by Rosie Malek-Yonan
1 January 2008
I am an Assyrian. I have no ambiguity about who I am. A singular name identifies my nation. But a nation is not one thing. Isolated, it is not tangible. A nation is a sweeping halo that encompasses many communities, dialects, regions, customs, tribes, politics, religions and religious denominations.
We as Assyrians, claim that we love our nation. That’s a noble sentiment. But love of nation without the unconditional love of its many colors regardless of differences, is merely to love the “name” devoid of all its humanity.
People are the heartbeat and soul of a nation. People make a nation tangible. People create the history of a nation, past, present and future.
Flag-waving patriotism is meaningless so long as we continue to hate, segregate and cast-off humankind when they don’t fit our perception of what our nation is.
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