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Commencing at 10am on Tuesday 7 August 2007, the Australian Assyrian Christian Association conducted a prayer vigil and rally in front of Parliament House in Canberra. The aim was to alert the Government and all Parliamentarians to the plight of Assyrians, half a million of whom have been displaced from Iraq as refugees, mainly to Syria and Jordan.
Five hundred persons came by bus from Sydney alone, and others came by bus from Melbourne and by car from various centres. Total attendance was around 800.
Christian Democratic Party Senate team leader Pastor Paul Green reminded the gathering that Saint Thomas the Apostle established the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East as the very first Christian Church.
"We need urgent and immediate protection for Christians in Iraq. We need a compassionate and welcoming attitude on the part of the Australian Department of Immigration for Assyrian refugees who want to come to Australia," said Paul Green. "Most important of all, we seek the long term solution of a secure homeland for Assyrians where religions tolerance and political pluralism are underwritten by international guarantees."
Pastor Green and CDP Party Leader Reverend the Hon Fred Nile MLC are both on the public record as advocates of a ten-year moratorium on Muslim immigration.
The full text of Paul Green’s speech follows.
Australian Assyrian Christian Association contacts
Magdoline Shalalo, Organising Committee member & media contact, AACA, mobile: 0401 992 102
Gaby Kiwarkis, President, AACA, mobile: 0410 086 479.
Website: www.assyrianchristianrally.org
PAUL GREEN SPEECH, TUESDAY 7 AUGUST 2007, CANBERRA
Clergy, parliamentarians, community leaders, Australians who are proud to have Assyrian ancestry, ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured by the opportunity of participating in this important display of Christian concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering cruel and brutal persecution in their own homeland, or who are enduring refugee status in camps in Syria, Jordan and elsewhere.
On behalf of the Christian Democratic Party I pledge the full support of all our membership to your worthy campaign to achieve important goals. I am proud to be here in my capacity as the leader of the Christian Democratic Party Senate team, and also as the representative of the CDP President, Reverend the Honourable Fred Nile MLC. Honourable Fred Nile and his wife Honourable Elaine Nile have been praying for the success of this gathering, and although separated by distance they are very much with us today.
We need urgent and immediate protection for Christians in Iraq. We need a compassionate and welcoming attitude on the part of the Australian Department of Immigration for Assyrian refugees who want to come to Australia.
And most important of all, we seek the long term solution of a secure homeland for Assyrians where religions tolerance and political pluralism are underwritten by international guarantees.
Australians are proud of our history, and we would be horrified by any threat of the extinguishment of our language and our culture. But European civilization in Australia has prevailed for less than a quarter of a millennium. The human investment in the Assyrian civilization is thirty times longer, so Australians are willing respect the fact that Assyrians feel very strongly about defending what their ancestors have created. And of course a vitally important component of what Assyrians want to defend is their proud Christian heritage, unsurpassed by that of any other nation. Saint Thomas the Apostle established the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East as the very first Christian Church.
I ask you all to join me in prayer.
Heavenly Father, please bless this gathering. We pray that you give strength to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are enduring persecution. We pray that you encourage enlightenment and compassion among the persecutors. We pray that you open the eyes and ears of Australian politicians so that they may see and hear the evidence of what is happening to Assyria and Assyrians, and we pray that you assist them to make wise decisions in planning and implementing positive action. We pray for the media representatives here with us today, in the hope that you will assist them to report this gathering as it deserves to be reported. We pray for strength, unity and purpose, so that we may better serve you. And we pray for the Assyrian nation and the Assyrian peoples. Amen.