Assyrian Nation Web Site

The Assyrian news website is excited to announce that the site will undergo a redevelopment and will be re-launched as a completely new service. 

After months of TheAssyrian news website being down, an investigation that only lasted two hours has revealed the website had suffered a malicious hacking incident since early January 2012.

A public petition has started to circulate online, in a bid to add pressure to Fairfield City Council, so that changes are not made to the plaque or that it not be removed.

Members of the Australian Assyrian community have started to sign the petition which is expected to gain popularity within the next four weeks, when council will come to a resolution on the issue.

The petition can be found online by following the link below.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/assyrian-anzac-war-memorial.html

The Assyrian Levies Association has also requested that you add your name and not leave it as anonymous as it will not be counted. The address part is optional and you can leave it blank.

This Sunday the Assyrian community of Sydney will witness the first ever ordination of a bishop outside of the Middle East for the Ancient Church of the East.

Angry members of the Assyrian community are calling on Fairfield Council to be ‘sacked’ after The Assyrian ANZAC’s/Levies Memorial was blocked from being reconstructed at last night’s Fairfield Council meeting in Sydney, Australia.

The Annual Assyrian Martyr's Remembrance walk will be held this Saturday 6 August 2011, starting at 10am from the St Mary's Assyrian Church in Fairfield. The procession will proceed to the Fairfield Town Centre and will end at the Assyrian Levies/ANZACS Memorial at Fairfield Park at approximately 11am.

It's that time of the year where we remember our martyrs and fallen heroes. The 7^th of August is just days away, which means it's also time for the Annual Memorial walk which takes place each year from St Mary's Assyrian Church in Fairfield, to the Levies/ANZACS Memorial at Fairfield Park.

Once again the walk will be lead by the Ss. Peter and Paul parish Priest, Rev. John Kushaba. Last year was a successful walk with close to 300 people taking part.

The walk is in remembrance of the innocent Assyrian men, women and children who fled Urmia on foot in the face f the 1918 forced exodus where more than 25,000 people perished during the 'death marches' including Armenians.

The Assyrian Levies/ANZACS memorial which also mentions the Assyrian genocides have in recent months been the target of numerous attacks with the last attack destroying the stone damaged and vandals removing and taking the plaque.

In an earlier story covering the attack theassyrian.com.au (Memorial attack may be political, March 5 2011) mentioned Fairfield City Council as trying to change the wording on the Memorial plaque to exclude the word genocide and Turkey.

Mr Gaby Kiwarkis who headed the memorial efforts has also met in recent weeks with council officials who struck a deal to remove the name Turkey from the memorial given the fact Turkey did not exist at the time, but agreed to leave the words 'ottoman' and 'genocides' on the new plaque which council said will foot the bill for, including surveillance cameras to the park to prevent future attacks.

This week it was confirmed to theassyrian that Fairfield council has back flipped on the agreement and blocked the plaque with current wording.

Mr Kiwarkis said, 'When the last attacks occurred, I managed to calm down our community and we started to liaison with council in an orderly manner, but it now seems clear that there are certain people within council with a political agenda who seek to stop the memorial from being reconstructed and these games must come to an end".

Many Assyrian groups and individuals are now believed to be heading a campaign within the community, encouraging Assyrians to attend this week's Memorial walk in support of Assyrian martyrs and as a show of force in support of the Memorial efforts and against Fairfield Councils decision.

Photo courtesy of Qeenatha.com

- UPDATE: Janan Sawa is in a stable condition and 'is doing very well'.

- Janan's daugther Natasha Mansour tells her fathers fans that he is 'alert and awake', and thanks fans for their support.

- Assyrian artist Albert Mansour, posts message on facebook reassuring Janan fans that he is recovering well.

- Janan Sawa is in hospital following a serious crash

- Assyrian music sites record thousands of hits to his music since news of the accident broke yesterday morning.

History was made yesterday as the first Assyrian was elected to the Turkish parliament.

A Wellington taxi driver stabbed seven times says new laws requiring cameras in cabs won’t work.

The new law comes into force in four months, but Assyrian driver Schlemon Yako says he wants shields – not cameras.

Mr Yako picked up a job from Kilbirnie last Saturday. Near the destination in Wilton, the passenger turned on him, stabbing him seven times.

Driven by the thought of seeing his wife and four children again, he fought off his attacker, clutching at the knife with his hands.

Mr Yako’s wife is overjoyed he lived, but it wasn’t the same ending for Hiren Mohini’s family – the Auckland driver who was stabbed to death last year.

His death sparked a law change, and by August 1 this year, every taxi will be required to have a security camera.

Mr Yako’s boss, KiwiCabs director Muneer Oraha, says only three out of his 89 cabs have the cameras. They’re too costly, he says, and won’t work.

Mr Yako agrees.

He says he’s planning to quit the night shift, but says if or when he gets a shield that’ll change.

Below is a link to the news video on the stabbing.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Stabbed-taxi-driver-says-cameras-wont-work/tabid/309/articleID/204568/Default.aspx