On March 19, 2003, the US invaded Iraq, culminating with the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime and his eventual trial and execution. One of the common laments heard from one segment of Iraqis was that while Saddam was a dictator, even as a dictator he preserved their infrastructure as well as the antiquities and with that the walls of the Assyrian city-state of Nineveh. Ironically, Iraq would soon be plunged into civil unrest and eventually civil war between its various factions. This civil unrest saw the looting of the Baghdad museum and with it the beginning of the destruction of 6771 years of Assyrian heritage. The civil war to follow led to the destruction of mosques and churches alike, in addition to critical infrastructure and the rise of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). NEC-SE asks, who committed those acts? Was it the west? Or was it the people of Iraq themselves?

Years later, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a byproduct of the Iraq civil war entered the fray. Under the “caliphate,” the destruction of the Assyrian antiquities reached a new level. Precious tablets and relics were smuggled off and sold in black markets to the west. The entire remains of the city of Ashur were blown up and leveled to the ground. Priceless reliefs were chiseled beyond recognition. Churches were defaced, destroyed, or converted to mosques. The church built above the tomb of Jonah was destroyed. And even the remaining of the original 18 Gates of Nineveh were destroyed. NEC-SE asks, who committed those acts? Was it the west? Or was it the people of Iraq themselves?

Fast forward to the year 2021. Between 5-8 March, Pope Francis made a historic visit to Iraq, following an invitation from the Government of Iraq (GOI). A sizeable portion of the remaining indigenous Assyrians in Iraq are Catholic. How did the GOI respond to this gesture of goodwill following the Roman Catholic Pontiff’s trip at their calling? On March 19, 2021, 18 years following the US invasion of Iraq, the GOI commissioned Iraqi contractors to begin destroying the walls of the Assyrian city-state of Nineveh, and with it all traces of the ancient and biblical heritage of the Assyrian people. NEC-SE asks, who committed those acts? Was it the west? Or was it the people of Iraq themselves?

Did the GOI calculate that there would be a lack of outrage or disapproval even by the Vatican at the destruction of the Assyrian walls of Nineveh, especially at the heel of the Pope’s visit to Iraq? Or did they simply believe that the Pope and by extension the Christian West tacitly approves the status quo policies of the GOI as well as the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and their view that the destruction of the Assyrian ruins of Nineveh has nothing to do with the Christians of Iraq or and do not constitute an attack against Christian history in general? NEC-SE asks, who is at fault for this tacit approval of the destruction of the Assyrian heritage? Is it the west? Or is it the people of Iraq and by extension the GOI and KRG themselves?

This ties in directly with another injustice. The indigenous Assyrian people in Iraq do not have representation as Assyrians. Rather, they have representation only as Christians. Even the Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE), which has the word Assyrian in its name and has a recognized ecumenical relationship with the Vatican, is not necessarily recognized as distinctly Assyrian in nature, by the GOI, KRG, and the West, but rather it’s just another Christian minority group in Iraq. Even so, had we seen another terrorist attack occur against an Assyrian church under their watch, either by “ISIS” or any militant Islamic group, the matter would have been difficult to address politically by the GOI. However, when they allowed for the destruction of the Assyrian city of Nineveh, they saw an opportunity to justify it since it was not an attack on Christians. NEC-SE asks, who committed those acts against the Assyrian heritage from which Iraq claims to stem? Was it the west? Or was it the people of Iraq themselves?

The GOI and the West’s lack of outrage or disapproval of this destruction are contradicted by the blatantly obvious fact that the Assyrians do exist as distinct people in Iraq irrespective of their religious affiliation as Christians. It is no more or no less salient a fact that a Muslim Arab or Kurd is recognized by the GOI, the West, and pretty much the entire World, as separate from their predominantly Muslim religious affiliation. It’s not a question of whether an Arab is an Arab first or a Kurd is a Kurd first, and a Muslim second, or vice versa, but that there are two actual distinct categories recognized. Yet, by the GOI and KRG standards, the indigenous Assyrians in Iraq cannot, must not, be recognized as such, rather they are exclusively identified at the local, provincial, and national political level as only Christians. Outside of Iraq, however, Greeks, Armenians, and Russians are universally recognized by their cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and national identities, but they are also recognized by their religious affiliations such as Christians in the Greek Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church, or Russian Orthodox Church. NEC-SE asks, who is behind this atrocity against the Assyrians who are known as the root of Christianity and by extension an attack against the Assyrian heritage from which Iraq claims to stem? Was it the west? Or was it the people of Iraq themselves?

19 MAR 21, which was the day the newest genocide against the Assyrian peoples in Iraq was commissioned by the GOI, was also the Feast of Saint Joseph. 2021 is the year of Saint Joseph. Leading the Assyrian nation was the Assyrian Church function for centuries. If ACOE does not wish to take a strong political stance against this destruction and the attack against our biblical heritage, then it should at a minimum make a special offering to Saint Joseph on behalf of the Assyrian nation and all Ninevites.

Saint Joseph appears in the biblical texts but never speaks. It was Saint Joseph who protected Christ from King Herod, and when he died it is believed that Mary and Christ were at his side. For this reason, he is called the patron saint of a happy death. He is also known as the adopted father of Christ.

Just like Joseph, the walls of Nineveh are omnipresent in Assyrian history even before they accepted the mantel of Christianity, which they saw as a spiritual unfolding and continuation of their ancient monotheism, as evidenced in the biblical story of Jonah. The Assyrians are the reason why Jonah’s name exists in the bible and why God mentioned the borders of Mat-Ashur in the first chapter of Genesis. Even before Christ’s birth, the Assyrians knew God.

The walls of Nineveh have stood in silent vigil, protecting the Assyrian nation since the moment of their conception. It is time now for us – including the Church body – to stand with the Assyrians. The Church must become a bulwark for the Assyrian nation because the Assyrian nation – with its centuries of martyrdom – is the reason the Assyrian Church exists today. If this destruction goes unanswered, the Assyrian people’s martyrdom over the millennia will be cheapened. We have already seen that legacy sold for profit by the Iraqi Government.

In Matthew 12:38-41, we see Jesus give a warning to the scribes and the Pharisees, who were a religious-social sect that saw themselves as the “separate ones.” Today, we see elements within Iraq and its government viewing themselves as “separate,” or above the law. The GOI which is aligned with the Islamic Republic of Iran – not unlike the Pharisees asking Jesus for signs in a mocking manner – appears to be mocking the Assyrian people. It’s as if they wish to say, “if your God is real, let him show us a sign and stop this.” To this behavior, the Assyrian nation responds with the words of Christ himself:

39. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Jesus was a man of action. His adopted father, Joseph, was a man of action. Joseph did not have to take Mary as his wife given the circumstances but did so anyway. He was righteous and heeded the words of the angel of the Lord. Joseph’s actions protected Mary and their newborn baby. Joseph raised Jesus as his son, invested in him, and taught him all he knew.

NEC-SE asks, where are the Joseph’s of today in the Iraqi Government and the Churches? Where are the men of action? Where are the guardians? Where are the men of conviction? Where are those who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice? Are there any men of honor left in Iraq or the west or are their absence or death the fault of the west or the people of Iraq themselves?

https://rumble.com/vf9bnf-the-missing-cross..html