On October 31, 2010, armed al-Qaeda terrorists stormed Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad during evening mass and opened fire. Fifty eight innocent worshippers were killed and over 70 injured in the gunfire and explosions in the most brutal effort to ethnically cleanse Assyrian Christians from their ancestral homeland. Since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003, 66 Christian churches have been bombed and over 600,000 Assyrians have fled their homes seeking safety.

One of the hostages, Dr. Thanaa Nassir, recalls:

The terrorists came into the church, closed the door and took us hostage. I was terrified. There were five or six of them – I do not know exactly because we were all on the floor and could not lift up our heads. They brought in a bomb. I was lying on the floor and every now and then there would be an explosion or gunshots over our heads, over the lights, over the fixtures, over the Crucifix, over the Madonna, everywhere. After that, they started to say “Allahu akbar” [Arabic for God is great], and they blew themselves up.

I was lying underneath a table with a friend. The people beside me were killed. One of the priests was killed in front of me. He died in my arms. Because I am a doctor, I wanted to save them but I could not because the shots were coming close to my head.

I lay there on the floor, covering my ears because I could not bear the sound of the bombs and shooting.

The attack has been deemed a war crime by Amnesty Internationaland has garnered widespread condemnation (Iran, Egypt, Jordan,Lebanon, the UAE the Vatican, Islamic clerics). However, these official statements do nothing to counter the threats that Assyrians in Iraq face.  The terrorists have made no secret that their goal is to “eliminate the Christian presence from those lands either by physically destroying Christians or by terrorizing them into renouncing the faith or fleeing.”. The terrorist group claiming responsibility for the attack, the Islamic State of Iraq proudly announced, “All Christian centres, organisations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for the mujahedeen (holy warriors) wherever they can reach them.”  al-Jazeera has posted an excellent story explaining extremist efforts to ethnically cleanse Assyrians.

The exodus thus far as reached over 600,000 Assyrians, and will only accelerate after these violent attacks prove that the Iraqi government and international community are unable and uninterested in protecting their religious minorities.

My personal involvement comes from the fact that I am an Assyrian whose family fled persecution in Iran during the Islamic Revolution in the mid ‘80s. In the spring of 2009, I spent 10 weeks in the Middle East and stayed in an Iraqi refugee camp outside Damascus for 6 weeks to better understand the crisis, with a focus on healthcare access. I had the opportunity to document my experience in a short film, Transient, available on this web site.

This war and the ensuing chaos were started by the United States, which has since turned its back on the Assyrian Christian minority in Iraq. Please help raise awareness, act, and put a stop to the ethnic cleansing in Iraq.

On Monday, Nov 8, peaceful marches will be held in cities across the world, more details here. The goal is 100,000 participants worldwide.

And for those of you in the US, please click here to alert your elected officials.

The AUA Youth sent out the following email update, and wanted to share it with the rest of the Transient community

“As of this month, a total $5,000 has been wired to the clinic. Mr. Theo Dinkha, Chief Administrative Officer of the clinic and Mr. Sargon David have both expressed gratitude for our donations and are regularly seeing over 40 registered patients. The clinic also continues to help families by providing free prescription medication, when possible, to patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, one of the most commonly seen ailments.”

We will keep working to help as refugees flee Iraq and seek safety in Syria.

In addition, Transient is being featured at the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) FilmFest in Boston on Sunday, 11/22 at 6:10 PM at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.  There are over 20 films and documentaries from all over the world being screened over the weekend.  MESA is an academic organization with over 3,000 members and serves as an umbrella organization for nearly 100 institutions and affiliate organizations.  It also publishes the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. This is an exciting opportunity to show our work to academics from all over the world.

There will be more Transient screenings in the near future, and as always, it is available in its entirety online at www.projecttransient.com.

Jolie’s assessment of the situation paints a clear yet bleak image on the situation as a whole—“most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services.” The hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees face increasing violence and are unable to return home. Given the limited assistance to refugees aside from humanitarian agencies (ie: UNHCR) and other NGOs, Jolie urged the international community to work towards the support of these individuals financially and otherwise to allow for their existence.

For more information visit the UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news.

• The Assyrian Evangelical Church of San Jose: $1000
• The Assyrian American Association of San Jose: $1000
• The Assyrian United Organizations of California: $500

Over 100 people came to see the film and ask questions

Signing the limited edition Transient books for the winners. The highest bid for the book was $1,000.

Saturday night would not have been possible without all your support, dedication and desire to empower the Assyrian refugees. The proceeds from the event will help the clinic in Jaramana continue to see and care for patients and keep the clinic running for nearly one year!

The website will be posted with future event information.  For future events, contact Alex at alex@projecttransient.com .

Please join us on Saturday, September 12 at the Assyrian American Association’s Adobe Hall for a film screening and silent auction benefiting the clinic featured in the documentary. We will have two very special prints and ten limited edition books, featuring photos from Syria telling the story of the Assyrian refugees.

7 pm screening and Q&A with filmmaker Anobel Odisho
8 pm cocktail hour
8:30 pm silent auction

Adobe Hall is located at 1352 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA.

Transient will be screened along with 5 other documentaries and 3 featured films during MESA’s annual conference held from November 21-24 in Boston, MA.

More information about the event can be found at MESA’s website with a detailed program.

We’re very excited to be part of this great film festival and are looking forward to sharing our film in Boston!

Unfortunately, church bombings have become commonplace in Iraq.  According to AINA, 52 churches have been bombed between June 2004 to the end of 2008. One of the refugees that tells his story in Transient was directly affected when the church across the street from his home was bombed one afternoon.  It started with what he called a “noise bomb” to attract people and raise casualties.  A truck with mounted loudspeakers pulled up and began blaring announcements to get people’s attention. As they left their homes and came forward to see what was going on, the truck, loaded with explosives, detonated and left two dead and many injured. He had been standing outside his home with his father when the announcement began but his father knew danger was imminent. He grabbed his arm and pulled him inside just as the bomb exploded.  As he told me his story, he pulled up his sleeve to show me a scar on his arm, from a piece of hot shrapnel that pierced his skin.  Along with an additional shrapnel scar on his back, the terrifying memories and a grainy cell phone video showing the remnants of the church are all he has left.

But now Joodi, who immigrated here on the possibility of a new life he saw in that visit, has more pressing matters on his mind: Should he swallow his pride and ask Fairfax County to move him, his wife and four children into a homeless shelter, or pack it in and return to Iraq?

…

Last year, Congress passed legislation to accept more Iraqi refugees, and the number climbed to more than 12,000, plus 800 others on special visas who had worked for the U.S. government. Now, these same refugees struggling in the economic downturn are at the center of another debate: Does the United States owe them something more?

“We have an obligation to Iraqi refugees, because many in the United States, if not most, were persecuted because of their associations with the United States. . . . So many of these people did put their lives in danger on behalf of America. I think there was an expectation that, as a result, they would be taken care of,” Carey said.

Instead, they’re given $450 from the U.S. State Department and help from a resettlement agency. The amount of aid varies by state and agency.

So if we feel powerless to help the refugees in Syria, is there anything we can do to help them once they arrive to the US?