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Students create club on little-known
ethnicity
Assyrians hope to dispel myths
By: Dyanna Quizon
April 19, 06
The California Aggie online
Campus News
The first goal of members of UC Davis' newly created Assyrian
club is to let students know that yes, Assyrians still exist.
"I usually get one of three responses when I tell people
I'm Assyrian: 'What's that?,' 'Aren't you extinct?' or 'Is that
Middle Eastern?,'" said sophomore Sevini Shahbaz.
The club, founded by Shahbaz and senior Shareil Nariman, was
created last quarter to dispel the myth that Assyrians are extinct
and to help bring members of the culture together, Shahbaz said.
In his paper presented at the first World Assyrian Conference
held in Moscow in May 2002, Dr. Khoshaba Jasim said Assyrians
are a "stateless national group," not the extinct nation
that is a common misconception among some scholars. However,
because Assyrians are registered in the United Nations as a socio-religious
group, they are not eligible to assume or attain the status of
a national or ethnic minority.
Despite this label, Assyrian students say they are proud of
their history and culture and hope to spread awareness to the
rest of the student body.
"We still hang on to our language, traditions and customs,"
Shahbaz said. "Most Assyrians I've met are the same. We
try to balance blending in with American society and still holding
on to our own roots."
According to Shahbaz, Assyrians were one of the first peoples
to convert to Christianity and their language is a modern version
of Aramaic, a Semitic language said to have been spoken by Jesus.
Their calendar dates back to 4750 BC. The Assyrians celebrated
their new year on Apr. 1.
Currently, there are over 3.5 million Assyrians in the world,
the majority of whom are indigenous naturals in present-day Iraq,
according to Jasim. The rest are dispersed in over 40 countries
including the United States and Russia.
Shahbaz and Nariman are both from Turlock, Calif., which is
home to a significant enclave of Assyrians. Shahbaz said she
was prepared for the culture shock of coming to Davis, which
has a significantly lower Assyrian population.
"It was expected because I was used to going outside
of Turlock and having people ask me if Assyrians were the people
in the Bible," she said.
Currently, the club is still in the beginning stages - planning
events, advertising the club and introducing members to each
other in a comfortable environment, according to Shahbaz.
The club also plans to network with Assyrian organizations
on other UC campuses such as UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.
Board members try to meet every other week. Students interested
in learning more about the club can e-mail Shahbaz at ssshahbaz@ucdavis.edu.
DYANNA QUIZON can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.
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