WAR ON IRAQ & THE ASSYRIANS
Martin Roth's Christian Commentary wonders about the effects that war might have on the Assyrian community. This is a big issue in Turlock, where I live. We have one of the largest concentrations of Assyrians in the US. These are my neighbors and the people in our congregation. Most still have family members living in their ancestral lands -- now divided between the modern countries of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

My auto mechanic likes my facial hair because it reminds him of the Arab sheiks back home (who he probably made fun of as a kid). BTW, westerners have a hard time telling the difference, but Assyrians are not Arabs. And they are definitely not Muslims -- or fans of the leadership in Iraq -- different history, different culture, different outlook, different religion. Because of several waves of genocide and persecution most Assyrians now live outside the Middle East -- a disapora. The Assyrian language is a variation of Aramaic -- the language which Jesus spoke.

The NY Times Magazine had an article last Sunday on the cultural background of various places in Iraq.