Assyrians After The 2003 Invasion

The Assyrians were Semitic people. They are Mediterranean Caucasoids. According to the bible, they are the descendant of Asshur, the grandson of Noah. They are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The Assyrians converted Christian in the first century AD. Their church founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. The Assyrian Church was split from the early Christian Church. But, today they are divided into three main groups (Jacobite/ West Syriac church, Nestorian/East Syriac church and Chaldean Christian). In the Ottoman Empire, in accordance with the Muslim dhimmi system, Assyrians as Christians, were guaranteed limited freedoms (such as the right to worship), but were treated as second-class citizens. Dhimmis were subject to legal and social inferiority, and discrimination was permanent, necessary, and "inherent in the system and institutionalized in law and practice," due to the fact that Dhimmis were not allowed to testify against a Muslim in court.

Assyrians also did not fare well under Saddam Hussein, who destroyed Assyrian churches. Although substantial numbers of their intellectuals chose to join the Ba'th regime and identify themselves as Arab Christians, the Assyrians have been subjected to systematic attempts by Saddam's regime to "Arabize" them. Under Saddam's regime Assyrians were forced to give their children Arabic names. Saddam regime also driving them from their lands and seizing some of their properties, especially in the strategic, oil-rich northern region bordering the Kurdish enclave. However, The secular Saddam has neither encouraged nor permitted the type of anti-Christian riots seen in Egypt and Iran. Saddam has permitted Christians to occupy high public office. Christmas and Easter decorations always abound, even in Baghdad, and attending church does not require an act of courage.

Since 2003, the Assyrian population of Iraq has decreased dramatically and disproportionately due to continued persecution and increased instability. From 2003 to 2008, 48 churches have been attacked, bombed, burned and destroyed. Young Assyrian boys crucified. Christian women are harassed, have acid thrown into their faces, are kidnapped and raped. Assyrian men and boys tortured. Infants burned. Like an Ottoman, muslims of Iraq are forcing Assyrians to pay the jizya, the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay. They have been told to convert Islam, pay jizyah or die.

Leaders of Iraq's Christian community estimate that over two-thirds of the country's Christian population has fled the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In total, over 250,000 Christian refugees are now stranded in Syria, Jordan and Turkey. Aid to the Assyrians has been almost non-existent. Assyrian refugees and asylum seekers in these country are living under exceptionally difficult conditions. It was even recently reported that some of the Assyrian refugees had been reduced to sleeping on bare dirt in Christian cemeteries.

Western Christians must show some interest in what's happening and help them out. While, our goverment must stay engaged long enough to ensure that whatever regime comes next protects the country's ethnic and religious minorities.