They urge him to strive in an endeavour to improve his lot and
reshape his destiny through a well-organised front.
He realises that the lot of an Assyrian in one country is no better
than the lot of another Assyrian in another country so long as he is
separated from his people, his loved ones and cut off from his homeland.
Such
invigorating articles should help the Assyrian individual break away from
his nutshell, step out of his political stagnation and bring himself into
line, in unity with the progressive march towards the common goal.
The
Assyrian individual must first comprehend and accept the true and noble
concept of national unity. He must willingly and with conviction accept to join in the
march under the guidance of a unified and dedicated leadership.
He must acknowledge the risk involved in joining the march.
He must advocate the concept, contribute towards it and be
disciplined and trained how to defend it and be prepared to sacrifice out of
his true conviction in the ultimate goal.
This
also includes some segments, who claim that they are different from the
Assyrians and are unique. Because of their denomination, they have
retained some of their Assyrian characteristics,
but have drifted into the mainstream of their immediate
surroundings and lost much of their Assyrian heritage.
In some instances they even decline to identify themselves with the
Assyrians because of their deliberate oblivion to their real Assyrian
identity out of fear of their hostile surroundings or contentment with
their achievements. In either
case, they lack the national pride in their Assyrianism and camouflage it
because of their defeatism. Becoming
successful, they are drawn into the mainstream of the domineering
culture. This affects the
younger generation and members of their immediate family, dragging them
along beyond the point of no return that they may too continue in this unpatriotic
trend.
All
Assyrian segments in question are proud to declare themselves Assyrians
and recognise themselves as such. Yet
there are some individual members who out of necessity
are so very deeply engrossed in their lifestyle to survive that
they adapt to their environment and blend with cultures of their
adversaries in dress, language and traditional behaviour that they almost
completely lose their identity and become oblivious to their unsavoury
image.
Assyrians,
with different appellations, (Athouri, Asouri, Suraya, Syriani) and
denominations (Nestorian, Chaldean,
Jacobite), regardless of their nationality and geographical location, are
admittedly all of the same ethnic background.
The
period of dormancy seems to have ended.
Assyrians in all their diversified ethnic and denominational groups
seem to have woken up to realise that, after all,
they are all Assyrian and belong to one nation - Assyria.
Presently,
we are too fragmented to have any weight or achieve any tangible results
on our own, whether as individuals or a competing group.
We need to combine our efforts, pool our resources and pull
together, in the right direction, towards achievement of our goal, namely,
restoration of our usurped homeland, under a well coordinated coalition
leadership.
To
achieve this, we, the Assyrians need to sober up from our forgetfulness.
Regardless of denomination, we need to re-discover our true selves. We need to restore our faith in our original identity - the
Assyrian identity. Whether Chaldeans or Syrianis, we are all from the same
region: Assyria, and of the same root: Assyrian. Although many branches and different dynasties, they all have
stemmed from the same root: Ashur
- the birthplace of Assyria - Beit Nahrain!
The
defunct League of Nations, after failing to rehabilitate the Assyrians in
their region of the Mosul district, following the 1st World War, left them
to their fate. Unprotected,
they fell victim to their hostile environment.
Dispossessed and struggling for survival,
they became oblivious to their identity.
Many, to escape persecution, migrated to various countries,
especially after the August 1933 Semaili massacre.
The
political struggle continues. Regardless
of denomination or dynasty, to succeed, we the Assyrians, whether
Chaldeans, Jacobites or Syrianis, should declare our Assyrian identity without
embarrassment, be proud of it, respect it and let it be part of our
heritage.
To
fill that political vacuum and succeed, we the Assyrians need to believe
wholeheartedly in our inheritance. We
need to identify ourselves with it, respect it and defend it and let it be
a legal pass to our future claim to our ancestral land!
Let us then, regardless of our different denominations, unite as
one people under the banner of the Assyrian nation and work together.
Let us, in addition to our motto of unity, work in cohesion and
add: United we are and
together we build!
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