During Providence‘s “Islam, the Middle East, and Christian Engagement with the Middle East” event in Middleburg, Virginia, Juliana Taimoorazy gave an impromptu speech that painted a human picture of Assyria for those in the audience.
Her talk briefly described her experiences as an Assyrian and what her family has endured for Christianity and Assyria. Taimoorazy also gave a report on her recent trip to northern Iraq and thanked Secretary of State John Kerry for recognizing the genocide against Christians and other minorities. She then called on her Christian brothers and sisters not only to pray but also to act in order to help Assyrians.
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Also at the event:
To watch Chris Seiple address how Americans and Christians could use soft power to help prepare for an Iraq after ISIS, click here.
To watch Robert Nicholson talk about his article in the inaugural issue of Providence, which argued for autonomous safe havens where Middle Eastern ethnic communities, including Assyrians, could provide their own security, click here.
To watch Marek Jan Chodakiewicz place Islam in its historical context, click here.
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Juliana Taimoorazy is the 2014-2015 Philos Fellow. An Assyrian Christian born and raised in Iran, Juliana is the founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, an organization that raises awareness about the persecuted church in Iraq and helps Assyrian refugees resettle in the US. Smuggled out of Iran in 1989 to avoid religious persecution, Juliana sought asylum in America and obtained her MS in Instructional Design from Northeastern Illinois University. Since then she has held numerous positions in media and the nonprofit world, and has advocated on human rights everywhere from television and radio to the halls of Capitol Hill. She enjoys reading nonfiction, listening to opera and classical music, and disrupting polite conversation with talk of religion and politics. Juliana is fluent in Farsi and Assyrian.
Photo: Assyrian Flag
