Heavy rains damage 1,300-year-old church in Iraq
Heavy rains this week collapsed the stone walls at a church in northern Iraq, damaging a site that has stood for more than 1,300 years....
iraq
On a hilltop of bones, a fence guards over a century-old massacre
by Joe Snell
Atone Sliwo Ashur’s desire to build a fence around an elevated hilltop in Simele, a town in northern Iraq’s Dohuk district, seems innocent at first...
My father survived as a prisoner during the Iran-Iraq war. Others weren’t so lucky.
The bells of war rang throughout Iraq, and with each clang, Iraqis grew terrified of what their futures held. It was the summer of 1980....
What just happened to the Nineveh Plain Protection Units?
by Joe Snell
In the hours after the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) published a statement on Facebook, a message swirled across the internet: “The NPU is restored...
Meet the Assyrian women dominating Iraq’s professional volleyball league
When she’s not playing volleyball, Doreen Romel Shamow competes for Iraq’s national basketball team, a squad she has represented since she was 15. Balancing her...
Life under fire in northern Iraq’s Assyrian villages
by Joe Snell
In the Nahla Valley of northern Iraq, Assyrians in the village of Rabatkeh live in constant fear of Turkey airstrikes and nearby PKK militants....
Dear Atra: Letters to the homeland
by bbjoe15
The Journal asked young Assyrians who had just visited the homeland to write letters recalling their visit, the people and places that stood out and...
Opinion: Assyrians are losing their language. Welcome to the era of Iraq’s private schools.
by Noor Matti
Private schools in Iraq, although providing a better academic experience and safer learning environment than their public school counterparts, threaten to erase the Assyrian language...
Assyrian blacksmith forges knives, axes in northern Iraq
A blacksmith and his father carve knives and axes from a shop in the Diana neighborhood in northern Iraq. They're part of a long line...
Returning to Atra after 28 years
LONDON -- Shamiran Khoshaba returned to Atra this summer after leaving the country in 1991 at eight years old. Like many Assyrians, Khoshaba thought she...