On Friday, April 1, The Assyrian Democrats of the Bay Area took part in the Assyrian New Year Celebration and Flag Raising event presented by the Assyrian American Association of San Jose in collaboration with various Assyrian organizations, churches, and groups. This event was to take place at San Jose City Hall but due to some logistical issues, it was moved to Almaden Winery.

For more details, please refer to https://mailchi.mp/aaasj/friday-april-1st-assyrian-new-year-celebration-and-flag-raising-ceremony-san-jose-city-hall?fbclid=IwAR3UlcKPPOMElEMDozS0dpEsDjnJ_kqCIox-Vm-b0SwQ99hvLUNJLV1Xid8

We thank the Assyrian American Association of San Jose for organizing this event and including us in this celebration.

Our executive board member, Nancy Ebrahimi, represented our Democratic club in the event and she was a key event speaker in English and Assyrian. Here are some excerpts from Nancy’s speech.

Nancy started with the historical facts about this ancient tradition and she gave a brief historical review: “The Assyrian New Year, also called Akitu or Nesan Festival is one of the oldest recorded festivals in the world. Assyrian mythology tells of a story where the goddess of love marries the vegetation god. Their unity, which occurred during the Spring Equinox ensured the renewal of life and blessed the Earth with fertility. This myth was central to the Akitu celebrations. Assyrians come from a great empire. They are the descendants of powerful rulers, and they had many golden years ruling the ancient world. This great civilization conquered so many and at last, was defeated and conquered. Ever since Assyrians are trying to survive the harsh treatment of the ancient and modern world. Assyrians are a proud nation, they have protected their language, culture, and traditions for all these years and their only hope is to pass this great heritage to the next generation. Assyrians are the indigenous settlers of Mesopotamia which were located in the modern Middle East but due to many wars and regional political and tribal conflicts, a big portion of this Assyrian population has given the opportunity to migrate to Western counties, to countries like America, countries where the rules of land were founded on democracy.”

She then quoted a sentence from Woodrow Wilson: “Democracy is not so much of a form of government as a set of principles. Principles such as equality, freedom, human rights, and so on so forth.”

Nancy then continued by emphasizing that “this democratic system and the established social justice provided us, Assyrians, with an opportunity to live peacefully in this great nation alongside other races, ethnicities, and beliefs.” and that “Democracy is like the air we breathe and we shall strive to improve and preserve it.”

Nancy added: “With this in mind, a number of Assyrians came together last year to establish the Assyrian Democrats of the Bay Area. this organization was accredited on July 1st, 2021 as an affiliate of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.”

In conclusion, Nancy on behalf of the Assyrian Democrats of The Bay Area wished everyone a happy and blessed New Assyrian year and that may this ancient New Year bring Peace, health, happiness, and prosperity to earth.