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Stephen Crittenden: Welcome to The Religion Report. Stephen Crittenden: The plight of Christian minorities in the Islamic Middle East is one of the 20th century tragedies to which we pay least attention. From the Copts in Egypt, to the Maronites, the Melkites in Lebanon, Orthodox and Chaldeans, the Christian population of the Middle East is a fraction of what it was, and more vulnerable than ever. Nowhere is the situation worse at the moment than in Iraq. And few groups are more vulnerable than the ancient Assyrian Christian community. In fact, this week the Italian journalist Sandro Magister, has warned of the end of Christianity in Iraq. In early May in a heavily Christian suburb of Baghdad, a Sunni extremist group began broadcasting a fatwah over the loudspeakers of the neighbourhood mosque: the Assyrian Christian community had to convert to Islam or leave, or die. Their Muslim neighbours were to seize their property. The men were told they had to pay the gizya - the protection money Jews and Christians traditionally had to pay to their Muslim overlords - and families were told they could only stay if they married one of their daughters to a Muslim. More than 300 Assyrian families have fled, mostly to the north into the Kurdish region of Iraq where they are not welcome either They are sleeping in cemeteries, they have no food, more than 30 of their churches have been bombed, their children are being kidnapped and murdered. RosieMalek-Yonan is an Assyrian-American. She is a successful film and television actor who has appeared in many popular shows including Dynasty, Seinfeld, E.R. and Chicago Hope. Her novel, The Crimson Field, is a fictionalised account of the little-known Assyrian genocide that took place at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during World War One at the same time that the better-known Armenian genocide was taking place. She recently directed a documentary film on the same subject. And last year she was invited to give testimony before the US Congress about the plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Rosie Malek-Yonan spoke to me from her home in California. Rosie Malek-Yonan: The Assyrian people are the indigenous people actually of Mesopotamia, before it even was Iraq. All of that area was Mesopotamia and is the original homeland of the Assyrians. They date back to over 6,000 years and were always concentrated in that region. Stephen Crittenden: And Christianity was accepted by Assyrians, well virtually in apostolic times, right at the very, very beginning? Rosie Malek-Yonan: Right. Assyrians were actually the first nation to accept Christianity as an entire nation, not just individuals, but the entire nation, and we built the first church of the east. Stephen Crittenden: And what about language? Aramaic for church, but what language does a typical Assyrian family in Baghdad speak at home? Rosie Malek-Yonan: Well the language that we typically speak is the modern Assyrian, which comes from the ancient Aramian, which is the language of Christ. The church liturgy still uses the ancient language, and we grew up learning it, and understanding it and knowing it, but it's not typically used at home. At home we generally will speak the more modern Assyrian dialect. Stephen Crittenden: Now in early May, a fatwah was issued by a militant Sunni group in Baghdad, calling on the Christians in a particular suburb of Baghdad called Dora, to convert to Islam or die. Rosie Malek-Yonan: Yes. Actually as we are speaking, I'm getting bombarded with emails, and one of them is a plea to help the Assyrians of Iraq. The women in particular - I'll just read you a little bit of this email - says the Virgin Mary put on a hijab (hijab is the covering) so why not all Christian women dress the same? They are asking all women to dress in that fashion. Stephen Crittenden: I understand there's a lot of kidnapping and murdering of particularly of young kids? Rosie Malek-Yonan: Absolutely. Our children are being murdered, they're being kidnapped for ransom, even when the ransom is paid they're still killed. Priests are being beheaded, nuns are being killed, and not just a beheading, they behead them, they cut also arms and legs, they hack them off and they return them in that manner. Little children, their heads are bashed with concrete blocks. This has been going on since the beginning of the Iraq War. This is isn't just an isolated incident here or there, this is an ongoing genocide. Stephen Crittenden: I understand that there were 1.4-million Christians in Iraq before the American invasion, in 2003, and that many left at that time, and went particularly to Syria. How many are left? Rosie Malek-Yonan: In Iraq there's probably between 600,000 and 800,000 left. The majority of the refugees that are now stranded in Syria and Jordan 40% of them are Christian Assyrians. They are not protected, they have nowhere to go, they have no shelter, they have no food, they're living in the streets in poverty. Stephen Crittenden: And 300 families just in the last month, have been driven out of Baghdad. Rosie Malek-Yonan: Yes. They don't know where to go. Right now they are taking refuge in churches, they take refuge in wherever they can. Stephen Crittenden: How were the Assyrian Christians treated under Saddam Hussein? Rosie Malek-Yonan: The situation is terribly worse now. It was much better for them then. They thought it was bad then. All the things that the Kurds had been complaining about during Saddam's regime now they are doing those things to the Assyrians, because the goal is to drive Assyrians out of the northern region so that the Kurds can take over that entire region. Stephen Crittenden: Indeed, in your testimony before Congress last year, you talked about the fact that Assyrians also have a problem with the Kurds, almost as though the Assyrians in Iraq are even lower on the pecking order than the Kurds. Rosie Malek-Yonan: Oh, absolutely. But now the Kurds have become powerful because the US is assisting them. So if they get assistance and Assyrians don't, the result is that they're going to bully the Assyrians out of there. They want them out of that area, they want to take the entire area and a so-called Kurdistan region and make it a Kurdistan region. Minus the Assyrians. Stephen Crittenden: What are the American troops in Baghdad doing about these developments of the last month or so? Rosie Malek-Yonan: They're doing absolutely nothing. If they were doing something, we would see something, we would see just a glimmer of hope, but there's nothing there. I mean there's reports of them saying 'We're not here to save you, we're not here to help you.' Stephen Crittenden: Rosie, there are reports that the persecution of Christians in Baghdad at the moment is being directed by the imams in the mosques, that the loudspeakers in the mosques are telling Muslims to seize the property of their Christian neighbours and carry out their fatwah, that it's not just criminal elements, it's being directed from the mosques. Rosie Malek-Yonan: Oh, of course. I mean look, any time we go to war with the Middle East, it is going to become a religious war. The Assyrians wear the face of Christianity, we are the first that are going to get hit. Our properties get seized, our homes are taken, and our lives are taken. That goes without a doubt, and of course it's the religious leaders that are doing this. It comes from them, and it also on the other hand, comes from the Kurds. We are getting it from every side, it's not just one element, and we're isolated, with absolutely no assistance. And the thing is, since 2003 when Assyrians started getting hit, we have never retaliated. We have never hit back; we have never fired back. They burnt more than 30 churches in Iraq. Not once has an Assyrian gone to burn a mosque in retaliation. Stephen Crittenden: Rosie, you've devoted a lot of time, you've written a novel, and last year you made a documentary film to draw public awareness to the Assyrian genocide that took place at the same time that the much better known Armenian genocide was taking place, both at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during World War I. Tell us about the Assyrian genocide. Rosie Malek-Yonan: The Assyrian genocide started in 1914 with the onset of World War I. It began in the hands of the Ottoman Turks, with the help of the Kurds and Persia at that time, or Iran as we know it now. The Assyrians that were being massacred were in South East Turkey (Hakkari), and also in the Urmia Region, which is north-western Iran. And this went on for nearly four years, till the end of World War I. But I believe more than that, there has been an ongoing, slow genocide that the Assyrian people have been caught up in. And actually even before the 1914 World War I Assyrian genocide, it began in 1895 in Diyarbekir where about 55,000 Assyrians were killed and about another 100,000 were forcibly Islamicised. Stephen Crittenden: This is in Turkey? Rosie Malek-Yonan: Yes, and this really paved the way for the Assyrian genocide in the shadows of World War I, with two-thirds of the Assyrian population totalling 750,000 were annihilated by the Ottoman Turks, Kurds, and Persians. And their crime was only being Christian, but it didn't stop there. Again, 1933 in Iraq, the Semele Massacre, we saw 3,000 Assyrian men, women, children unarmed, massacred by the Iraqi Army, and Kurdish warlords, and again, the Iranian Revolution, we saw what that did to the Assyrian population in Iran. Stephen Crittenden: Just repeat for us Rosie, what is the estimate of the number of Assyrians who died in the 1914-1918 genocide? Rosie Malek-Yonan: 1914-1918, 750,000 Assyrians. That's two-thirds of our population. Two out of three Assyrians died. Stephen Crittenden: Well many Assyrians have left. There's a big Assyrian diaspora; where are they to be found in the largest numbers around the world? Rosie Malek-Yonan: Around the world there is a very large number in Chicago; nearly 100,000 Assyrians in Chicago. And when I use the term 'Assyrian', I'm not differentiating the different religious denominations, whether they're Catholic, Calvians, or Protestants or Church of the East, I'm using the term as a general term for all Assyrians. So we have a big population in Chicago, in Detroit, in San Diego, in Sweden, Södertälje, Sweden, we have a huge, huge community of Assyrians. A lot of the refugees from Iraq are finding their way to Sweden. So we're pretty much spread all over the world. The one thing I want to touch upon is when we don't address a genocide, or a massacre of a nation, it will keep on happening. When in World War I the Assyrian genocide was not addressed, and to this day there are people that don't know about it, that just set the precedent for the same thing to happen again. World War II, Jewish Holocaust. Hitler was the one who said 'Who remembers the Armenians?' By then Assyrians weren't even in the picture any more, because we don't deal with these issues, we just let them happen, we turn a blind eye. The bottom line is that the Assyrians in Iraq, they have to be protected, just like the Kurds were protected back in 1991. They were given a safe zone. We need an Assyrian safe zone. This has to be done, and it could only be done if the US decides to help them to do this, and the UN steps in. Stephen Crittenden: Thank you very much for being on the program. Rosie Malek-Yonan: Thank you. | ||||
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Guest Editorial Waleeta Canon - Washington D.C. On Friday, June 30th, 2006, Ms. Rosie Malek-Yonan made a U.S. Congresswoman cry. In the last 30 years of the Assyrian nationalist movement, little has been written or said that has moved the hearts of non-Assyrians. Rather than the usual dry, fact-filled speeches made by Assyrians in Diaspora pleading the case for the helpless Assyrians in the homeland, Ms. Malek-Yonan moved an entire roomÉand one Congresswoman to tears...with her words. On the morning of June 30th, Ms. Malek-Yonan gave a powerful, riveting, emotional testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations a Subcommittee of the House Committee on International Relations. The topic of discussion was the survival of religious pluralism. Chairman Christopher Smith (NJ) introduced Ms. Malek-Yonan as the author of “The Crimson Field”, based on the real events of the Assyrian genocide of 1914-1918. Ms. Malek-Yonan had the unique distinction of not being affiliated with any Assyrian political or civic organization. In her comprehensive account of human rights violations currently being committed against Iraqi Assyrians by Islamist Kurds and Arabs, she pulled together and discussed in one 25 minute speech the Assyrian genocide of 1914-1918, the 1933 Semele massacre, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing (supported by U.S. dollars being spent on the Kurdish government that is promulgating these attacks), Kurdish sponsored voter fraud in the 2005 elections, and the inherent contradiction between promoting democracy in adherence with “Islamic law” in Iraq, making the Iraq a dangerous place to live for Assyrians, who are Christians. Put simply, Ms. Malek-Yonan dared to say what most simply won’t, for fear of retaliation against the Assyrians in the homeland, or sounding “too harsh” or “undiplomatic”. Put simply, Ms. Malek-Yonan dared to say what most simply won’t, for fear of retaliation against the Assyrians in the homeland, or sounding “too harsh” or “undiplomatic”. The room had a large audience of Congressional staffers, people representing various NGOs, and the general public, and while all those who testified before the committee had compelling stories of religious persecution, Ms. Malek-Yonan took the issue of Assyrian a step further: She did not argue that Christians in Iraq were being persecuted and marginalized she made it clear that Assyrians were being eradicated, ethnically and culturally cleansed, and were being wiped off the map. And the world, for some mysterious reason, is completely ignoring it. In no uncertain terms, Ms. Malek-Yonan exclaimed that the 2003 “liberation” of Iraq has become the “oppression” of the Assyrians particularly in the Kurdish north. What little aid, she said, that has been earmarked for Assyrians is being funneled through the Kurdish authorities, used only to build up Kurdish villages. As a token gesture to proclaim “pluralist democracy” to their current Western allies they build a few Assyrian churches to show, on paper, that money is indeed being spent on Assyrians, while in reality the Assyrian people themselves are left homeless, hungry, without water, sanitation, proper health facilities and personal security. Ms. Malek-Yonan stressed that this recent mass exodus of Assyrians happened, among other reasons, due to the failure of securing a safe haven for the Assyrian population after coalition forces removed Saddam whereas the Kurds had a place to go, and now are in a position to flood once-Assyrian villages with Kurds in order to claim population majorities in the North. Her straightforward testimony made it clear that ethnic cleansing was happening under the watch of the U.S. presence, with U.S. tax dollars, while the Western media is silent on the matter. The Kurdish authorities and Islamists Kurd and Arab have free reign to do as they please in the chaotic Iraq, with the inhuman, barbaric crimes against Assyrian going undocumented and unnoticed. Ms. Malek-Yonan asserted the inherent contradiction in the Iraqi Constitution Articles 2(A) and 2(B) claim that no law shall be passed that is in contradiction with democratic law, nor shall any law be passed in contradiction with Sharia law. This, she argued, is mutually exclusive. She quoted two Qu’ranic passages that dictate “He that chooses a religion over Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost” and to “slay [infidels] wherever you find them...Idolatry is worse than carnage”, as examples from Islamic theology supporting ethnic cleansing of infidels, and therefore, Assyrians. It has become commonplace for Assyrians and non-Assyrians to plead the case of the Assyrians to the world by declaring we are the “indigenous Christians of Iraq”, believing that this can garner more support and sympathy from the West than saying “Assyrians” of Iraq. But during the question and answer session after her speech, Ms. Malek-Yonan made it quite clear “(When the media refers to Assyrians in Iraq...) they say 'Christians of Iraq'. We are not Iraqi Christians. We have a name. We need to be called by our name, not just generic Christians. We are Assyrian, and we want to be recognized for who we are.” The lack of understanding as to what is truly happening to Assyrians in Iraq was revealed in a simple question asked by Congressman Smith; referring to a young Assyrian boy who was kidnapped and killed by Kurds, he asked, innocently, “Has there been an investigation launched (in Iraq) regarding this incident?” Ms. Malek-Yonan’s testimony lasted almost half an hour, as she shocked the room with details regarding the state of Assyrians in their homeland, Western apathy, lack of media attention, and direct and indirect U.S. policy that supports the Kurdish regime committing gross crimes against humanity. She beseeched the U.S. lawmakers to give aid directly to the Assyrians, and not through an interim like the Kurdish authorities. She implored them to begin to take responsibility for the slow genocide happening under U.S. supervision. She expressed, quite candidly, that the so-called “democratic” Iraq is just that “democratic” by name only. She truly garnered the attention of the room in her closing paragraph:
And it’s true while the West is trying to figure out how to leave Iraq, and Assyrians in Diaspora are bickering about politics and official names history is repeating itself in Iraq and no one is noticing. | ||
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Rosie Malek-Yonan signing a copy of her book, The Crimson Field, for The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, chairman of the Committee on International Relations' Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations. | ||
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Guest Editorial Nina Georgizova - Washington D.C.
Assyrian women...Mothers, wives, sisters...They are beautiful beyond comparison, wise beyond limits, strong beyond comprehension and loving beyond understanding. They possess these amazing qualities that make them the foundation of our nation. Throughout the centuries Assyrian women have suffered through wars and genocides, famines and tragedies to support their men and care for their children. They may seem vulnerable and helpless at times, but when all is said and done, they are the foundation that keep the Assyrian nation alive. One of these amazing women is Rosie Malek-Yonan, the author of The Crimson Field, an actress, a pianist, a figure-skater, a director, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. She is a beautiful woman with a great smile, petite physique, strong willed with a great heart. I had the honor of being present at the Congressional Hearing on Friday, June 30 2006 in Washington D.C., a day I will never forget, when an Assyrian woman changed the destiny of her people, bringing them hope for the future and becoming their voice of truth. How different this experience was from everything that I have ever witnessed! In a world of politics, there is no room for passion and emotions, no room for love and compassion. Everything is calculated and planned. Our people, Assyrian people, are dying every day. Our children are murdered, mutilated, beheaded and tortured. Our mothers and sisters are raped and sold as prostitutes. We cry, we sigh, we feel sorry, but life goes on and we go back to bickering about name, churches andÉnothing changes, everything stays the same. Our people are still dying, our children are murdered and mutilated, our mothers and sisters are raped and sold as prostitutes. When I was getting ready to go to the hearing, I was not prepared for what I was about to witness. I was not prepared for Rosie’s courage, determination and passion. And I was definitely not prepared to see a Congresswoman, Ms. Betty McCollum, cry while she was talking to Rosie after the hearing. Prior to Rosie’s speech, we listened to the testimony given by Ms. Nina Shea, Vice Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. While describing the situation in Iraq, she referred to us as “indigenous ancient Iraqi Christians.” I kept waiting for the name “Assyrian” to be mentioned, but alas, the speech was over and we remained as “the Christians of Iraq” in the eyes of the members of Congress and the public, as we are usually portrayed in the media. “We are ASSYRIANS! We were Assyrians before we became Christians!” I thought to myself. Still, I hoped that Rosie’s speech would clarify matters. In response to a question from Mr. Christopher H. Smith, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, Rosie noted: “We have a name. We are Assyrians. We need to be called by our name, not just a generic Christian. We have a name, and we want to be recognized as such.”This experience almost seemed surreal and now, 24 hours later, I still have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. I was so glad that I was taking pictures during Rosie’s speech, in order to hide my teary eyes from the public. It took every bit of effort to hold back my emotions. I was watching the members of the Congress put their pens aside, listening attentively to what Rosie had to say. I was watching people in the audience, journalists, representatives of different organizations turn their heads in Rosie’s direction trying to grasp every word she said. What she said was just simple truth. Yes, she was passionate and emotional, something you hardly see in the halls of Congress. But this is exactly what Assyrians in Iraq need. Those who died, those who are dying as I am typing these words and those who will die in the hands of Islamists and Kurds. Rosie voiced our pain, our suffering, and our truth, through stories of Assyrian children killed in Iraq, statistics of Assyrians fleeing our homeland, Iraq, and through an excerpt from her book. Simple yet powerful words. Chairman Smith acknowledged Rosie’s statement as containing “well-documented facts” and referred to it as a “powerful testimony.” June 30, 2006, was one of the happiest days of my life. I left room 2172 at the Raybury Building where the Congressional Hearing was held with my head held high and full of hope for my people. One woman has accomplished more with a single testimony in the US Congress than all our political and religious leaders have in the last four decades combined. Rosie, thank you for telling the world that I am more than just a “Christian in Iraq.” For telling the world that I am an Assyrian and that my people in my homeland continue to suffer under the oppression of the Islamic forces. | ||
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Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Rosie Malek-Yonan after the hearing last Friday at the Rayburn Hall Office Building in Washington D.C. | ||
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Rosie Malek-Yonan will speak today at the Assyrian American Civic Club in Turlock. (Photo: MARTY BICEK/THE BEE) | ||
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Assyrian History on Display Turlock event features author, documentary By KERRY McCRAY - BEE STAFF WRITER Last Updated: October 30, 2006, 05:08:05 AM PST TURLOCK — When the queen of Iran told Rosie Malek-Yonan and her sister they would be the first women figure skaters to represent their country in the Olympics, they were thrilled. Later, the sisters — Assyrian Christians — learned they would have to compete wearing long dresses and veils, perform without music and become Muslims. "I stood up and said 'We don't need this,'" Malek-Yonan said, recalling the experience, which happened just before the 1980 Winter Olympics. "We walked out and never went back." In Turlock this weekend for the 60th anniversary of the city's Assyrian American Civic Club, Malek-Yonan said she is glad she didn't pursue figure skating. Instead, she became an actor, writer, producer and sought-after speaker on the history of the Assyrian people As part of the club's anniversary celebration, Malek-Yonan will give a talk today, followed by a screening of the documentary "My Assyrian Nation on the Edge," made by her sister, Monica. The club's anniversary festivities included a gala dinner Saturday night honoring the organization's past presidents. It was old-home week for Malek-Yonan, who was born into a political family in Iran but spent summers in Modesto and San Francisco with her mother's relatives. "In the summer of 1973, I got a call from Dad saying, 'Don't come home,'" she said. The teen's parents knew she wanted to study acting and writing, considered "vulgar" professions by the country's Muslim majority. They figured she would be better off attending college in the United States. So, Malek-Yonan, who had been a classical piano student at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, enrolled at San Francisco State University, where she studied music and theater. She also took a figure-skating class. Her first time on the ice, she was mistaken for the instructor. Malek-Yonan got her sister hooked on the sport, and the two eventually wrote the queen and asked if they could have places on the Olympic team. The queen agreed. Then, the shah's government fell, and the new regime told the women they must become Muslims and wear the religion's traditional garb in order to represent their country. "I would never comprise who I am because a government is forcing me," Malek-Yonan said. Malek-Yonan went on to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and eventually became an actor and producer. Some 10 years ago, she pitched an idea for a movie based on her grandmother's story about leaving her child and ailing mother when she fled her home during the 1914-18 genocide of 750,000 Assyrians in the Middle East. A studio liked the idea. There was an offer on the table. "But they said Assyrians had to go; they suggested another nation," she said. "I said, 'No, thank you,' and I walked away from it." Malek-Yonan went on to turn the story into a book, "The Crimson Field," published last year. Since then, she has been in demand as a speaker, lecturing about Assyrians in the Middle East, past and present. She is scheduled to speak at the University of California at Merced on Monday. She has spoken before Congress, focusing on Assyrians she says are being killed in Iraq today. Her sister's documentary, "My Assyrian Nation on the Edge," chronicles this testimony. Among the accounts of violence she relays: the story of a priest who was kidnapped and killed, his blood drained into a bucket so it wouldn't "contaminate" the soil. "Every night I sleep with the images of these people, my people," she said. "To me, they're not strangers." Rosie Malek-Yonan will speak at the 1:30 p.m. luncheon today at the Assyrian American Civic Club of Turlock, 2816 N. Golden State Blvd. Her talk will be followed by her sister's documentary. Admission is free. The event is part of a weekend of festivities marking the club's 60th anniversary. | ||
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News Release - September 3, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES, CA - September 2006 - For her contributions and the totality of her work in the Assyrian Community, including the publication of her epic and historical novel The Crimson Field and her testimony before a Congressional Committee of the 109th Congress of the United States on religious freedom regarding the genocide, massacres and persecution of Assyrians in Iraq, on Sunday, September 3, 2006, at the 73rd Annual Assyrian American National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Pierre Toulakany announced that the Board of Advisors of the Assyrian American National Federation, Inc. (AANF) has selected Ms. Rosie Malek-Yonan as Woman of the Year. Mr. Robert de Kaleta presented Ms. Malek-Yonan with the award. MEDIA CONTACT: Monica Malek-Yonan Tel: 818-249-2242 Monica@thecimsonfield.com | ||
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Press Release - August 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Book Release: Rosie Malek-Yonan’s THE CRIMSON FIELD Release Date: September 5, 2005, 11:45 pm PST Of interest to Editors and Journalists covering Books, Publishing, Libraries, Museums, History, Religion, Genocides, Middle East, Television and Film Industry New historical and literary novel sheds light on the 1914-1918 Genocide of 750,000 Assyrian Christians in the Middle East GLENDALE, CA August 2005 A tour-de-force, Rosie Malek-Yonan’s THE CRIMSON FIELD is a brilliant and gritty historical and literary novel with enormous implications. Uncompromising and unflinching, it is based on real events and true family chronicles set to the backdrop of the Assyrian Massacres of 1914-1918 in Urmi, Iran. This is a unique triumph in that the Assyrian tragedy unfolds in an epic novel, the first of its kind, supported by actual painstakingly researched historical facts of a nation’s raw and agonizing past; a nation that has never been fully healed of its bleeding wounds and still grieves for its fallen martyrs. Malek-Yonan’s intense interest in her family’s history that cannot be separated from her Assyrian heritage and historical events that have swept that nation in a deluge of bloodbath began more than two decades ago. As she embarked on her journey of discovery, searching family documents and probing for her roots, she found a commonality with her Assyrian people who experienced the same trenchant attacks as her family at the hands of the Turks and Kurds nearly a century ago. THE CRIMSON FIELD is a harsh, yet poetic, narrative of her maternal grandmother, Maghdleta’s lifelong struggle to come to terms with a momentary decision made in haste during the brutality of the Assyrian Massacres and Genocide. THE CRIMSON FIELD is a reconstruction of history, brick by brick, reassembling the unimaginable losses suffered by an Assyrian woman and those of her nation. Rosie Malek-Yonan’s high-spirited approach affords the reader a rare glimpse into the lives of a nation bereaved and long imagined to be forgotten. This epic novel is a tender reminder of the resilience of a people in their quest for survival. THE CRIMSON FIELD is the author’s Requiem Mass for her Assyria. Nuri Kino, Assyrian-Swedish Journalist and three-time recipient of Guldspaden (Swedish Pulitzer) describes the book as: “[T]he most amazingly literary, beautiful and poeticÉRosie Malek-Yonan’s liquid and lyrical style of writing is a perfect blend of long and short phrases each a poem in itself. Colorful, her writing jars all five senses...THE CRIMSON FIELD is literature at its best.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Assyrian author Rosie Malek-Yonan, a natural-born artist, is a classically trained composer, pianist, actor, director, writer and a figure skater on the 1980 Winter Olympic Team. Upon receiving her L.C. degree in English from University of Cambridge, she studied piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and acting at the American Conservatory Theatre. A graduate of San Francisco State University with two degrees in Music, she won an invitation to study drama at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her plays have been produced and performed on stage in Los Angeles. A consummate performer, she has appeared in numerous notable television shows, films and plays, acting in a wide range of roles opposite many of Hollywood’s leading actors and has received rave reviews as an actor and director. For more information on the author please visit www.rosiemalek-yonan.com Reviews and sample chapter(s) available at: www.thecrimsonfield.com The book is available to worldwide retail outlets through Pearlida Publishing Tel: 818-249-2242 E-mail: publisher@thecrimsonfield.com Also available online at www.thecrimsonfield.com ABOUT THE BOOK ISBN Number 0-9771873-4-9 Pearlida Publishing Hardcover, 568 Pages, $29.95 MEDIA CONTACT: Monica Malek-Yonan Tel: 818-249-2242 Review copies and interviews arranged on request | ||
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