SUA Member from Australia Interviewed on Recent Family Killings in Iraq
12 November 2010
SUA Member from Australia Interviewed on Recent Family Killings in Iraq
Sydney, Australia – Just two weeks after the Syriac Catholic Church tragedy in Baghdad, we have seen further attacks over the last week. Even this Wednesday, 10 November 2010, another 13 bombs and 2 mortar attacks specifically targeted Christian homes in Iraq. In fact, in many instances the terrorists came to the homes of the Baghdad Church victims and hunted them there instead.
Al-Qaeda has announced that all Christians are targets. Sadly, the violence continues and will continue for some time. The international community must stand up and put an immediate stop to the mass murders.
One Aramean family that has been greatly impacted is the Abosh family from Sydney, Australia. Mr Dani Abosh, a member of the Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA) Iraq Team, appeared on Suryoyo Sat yesterday to discuss the shocking events which have deeply affected his family. Dani’s cousin was killed 5 days ago in Iraq, on 7 November. Another cousin was killed 3 weeks ago. Other cousins have been killed since 2003. All because they are Christian. The violence, death, outrage and fear is nothing new to this family.
Dani’s interview appeared on the international Aramean satellite channel Suryoyo Sat. Ms Maya Mourad, the anchorwoman of the Arabic-speaking news program, conducted the interview in English. The interview can be accessed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H136t8IICo.
Dani calls upon all the Aramean people around the world, who are shocked and angry, to focus on long-term solutions. He reiterates that the Arameans need a vision that ensures the peace, security and the right to return to our Iraqi lands and that he will continue to work with the SUA to achieve those goals.
The Syriac Universal Alliance, which defends the basic human rights of the Aramean people worldwide, who include the Christian Arameans of Iraq (Chaldeans, Syriacs, Nestorians (sometimes called Assyrians)),1 prays for the Abosh family and sends them our deepest condolences. We also pray for all those Christians left in Iraq and ask the international community that they will be protected in this time of dire need.
The Syriac Universal Alliance will continue to fight for all the Arameans worldwide and will release next week further statements outlining next steps to a better future in our homelands and the Diaspora.
God bless the Aramean people
1. See, for example, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch in his The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch At A Glance (1983), p. 12: “The Syriac language is the Aramaic language itself, and the Arameans are the Syrians themselves. He who has made a distinction between them has erred.”
Patriarch Emmanuel Delly III of the Chaldean Church of Babylon (Interview to Ankawa in October, 2008): “I would like to state that we, the Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syriacs are one people that is known as the Aramean people.”
