Monthly Archives: December 2014

Sophie Cousins, Special for USA TODAY EPA SYRIA CHRISTMAS REL PEOPLE BELIEF (FAITH) SYR (Photo: Youssef Badawi, european pressphoto agency) DERIKE, Syria — Unlit Christmas lights adorn this small but largely isolated Christian town in northeastern Syria. But with only a few hours of electricity every day and most…

By Khalid Hussein Iranian Assyrian Christians held a demonstration in front of the UN office in Tehran on Monday, November 15. 2014. MOSCOW, Russia — A leading member of the Assyrian community in Iraq says the failure of the Iraqi government to protect Christians has led to the mass migration of the…

Assyrian Christians Defend Communities Against Islamic State Militants Fri, December 19, 2014…

PanARMENIAN.Net – Lorenzo Lamas, 1980s heartthrob and star of the hit series “The Renegade,” is set to portray the Apostle Thaddeus in an upcoming biblical epic. The movie will be produced by Walker Cable Productions, and filmed near San Antonio,…

For the first time an important inaugural gathering of Jewish and Christian communities was organised on December 18. The gathering represented the strengthening partnership between the Jewish, Assyrian and Hellenic communities, together with the NSW Ecumenical Council. The event had a spiritual focus and also served to educate…

Syrian refugee children look on as refugees play a soccer game at Zaateri camp in Jordan – AP (Vatican Radio) The United Nations has launched an appeal to raise $8.4 billion for the coming year, to help nearly 18 million people affected by the war in Syria. On Thursday,…

Asharq Al-Awsat speaks to Aphrem II, spiritual leader of Syria’s largest Christian community The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Aphrem II. (Syriac Orthodox Church) Vienna and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—It is Christmas season in Austria and a chilly, drizzly evening in its capital Vienna. The city’s busy Christmas market at the foot of its…

By Dmitry Lee in People on 19 December ASTANA – Among the numerous nationalities that live in Kazakhstan, there is a very small community that has lived through some of history’s darkest times to preserve their language and cultural heritage. Today, there are only about 350 of them left in the country. Their origins lie…

by Simon Caldwell When baby Mariam was born her mother laid her in a bed made from a plastic bag Below: Refugees in a camp near Erbil (CNS) In an Iraqi Christian refugee camp old men savour memories of Christmas dinners and young mothers anxiously nurse their newborns…

Cindy Stockman Editor-in-Chief The Prince of Wales will visit the Syrian Orthodox Church, St Thomas Cathedral in Acton On Wednesday. Whilst there, he will meet members of the congregation from Iraq and Syria who have first-hand experience of persecution.…

By Press Association and Thomas Burrows for MailOnline Prince of Wales spoke out against massacre of Pakistani schoolchildren Made speech at London cathedral of community of Middle East Christians Said it was ‘horrific reminder’ Muslims are themselves victims of extremists…

Letter from International Peace Bureau about Haifaa Al-amin…

Sydney, December 18, 2014 On Tuesday 16 December, 2014, five members of the Assyrian Universal Alliance-Australian Chapter (AUA) and the Young Assyrians of the AUA, were presented with Community Service Awards. The event was organised by Mr Chris Hayes MP, Federal…

Ankawa.com – Younes Thanon Ankawa.com sources in Mosul said that militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) destroyed the cross of St George monastery in the city of Mosul. A number of people from nearby houses to the monastery said in their remarks to our correspondence that militants from ISIS have, since the beginning of this…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, today led a bipartisan effort calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to assist religious minorities facing persecution in Syria and Iraq, such as Christians and Yazidis, to find refuge in the United States. The Senators also urged the State Department to provide…

Basnews | Nawzad Majid DUHOK After Islamic State (IS) militants took control of Nineveh province, 120,000 Iraqi Christians moved to the Kurdistan Region and since then, about 40% of them have left the region and moved abroad.…

By Kirstie Chlopicki Helping hands: Student representative council members Maryam Basim, Matthew Francis, Teresa Haroon, Lina Ishak, and Augen Sifoo have been collecting nonperishable food items for Salvation Army hampers. Picture: Simon Bennett STUDENTS from Narsai Assyrian Christian College are reaching out to lend a hand…

Two dead from upturned boat in Sydney THE only survivor from yesterday’s deadly capsizing in Botany Bay has been released from hospital amid claims the two men killed were not wearing life jackets. The two men who drowned after their boat was capsized by a rogue wave in huge surf…

The Daily Star BEIRUT: A delegation of Australian bishops arrived in Beirut Monday afternoon to show solidarity with displaced Iraqi Christians and offer them moral and financial support. The visit to Lebanon is part of an initiative by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, which designated Dec. 7 as a Day of Solidarity with the Christians…

Harper government proposes to cherry-pick which Syrian refugees we help by prioritizing “persecuted minorities,” which may sideline Sunni Muslims. A young Syrian refugee enters his tent at the Qushtapa Refugee Camp in Erbil, Iraq, on Dec. 14, 2014. MATT CARDY / GETTY IMAGES…