After ISIS’s arrival in Iraq, Assyrian Christians have been “reduced to 1% or less of the general population”, but many commentators are “far too simplistic” in their explanations, says Jeremy Courtney, an American Christian living in Iraq.
Assyrians link back to the ancient Assyrian Kingdom of the Bible, across the lands of ancient Mesopotamia (largely present-day Iraq) but which also includes areas across Syria and other neighbours. As an ethnic group, they are also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs.
In an opinion piece published in The Week, Courtney says that “cramming the diverse group of victims into a tidy box marked ‘Christian’ is not helpful. Locally, most of these ‘Christians’ identify ethnically as Assyrians, and they are talking as much about Assyrian nationalism as religious identifiers like theology or tradition…
“ISIS is ostensibly persecuting Assyrians because they are Christians, but they are more than that … By glossing over the ethnic/nationalistic component of their struggle, American activists risk missing their aims and adding to their pain by wrongly framing the discussion as one of religious liberty alone…
“Assyrians have a constitutional and human right to live in peace inside the borders of their ancient lands. I support their right to fight for their freedom. But that fight should be waged in the name of Assyria, of Iraq, and of humanity. This land has seen enough religious wars.”