Free Republic

I just watched a fascinating, but all too brief, interview with Rev. Ken Joseph Jr., an Assyrian Christian whose parents escaped Iraq in 1917, and later answered the call to help rebuild Japan. During the process that led up to the war in Iraq, Rev. Joseph was very vocal against the war on his radio program, and participated in demonstrations against it in Japan. He saw it as an unjust war against the people of Iraq, which were after all HIS people. He was so adamant in this position that he in fact became a human shield, in the hopes...

8/5/2004 IraqSecret Documents Reveal Ethnic Cleansing of Christians (ANS) - Secret documents show Saddam Hussein's regime and local Kurdish leaders were involved in the "ethnic cleansing", "gassing" and "Islamization" of Assyrian Christians in Northern Iraq, with international religious aid organizations refusing to intervene, an Assyrian official claimed Wednesday, August 4. Rev. Ken Joseph Jr., a leader of the Assyrian Christian community, said he had obtained evidence confirming a "decades-long pattern" of persecution by the previous Iraqi ruler, who is now awaiting trial in an Iraqi prison for alleged atrocities. "Entitled `The Settlements And Villages Of The Christian Assyrians In...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – An Assyrian Christian leader has called on Christians worldwide to demand protection for the Church in Iraq. Ken Joseph Jr. of www.AssyrianChristians.com has told ANS, "For whatever their disagreements over the war, I do not think any American agreed to fight a war to create the Islamic Republic of Iraq and to cause the Christians to have to leave their historic country. We must provide this minimum protection accorded to the community under the law." His statement follows a long predicted series of attacks on five Christian Churches – two in the Karada section of Baghdad, one...

The long-predicted exodus of Christians from Iraq has begun. Facing a June 30 deadline for transfer of power, a temporary constitution that reads, in Article 7, that Islam is the "Official Religion of the State," and the most recent humiliation for the community -- the failure to receive even one position on the Executive Council and only one ministry post, the Ministry of Emigration -- the Christians of Iraq are voting with their feet. "On a recent night the church had to spend more time on filling out baptismal forms needed for leaving the country than they did on the...

REBUILDING IN THE GULF Iraqi Christians flee Islamic republic Believers leave country before June 30 designation of state religion -------------------------------------------------------- Posted: June 10, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: WorldNetDaily is pleased to have a content-sharing agreement with Insight magazine, the bold Washington publication not afraid to ruffle establishment feathers. By Ken Joseph Jr. © 2004 Insight/News World Communications Inc. Several developments that bode ill for Christians in Iraq are causing believers to flee the nation. Facing a June 30 deadline for transfer of power, a temporary constitution that reads, in Article 7, that Islam is the "Official Religion of...

This week's Fox interview with Rev. Ken Joseph can be viewed at http://www.foxnews.com/hannityandcolmes/index.html

Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, Sunday, May 16, 2004 A Worldwide Day of Prayer for the 2.5 Million Assyrian Christians of Iraq has been set. Christians worldwide are asked to pray for the long persecuted Assyrian Christian Community in Iraq. As the original people of Iraq and the first nation to accept Christianity following the death of Christ and the greatest missionary sending nation in history having brought the gospel to China, Japan and Asia. Prayer is being asked for the following: 1. Delay of the proposed June 30 handover in Iraq until a secular...

Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, Sunday, May 16, 2004 A Worldwide Day of Prayer for the 2.5 Million Assyrian Christians of Iraq has been set. Christians worldwide are asked to pray for the long persecuted Assyrian Christian Community in Iraq. As the original people of Iraq and the first nation to accept Christianity following the death of Christ and the greatest missionary sending nation in history having brought the gospel to China, Japan and Asia. Prayer is being asked for the following: 1. Delay of the proposed June 30 handover in Iraq until a secular...

  June Is Too Soon! Rev. Ken Joseph Jr. (archive) November 17, 2003 June Is Too Soon! Shivers went up my spine as I read the sudden announcement of a tentative agreement to disband the Coalition Provisional Authority and American control in Iraq by June. First for the shocking lack of understanding of the conditions on the ground or even a cursory understanding of history and second because I had been told over and over by Iraqis that precisely this would happen. I was in Iraq before the war during Sadaams time against the war.  Seeing and experiencing the sheer terror that...

How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my Father came to Japan in answer to General Douglas...

I was wrong!Ken Joseph Jr. (archive) October 12, 2003How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story.  It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my Father came to Japan...

Summary: I had been demonstrating against the war thinking I had been doing it for the very people I was here with now and yet I had not ever bothered to ask them what they wanted...Over and over I questioned them 'Why could you want war? Why could any human being desire war?' They're answer was quiet and measured. 'Look at our lives! We are living like animals. No food, no car, no telephone, no job and most of all no hope.' [www.CapitalismMagazine.com] How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- I have been shocked at the difference between the Baghdad I found on my return and all the bad news from the city.</p> <p>Despite the recent bombings, Baghdad looks dramatically different. The stores are full of supplies. The streets are crowded with people and cars. The buses are working and police are on the streets, directing traffic.</p>

We Hope The Americans Stay Forever! By Ken Joseph, Jr. Baghdad, Iraq It is dusk in Baghdad and I am talking to the regular group of men who gather near the house I am staying in to talk about the days events. "What do you think about the Americans? How long do you think they should stay? Are they doing a good job?" The answer is very complicated while at the same time very, very simple. It is the "politically correct" thing to do to complain about the Americans, say they are not wanted and tell them to "go home"....

Get the inside story on some of the most significant developments and needs of the Iraqi people in shaping the future of Iraq and the entire Middle East region. Ken Joseph, Jr. joins Rita Crosby LIVE via satellite, as he prepares to return to Baghdad with relief supplies and hope for the Iraqi people. LIVE from Amman, Jordan Saturday, April 12 at 9pm ET

I Was Wrong About the WarBy Ken Joseph Jr.AssyrianChristians.com | April 7, 2003 How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation...

I was wrong. I had opposed the war on Iraq in my radio program, on television and in my regular columns—and I participated in demonstrations against it in Japan. But a visit to relatives in Baghdad radically changed my mind.I am an Assyrian Christian, born and raised in Japan, where my father had moved after World War II to help rebuild the country. He was a Protestant minister, and so am I.As an Assyrian I was told the story of our people from a young age—how my grandparents had escaped the great Assyrian Holocaust in 1917, settling finally in Chicago....

Ryan Clancy, a Milwaukee resident, substitute teacher and business owner, traveled to Iraq to serve as a human shield. So did antiwar activist Ken Joseph Jr., an Assyrian Christian who, too, traveled to Iraq to protect the Iraqis against the allegedly unwarranted American aggression. First Clancy, whom I interviewed. The following is my excerpted interview with him: Elder: Ryan, why did you do it? Clancy: I think the Bush administration has made it pretty clear that they're not going to be swayed by more traditional ways of voicing one's opinion, like free protest, letter-writing, etc . . . I felt...

Ryan Clancy, a Milwaukee resident, substitute teacher and business owner, traveled to Iraq to serve as a human shield. So did antiwar activist Ken Joseph Jr., an Assyrian Christian who, too, traveled to Iraq to protect the Iraqis against the allegedly unwarranted American aggression.First Clancy, whom I interviewed. The following is my excerpted interview with him:Elder: Ryan, why did you do it?Clancy: I think the Bush administration has made it pretty clear that they're not going to be swayed by more traditional ways of voicing one's opinion, like free protest, letter-writing, etc . . . I felt like that...

How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my Father came to Japan in answer to General Douglas...