February 23rd, 2015
marked another day of infamy on the ISIS calendar of atrocities. That day,
their barbaric parade entered the Assyrian village of Tel-Shamiram brandishing
their characteristic savagery. By mid-morning the ISIS thugs had abducted 235
Assyrians,
including
89 women and 39 children, providing the international community with yet
another example of their grotesque promotional gimmickry.
For me, this was not just another on the growing
list of ISIS atrocities. On the day of the hostage taking, I called my friend
Jamil Diarbakirli, the Director of Assyrian Human Rights Monitor. I could hear
Jamil crying. His voice trembled as he told me that he had seen one of his
relatives lying on the street dead - having been murdered by ISIS - and that
some of his friends and relatives were among the hostages taken.
Since the hostage taking, Jamil has been working
to locate and distribute humanitarian aid to those in the Assyrian community
who were able to flee to their churches after the attack on the village. Jamil
works tirelessly, without help of any significance from the outside world.
Meanwhile, Ramina, a 35 year old woman who
writes poems, is among those taken hostage. Ramina once wrote, "I will
raise my voice and make my songs fly so that the entire world will hear
me." There is no word on her fate. One can only hope that she has not been
murdered by ISIS.
My Assyrian friend George Stifo, a leading
activist, tells me that it is urgent that the international community pay
attention and take a stand to help the Assyrians who are in need of protection
and humanitarian aid. They are just like so many other Syrians from different
backgrounds, who are suffering as a result of the Syrian conflagration that is
heading into its fifth year.
But Jamil, Ramina and George's truth - and ours
- is that the Assyrians have been abandoned, much like the larger Syrian Sunni
community which has been at the sharp end of Assad's serial killing spree.
The Assyrians are the most ancient of Syria's
many distinct communities. A unique and beautiful minority of Syria, they have
always been part of our tapestry of Syria's peoples, stemming from so many
different ancient roots. They are ethnic Christians, who still speak the
ancient Biblical language of the Middle East, Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
Now this ancient community is facing annihilation as it is murdered by both
ISIS, and its mirror image, Assad.
The Assyrians are certainly not the only Syrian
community in crisis, but they are arguably the most vulnerable because of their
geographic proximity to the border of ISIS's self-proclaimed Caliphate. The
Assyrian community has a history of being pro-democratic. They are advocates of
a free Syria and among the oldest Opposition groups to stand against the Syrian
Regime dictatorship in Damascus. In fact, one of the greatest leaders of the
Assyrian community, Gabriel Kourieh, President of the Assyrian Democratic
Organization, is still imprisoned in a Syrian Regime dungeon. These facts
should be remembered. And we should be looking at ourselves and asking why
there has been barely an outcry from Syrians and the West over his plight.
The crisis facing the Assyrians today is a
manifestation of a profound problem in Syria. They are among a moderate Syrian
Opposition, which stands against the brutal Assad regime in Damascus. But that
moderate opposition has been unable to establish itself as a viable alternative
to the Assad regime, on the one side, or a safe alternative to ISIS-inspired
religious fanaticism on the other. As such, the Assyrians and communities like
them are caught in the crossfire between a mad dictatorship in Damascus, and a
religiously fanatical extreme, while the moderate opposition remains unable to
provide a necessary safe haven from either extreme. The abduction of the
Assyrians, the destruction of three of their churches, the murder of 10 people
and the displacement of 1400 Assyrian families, are all evidence of the
calamitous force coming down on them from this cauldron of competing forces
struggling for power and caring little for the destruction of the innocent.
Jamil Diarbakirli and George Stifo cannot
understand how all the world has a deaf ear to the Assyrians' plight. But if
Ramina can write such lovely poems where words still fly in the blue sky of
Syria calling the world to hear, then perhaps the time will quickly come when
the world will listen.
The World Post
By:Hind Kabawat, a practicing attorney, was raised
in Syria and now lives in Toronto. Because of her dedicated efforts to build
peace in the Middle East, she was named a Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action in
2007.
When Hind became a Peacemaker, Syria was a
relatively peaceful country. Since that time, Syria has descended into violent
conflict. Hind leads civil society building efforts in Syria that promote
interfaith tolerance and build cooperation, and conflict resolution and
reconciliation skills among grass roots activists.
Hind is an International Counsel at Janssen and
Associates, Toronto and Director of the Conflict Resolution Program of Syria at
the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, George Mason
University