On June 9th, ISIS, one of the most extreme Jihadist terrorist group seized control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and home to the biblical Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. This militant group has reportedly slaughtered over 1700 people during this attack in the past 3 days alone.
Just a few kilometers away from Mosul lies the Nineveh Plain, the last major enclave of native Assyrian Christians with little to no protection against the now very well armed and most financially capable terrorist group in the world.
Once again, the indigenous Assyrian Christians find themselves scrambling to find safety in neighboring regions and countries. Scrambling from a group that commonly uses its death squads to perform beheading, crucifixions, and atrocities against Christians or anyone who does not subscribe to their vision of a caliphate of a pure Islamic State. Since the US intervention in Iraq in 2003, the Assyrians have already suffered unprecedented ethnic and religious persecution unseen since the creation of Iraq resulting in an exodus of more than two thirds of their population to the West.
The Assyrian American Association of San Jose is deeply concerned about what the future holds for the vulnerable Assyrians of Nineveh. Without swift action by the Iraqi forces with the support of the US, this can potentially spell the end of Assyrian Christian Existence on their native land. We call upon all to join us in sharing this concern with your government officials to act swiftly before it is too late. We also ask all those that reside in the greater Bay area to join us for a public nationally coordinated demonstration on June 20th, at 12 noon in front of city hall.
The purpose of the demonstration is to denounce this terrorist group and call for action to eliminate it and to support the vulnerable indigenous Assyrian Christians.
Several governmental and non-governmental representatives are expected to join, including the director of a major Iraqi human rights organization and former minister, Mrs. Pascale Warda. More details will follow. For more information, contact [email protected]
