ISIS has attacked the city of Mosul, Iraq and marked Christian homes with the letter "N". They have given Christians options to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or be executed. Thousands have fled and been brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped or robbed by ISIS since they took over Mosul. ISIS has also destroyed and occupied over 45 Christian institutions in Mosul, many of which predate Islam.
ISIS has attacked the city of Mosul, Iraq and marked Christian homes with the letter "N". They have given Christians options to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or be executed. Thousands have fled and been brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped or robbed by ISIS since they took over Mosul. ISIS has also destroyed and occupied over 45 Christian institutions in Mosul, many of which predate Islam.
Original Description:
10:00am
02/08/14
Central Station, Sydney (Protest held across the road @ Belmore Park)
ISIS has attacked the city of Mosul, Iraq and marked Christian homes with the letter "N". They have given Christians options to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or be executed. Thousands have fled and been brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped or robbed by ISIS since they took over Mosul. ISIS has also destroyed and occupied over 45 Christian institutions in Mosul, many of which predate Islam.
ISIS has attacked the city of Mosul, Iraq and marked Christian homes with the letter "N". They have given Christians options to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or be executed. Thousands have fled and been brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped or robbed by ISIS since they took over Mosul. ISIS has also destroyed and occupied over 45 Christian institutions in Mosul, many of which predate Islam.
recently attacked the city of Mosul, Iraq, and marked all Christian homes with the Arabic letter 'N', which represent Nazarene (a term meaning Christian in Arabic). ISIS has since given all Christians the following options;
1. Convert to Islam 2. Pay a Religious Tax 3. Leave or be executed
Thousands have fled their homes and many have been brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped and robbed. Since the take-over in Mosul, it is reported that ISIS has destroyed and occupied 45 Christian institutions in Mosul, many of which predate Islam and any Muslim occupation of the region.
BRIEF HISTORY
The Assyrian/Syriac/Chaldean nation can trace their ethnic and cultural origins to the indigenous population of ancient Mesopotamia, since before the time of the Akkadian Empire. They were one of the first nations to entirely embrace Christianity and their Church originally developed in the first century AD. They have suffered greatly over the centuries due to their faith in Christ. In WWI the Assyrian Levies defended the British Allies from Ottoman and Kurdish troops and were promised their own independent state however this promise was not kept. In 1932 the Arab Kingdom of Iraq was established by the British subsequently leaving the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs disinherited of their ancient homelands and subject to ongoing persecution. As a result of this cleansing, the vast majority of Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs live in diaspora all over the Middle East, Europe, America, and Australia.
PERSECUTION
Over the centuries the Assyrian Christians have been victims of much persecution, largely because of their Christian faith and their historical right in their ancient homeland. It has been said that in the last 1,400 years, there have been 33 genocides against the Assyrians, which averages to 1 every 45 years. There has been an ongoing genocide against the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, countless events of which cannot all be mentioned, however the most significant and recent attacks have been against children, women and the elderly, being put to the sword indiscriminately;
1. The 1840s Massacres of Badr Khan - The massacres resulted in the mass killing of more than 10,000 Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs and the captivity of thousands of others.
2. The 1915 - 1918 Ottoman Genocide - 20,000 Turkish soldiers and 10,000 Kurdish irregulars, carried out a systematic genocide against the Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the mass murder of 750,000 Assyrians, 1,500,000 Armenians and 500,000 Greeks.
3. The 1933 Simele Massacre - The armed Arab forces, Arab and Kurdish tribes of modern day Iraq, carried out a systematic killing of Christians resulting in the death of 3,000 Assyrians.
4. 2003 to present - Since the US led invasion of Iraq and removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs have once again become the innocent and defenceless targets of Islamic fundamentalists, who have seized control of all of the previously (predominantly) Christian areas. They have been caught defenceless in the crossfire between Sunni and Shia fighters whom the government has failed to control, for the countless murders, kidnappings and ransoms, church attacks, car bombings and rape. The situation has forced some 1,200,000 - 1,500,000 Assyrians to flee Iraq since 2003.
DIRECTION FORWARD For the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs to preserve their ancient churches, language, ethnicity, history and culture, they need to exist on the land of their own historical inheritance, whereby they can govern and protect themselves, from other outside imposing forces.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
To help the Christians of Iraq and to see information on our current relief projects, please visit www.theacero.org (Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organisation - ACERO) You can make a generous donation via the www.theacero.org/mosulappeal ACERO is a non-profit organisation and all donations will go towards those in need. For more information on the ancient history, Church, persecution of the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs in recent and current circumstances visit: www.aina.org
M.A.D The Make A Difference (M.A.D) organisation was formed by independent youth within the Assyrian community. The aim of the organisation is to raise awareness for the plight of Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs and also help with raising funds towards humanitarian aid. Recent events in Mosul brought together the youth and M.A.D was formed in order to create an event 'The Mosul Appeal Fundraiser'. A large amount of funds were raised in a successful event. Following the fundraiser, the situation for Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs in Mosul continued to worsen. Due to this reason, the M.A.D organisation decided it was time for more drastic action and took the initiative in organising a protest in Sydney to coincide with the Worldwide Protest movement of August 2 nd 2014. For any Enquiries contact: [email protected] or [email protected]