Ashuriena ܐܫܘܪܝܢܐ
@ashuriena
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It’s been 9 years since ISIS executed my cousin & 2 other Assyrian men as a sacrifice for Eid al-Adha. Hearing horror is one thing; watching life drain from a loved one is crushing. Every time I think of him, I build a mental levee to stop myself from drowning in tears.
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Recounting the story of my cousin’s execution by ISIS with my family. Almost 8 years later & it still feels unreal. ISIS executed him among 5 others as a sacrifice for Eid Al Adha. What a bright flame blown out too soon at 32.
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This is such a gross & racist take to slander innocent victims of a fire through a skewed western perspective. Most Assyrian women are on equal footing with their partners. There is no concept here about how our culture works in the favor of women with courtship. Our entire.
Mind you, she is 18 years old and her “husband” is 27. Wedding should have never happened in the first place. She lost her entire family in the fire and the only person she has left is a predator.
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My beautiful, fiery and loving Nana passed away two hours ago. She was a Simele massacre survivor.
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I am NOT an Iraqi Christian. I am NOT an Arab Christian. I am NOT a Kurdish Christian. I reject every colonial label that attempts to erase my identity and indigeneity. I am an Assyrian. Say my name!.
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Ashur was my cousin. His mother waited 7 years for a visa after the execution of her son for America to finally grant her one. She died months after her arrival here. We’re killed in our indigenous countries & rejected from the West. We aren’t safe anywhere.
What about the three Assyrians (among many) who were executed by ISIS? . Nothing for them. Remember their names: . —Dr. Abdel-Maseeh Aniyah of Tal Jazirah (Al-Hasakah). —Ashur Rustam Abraham of Tal Jazirah. —Bassam Issa Michael from Tal Shamiram (Al-Jazirah)
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I’m 5’4, 172.4lbs this morning and my BMI is 29.5 making me overweight. I’m a powerlifter. The lowest I’ve been is 140 and my numbers suffered. Slowly working my way down to compete, but the scale doesn’t mean much when you have muscle.
I just learned that the average American woman weighs 170 pounds. That is insane.
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Assyrians don’t go viral for the atrocities committed against us, but for former Pres. Trump mispronouncing our name. Our struggles ignored, while trivial moments gain attention. People are finally hearing our name, but for all the wrong reasons. We are Assyrians. Say our name.
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IMPORTANT: Assyrians are facing an added wave of ethnic cleansing in our indigenous homelands RIGHT NOW! From the calculated move of the Shia & Kurdish leaders in Iraq to humiliate and suffocate the voices of Assyrians by faith to the mistreatment of Assyrians in Nahla.
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I dressed modestly in the streets of Iraq and was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions. I dressed in revealing party attire around Assyrians in Iraq & Assyrian men treated me with the utmost respect regardless. Victim blaming is gross. Raise your boys to have respect.
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Calling us Christians is erasure. We are more than just Christians. We are indigenous to Assyria with more than 6000 years of continuous presence and history in our homelands with DNA tying us to our ancient ancestors. Say our name!.
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Even when Assyrians are dead, they’re not allowed to be in peace in their indigenous homelands.
📍Iraq | A person disrespecting the graves of Christians in the town of Shaqlawa in Erbil Governorate, where a large number of Christian families reside. Speaking in Kurdish, the individual insults and abuses Christians and the way they bury their deceased.
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URGENT: Assyrians in Nahla face daily human rights violations. Heavy restrictions choke the region, denying basic necessities like food & fertilizer for farms. Despite navigating painful bureaucratic struggles & obtaining approvals, access to these vital supplies remains blocked.
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My mom teaching me to make baklava, an ancient Assyrian dish that was adopted by several cultures all throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. 🥰
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Even in death, we are treated like trash & erased. Our history predates Christianity by thousands of years & we are far more ancient than Iraq. If you care about us when you speak about us, say our name! We are ASSYRIAN. The people who died in the Baghdeda tragedy were Assyrian!.
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Arab being considered a “linguistic identity” rather than an ethnic one is added erasure of all the indigenous groups threatened to have their tongues cut out if they spoke their native languages under Arab colonialism & because of this, only speak Arabic now. They are NOT Arabs.
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32k followers are consuming the propaganda put out by this page that erases Assyrian history and indigeneity. Yet another example of historical and cultural misappropriation by colonial regimes in Occupied Assyria.
احدى أقدم الكنائس في كوردستان والعالم. تقع هذه الكنيسة في منطقة القوش وهي منطقة يسكنها الكورد المسيحيين منذ آلاف السنين وإلى الآن.
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We’re not ashamed; we’re just NOT Arab and we do NOT share culture with Arabs in regards to marriage and women’s rights. We are indigenous to Iraq and have separate traditions. We have faced forced arabization, but we will never be Arabs. Your stance is that of erasure.
@SammaaAz @ashuriena Forgive their ignorance. Especially women living in this area, we all know the bad connotations people have about the middle east, that's why people like the one we're replying to is ashamed of being called an arab and has to clarify that Iraq isn't an arab country-.
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These Assyrians are consenting adults with a culture that protects women from abuse & grooming. Where was this energy when Assyrian girls as young as 12 got sex trafficked by ISIS, each forcibly married off to 20 of them and then denied psychological care by the West?.
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This Kurdistan Democratic Party member decides to appropriate Assyrian history and make false claims that it’s Kurdish. This is ethnocide and erasure.
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Alqosh, Assyria. The bow of God, the mother of all villages. You forever have my heart. 💙🤍❤️.
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“Could you please bring peace for my country Syria and save all of its kids?”. An Assyrian child’s Christmas Wish from Qamishli (Bet Zalin), Syria. 🤍
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Kirkuk is literally an Akkadian word because it’s indigenous to Assyrians. The support of groups on both sides here will lead to an unfortunate civil war that will massacre innocent civilians of all ethnic groups residing here.
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There is nothing that fills my heart with love more than Assyrian kids in Atra. 📸 in Akre, Assyria 2023 of a little boy who has gotten beaten & bullied for having an Assyrian flag on his bike in his indigenous homelands.
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Assad’s fall ends tyranny, but I fear peace won’t follow. We’ve seen this in Iraq—one tyrant’s fall brings more terrorism & bloodshed. Indigenous Assyrians & Yazidis will remain the most vulnerable. How long will all the players claim to protect us while exploiting & erasing us?.
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This is such a disgusting response to Assyrians literally persecuted for centuries for their Christian faith and ethnically cleansed for their indigeneity. You’re enabling genocide and erasure, how very Western Christian of you.
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ISIS did it in 2015, but this is still ongoing today. The Kurdish peshmerga runs military drills on top of Sennacherib’s aqueducts.
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This is one of the many examples of historical and cultural misappropriation of the Assyrian identity, land and history by colonial powers in Occupied Assyria. This is propaganda and erasure.
كوردستان | سهل نينوى هنا ينتشر الكورد من الديانة المسيحية وتشتهر المنطقة بالمواقع الإثرية التاريخية.
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I love fresh fruits with breakfast. These mishmisheh ܡܸܫܡܝܼ̈ܫܹܐ (apricots), teeneh ܬܹܐܢܹ̈ܐ (figs, from the Akkadian tīnātu), haloocheh/ingaseh ܗܵܠܘܼܟ̰ܵܐ (plums, ingaseh comes from the Akkadian angāšu) are from my garden. I grew them. 🤍
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Baghdeda ܒܓܕܝܕܐ in Nineveh comes from “beyt” ܒܹܝܬ “gaduda” ܓܲܕܘܼܕܵܐ meaning “House of Youth” in Assyrian. This city has faced centuries of atrocities, most notably in 1171 with Persians & Kurds raiding villages & churches & later, Kurds massacring Assyrians for refusing to.
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Turkish bombs targeting Kurdish PKK terrorists set Indigenous Assyrian lands ablaze. Severely overwhelmed & under-equipped, Assyrians risk their lives fighting fires amid bombings to save their homes with no masks to protect against smoke. Why hasn't the KRG sent firefighters?
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Numerous reputable human rights groups have extensively documented the violent & systematic land grabbing of Assyrian territories under the watchful eye of the KRG. Despite awareness, no action is taken & court rulings favoring Assyrians are disregarded.
#Assyrian culture, language, history & Assyrian nation is treated with respect by #Kurds, #Kurdistan is not your enemy, you know who the real enemy is. I referred to the influence of #Sumerian (medical) knowledge & this is well documented, be fair to my post. #History
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The door of the headquarters of the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit in Assyria. ❤️🤍💙
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Assyrians often face insensitive responses like this when discussing the violations of our human rights. Instead of meaningful engagement, we're met with reminders of atrocities, like pictures of Simko who massacred us, or subjected to mockery, reopening our unhealed wounds.
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Was lucky enough to visit an active archaeological site in Faida, Assyria. Part of 10km of canals they’ve discovered!
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Misogyny in our community needs to die or else our identity will. Assyrian women birth our nation. Treating them poorly and speaking ill of them will only mean you’re an accessory to our death as a nation.
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The tragic death of this 8-year-old Assyrian girl from Karemlash highlights the devastating consequences of the ongoing medical care shortage in the Nineveh Plains. This is not just a healthcare issue; it's part of a calculated campaign of ethnic cleansing. Despite promises of
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URGENT: Assyrians in Iraq are on the brink of extinction. The International Religious Freedom community released a letter highlighting our human rights violations, urging for a safe haven, indigenous rights, and protection. Sign now to support Assyrians:
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The disinformation spread by @DrRebin93, who claims to be from @HawlerMedUni, incites violence against the indigenous people of Iraq. His dangerous rhetoric & malicious intentions are a direct threat to the safety and well-being of the peaceful indigenous Assyrians and Yezidis.
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Did you know in traditional Assyrian weddings a tree is decorated with apples at the reception and guests compete to buy each of them? The money becomes a wedding gift to the couple. This tradition comes from one of the world’s oldest love stories of Ishtar & Tammuz.
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Last night, a Mandaean man was attacked by a sword & pipes in Baghdad. Sadly, this is NOT uncommon as they have faced a millennia of genocide, ethnic cleansing, persecution & forced conversions w/ legal execution for apostasy if they revert. 🎥 Credits IG: Nasoraean & hadeel.zl1
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Cinema Khiyam, a 2-story movie theater in Baghdad built & owned by an Iraqi Armenian & Iraqi Jew in 1961 that only played American films. 1 of 2 biggest theaters in Baghdad. People would travel the MidEast & Mediterranean and say they never saw a theater as beautiful as this.
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Alqosh, Assyria. View of Dashta d’Nineveh from Rabban Hormizd Monastery. 📸 by me, 2023. #SkiesofAssyria
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This young Assyrian woman's home was bombed amid an ongoing conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Worker's Party. This woman's situation is NOT unique to Assyrians in our homelands. When Assyrians are not directly attacked for our indigeneity and faith, our.
Important message from a girl in Iraq whose house just got blown up by a Turkish missile. #RaiseHerVoice #Chaldean #Assyrian #Syriac
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How can the KRG claim to protect us when Assyrians are bleeding out of our indigenous lands? They threaten dams that will flood villages, imposed an illegal mayor in Alqosh, land grab, & divert our water to golf courses. Their ethnic cleansing is undeniable, why is it enabled?.
A Safe Haven? The indigenous Christian population of Erbil has declined dramatically, falling by over 53% in a decade — from more than 15,000 native families in 2014 to just 7,000 today, according to the Christian Affairs Director at the KRG's Ministry of Endowment. Many of
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The amount of Iraqis calling for the extermination of Assyrians in our indigenous homelands because of the actions of Salwan Momika is disgusting. We had nothing to do with it & our organizations have collectively condemned it & yet the bloodthirsty colonizers still want to kill.
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Pretty disturbing you decided to dig deep into my profile to screenshot a picture of me sharing my very serious health struggles with ovarian tumors and PCOS in order to insult Assyrian women.
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If Assyrians get a flag emoji, it must be the original and official flag. NOT the one with the red Allaha Ashur.
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When you visit the mass graves in Simele and you find exposed human remains of our ancestors with a bunch of trash on it and meet a local Assyrian who was threatened & arrested for cleaning it out of respect for our dead.
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Hey @billmaher your remarks reducing Assyrians to mere "Iraqis & Syrians" reek of ignorance & racism. We're not nationalities born from colonial borders; we're an ancient indigenous ethnicity facing genocide, pushed to the brink of extinction by historical & present injustices.
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Misogyny has no place in Assyrian nationalism. If you’re trying to fight for our human rights, we must also fight against misogyny. You can’t have a free Assyria without the equality and voice of Assyrian women.
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Be careful of propaganda. None of the players involved in Syria are concerned about protecting Christians or Yazidis; we are only tokenized to garner Western support. This includes the AANES, which was releasing ISIS from prison in July. @AP .
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I’m glad the media has gotten a hold of this tragic story in Baghdeda, but please stop referring to us as Christians. We are more than just Christians and have a history far longer than Christianity. We are Assyrians, stop erasing us. Say our name!.
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Receiving the names and pictures of the Assyrians electrocuted & buried alive during the Anfal campaign in 1988 by the Baathist Regime is weighing so heavy on my heart. When will the sun rise for Assyrians through this millennia of storm clouds? We just want to live.
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Identifying as an Assyrian rather than my Christian religion is NOT disrespectful to my religion. I was born Assyrian & later baptized Christian. Let’s not forget we have thousands of years of history before Jesus came. Assyrians are NOT an ethnoreligion.
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There are no good actors in the war in Syria. None of them care about Christians. We are a token used by all to advance their agendas. Stop supporting one over another. If you truly care about Assyrians, advocate for our human rights & autonomy on our indigenous lands.
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Absolutely gut wrenching. These beautiful babies, gone way too soon in the Bakhdida fire. 💔.
For the next three days, we will be mourning all the victims lost in the tragic Baghdeda fire. Rest in peace to Bianka Mahran Shima and Akram Amran Sabah 💔
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Everyone claims to want to protect Syria’s Christians, yet they all silence us and amplify our oppressors and their agendas. Would you ask Iran or the Taliban about gender equality? No. Stop asking outsiders about Assyrians. Our voices carry the truth no one else will tell you.
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Prior to 2004, we had 1.6 million Assyrians in part of our indigenous homeland of modern day Iraq, now we’re at the brink of extinction at 84,000 there and the colonizing communities who helped massacre us & force us into migration are happy about it.
Thanks to Bush 🫡 Iraq is free from its assyrian community.
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My 97 year old Nana escaped from the Simele Massacre as a little girl. As nationalists harass Assyrians saying we should get over it, understand that many of our ancestors would still be alive today if genocide wasn’t committed by the Iraqi Army led by Kurdish General Bakr Sidqi.
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An archbishop rescued over 2,000 texts in just 10 days before ISIS brutally attacked Nineveh (Mosul) based on a feeling he had that religious history needed to be saved. Some of these biblical texts are over 1,000 years old & are currently being digitized & translated. #assyrian
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Me at 19 on the left vs. me at 36 on the right.
Let me see yall at 19? 👀.
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My face changed a lot from 245+ lbs (111+ kg) to 170 (77 kg). 19 years old on the left vs. 36 years old on the right.
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My late maternal grandparents in front of my nana’s sister’s home in Khabour, Syria in 1948.
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If you travel to Ankawa, please take a look at Hopeful Hands in Erbil. It’s a store that helps Iraqi & Syrian refugees through the selling of their sewing projects. I got this purse from there and I adore it.
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Nothing is more offensive than Iraqis claiming Assyrian/Babylonian history while staying silent on the fact that Iraq has oppressed & ethnically cleansed us since it’s modern institution. Stop it.
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Democracy is a fallacy in Iraq. It’s a guise that tries to conceal the oppression and silent genocide it commits against the indigenous people of that land—the Assyrians, Yazidis and Mandaeans.
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It hurts so deeply that these past few days we’ve seen so much justification and excitement over Assyrian deaths. It’s not just trolls. And it hurts even more when it’s from a religious leader that has an entire community looking up to them for guidance. 💔.
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Respectfully, Dr. Zandi, your narrative doesn't match reality. Hawpa, a KRG-registered Kurdish neo-Nazi group advocating for the genocide of Assyrians in their charter, challenges any notion of peaceful coexistence in our indigenous homelands.
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Gishra d’Dalaleh is an example of erasure of Assyrian history in our homelands. Built by King Sennacherib 3000 years ago. Renovated twice under the Byzantine & Abbasid Empires. In 1955, the British Gov’t unsuccessfully tried to blow it up after loading it w/ TNT. #SkiesofAssyria
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Touching the cuneiform of my Assyrian ancestors at Jerwan at the site of the world’s first aqueducts built under the reign of King Sennacherib and where the KRG now has the peshmerga doing military exercises to cause further destruction to Assyrian antiquities.
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You’re saying that to an Assyrian/Aramean who has miraculously survived millennia of genocides for his ethnicity & religion. The ONLY reason we’re a “minority” is because we were massacred into one.
the idea of religious minorities getting their own country is incredibly harmful and im tired of it being promoted as the only way to ensure their safety.
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Completely heartbroken over Artsakh. It’s 2023 & we’re still valuing resources over human life, we’re still ignoring genocide. 100 years from now, Azerbaijan will deny this to our grandchildren just like Turkey denies it to us. History repeats itself. When will we learn?.
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@shamoo0s This reminded me of when I very politely declined a guy’s offer to take me out a few years ago. He told me I need to rethink how I speak to him because he’s killed my people in Iraq. Way to make a girl feel safe and rethink her rejection….
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Does hiding in churches & villages so Assyrians die facing the consequences of retaliating Turkish bombs fall under following the Geneva Convention? What about when the PKK violently grabs Assyrian lands & forces kurdification?.
I am so sick of saying this, but no one is listening.The barbaric Turkish regime keeps calling out Israel,saying HAMAS are freedom fighters but keeps bombing Kurds calling PKK terrorists. PKK follows theGeneva Convention, HAMAS follows ISIS behavior. When will the West speak out?.
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The burning of the Quran must be condemned by all Assyrians for the sake of our people in our indigenous homelands. While the world never cares about us, we care about us. As we sit here in diaspora thinking giving with our wallets is enough, they’re giving their actual lives.
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After fighting a courageous battle against the injuries he sustained in the Baghdeda wedding fire, Fadi has now tragically passed. How much more suffering can Assyrians endure? How many more martyrs must we give to finally have safety and freedom in our indigenous homelands? 😔💔.
We're saddened to share that Fadi Adi has passed away from injuries sustained in the Baghdeda wedding fire. His loss brings the total number of casualties to 134. Fadi was in Chicago, fighting to recover when he passed. 🙏🏼
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In 2022, I visited Martyr Yousip’s grave in his hometown of Blejaneh. I discovered a vibrant Akitu flower growing wild by his resting place; its bright purple color echoing the Zowaa flag. A unique beauty amidst varied hues, standing out from the rest in a touching tribute. 💜
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39 years ago, Yousip, Youbert, Youkhanna were brutally executed by the Baath regime for being champions for Assyrian freedom. Today, let's honor their sacrifice with love, unity, and an unwavering advocacy for our shared human rights.
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An interesting article examining the role of Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani in the Yezidi genocide in Sinjar. Had they included the coinciding Assyrian genocide in Nineveh, it would have offered a clearer insight into the broader dynamics at play.
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Everyone loves to claim indigenous Assyrian lands while ethnically cleansing us. Some promise stability, others religious freedom, all deceiving the world to gain support as they push us to extinction. There will never be stability for us until we have Assyrian autonomy.
AKP mouthpiece CNN Turk: .According to Misak-i Milli, Aleppo, Mosul, and Kirkuk are Turkish, and if Turks controlled these areas, there would be no sectarian or ethnic conflicts. In case anyone needed a reminder of what Turkey's really doing in Syria.
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Fun fact: did you know that the English word “gazelle” is often associated with North African or Arabic origin, but it actually comes from the ancient Akkadian word ḫuzālu (young female gazelle)?.
Assyrian wall panel relief of a mother and two baby gazelles from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, Assyria (668-627 B.C.), now at the British Museum in London. #Assyrian #Gazelle #Nineveh, #Assyria #NorthPalaceofAshurbanipal #Ashurbanipal #BritishMuseum #assyrianews
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When Kurdish nationalists aren’t busy claiming Assyrian history, placing restrictions on archaeologists uncovering our artifacts and ethnically cleansing us in our own indigenous homelands, they like to make time to turn around and play victim.
terms that #twitterkurds should start using:.Assyrianification - term from when modern (not ancient) “assyrians” deny, revise and lie Kurdish history, one example is AINA.Armenification - examples are: twitter pages, Garnak Asatrian, “ezdiki” and armenians pretending to be ezidi.
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That fight for independence is built on the murdered bodies of the indigenous people of that land—Assyrians and Yazidis. Our rivers overflow with our blood, this history is written all over our skin.
Waiting to see protests in London for Kurdish independence. These are the true oppressed people of the Middle East. #FreeKurdistan.#Rojava.
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My dad staring at a picture of one of his older brothers, who passed at age 41 in Iraq, when my dad had just come to the US. He found out by letter from his father on NYE after he had dressed up to go to an Assyrian party. He stayed home instead.
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It's heartbreaking to see mounting misinformation bury the plight of indigenous Assyrians in Iraq & Syria. Our voices are silenced, our cries ignored. Why listen to those who speak over us? Why ask those drowning us how we feel? Hear us before we disappear--before it's too late.
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I don't have the words to explain how absolutely heartbreaking this situation in Syria is. My homeland has been devastated since 2011.
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@KurdistanWatch I realize you’re breaking this down by denomination, but it should be noted that Chaldeans and Syriacs are all Assyrian by ethnicity. The Christian label is just a way to divide us and push erasure of our indigenous identity. It’s extremely harmful and problematic for Assyrians.
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Yes, because there’s a genocide campaign against Assyrians and our internationally-required human rights are being violated in our indigenous homelands while EVERYONE ignores it or waits for someone else to help. WE ARE DYING.
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On rare occasions, I look like a person. Don’t expect it too often though, litlee soda (I’m in no mood). 😂 A little sunscreen, eyebrow gel & light eyebrow pigment with some colored mascara make a huge difference. Happy Sunday, friends 🤍
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I love the support for Ukraine, but it makes me sad we’ve never been shown that kind of love. When the women & children melted together in the Amiriyah shelter bombing, the US tried to justify it. When 500,000 Iraqi children were killed, Madeleine Albright said it was worth it.
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Learning Algebra & Trigonometry in the language it was created in. Well, Akkadian to modern Assyrian (Akkadian-influenced Aramaic). Thanks to @assyrianaid for supporting these schools and building a future for our children.
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As important as language is with maintaining culture, Assyrians who were forced to stop speaking our language because they’d get their tongues cut out are still very much authentically part of our culture. They maintain literally everything else. They are Assyrian.
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