|
Day 3:
The third and final day of the events contained lectures,
open forum, viewing of the new Holo Malke bi Malkoutho film, and a football
(soccer) match for Assyriska FF.
At 12:30 PM, Mr. Bachir Saadi, the chairman of the ADO Political Bureau gave
a lecture on “Current and Future State of Affairs: A Roadmap for Assyrian
National Progress”. The lecture was about the situation of our people in the
homeland and the future hopes of a “Safe Haven”, an “Administrative Region”,
or an “Autonomous Region” in the plains of Nineveh. Mr. Saadi talked about
the current work that is being done in the homeland by the different
political parties and gave the attendees the ADO’s view of the subject. He
then talked about the relationship between the ADO and the other parties in
the homeland. Following the lecture was a period of questions and answers,
where the audience asked Mr. Saadi questions about the ADO and the hopes
that we have for any of the proposed solutions to save our people’s
existence in their ancestral homeland.
After Mr. Saadi’s lecture, it was time for the well-anticipated event of the
“open political forum” which was moderated by Dr. Gabriel Oussi. Dr. Oussi
decided to give a brief introduction about the subject matter that the open
forum will be covering, which was “Assyrianism: National Identity or
Political Movement?” Then Dr. Oussi opened the floor to anyone who wanted to
give his/her views about the subject or even about our people in general.
This open forum was very well attended and many people participated in the
discussions. As Dr. Oussi explained, “These discussions are extremely
healthy to our political and national movements. They allow everyone to
learn and hear other points of view.” At the end of the open forum which
lasted over 2 hours, Mr. Sait Yildiz, the representative of the ADO’s Sweden
Branch, presented Dr. Oussi with a plaque from the ADO for his nationalist
work throughout the years.
Following the open forum, we were all excited to attend the football
(soccer) match between: Assyriska FF – Boden BK at the Södertälje
Fotbollsarena stadium. Assyriska FF is currently leading the Division 2
rankings and is on its way to rise to Division 1 again. The team needs this
win and was missing 3 of the most important players on the team due to
injury. But with the Zelge fans behind Assyriska FF, how can the team not be
motivated to win. With the Assyrian flags waving in their hands and the nice
signs they made for the team, the Zelge fans did not rest throughout the
match and kept on chanting, singing, playing the drums, dancing, and
motivating everyone in the stadium to chant with them. Guided by the
beautiful chants of the Zelge fans of “Othouroye-na” (We are Assyrians),
Assyriska FF scored 3 spectacular goals and won the match 3-0, bringing them
closer to advancing to Division 1. Keep up the good work Assyriska!!
Then came the final event which was the viewing of the new Assyrian film of
“Holo Malke bi Malkoutho” (Uncle Malke in Paradise), which was written and
directed by Malfono George Farag. The film is about an old Assyrian man who
has come from Tur Abdin to Germany and has been living there for 30 years.
Malfono George Farag’s style satirical comedic style is amazing where he
uses it to criticize and shed a light on the current situation of our
people. In the film, Holo Malke shows us the current problems that our youth
are facing in Diaspora such as drugs, alcohols, and gambling, where he is
sending us a message to help our youth and prevent them from falling into
such troubles. Holo Malke also criticizes our clergymen and the way we honor
certain figures in Christianity who were not as honorable as they should be.
Meanwhile Holo Malke comically also tells us that our ancient Assyrians
stole the story of the flood of Noah even though our people had the story at
least 2000 years before Noah. He also talks about the story of Moses being
placed in a basket and floated in the river and comically claiming that the
similar story of King Sargon of Akkad was also stolen by the Assyrians, even
though it happened more than 2000 years before Moses. Holo Malke’s attempt
at entering Paradise did not come true but at the end he realized that being
in Tur Abdin that was Heaven and he has been searching for the place his
forefathers had been living in for thousands of years.
At the end of the movie, Mr. Sait Yildiz, the representative of the ADO’s
Sweden Branch, presented Malfono George Farag with a plaque from the ADO for
his great work and hoping that he would make more movies in the future.
Finally, Mr. Bachir Saadi, the chairman of the ADO Political Bureau, thanked
the attendees and the hosting organizations in Sweden.
The three-day celebration ended and it was a magnificent and productive
event which will last in our memories for many years to come.
Congratulations to the ADO on their 50th anniversary and wishing them many
more years to come filled with great accomplishments for our people in the
homeland and worldwide.
|