run Assyrian groups, who individually talk of killing people of a certain background.

Therefore dialogue should be between all sides/cultures/religions with the bigotted element not allowed to take part.

Hebrew, I do get heated under the collar quite regularly especially with the Israeli/Palestnian issue but I want to you be rest assured that I am not attacking you as an individual when I talk against the Israeli government and military. In fact, I am glad that you are part of this website. I might be able to learn something from you in regards to the Israeli/Palestinian situation. I actually have a friend here in Japan who used to be in th IDF and although we disagree on many issues, we are still able to understand the other point of view and have learned a bit from each other.
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You raise some good points. Yes, Middle eastern cultures are stubborn but that is also a positive trait. It explains why people like Assyrians and Jews are still around and have not been swallowed up and lost to history as the Celts , Mycaneans and others.

I don't exactly know why, but it is clear to me that asian media especially in China and Japan are very biased against Israel. I'm not accusing you of being completely one sided but I think you have only gotten part of the story.
 
I am actually Australian. I have been living in japan for only 2.5 years and only really look at Aussie media. Japanese don't have opinions on anything :)
 
Moja Moja said:
I am actually Australian. I have been living in japan for only 2.5 years and only really look at Aussie media. Japanese don't have opinions on anything :)
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except the quality of their kobe beef. i want i want. don't we all wish we weren't opinionated about everything, much like the japanese. ahh it pays to be middle eastern sometime.
 
hey hebrew check out www.zindamagazine.com

thats probably our main mainstream media platform. i know a few of the ppl here dont like it, but i think your smart enough to make up your own mind. there are often discussions about israeli and assyrian developments within the region...
 
Im not a frequent poster but i do check this form out on a regular basis and i only reply when i think the subject is interesting to reply to as is the case with this subject.

Some years ago when i was studying in university i witnessed a heavy and tense argument going on between a single jewish student and a mob of predominantly marocon(muslim) students. (It was the time when the second intifada erupted). So in first instance i just stood by and watched this argument with a neutral feeling towards the issue, i did not care about the arabs(im no arab and muslim! so i dont have a colored vision) nor the jews for that matter. So while this lone jewish student was taking on the mob throwing out one argument after the other, something suddenly struck me wich made me change my mind in favour of israel and its people. What was the thing that struck me ?
I suddenly saw myself standing there all alone surounded by muslims trying to get a piece of me and as a matter of a fact at times i do feel that way. Then i thought what if tomorrow the United Nations decide by resolution that a part of iraq becomes the land of assyria, would we as assyrians not defend that piece of land as hard as the israelis have been doing since its conception in '47 ? I would. I would definilty fight and if i have to i would resort to all measures necessary to defend the land of assyria, just as the israelis have been doing all these years. Which assyrian would not ?

Just as we have dreamt for thousends of years of a country of our own the jews have dreamt for that piece of land and national identity aswell then in 1947 their dream came true. Why would the jews give up their land after being a victim of prosecution, discrimination, death and destruction for thousends of years( i believe even we assyrians have been killing the jews ) ? Again when given a piece of land why would we, as assyrians, give it up for the sake of what ? more discrimination, prosecution, death and destruction on the behest of muslims and islam ?

No nation or people will give up their national dream of selfdetermination and right of existence, so would we !

So i totaly understand and feel with the jewish people and i wish them well i wish them to live in a peacefull land wich will exist for thousends of years to come. I certainly hope one day we, assyrians, can enjoy a country of
our own aswell i know the struggle will be hard, as hard as the jews have fought perhaps even harder but we will get there.
 
This site should be strictly Assyrian.. that's just how I see it. I don't like all this bullshit. I think I'll do myself a favour, and this site a favour, and just not sign in again. I don't like this shit one little bit. Call me racist.. I don't care.. but this should be a strictly Assyrian site - period. I don't like some Jewish dude registering with our Assyrian site and preaching his views to us. Muslims kill our people, blah blah blah. Yea they do, and what do you expect when you bulldoze a family's house because you SUSPECTED a terrorist lived there? I'm not supporting or justifying terrorist acts against anybody.. Muslims slaughtered my people too.. but I know Jews aren't as innocent and happy-go-lucky as they portray themselves to be. Don't start talking about 'us non-Muslim' people and all kinds of bullshit. We're all human. Maybe I'm the only person who cares enough to see one innocent person dying as a big thing. That's why it pisses me off when I see how Isreal deals with their problems. Go find specific people, don't hassle everybody like they're beneath you. Whatever man.. this is exactly what this dude said it isn't - propaganda. He's trying to pull in as many people on his side as possible. If you know somebody is a terrorist, go find them and capture them. I swear these guys move exactly like the States government moves. And they get away with even more. Anybody who harms an innocent soul is a terrorist to me. 'He hit me, I'm just hitting him back' doesn't solve anything. Anyways.. everybody can hate on me and my thoughts all you want. That's fine. Just use your brain. That's all.

But like I said.. I'll do us all a favour and just leave - because as long as it's like this, I can't play nice or say nice things. So have a nice day.. thanks for the support.. goodluck with the site.
 
Good points Eddie...

Whats with this 'US vs. Them' business-granted, as minorities Assyrians should stick together, Jews should stick together etc etc. But what do guys suggest we do? Our brothers and sisters are living in a Muslim country, granted it wasn't like this at one point, but that was thousands of years ago!...Times have changed. Im not saying that we should just sit back and take shit, but if we want to live ethically and as Christians, we cant exactly take up arms and blow everyone up. Not only would we be perpetuating a vicious cycle of hate and murder, we would NEVER solve anything.

The only way to possibly create a better state for Assyrians would be to do something drastically political- perhaps create some divisions in land distribution and what not. But even that would kill us because there aren't even enough Assyrians in Iraq and surrounding areas at this point to adequately protect that land.

So Hebrew, what is it that you are trying to say?...Assyrians and Jews should team up and take on the Muslims together? HAHA! Im sorry, but the day Assyrians and Jews 'hook up' and discuss politics isn't happening anytime soon-at least thats my opinion.
 
Maybe I am the optimist here, but even with all the chaos surrounding the middle east, there's still hope. I don't think reacting on impulse with violent motives in an answer to any situation. Sure Assyrian's protected Iraq long before there was an Iraq, long before Mohammad trekked the middle east spreading his religion, but this is a different time. I understand people have no understanding of peace nor the ability to work together without picking up an AK-47 and dousting one another with a rain fall of bullets. Hope still lies in Iraq and hopefully when all this bloodshed is done and over with, other nations in the middle east will take a look and realize that what they have been doing for so long will not solve anything. Of course, this goes for muslims, arabs, palestinians, jews, and george the big "w" bush :mrgreen:
 
Senalko said:
The jews live today still believing they are God's only chosen people, and the muslems follow their teachings in beleieving an eye for an aye and a tooth for a tooth......
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Truth be said though, the first group isn't really massacring people under their jurisdiction who are peaceful and not making trouble (I know many Palestinian Christians living in Jewish regions in Israel, they don't experience any problems from the gov). The same can't be said of group number 2.

As a Christian, frankly speaking, which of the two would you prefer to live with in the Middle East? Personally I know i prefer one to the other.

No group is perfect, but theres something called the lesser of two evils.
 
Could somebody please answer the following question because i cant get the right answer out of all the above writeings .. so please if any of the readers would be so kind to asnwer the following question:

When given the right by the ultimate world courts and juristictions and by total consensus of UN security counsel resolution giveing free way for the conception of the ancient land of assyria, Beth Nahrin, would we, the assyrians both living inside of iraq and beyond its borders, defend Beth Nahrin with all our might and powers just as the israelis have been doing since '47 ? answer please by yes or no ? if yes or no please elaborate...
Why ? because i got this idea you guys do not answer from the heart and soul but rather from the mind, wich has become biased on certain levels.

thank you
 
Damail said:
I beleive that Arabs control too much of the middle east, I would say that half of the middle east shouldn't even be theirs since they originated in the deserts of Saudia Arabia. The Jews should have Isreal, Assyrians should have Assyria, and all other minorities should have their lands back.
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Its not about history anymore, history is the past. Thats why its history! To give Israel completely to the Jews, is to also raise the question of the Native American's rights to American land. If we go back to meet the socio-geographical conditions that existed, more blood will be shed in the Middle East. I think the 'this is our land' argument really fails, especially with the Palestinians and Israelis. Israel was never indigenous to any homogeneous society or ethnic group. Many different and various ethnic groups of people came and lived on that land. The obvious answer is to try and come up with a pluralistic solution that allows peaceful coexistence of all humans with eachother. We do not live in the ancient times where this concept is foreign, we are an in advanced age and have evolved as a society. If we cannot do this, then shame on us.
 
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