Fort
+P42
Yut
WHITHER CHRISTIAN MISSIONS?
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest, thou me.”—ACTS, 9 (4)
Natl. Found
Share 45 Assyrian
Students of history interested in the problems of national refugees
and minorities in the Middle East were startled by the publication in
America of John Van Ess' Meet the Arab*, a friendly, indeed, a too
complimentary book about the Arab, written in fullfilment of a promise
he once had made to the late King Faisal of Iraq. It is a model eulogy
to the valor and duplicity of the Arabs.
The author was an American Missionary of the Reformed
Church stationed at Basra, Iraq, where he served the Arabs for
forty years without making the slightest impression upon them with
the teachings of Christianity. His book is not limited to Iraq, however;
it comprehends the entire “Arabian Peninsula” with a characteristic,
dogmatic proposal for the solution of the Problem of Palestine. This
Problem of Palestine is a lamentable one indeed, and were it not for
too many such gratuitous offers of solution by self-appointed reformers,
the simple Palestine Problem would have remained simple, and the
age-old solidarity between the two peoples would not have become
corrupted in the Holy Land!
While these comments have reference solely to the Iraqi-
Assyrian dispute (not a review), it would not be amiss to state that
the book is a sham and entirely devoid of merit both as a literary
production and as a source of information. It is written in a childish
style and the chapters are marred by numerous inaccuracies which
betray a certain superficiality of scholarship. As a source of
information, it is a twisted and garbled tissue of mendacity
and distortion of facts. What else could a book written with a
pre-conceived bias, contain? “The Arabs are my friends” is the
opening sentence! When an author permits himself to become super-
saturated with a blind admiration for the Arab and Arab viewpoint,
*N. Y.; The John Day Co., Inc., 1943


20
WHITHER CHRISTIAN MISSIONS?
likely to be the last fatal pilgrimage(s) of your ancient nation! The
betrayal(®) of your followers by friends you once trusted is the basest
in history! The lust for economic power rode roughshod over principle
and promise leaving the Assyrians stranded in a no man's land at the
mercy of strange and hostile Arab tribesmen! They are now deserted,
broken, and bleeding! They are dying!
VIII. The assassination of Bakir Sidqi is part of the logical
sequel to the Assyrian cause. It has a spiritual significance much
deeper than can be apprehended by Dr. Van Ess. In it is to be
perceived the outline of divine justice. Who was Bekir Sidqi?
The son of a Turkish Provincial Governor, Bakir Sidqi was born
in 1890 near Kirkuk and entered the Turkish Army at the age of
eighteen when he gained a reputation as a ruthless soldier. During
the last War he served on the Turkish staff and had a deep admiration
for Turkey and Germany (his wife was German). In 1932, he visited
England and attended courses at the Staff College, Camberley. In
1933, he conducted the Assyrian massacre as the chief agent of the
Iraqi Government. In 1936, he launched a Coup d'état which resulted
68. A. H. Hamilton, Road Through Kurdistan, London: Faber & Faber, Ltd., 1937, P. 320-1.
The Assyrian leaders were actuated by a purity of motive. Were I on the spot, it would
have been my high privilege to have marched under the supreme command of the lion
hearted Patriarch Mar Benyamin.
When the future liberty of small nations was announced and jihad proclaimed in Turkey
in the Spring of 1915, the Assyrians felt that they were now called upon to play their
part on the sido of Humanity and Christendom. Some of the, spirited lines of Shamasha
Ephraim's war song, evinced the ardor with which they entered World War I:
Brothers, up and arm you; 'tis the Turk assails you;
Lo, the day is dawning when we march to meet the foe!
Quit your flocks and cornfields, grip your trusty rifles,
Forth we go to battle in the name of MAR SHÍMUN.
Stand by one another, clansmen of the nation,
Tkbuma by Tyari, and let Baz by Jilu stand.
Like a band of brothers, hearts and hands united,
Forth we go to battle in the name of MAR SHIMUN.
David* is our leader, valiant in the combat,
He is captain over us to lead us forth to war,
Danger shall not daunt us, fear shall flee before us,
Forth wo go to battle in the name of MAR SHIMUN.
Young men of the nation, tribes renowned in history,
Mighty men in battle were our fathers' kings of old.
Raging through the valleys, storming o'er the mountains,
Forth we go to battle in the name of MAR SHIMUN.
Nineveh the holy beckons back her children;
Know ye not her ancient walls shall be the victor's crown?
There alone, Assyrians, shall our race be established.
Forth we go to battle in the name of MAR SHIMUN.
*Brother of Mar Benyamin and father of the present Patriarch, now in exile in Cyprus.
69. Duff's Guardian's, Dublin Review, Oct. 1937, P. 20-21,