The Assyrian Democratic Organization
By Dan Cortez
Iraq – Detroit Free Press — When word spread of the shooting deaths of a priest and several other religious leaders in Iraq, metro Detroit’s large Chaldean community decided to mobilize.
More than 1,000 Chaldeans and others gathered at the Southfield Civic Center on Saturday afternoon to rally against violence toward Christians in Iraq. “We worked for 40 years to get the dictator to go away, but there’s still persecution,” said Nabil Roumayah, 52, of Southfield. “We need to get the attention of the international community.” Violence against Christian leaders in Iraq has led to Chaldean rallies in San Diego, Windsor and Sweden in the past several weeks.
At the Southfield rally, participants carried American and Iraqi flags and signs that called for the end to religious persecution in Iraq. And some demonstrators wore T-shirts with the image of the Rev. Ragheeb Ganni, the priest who was killed in Iraq early last month. “Every day our churches are getting bombed over there,” said Martin Manna, executive director of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce.
“But now they are going up and killing a priest at point blank.” The demonstrators formed a large circle and then marched in single file around a large open park on Evergreen Road. One man carried a large wooden cross while a woman next to him led chants that called for the protection of Chaldeans and all Iraqis.
Several leaders, speaking English, Arabic and Aramaic, urged the crowd to promote unity between Christians and Muslims. Roumayah, president of the Iraqi Democratic Union of America, said similar marches might be held if the situation continues to deteriorate. “It’s a question of humanity,” said Roumayah, who was born in Iraq but fled to escape religious persecution.
Manna said Iraq is hard to forget for most local Chaldeans. For instance, he recently learned that two of his cousins were kidnapped and haven’t been heard from since. “Everybody here knows somebody over there, whether it’s immediate family or extended,” he said.
