Judas’ kiss from bishop Mor Severios Hazail Soumi

Introduction – a short resume

Since the terrible Seyfo – the genocide against the Assyrians during the First World War, the Assyrian people has struggled and survived by sticking together with help from loyal leaders. Seyfo has and will set deep marks in our history.

As the heir of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey still denies the genocide.

Bishop Mor Severios Hazail Soumi arranged a lecture about Seyfo, where he acted as a representative for the Turkish government which denies Seyfo – the genocide against the Assyrians.

Who is Bishop Mor Severios Hazail Soumi

Bishop Mor Severios Hazail Soumi (bishop Hazail) was born on the 5th of November 1965 in Qameshlo, although he has his roots in Zaz, Turabdin.

Bishop Hazail has studied theology at the St. Afrem Seminar. In 1993 he was sent to Catholique de Louvain University in Belgium. There he studied oriental studies. Between the years 1996 and 1998 bishop Hazail studied international relations.

On the 12th of February 2006 the monk Hazail was promoted to bishop Severios for the diocese of Belgium and France.

Lecture about Seyfo in Mor Azoziel Church in Brussels, Belgium

On March 4th 2007 bishop Hazail arranged a lecture about Seyfo at the Mor Azoziel Church in Brussels, Belgium. Bishop Hazail invited the internationally known Seyfo researcher Sabri Atman to give a lecture and to inform about Seyfo. Sabri Atman is an appreciated researcher. He is known for his life dedication to research and lectures about Seyfo.

When Sabri Atman was done with his lecture, Bishop Hazail took the word.

According to information that EasternStar News Agency (ESNA) has received, bishop Hazail said that he has also made some research about Seyfo and through the years collected material corresponding to 45 binders about the subject. He then passed to hostile and very insolent verbal attacks against Sabri Atman. The aim was to marginalize all information that Sabri Atman had presented during his lecture.

Bishop Hazail continued his attacks by claiming that Sabri Atman’s lectures are fairytales and falsifications which lack any base in research. Bishop Hazail claimed that Sabri Atman lacks sources that can confirm what he lectures about.

The Bishop’s astonishing attack was questioned without reservation by Sabri Atman.

A gap arose between bishop Hazail and Sabri Atman who defended the martyrs of Seyfo. Sabri Atman did not resign and asked bishop Hazail if he has read or heard about reports written by Arnold Toynbee, Johannes Lepsius and Vahakn Dadrian. These, all respected historians, have dedicated their lives to write about Seyfo.

The names of those historians were unknown to bishop Hazail and he pointed out that he receives his knowledge from the”Holy Spirit”.

He then continued with his groundless statements and defended the Turkish state as innocent to any kind of crime. He defended his statement by the following line of reasoning: If Seyfo was a genocide, then nobody would have survived. According to the bishop, Turkey has not committed any genocide.

He then completed his speech by attacking Father Yusuf Akbulut, and one of the 20th century’s most recognized bishops of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the recently deceased bishop Mor Julius Yeshu Cicek. This, because they did not understand much and bishop Hazail said that he is not as dumb as they are to claim that Seyfo for sure has existed.

During the event, cameras not controlled by bishop Hazail were forbidden to record the lecture. Video cassettes from other cameras were confiscated by the bishop’s men. This is evidence that this was planned in advance.

By confiscating the cassettes bishop Hazail thought he made sure that everything that was said during the lecture stayed in the church where the lecture was arranged.

ESNA will soon publish a 30 minutes long voice recording from the lecture.

To see a video, click here. To see pictures, click here and here.

Summary – analysis of the scandal in Brussels

Lately a new culture of betrayal has developed, mainly among the higher clergy, where single priests or bishops without any legitimacy ally with some regimes in the Middle East. The bishops justify it by the unholy alliance that exists between the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatios Zakka I Iwas and the Syrian regime.

The Patriarch Mor Ignatios Zakka I Iwas is since a week ago at bishop Hazail’s residence. Despite the bishop’s treacherous unexpected action and denial of Seyfo the patriarch keeps quiet. He chooses to close his eyes and by doing that he gives his silent support to the denial of Seyfo.

This illegal alliance sole purpose is to give the bishop financial benefits, from monthly salaries to gifts, invitations or as little as a pat on the back. For these financial benefits the bishops must betray their own offices and people.

To the list of spies, informers and ideologists – who maintain totalitarian states – now some bishops in the Syriac Orthodox Church are on these regimes’ salary lists.

The lecture arranged by bishop Hazail did not have noble aims. The aim was treacherous with a purpose to try to minimize the meaning of Seyfo.

As soon as the monk Hazail was promoted to bishop he established close and intensive contacts with the Turkish embassy in Brussels, who invited the new bishop to dinners and receptions. Despite the bishop’s Syrian citizenship, the Turkish embassy arranged a special dinner reception to bishop Hazail’s honor.

His actions are common for some clergy from Syria, where they exclusively work for the feared secret service, Mukhabarat, against their own people. The bishop’s actions, to cooperate with the Turkish embassy, is for that reason not unusual for a bishop.

You might wonder how a person can forget about his duty for a couple of dinner receptions or a simple salary from a regime.

Only in Zaz, from where the bishop’s family fled, 360 persons were murdered during Seyfo. A big part of his relatives were massacred during Seyfo. After Seyfo bishop Hazail’s surviving relatives fled to Syria. His grandmother was kidnapped by Muslims and was a slave during 12 years, like thousands of other kidnapped children. This continued until her father bought her back from the perpetrators.

It’s this bishop, who’s forefathers was forced to flee during Seyfo, who now runs Turkey’s errands and denies Seyfo.

As a result of intensive efforts and purposeful work Seyfo has in recent years been discussed by higher authorities, like the Swedish government and the European Parliament, where a Seyfo conference is taking place on the 26th of March 2007.

Conferences and activities about Seyfo irritate the Turkish state and they are trying to disturb and prevent arrangements. To their help the Turkish state has bought bishops, priests and other prominent persons among our people.

Bishop Hazail arranged the lecture with Sabri Atman to try to humiliate him by denying Seyfo. If the martyrs, who were murdered during Seyfo for their belief, could hear bishop Hazail’s denial they would be devastated. To be able to categorize Seyfo as a genocide, according to bishop Hazail, our whole nation had to be wiped out.

Which Holy Spirit gives knowledge about Seyfo to this Pharisee that Jesus Christ warned us for? If the bishop has any honor or shame in his body he should resign as bishop. Considering the big favor bishop Hazail does for the Turkish state he will probably be appointed as Mullah in Ankara’s largest mosque, where he can preach about how they should deny Seyfo.

Stockholm, March 12th, 2007

ESNA