Assyria: Identity, Heritage & Politics | Sabrina Bet-Mansour | TEDxFrancisHollandSchoolSloaneSquare

[@WilliamGMalek]

Sabrina, your grant father, Doctor Wilson Bet Mansour was an Assyrian parliamentarian in the Iranian parliament. He also was an Editor-in-chief for the Assyrian monthly newspaper, "ATOUR". The eminent, Doctor Bet-Mansour, used to mail his prominent newspaper to me while I lived in Lebanon. Your grand father Doctor Wilson Bet-Mansour was an Assyrian nationalist, and for us all, he still remains as an Assyrian legend and he will forever live in our hearts. I hope your voice echoes the four corners of the Earth. Let the World know.

[@Andrew-zo2dx]

Привет из Москвы , братьям ассирийцам! Ассирийцы - один из самых древних народов , которые построили первую в мире цивилизацию и много, многое, многое другое…!!!

[@robertdekelaita3522]

Great to know the legacy of Dr. Wilson Bet Mansour goes on. Very proud of you. Excellent presentation.

[@bovinespongiformflu]

arent you that lawyer guy! hello!

[@allinwarda5894]

I'm with you Sabrina. I'm 19 years old and I'll take my lifetime to bring as many Assyrians back together as possible. Möge unsere alte Stärke zu uns Assyrern zurück kehren! Allaha haue minakh

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@thisislenard]

What an eye-opening presentation! I grew up in Australia finding it very hard to identify with my Assyrian culture. Always believing it to be "too old" or disconnected from the western world. Now as I'm older, I'm learning to appreciate this rare heritage and history that we have and hoping to learn more about what makes our culture so special!

[@JasonSulliman]

Nice presentation. I am Assyrian on my father's side. WIth his recent passing, I have taken a similar plunge into our history and heritage. There is so much to discover!

[@beautyperfectionxo]

this is amazing, seeing an assyrian giving a ted talk is so inspiring! keep it going khatee❤

[@sabrinagagnon670]

Aw, my name is Sabrina and I feel exactly the same! My mom is French Canadian and my dad is Assyrian! His side of the family all speak Assyrian and have so much pride, although I’ve never learned it. The amounttttt of times people reply “youre a Syrian?” and I go “no, assyrian!” Nobody ever knows who they are 🥹

[@jamesyonan1564]

😂👍 ("NO! *Ah* -ssyrian!!!")

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@sarausage]

ur not really assyrian ur dad is if ur not lying about that but u dont know the language for some reason ur so called assyrian dad married outside the culture I dont believe ur dad is assyrian u do realise assyrians originate in the Middle East not canada he married a canadian French woman I dont think he would of left Middle East unless he was married so its hard to believe hes assyrian and that u r too if he is from the Middle East where from and u wouldnt be u r a westerner u dont know the language

[@sarausage]

@@kalyankoley8105 hes not Assyrian and shes not either if her dad is its her dad not her like she said she dosent know the language or the culture hard to believe when middle eastern culture were taught to marry inside culture not outside if her dad is assyrian she isnt she doesnt know one ting about the culture let alone language if he is just him not her shes white because of her mum thats what u get for marrying outside culture

[@Martarini]

Omg so relatable!!! I’m half Assyrian half El Salvadorian people always think I meant Syrian too 😂

[@issaabdulahad5883]

All Assyrians are very proud of you, Bassma Ganakh

[@sukaenacornelius9285]

According to western Assyrians, I’m not Assyrian. I’m not white enough.

[@AxelMegaton]

​@@sukaenacornelius9285They are Turabdin Khmare

[@sukaenacornelius9285]

@@AxelMegaton nam. shukran sadiki.derbalickahlic. Lol

[@AxelMegaton]

@@sukaenacornelius9285 Qamo derbali? Serianis and Keldanis are antiassyrians. Awet bassimta!

[@mariamy1279]

A speech to define the Assyrian nation, well done Sabrina

[@davidobrown2396]

word up Sista !!! power to all assyrian all over the world !! basimta raba!

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@smileyhomeimprovementsjohn6165]

My lovely ❤Assyrians. I love my Assyrian people.

[@allinwarda5894]

Much love from an Assyrian in Germany, Sabrina!

[@nanettenazaradeh4783]

Great Job Sabrina, I can see my Uncle"s Assyrian Spirit in you.

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@geopam7633]

Thank you for being Assyrian not only in mouth but in heart too. When it comes to identity, our heritage is part of our identity. I suggest since non of you born in America you should say you are Assyrian-French.

[@nahrainodish4120]

Absolutely amazing what you've done. You're parents are probably super proud of you for educating the world of who are Assyrians and what have they achieved in the world.

[@laurencebet-mansour6537]

Such a great and interesting presentation. Both Doctors, Wilson and Nora Bet-Mansour would be so proud of you.

[@MY-gq9mb]

Basma ghanakh!! Khayad! Such an inspiration to all Assyrian youth!

[@Batyos]

As a daughter of Jewish parents, who immigrated to Israel from Iraqi Kurdistan, I also speak the Assyrian language - Aramaic.

[@Jezza-i3n]

Shlamo/Shalom achoti

[@ashleyerrington960]

Love it! I explain our heritage the same way (though people usually don't believe me because I have blonde hair and blue eyes). We will not allow our language and culture to disappear.

[@bardownski7858]

Libbie ❤

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@sukaenacornelius9285]

Hmm… I experience exact opposite. I know from my church, few but blonde with blue, or dark hair and blue, yet Assyrian. Yet i look too south Indian or desi. Which i am, my mother is Christian from Aramaic speaking church of south India. Who married my father, Assyrian from north Iraq.

[@basedchaldean]

Great job! By the way, Assyria did not cease to exist when the Assyrian Empire fell in 609 BC. You can read about the post-imperial period of Assyrian history, including Achaemenid Assyria (Athura), Roman Assyria, Adiabene, and lastly Asoristan.

[@icysaracen3054]

Biggest mistake was replacing Ashur with a Jewish hebrew god. Thats when the Assyrians lost power.

[@salamyaya162]

It definitely ceased to exist and Asoristan never meant Assyria.

[@basedchaldean]

@@salamyaya162 Your source: “because I said so”

[@salamyaya162]

@@basedchaldean No, not really. Asoristan meant Soristan in Persian, which means the country of Syrianes/Syriacs, not Assyrians who didn't even exist at the time as a people. There is a reason why Mar Ephraim referred to Persians as "Assyrians".

[@Nahrin_Assyrian]

​@@salamyaya162 Your ancestor Michael the great mentioned Assyrians many time

[@123yaddayadda]

Great Job Dr. Bet Mansour!

[@atrajonson8644]

So proud of you Subrina. The Assyrian queen Sabrina spoke about our Assyrusn history on TED TALK. You made your grand parents & us proud. My mother survived the Simele massacre of 1933 in Iraq, walking at night, hiding at during the day to Russia. She lived there with her uncles for 7 years and went later back home. She helped us leave Assyria, the occupied land by the Bath party and later by ISIS and corrupted government . For years we dreamed about going back , unfortunately the politic didn't allow that. Now my siblings live in Sweden & I live in US . We were not allowed to learn our language at the church being accused having secret meetings after university hours in Baghdad. I can only speak my language & can't read or write it. The forgotten nation like many others out there by the united nation. There is hope where are young people like yourself.

[@thedrummernator3892]

Both my parents are Assyrian, regardless of how much more difficult it is to explain, I always say that I am Assyrian when asked about my heritage. Wonderful message, well done.

[@kalyankoley8105]

Very well done Sabrina! I, from the land of the oldest culture & civilisation, wish you all the success in your endeavour. It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today. The sun will rise again, if you wait and struggle for it.

[@susanbadal2123]

Basmeganakh! Beautiful presentation 👏👏

[@Jezza-i3n]

Sabrina glad you retained your heritage and came back to it so strongly!

[@josephbaba8132]

Excellent presentation. Thank you very much.

[@helentalya3852]

Nothing is greater than knowing your identity specially when it is Assyrian ❤ May God bless our beloved nation and united us all together 🤲🤲🤲❤️❤️❤️

[@montsegrau2203]

Brilliant speech. Excellent communication skills!! 👍👍

[@sweeeeenie]

Beautiful speech, thank you for explaining our heritage

[@rickvang7313]

Thank you for the quick and easy info education on Assryian. I'm self teaching educating myself on Assryian and Armenia.❤❤

[@tamara8190]

Assyria, kingdom of northern Mesopotamia that became the centre of one of the great empires of the ancient Middle East. It was located in what is now northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. A brief treatment of Assyria follows. For full treatment, see Mesopotamia, history of: The Rise of Assyria. Assyria was a dependency of Babylonia and later of the Mitanni kingdom during most of the 2nd millennium BCE. It emerged as an independent state in the 14th century BCE, and in the subsequent period it became a major power in Mesopotamia, Armenia, and sometimes in northern Syria. Assyrian power declined after the death of Tukulti-Ninurta I (c. 1208 BCE). It was restored briefly in the 11th century BCE by Tiglath-pileser I, but during the following period both Assyria and its rivals were preoccupied with the incursions of the seminomadic Aramaeans. The Assyrian kings began a new period of expansion in the 9th century BCE, and from the mid-8th to the late 7th century BCE, a series of strong Assyrian kings-among them Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon-united most of the Middle East, from Egypt to the Persian Gulf, under Assyrian rule. The last great Assyrian ruler was Ashurbanipal, but his last years and the period following his death, in 627 BCE, are obscure. The state was finally destroyed by a Chaldean-Median coalition in 612-609 BCE. Famous for their cruelty and fighting prowess, the Assyrians were also monumental builders, as shown by archaeological sites at Nineveh, Ashur, and Nimrūd. Close-up of terracotta Soldiers in trenches, Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@ninveh1]

Assyria is rising again

[@Nasirpal1]

Very well said. Keep up the good work.

[@lunamellor3432]

Great job on your message. I am Assyrian, speak Assyrian & sometimes eat Assyrian food. Not sure where you live but try to find middle eastern restaurants near you. There is an annual Assyrian convention held in the US. Maybe you can attend one. Did you know there are Assyrian artifacts in the Paris Museum ? Glad you have interest in part of your heritage. It is part of your blood.

[@JerjerB]

Love to Assyrians all around the world.

[@diklatgeorgees]

Excellent presentation! Khaya ganakh.

[@kalyankoley8105]

It would be an added pleasure to have been able to be connected with the Assyrians of Today.

[@MrTonyJ]

“Chaladeans” are slowly opening thier eyes to our actual Assyrian heritage as well.

[@philregaz599]

Can I ask a question. Do you have any proof that assyrians called themselves assyrians before the 1800s?

[@assyriaturabdin4641]

@@philregaz599 We are Assyrian people - ashuraye - assuroye - suraye - suroye - suryoye!

[@philregaz599]

@@assyriaturabdin4641 you didn't exactly answer my question. Just because they sound the same doesn't mean they are. I just want to find proof that there was a moderate amount of people who have assyrians names before the 1800s. I couldn't find anywhere.

[@assyriaturabdin4641]

@@philregaz599 Yes they are the same, old historical texts before and after our era have proven that and modern research says the same. And above all this people has been named by neighboring people and use these synonyms themselves throughout the ages.

[@philregaz599]

@@assyriaturabdin4641 Again. We need concrete proof. I haven't seen any neighboring culture calling the aramaic speaking populations as "assyrian" on a mass scale.

[@hilinyonan2051]

Very proud of you. God bless you. God bless Assyrian and God Bless America my home sweet home 🙏🕯️🕊️🇺🇲✝️✝️✝️✝️

[@sinlokemp]

Great job! We wish you the best in your future.

[@Desertstorm724]

The Assyrian (Chaldean, Syriacs) Nation needs to unite again and work for out own Region in our ancestral Land where we can speak and teach our Aramaic language, so Our children will learn it and preserve it. Tihe Othur Tihe Suryoye God Protect Assyrian and Assyria will RISE If we do IT! ܬܝܚܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܬܝܚܐ ܐܬܘܪ

[@edgarmkrtumyan9247]

Assyrians in Armenia (Armenian: Ասորիներ, Āsōrīnēr) make up the country's third largest ethnic minority, after Yazidis and Russians. According to the 2011 census, there are 2,769 Assyrians living in Armenia,

[@mehmetdereroberer5553]

Yazidis are Kurds. Yazidi is ancient kurdish Religion

[@hakawatiye]

Great presentation!

[@joseph291]

For the record. The odd assyrian dance comps brought me here. Like a forgotten world.

[@luciasarria3998]

so inspiring🙌🙌🙌👏👏👏👏👏

[@ayrtonbet-mansour7018]

Great job!

[@fn9779]

Wonderful! 👏👏👏👏

[@bellaoushalem6197]

Loved it! ❤️👏👏👏

[@Sara-gi9qz]

Love this!!

[@robertshawil1253]

Excellent presentation, keep up the great work.

[@fallofwesterncivilization4013]

Fantastic job 🙏💐

[@Trail-w4v]

Thankyou for the insight of your nation of Assyrian God bless

[@ALC0A021]

Stay blessed Assyrians harsh times do come ❤🙏🏽

[@nashetdavid4951]

Excellent 👍👍❤❤

[@JosephCelebioglu]

Well done on raising awareness 👌

[@babylonkid]

Bas miganakh. This made me proud. I love you all.

[@tiglatpilesser8604]

Proud of you!

[@dinahirmaz7422]

I’m with you if I’m the last Assyrian person on earth 🙏

[@JohnChristenNizzaDiCorsi]

There are so few, as it is among the people I come from.

[@dinahirmaz7422]

@JohnChristenNizzaDiCorsi so what are you coming from ?

[@JohnChristenNizzaDiCorsi]

@@dinahirmaz7422 I am an American Indian, and I am both inter-tribal and Biracial, Caucasian. I am a Chickasaw, and a Bird Clan by a different Nation. My other side is American, Caucasian of a wide variety of backgrounds.

[@cristiano7ronaldoTHEGOAT]

God bless Assyrian people! ✝️☦️

[@Bibleverses-7]

Awesome talk. I am Assyrian on my dads side, don't know how to speak the language. I have children who want to learn too. I'm trying to find ways online but not much out there? Any tips my fellow assyrians??

[@os44881616]

Beautifull talk. One note: only the book of Daniel is originally written in Aramaic. The rest of the old testament is originally written in Hebrew, and the new testament in Greek. Lots of love from the Jewish nation!

[@tamara8190]

Semiramis was a historical Assyrian queen of Babylonian birth, who lived and reigned around 800 B.C.E. By the 18th century the legends associated with her life had eclipsed her actual accomplishments as queen, notably due to the popularity of Voltaire's eponymous play, written in 1748. His version of her life centered on palace intrigue, notably the beautiful queen's affair with Assur, and her plot to have him poison her husband, the king. As he dies, the king implores a trusted friend to take his son, Ninias, away from the palace to save his life. Although Semiramis ruled Babylon well for fifteen years, during that time she was stricken with guilt over the murder of her husband and the loss of her son. Her lover Assur, however, plots Semiramis' death after she refuses to marry him and install him as king. To foil his plans, she arranges to marry a young warrior, who is in fact her son, whom she mistakenly believes to be dead. Ninias is warned away from this incestuous marriage by his father's ghost, who then demands that his son avenge his murder. Led by the ghost, Ninias stabs and kills a form he believes is Assur, but is, in fact, Semiramis.

[@soundofshamash]

Thank you for sharing

[@jamesyonan1564]

Yeah, sounds like something our beloved ppl would do! 😏 (😜😂)

[@tomepetros6409]

atten hoyat basemtah. I remember your granfather as a kid growing up in Tehran.

[@EstherShirzadeh]

God bless you BlessAssyrian i am proud listen to. You

[@theassyriancanadians8094]

Besma ganakh! Ashur Ehyeh bless you 🙏❤️🙏

[@johnsonhaido6422]

Khaya Ganekh 👏🏻👏🏻

[@ssjsjssusjsjsjsjsjs]

I’m a Chaldean Assyrian to

[@almasodisho9286]

Bravo we're proud of you

[@ashordiryawush7819]

Good job queen

[@SolidJoker]

Assyria forever

[@CrackerMcWhitey619]

Proud Assyrian American here!

[@malikaabizar8318]

You have a very long history.

[@CrackerMcWhitey619]

@@malikaabizar8318 yeah I would love to know more about the history!

[@arianabarinstein1881]

Excellent talk

[@zhcultivator]

Love To Assyrians

[@Sixer88]

ܐܬܘܪܝܐ 💫🤍💙❤️

[@RepentAndBelieve1437]

Thank you khayee!

[@biancas3790]

Incredible speech!

[@sandro173]

How do we get our land back?

[@ASHORSHEMAYA]

A wonderful speech. I wish you success after our generation was unable to achieve anything significant other than engaging in narrow church disputes. “It does not matter if it was planned from the outside. What is important is that the results that others aspired to have been achieved, and what is worse is that we are still transmitting those results with us to modern generations.” And the new countries in which we are resettling.” The most important obstacle facing the new generations of our people is that we do not even have a local political region / province of our own, neither in our historical land, nor even in the countries of our foreignness, which deepens the national cultural gap between our people.. Because this will necessarily provide a number of governmental institutions in which our language can be modernized and placed within its contemporary evolutionary framework, which will inevitably lead to the emergence of generations that use our language officially... But the problem with this is that the only person who thought and sought in this direction was the saint and martyr Mar Ishai Shimon. However, for purely political reasons, none of our political parties, groups, or even intellectuals adopted this idea after the assassination of Mar Ishai Shimon. Rather, all of our organizations and parties are still revolving in the same vicious circle in seeking only to obtain positions within the governments on whose territories they exist, which means that they are all... work not for our national cause, but for their narrow, selfish personal interests, exerting all their efforts to please those governments and not to push for us to obtain complete or even partial sovereignty..

[@dennisp362]

God Bless every assyrian!

[@goodmorningdenmark3684]

GOD Bless You

[@abhi739]

much love and respect from india, come what may, assyrians yazidis kurds will get a homeland one day,

[@alphabeta86]

Definitely what goes around comes around.

[@bratwurststattsucuk4517]

Intresting Language and History. Greetings from Turkey you all 🫶🏻

[@JohnChristenNizzaDiCorsi]

The vast majority of the Arab world has nothing to do with Assyrians, they are the descendants of the ancient Babylonians and ancient Assyrians and kept their culture and identity completely distinct this entire time.

[@JohnChristenNizzaDiCorsi]

Many people think the descendants of Ancient Babylonia have become Arab, when actually they still exist separately from them.

[@ImPapaRon]

All the while I thought Assyrians were an extinct group of people. Once a very powerful nation as told in the Bible.

[@ramcinagabriel26]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@genesis2936]

WHAO, a correction is warranted here. There are five (5) million Assyrians total ? The Chaldean population in Iraq and abroad are estimated to be 400k at a minimum (worldwide) and a maximum of 650k but not likely, most agree it’s 500 - 550k worldwide. The Chaldean to Assyrian ratio is Chaldeans are 8 or 9 : 1 Assyrian, so the 5M number needs to be updated.

[@Milad-c5l]

The Assyrian church of the east has about 400k thats not counting the Ancient church of the east which are also assyrians and other churches

[@manchu-qu9mw]

Well presented. Sad of the process of persecution suffered Read about the true great Assyrian Empire and ironical that so few left in the modern world.

[@Simonjose7258]

Sargon II, followed by Sennacherib, who was the founders of what would become the Neo-Assyrian Empire, certainly considered themselves to be descended from the great Akkadian Empire, naming himself after Sargon of Akkad who ruled over a thousand years earlier. His empire is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia, parts of the Levant, and incursions into Hurrian and Elamite territory, ruling from his (archaeologically as yet unidentified) capital, Akkad. Sargon appears as a legendary figure in Neo-Assyrian literature of the 8th to 7th centuries BC. Tablets with fragments of a Sargon Birth Legend were found in the Library of Ashurbanipal.

[@shaunmaryako3654]

😢😢😢😢 this made me cry wow lol 😂

[@salamyaya162]

Modern Assyrians carry R1b, which is an Indo European. Ancient Assyrians were J1-p58.

[@sheliafarmer]

What brought me here is in the Bible says as in the days of Noe before the 2nd coming of the Son of Man, everyone saying it's is as in the days of Noah, not true, Strongs concordance Noe means Providence of Assyria, thank you for your info about your wonderful family

[@joeb5080]

The vast majority of Biblical scholars disagree "the original Bible was written in Aramaic". The Old Testament was written in Hebew and the New Testament was written almost entirely in Greek. This is the scholarly consensus.

[@joseph291]

I can see why her great ancestors ruled. So clever.

[@MoriscosCasablanca]

Assyrians still cry over the past

[@jmikhael1886]

Assryian in 1916 fleed to Russia when the were also prosecuted because they are Christians. There are about 20000 assryian that live in Russia today.

[@edisonmanafi2582]

Khaya ganakh!

[@aibel99]

The Kurds want their land. The assyrians want theirs. The Muslim world in the region is full of war. You pretty much want to reestablish the conquering empire of assyria but I don't think it will be possible anytime soon. The kurds managed to get their bit somehow though so let's see

[@mayacardano9905]

I’m Assyrian from Turkey. The Assyrians were never promised land it was the Kurds who were promised. The Kurds saw this an opportunity to wipe out all the Assyrians so that South East Turkey could be theirs. At this time the Ottoman Empire was collapsing and First World War broke out. Turkey was attacked from different angles and many western countries wanted a peace of Turkey. This was an very unfortunate event that lead to the massacre of the Assyrians. But the Assyrians always wanted to live in peace. Get your facts right.

[@Milad-c5l]

From what i know assyrians were promised land by the brits and kurds might have been promised land by the ottoman am gussing idk but it was kind of a proxy war

[@Kedeer45]

It was the tribal lords who attacked the Assyrians, the local Kurds did not attack, they even saved many Assyrians from being killed.

[@assyrianking44]

​@Transwoman356 don't spread lies.

[@Kedeer45]

@@assyrianking44 I'm not lying, if you go to the cities of Diyarbakır and Mardin, you can encounter many of them.

[@assyrianking44]

@@Kedeer45 and we have eyewitness testimony of kurds working with the turks to gather assyrians during the Sayfo, if kurds are so great why have they personally stolen my father's land? Listen if you sleep with kurds that's fine but don't fabricate stories in order to help the Kurdish agenda.