Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0307
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Full Text of SR0307  102nd General Assembly

SR0307 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois stands with the Assyrians,
3the indigenous people of the Middle East, and vehemently
4opposes all those who commit or support, now and in the past,
5any and all acts of genocide; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Assyrians, the indigenous people of the Middle
7East Region and the root of Christianity whose Assyrian Empire
8was the cradle of civilization, have been and continue to be
9victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
10ethnic cleansing in violation of the internationally
11recognized United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
12Punishment of the Crime of Genocide signed in Paris, France on
13December 9, 1948, commonly referred to as the UN Genocide
14Convention; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Assyrians have experienced violent persecutions
16at nearly 50-year intervals over the past two millennia; over
17the past century, they have suffered mass killings,
18persecutions, and forced deportations from their historical
19lands, especially in the heart of their homeland in the
20Assyria Nineveh Plain (ANP) of today's Iraq in 1915, 1918,
211922, 1933, 1940 to 1945, 1963 to 1965, 1975, 2010, and as
22recently as 2014 to 2017 in both ANP as well as the Khabur
23River Valley in Syria; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Thousands of Assyrian men, women, and children
2alike were ethnically cleansed in Simele, Iraq in August 1933;
3extensive documentation of this incident, available at the
4Ashurbanipal Library located in Lincolnwood, depicts the
5horrific atrocities committed against the Assyrians, including
6how they were specifically targeted because they were both
7Assyrian and Christian; for example, Assyrian Priests were
8tortured and their bodies mutilated, Assyrian girls were
9raped, Assyrian women were violated and made to march naked
10before the Iraqi Army commanders, Assyrian Bibles and holy
11books were used as fuel for burning Assyrian girls, and
12Assyrian children were run over by military cars; as a result,
13the 7th of August of each year is officially recognized as
14Assyrian Martyrs Day; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq in
16August 1921 through the present, Assyrians have silently
17suffered cultural genocide committed by the Government of Iraq
18(GOI); as recently as March 2021, the GOI approved and oversaw
19the demolition of the city walls of the Assyrian capitol of
20Nineveh, a UNESCO World Heritage site; only after a Western
21nation intervened did the GOI halt the demolition several days
22later; however, the damage was irreparable as the stones from
23the city walls of the Assyrian capitol of Nineveh remain
24unaccounted for by the GOI, and the case remains unresolved;

 

 

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1and
 
2    WHEREAS, The lack of any response or accountability for
3these atrocities, most notably the genocide committed against
4the Assyrians for being Assyrian and Christian in Simele, Iraq
5in August 1933, set a precedent that led to other acts of
6genocide to occur in the 20th century, such as the Holocaust
7during World War II; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois wishes to stand in support
9with the Assyrian people, especially on Assyrian Martyrs Day,
10as a continuous reminder that all victims of genocide shall
11never be forgotten until those responsible are held
12accountable; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare August 7,
152021 as Assyrian Martyrs Day in the State of Illinois; and be
16it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That we support the Assyrians of Illinois, which
18is currently home to the largest Assyrian diaspora community
19outside of the heart of their historical homeland, the Assyria
20Nineveh Plain; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That we commemorate all Assyrian American

 

 

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1military veterans who have served and continue to serve in the
2U.S. Armed Forces, including the Illinois National Guard.