The Shuraya Party ( Syriac: ܫܘܖܝܐ

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: حزب شوريا) is a

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

organisation that represents the Christian Assyrian community in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and Syria since the late 1970s. The party advocates the formation of an independent Assyrian State in the

Assyrian homeland The Assyrian homeland is Assyria ( or ), the homeland of the Assyrian people within which Assyrian civilisation developed, located in their indigenous Upper Mesopotamia. The territory that forms the Assyrian homeland is, similarly to the rest ...

, in what is today Northern Iraq. The term "shuraya" means 'beginning'.

History

The Shuraya Party was first established on 25 July, 1978 in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, when the country was engulfed by the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Since its foundation, it has worked closely together with Bashir Gemayel, the founder and leader of the Lebanese Forces militia (LF), in which it sees itself connected in the struggle and destiny for all Lebanese Christians. It is composed of "free philosophers" of different

Eastern Church Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a ...

origins, who regard themselves as Assyrians. The Shuraya leadership insists they are not bound by any Church, but rejects the reproach of being anti-Christian. It claims to represent all oriental Christians and stresses its commitment to maintain a coined Christian Lebanon. The party established its own magazine in Lebanon in the 1980s, dubbed ''Shuraya'', and also opened its own radio show named ''My Voice'', to the wave of FM-radio. During the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

, the Party also fielded a small militia, the Assyrian Battalion (AB), which fought alongside the other Christian militias of the

Lebanese Front The Lebanese Front was a coalition of mainly right-wing Lebanese Nationalist parties formed in 1976 by majority Christian groups during the Lebanese Civil War. It was intended to act as a reaction force to the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) ...

References

External links

Der VGH Kassel über Aktivitäten und Bedeutung der „Shuraya“
„Informationsangebot“ der Organisation
www.shuraya.de.vu
* 1978 establishments in Lebanon Assyrian nationalism Assyrian political parties Assyrians in Lebanon Christian political parties in Lebanon March 14 Alliance Political parties established in 1978 Political parties of minorities in Lebanon {{Lebanon-party-stub

History

See also

References

External links