By: Hanna Hajjar
Note: This article is divided into five parts:
1. Introduction
2. Commentary in the Church Seyfo Booklet
3. Recommendation for the Patriarch
4. Seyfo crash course
5. Images
Part: I
INTRODUCTION
Why am I raising this question?
Well after I read the booklet published by the Syriac Orthodox Church on the Centennial commemoration of Seyfo-1915 (A.K.A. Sayfo-1915) I realized that it does not represent me as an Assyrian member of that church whose family suffered and lost victims to the Seyfo-1915 Assyrian Genocide, the same applies to all Jacobites who identify themselves as Assyrians. Notice my wording “Assyrian”, because apparently we have two different and distinct Genocides, one that happened to Assyrians, and another one that happened to Arameans [noting that Arameans are different than Armenians]). Simply because the booklet published by the Syriac Orthodox Church was a racist publication catering to only one so called Aramean group within that church and ignoring the Assyrian members of that same church.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that I realize that there were Assyrian victims from all churches namely: the Syriac Orthodox and Catholics, Church of the East, and Chaldean Catholic Church too. However in this article I am specifically addressing the contents of the booklet published by the Syriac Orthodox Church about their so called Syriac Genocide Centennial commemoration, especially that the writers/authors made it very clear as to who are the Syriacs in their booklet, (i.e. narrowing it down to Arameans only) , and hence excluding Assyrians victims of Seyfo, thus I find it as my duty to expose their misinformation that ended up distorting the facts about Seyfo, allowing the so called Arameans to hijack this event and in the process they ended up disgracing this sacred commemoration, and adding insult to the injury to the real Assyrian victims of this genocide who were intentionally ignored. I don’t expect the Syriac Orthodox Church to talk about Assyrians of other denominations since they have no authority to do that, (and also since the non Jacobites can be represented and commemorated by their own churches), however to ignore the Assyrian victims who are Jacobites and are members of the Syriac Orthodox Church in a publication by the Syriac Orthodox Church, that I find alarming and insulting too!
I don’t mean to insult any clergyman or any person, but apparently when certain people write, edit, approve, and publish a booklet about a certain historical event that concerns many people, then it is expected that they meet a certain high standard, and must have researched that topic, and know what they are talking about, to say the least. I don’t know what kind of reader is their booklet directed at? Because based on its contents it seems that it is the blind leading the blind! Any well educated person reading their booklet would be very disappointed, and would conclude that the writers of this booklet were either incompetent with respect to their knowledge about the Seyfo-1915 genocide, or were politically motivated with a hidden agenda to promote and cater to one particular group, namely the so called Arameans, or simply they were anti-Assyrian. But even with their entire attempt to portray it as an Aramean Genocide, it won’t convince the foreign educated reader, and won’t even have a case at international forums or courts simply because it has no substance. END OF DISCLAIMER.
First of all, here are the links to their booklet:
To downloading the English version: Booklet title: “Sayfo Syriac Genocide, Never Forget”: http://sayfosyriacgenocide.org/sayfo-book-english/
To view the Syriac version online: http://sayfosyriacgenocide.org/book-sayfo-syriac/
To view the Arabic version online: http://sayfosyriacgenocide.org/book-sayfo-arabic/
Their official website’s address: sayfosyriacgenocide.org
Their Email: [email protected]
Kindly download the English version and read it, to cross reference my comments, an Arabic version is also available.
Before starting, let’s point out the writers of this Church Seyfo booklet:
Authors: Rev. Fr. Luka Awad, and Mr. Mounzer Obeid
English Translation: Dr. Theodore Issa,
Review of the English Translation: Very Rev. Fr. John Meno
Continued in Parts: II, III, IV, & V
