Modern-day Assyrians are descendants of an ancient people with origins in Mesopotamia, a region known as the fertile crescent or “cradle of civilization” from which originated discoveries of the wheel, mathematics, the first library and astronomy. Assyrians were one of the earliest civilizations and, at one time, the most powerful empire in the world.
And yet, while this ancient history is important and far-reaching, it’s our recent history that offers lessons for the world we live in today.
THE STATE OF THE WORLD
The world watches current events of persecution, mass migration, and internally displaced refugees with disbelief and despair. Most of us are fortunate enough to have never known the pain of being forced from the only home, region, or country that we have ever known. Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of our time involves the oppression of people still living in their ancestral homelands.
Internally displaced people cannot turn to international laws to protect them, as transnational agreements are ignored or underenforced. They cannot look to their own governments – who may lack either the will or capacity to ensure their safety and to seek justice on their behalf. In these disastrous situations, the boundaries between abusers and saviors become blurred.
Human rights violations and, in the extreme, genocide, are a perpetual threat to many marginalized peoples. It can be rooted in religious and racial intolerance, land disputes, and the control of economically valuable natural resources. Both are fueled by a quest for money and political power, a rise in nationalism, or unstable geopolitical forces. Human rights abuses involve denial of the events and the devastation they cause by the perpetrators. The current state of volatile global affairs ensures there’s not a corner of the world free from the threat of crimes against humanity.
Aggressors often strike the weakest first to gauge the penalties they may face. Without swift and significant consequences, perpetrators are undeterred as they continue targeting vulnerable populations. When the world watches human rights abused with impunity, what initially seems unimaginable gradually morphs into resigned tolerance and then eventually into a state of hopeless inevitability. Those who persecute others see silence as acceptance and are thus emboldened by responses that they perceive as demonstrating indifference or apathy.
LESSONS FROM A GENOCIDE
The adoption of Christianity by Assyrians was one of the contributing factors that led to their persecution, and ultimately genocide in 1915 that included Armenians and Greeks, among others. Acts of genocide are defined by the deliberate and intentional destruction of a specific nation or group of people with the ultimate goal of erasing their culture and identity.
Many human rights violations, including war crimes, forced migration, and torture, may not be defined by genocide because their intent is not the partial or total destruction of a nation’s existence and history.
Crimes against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in 1915 meet accepted genocide criteria (as defined by the United Nations), and have been formally recognized by over 30 governments.
For Assyrians, this genocide led to the formation of a worldwide diaspora and an eternal longing for a homeland that is unlikely to ever be realized. As a community, we mourn the death of family members we never had the chance to know, and we live with the reality of never being reunited with our surviving relatives now living in other parts of the world.
The descendants of Assyrian, Greek and Armenian Genocide victims and refugees in the early 1900s are living testaments to the inevitable repetition and patterns of oppression – and we implore the world to learn from the sacrifices of our ancestors. Assyrians continue to cry out, “How has the world learned so little from the suffering of so many?’’
SILENCE HAS A PRICE
Silence always has a price, and the price may seem low when it affects a relative few. Selective silence by those in power may be even more insidious – a double standard where virtually the same offenses are deemed more egregious when inflicted on one group over another. The cumulative effect is that the entire world suffers emotional injuries when we feel forced into accepting behaviors that conflict with our morality. We can counter this effect with sustained vigilance and insistence on swift and unified responses to crimes against humanity.
Anyone affected by human rights abuses recognizes the early warning signs – dehumanization, increasing anger centered on religious or ethnic differences, and inordinate blame and escalating violence towards targeted groups. Marginalized people are often deliberately portrayed as the instigators of actions that are labeled as dangerous security threats. As such, we must never accept violations of human rights as collateral damage from any action defined as a “war on terror” – real or imagined.
ALERTING THE WORLD
What actions can Assyrians and other groups utilize to alert the world of threats to human rights before they amount to genocide?
1. Learn all we can about our own history and world history. Be informed about cultural, religious, and political factors associated with historic events. Educate our children in geography, comparative religions, and geopolitics so they can assess international affairs from a global perspective. While an understanding of the world needs to be part of regular family discussions, it’s more important to model values through our actions.
2. Remember that the victors write history. Dig deep to understand the context and complexities surrounding both historical and current conflicts. Strive to see the bigger picture and keep a broad focus. Assess the role that powerful governments played – and still play – in global conflicts. Question authoritative entities and their motivations. Always ask, “Which individuals and groups stand to benefit and how?”
3. Include our perspective when acts of aggression, persecution, and genocide are happening so we can help the world recognize and react to it appropriately. Be willing to stand up and say, “We see you. We see what you’re doing, and we’ll make sure that the rest of the world sees you and your motivations as well.”
4. Speak out in ways that include writing, social media, art, film, and op-eds. There are many ways to have an impact and to make our voices heard. A single action may seem meaningless, but an army of activists speaking out is powerful. Follow targeted individuals including journalists, artists, or athletes on social media. Posting supportive comments to their accounts sends the message that the world is watching how their governments are treating them.
5. Support smaller, independent news outlets and follow photojournalists on social media. Amplify their work with online and financial support.
6. Listen to and share the stories of people who have experienced human rights violations and those who continue to suffer. Stories give a voice to the struggles of the persecuted that cannot be communicated in other ways. The view from the ground up is difficult to witness but we cannot look away if we seek a true understanding of history as it unfolds.
7. Contact local, state, and Federal politicians, diplomats, and government agencies. They are our representatives and pay attention to messages from their constituents. Call, write, and add comments and inquiries on social media regarding any actions seen as failed domestic or foreign policies.
8. Participate in public protests or marches to show support and unity. This is how the world will see that not all members of a group side with aggressors. We have seen protests in virtually every conflicted country. It’s easy to judge a population as a whole or assume a majority is supportive of a belief or action when, in fact, it’s widely unpopular.
9. Encourage sanctions, which have the most impact when they’re backed by the power of governments. Individuals can protest with our pocketbooks, and we can support companies committed to fair and responsible political and economic policies.
10. Ask governments to fund the UN beyond the required membership amounts and to financially support non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Criticisms of the United Nations include difficulties in implementing and enforcing human rights standards, largely because it’s a much greater challenge to broker peace than respond with military force. The world needs coordinated international peacekeeping and peace-forming entities like the UN.
SHARING OUR LESSONS
Assyrians will never forget those victimized by human rights violations in the past – or those suffering now. With increasing regularity, people are forced to flee their homes and witness several generations of family endangered or erased. We recognize and accept that oppression circles back as an inherent part of human nature, it’s been our community’s reality for over a hundred years. Sharing lessons of our genocidal past forces attention on these events and illuminates them for what they are and will always be – a portent to our world’s future.
There is danger in complacency. People cannot assume the world is moving forward. It’s unlikely that humans will ever be capable of vanquishing the perils of racial and religious persecution. We want to believe that we have overcome prejudice and discrimination, but it sits dormant and smoldering in all societies – deep-rooted and ineradicable.
Empathy and brotherhood cannot be assumed or taken for granted in a world of rampant viciousness. The basic tenets of human rights, tolerance, and peace are in retreat and with it, a threat to all of mankind.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Assyrian Journal.
Dr. Julia Bajone Hallisy is a practicing dentist in San Francisco. Her father came to the United States in 1921 as an infant with his parents and siblings as genocide refugees from Urmia. Dr. Hallisy is a member of the Assyrian Foundation of America and writes for Nineveh Magazine.