The Assyrian Democratic Organization
Syrian– ADO–
On the 11th of March and when the deceased Ghazi Issac Younan was about to drive out of the petrol station near the town of Malkia , in the north east of Syria , two men and a woman inside a car were watching his movement outside the station in order to kill him . As soon as he got closer they fired a volley of shots at him until he was dead and then ran away . Eye witnesses near the scene of the crime identified the killers to be members of “alSharabie” Arab clan . The apparent motive for killing was to avenge for the killing of their relative who died from a warning bullet 49 years ago allegedly shot accidentally by the deceased Ghazi’s father .
The story that took place half a century ago , says that the villagers at ” Khanik ” village near the town of Derik , in order to protect their plantations used to take turn to night watch their crops lest the Bedouins living nearby would let their sheep and cattle into these plantations to graze ruining thereby their whole harvest . During one of these night-watching shifts the guards opened fire to warn and scare the infiltrators and their sheep off the crops , one of these shots hit by mistake a shepherd and caused his death . Mr. Issac Younan The deceased Ghazi’s father who was one of the guards in that shift , bore the responsibility for the incident , though no one was certain which bullet caused the shepherd’s death in the darkness of that night .
Few years later a reconciliation was reached between Mr.Issac and the relatives of the dead man according to the norms and the tribal traditions followed in the area and under the sponsorship of Sheik Mayzar alMadloul , chief of “alShamar” clan , during which a sum of money called “alDia” was duly paid to the relatives and the matter settled and this , according to the tribal tradition , meant the end of the problem and the return to the normal life . Consequently , any act of revenge , blackmail and pressure is considered a breach of this tribal tradition . These all took place half a century ago .
But it seems that there is a huge gap between the mentality of these criminals and the adherence to the laws and traditions . 49 years later and after resolving the problem and achieving reconciliation these people have decided to have revenge and kill an innocent man who was not even born at that time .The crime was committed cold-bloodedly at midday . It was carefully planned . The criminals have used a relative milk- woman to watch the deceased’s everyday movements and then report to them . Moreover , in the middle of the current circumstances , one can not rule out the possibility of a premeditated scheme for creating unrest in the Syrian society .
The late Mr.Ghazi , whose blood spilled to irrigate the soil of the motherland has joined his proud forefathers to say to these killers : “we are here in spite of your hatred , fanaticism and ignorance . We are here because this land is ours, we are going to stick to it and defend our existence and freedom no matter whatever the sacrifices” .
This horrible crime has shocked and greatly saddened our people not only in the town of “alMalkie” but everywhere in the motherland and the Diaspora . On the 12th of March the deceased was buried in “alMalkia ” in an unprecedented burial ceremony attended by all the components of the local community who expressed their heartfelt sympathy as well as strong condemnation of the cowardly killing , the like of which has not happened in the Syrian society and demanding , at the same time , the toughest punishment for the criminals .
Three days after the funeral and during the mourning ceremony held under a big tent in “alMalkie “, a big delegation from ADO offered condolences to the relatives of the deceased and comrade Bashir Saadi chairman of the political Bureau delivered a speech on behalf of the Organization , in the presence of hundreds of condolers in which he expressed the organization’s and our people’s deep sorrow over the loss of one of its sons who was a victim of repulsive crime committed by criminals driven by blind hatred and fanaticism , adding that the crime was not directed towards the deceased and his family but to the people of Syria as a whole with all its national and religious diversity as well as to the stability and the peace in the country .
He further remarked that the murder was a monstrous and cowardly act which was against the laws , customs , traditions , social and religious values that characterized our Syrian society throughout its long history , no one in the area had ever heard of an act of revenge committed half a century later and after achieving full reconciliation and paying the blood-price “alDia”, that is why , he said ,” this crime arouses a big question mark and is not viewed by us as an ordinary crime directed towards an individual , we suspect it to be a deliberate plan for creating troubles and targeting the stability , security and the national peace in our society in this extremely volatile situation the area is passing through .
Hence we demand the authorities and its various apparatuses to give special attention to this crime and deal with it seriously far from bureaucratic procedures and indifference showed towards previous similar cases . This is a crime that has targeted all the society and we hold the authorities full responsibility for it , it should act relentlessly until the murderers are arrested and brought to justice and get their rightful punishment in order to become a lesson for others to learn from” . He then said that it was the duty of all the political social and tribal forces, with all their religious and national diversity , to join hands and stay unified against the criminals , in particular , the relatives and the tribe of the perpetrators were demanded to condemn this crime and side with the community against the criminals and not try to find any pretexts and justifications , whatever the circumstances , for the murder . Mr.Saadi then concluded that ” this crime should not be forgotten by us as soon as the mourning comes to an end , and that we should not stand idly by as we usually do , instead , we should act together and demand the authorities in one voice to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice with utmost speed .
Finally , he pointed out that the ADO would be in touch with the relatives of the deceased and follow up this issue till the end because it was not an individual incident , it concerned our whole community , it was the case of protecting our Syrian people against the evil forces of darkness and fanaticism .
ADO
Syria
