1

Sunset

Dayayto stares down at village

COMM

00.03

They are the indigenous people of the region. But today, they’re being driven from their home land.

2

Deyreto

(2shots)

I won’t leave my church until my last breath.

3

Eli shines torch on skeletons

COMM

In this film I uncover a legacy of terror.

4

Shamoun Gallo

They pulled her out from the bodies

 She’d been stabbed 7 times

5

ISIS guys in masks

COMM

It’s a story of violence that continues to this day.

6

Lady

00.30

Their son was murdered in front of us

7

COMM

COMM

Those trying to rebuild a nation admit the scale of the challenge.

8

Al JABBOURI

00.41 How do you take away the fear...

from the Christians and Yazidis?

This has become a deep scar

9

Eli on NPU Convoy

COMM

While the victims now trust no-one but themselves.

10

NPPU COMMANDER?

00.52

We, the people of the city…

have the right to defend it

11

COMM

I travel across South-East Turkey and Iraq in search of the Last Christians

14

TITLE

LAST CHRISTIANS

15

COMM

01.20

My journey begins here in South East Turkey.  

It’s a landscape shaped by monasteries, churches and ancient temples. Today, most are deserted.

15A

COMM

In the ancient Aramaic language this region is known as Tur Abdin, the Mountain of Worshippers.

I want to discover what’s happened to the people who still speak this language.

15B

CAR GOING THROUGH RUINS

COMM

01.49

My guide is Eliyo Eliyo, born in Turkey, raised in Sweden.  He’s returned to his homeland on a mission to record what he fears is a disappearing culture.

16

ELIHO SYNC

02.11

The historical record of the                original people here…

is being eliminated

2.19 

These stones bear witness

to the blood that’s been shed 

I decided to document

the heritage we’ve lost

02.38

Our villages, churches,

 monasteries and other sites

2.45 That’s why I stayed.

16A

COMM

03.00

Eliyo comes from the Syriac Orthodox Community, one of the several Christian denominations often referred to collectively as Assyrian. They regard themselves as a single people, and trace their ancestry back to the ancient Assyrians, thousands of years before Christ.

They also share the same Semitic language, Aramaic.

16 B

UPSOUND

CHANTING

16 C

ADD UPSOT ARAMAIC BITE

COMM

03.33

It’s the language that Jesus Christ spoke. They keep it alive in their homes and in their religious ceremonies.

16 D

MAP1

COMM

03.30

The original Assyrian homeland stretches eastward from Urfa in Turkey to Lake Urmia in Iran, and south from Diyarbakir to the Plains of Nineveh in Iraq.

17

COMM

04.05

Like most Christians of Tur Abdin, Eliyo is descended from the survivors of a massacre that took place just over a hundred years ago.

The evidence, he says, can still be found, concealed beneath the fields and villages of the region.

This is one of those secret places.

18

 ELI ARABIC

ELI PTC 04.29

04.27

It’s really difficult to describe (...)

Scores of corpses and bones

They could be relatives

04.38

Or people who don’t know each other

They’ve all  been united in death 

Those small skulls could be children

04.50

It’s really disturbing

An awful sight

19A

COMM

04.54

I’m told that these are the bodies of ordinary Syriac Christians, slaughtered during World War 1 by the Turkish Army and Kurdish tribesmen.

Later their corpses were dragged to this cave, where they’ve been hidden for over a century.

19B

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PICTURES

COMM

05.14

The mass murder of up to one and a half million Armenian Christians is well known. It’s frequently referred to as the Armenian genocide.

Far less familiar is the massacre of hundreds of thousands of other Christians, in the so-called Assyrian genocide. Both events are vehemently disputed by the Turkish government.

05.40

We’ve been asked not to disclose the cave’s location. The details of this mass murder are still so controversial that people fear the Turkish authorities might remove the evidence.

20

COMM

05.56

And memories are still raw.  Shamoun Gallo’s grandmother barely survived one of the massacres.

21

SHAMOUN GALLO ARABIC

GALLO sync

06.04

They took them towards the village of Shtrako

06.09

On the way,

they started to kill them

06.11

366 people were killed

6.13  

They were left where they fell.

06.17

 The next day they  searched  the women and girls,

BIT LONG?

6.25 BIT SHORT

for gold, jewellery, earrings

and necklaces

06.27

Then they found a girl, my grandmother alive and moving

06.34

In the midst of the bodies

06.36

Imagine the scene, 366 bodies

lying on the ground

They took her from the mass of bodies

She’d been stabbed seven times

COMM

6.48

I too have a personal connection to these events.

This is my ancestor, Leonard Melki.  

Like me, he was a Christian from Lebanon. Before the First World War he was sent as a missionary to Turkey.

22

FARES SYNC

7.02

This picture was taken in 1911

Father Leonard was returning to Baabdat

COMM

In 1915 Leonard was imprisoned, tortured and then killed by the Turkish authorities.

My cousin Fares Melki has been researching his story.

23

FARES MELKI ARABIC

07.23

Every time I look at it…

07.30

I get rather emotional

This picture made me

 become interested…

in the life of Leonard Melki

24

COMM

07.44

Very little is known about Leonard’s death. We do know he was murdered while on a forced march from Mardin to Diyarbakir. One amongst many thousands of victims.

25

ELI MELKI ARABIC

ELI PTC

07.58

I want to know more about the events  leading to Leonard’s death

08.07

And how it was bound up

with the fate Christians in the area

26

COMM

08.18

There’s a special word in Aramaic for these massacres. It’s Seyfo, which means the Sword.

27

But the violence didn’t end in 1915. It’s never stopped

28

COMM

08.37

Eliyo Eliyo fears the remaining Christians of Tur Abdin will be driven from their homeland.

Their numbers have dropped from fifty thousand in the 1980s to just two and a half thousand today.

29

ELIYO SYNC

8.52

This is the village of Boté. An Assyrian village.

There are no Assyrians there… They emptied …in the eighties

 the last family in the beginning of the ..

in the eighties they left..

30

COMM

09.07

During the 1980s and 90s, the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party, fought a brutal guerrilla war with the Turkish military.

31

VILLAGE GUARDS

COMM

09.19

Some of the Kurds who supported the Turkish government against the PKK were given guns. They became known as the village guards.

09.32

The Christians claim these Kurds used their new weapons to force them from their villages, occupying their homes and taking their land.

32

ZAZ SHOTS

33

COMM

09.49

One village Zaz, has become renowned for its one last Christian.

Known simply as ‘Dayrayto’, which means the Nun, Mariam Gokmen says she lives in a state of siege, surrounded by hostile Kurdish families.

34

MARIAM GOKMEN TOROYO/KURDISH

DAYRAYTO SYNC

10.08

I will never leave my church until my last breath.

10.14

When I die, God knows what will happen.

10.19

I became a hostage in my own church

35

COMM

10.28

Eliyo Eliyo lives quite near Deyreto.

He visits regularly, bringing her provisions.

Her fresh water supply has been cut off.

10.43

Until the PKK insurgency fifteen Assyrian families lived in Zaz.  

Dayrayto says they were all  forced from their homes by the Kurdish village guards. 10.55

36

MARIAM GOKMEN TOROYO/KURDISH

THE NUN

11.00

The Christians of Zaz were more and more oppressed

The local Kurds were threatening the remaining families

It was harvest time

The Christians were prevented

from harvesting their crops

So they left their homes

and emigrated

37

COMM

11.19

Some of the Christians’ houses have since been occupied by the Kurds.

Dayrayto accuses them of harassing her. Trying to force her to leave

38

MARIAM GOKMEN TOROYO/KURDISH

DAYRAYTO SYNC

11.34

They have threatened and humiliated me

Recently...

They killed both my guard dogs…

to leave me without protection

39

COMM

11.47

We wanted to speak to the Kurdish neighbours but they refused to be interviewed.

Dayayto says they’ve profited from farming land that belongs to the Christians.

40

MARIAM GOKMEN TOROYO/KURDISH

DAYRETO

11.55

They’re ploughing and

 harvesting the crops

Grapes, almond, sumaq(,)

 and anything else worth money

My villagers get nothing

12.10

This is the situation

What can we do?

The Kurds don’t own any houses here 

All belong to the Christians

41

 Ali - extend the shot

COMM

12.21

One local Kurd did agree to speak to  me.

12.24

Fezzullah Aslan is the brother of one of Dayrayto’s neighbours. Although he does not live in Zaz, he’s become Mayor of the village. He tells a different story.

42

Fezzullah Aslan

TURKISH

FEZZULLAH SYNC

12.35

I am the mayor of the village.

12.38

I have told her before I’d prevent  anyone hurting or threatening her

The nun is now under my protection..

43

COMM

12.48

The mayor also disputes Dayrayto’s claim that the Christians were forced out, and that their houses have been illegally occupied.

44

MARIAM GOKMEN TOROYO/KURDISH

FEZZULLAH

13.02

Those who live there now

have the Christian owner’s permission

In reality, the Kurds are now

the inhabitants of the village.

45

ELI LOOKING AT LAPTOP

COMM

13.05

I contacted some of the Christians from Zaz, who are now living in Germany.

They confirm Dayrayto’s account.  They state they were terrorised (grammer) from their homes and  they have not given permission for the Kurds to occupy their houses.

46

COMM

13.24

Until her Christian neighbours feel safe to return, Deyreto will continue her lonely vigil.

47

Eli comm a little fast here

COMM

13.34

Eliyo Eliyo says that when he was 10 (7) years old, his family too were among those forced to leave their village by armed Kurds.

48

ELIYO ELIYO

13.44

Why can’t (take out not) the Assyrians live in peace?  Why do the Kurds need to change the demography?

In every single Assyrian village it’s the same.

The people’s gone, so what is left is the evidence of Assyrian presence.

The churches the monasteries. All the other things. So they destroyed them.

49

COMM

14.15

We arrive at the village of Derqubé. Here there’s a Syriac Orthodox family who have refused to leave.

The Danhos are the only Christians left in a village where once there were twelve families.  Despite everything that’s happened, they intend to raise their children here.

50

COMM

14.40

Melki Danho is the patriarch. During of the fighting in the 1990s his family were victims of both sides. First it was the PKK.

51

MELKI DENHO TOROYO

MELKI DENHO SYNC

Translation of Danho

14:54

 They came two or three times for bread

They pointed guns at us

We said we couldn’t give them bread

They said, ’'But you slaughter goats for the military and the village guards”

15.08

They said they could kill us all‘

We were forced to give them bread

ELIYO

15.18

You mean the PKK came and…

you were forced to give them bread? (still over a cut)

So you were oppressed by both sides?

15.26

That’s right

That’s how we were forced to leave our village

15.34

They came several times 

16.37

They burned down the village, the vineyards and the hillsides

They demolished our houses

so we couldn’t come back

52

DANHO

TOROYO

15.45

They forced us out so they could live here

They put a gun in Khajo's mouth….

and told him admit that 30 people (MEN) had been in our house

if not they shoot him

 He was a little child then

They harassed us every day.

What we have experienced,...

Believe  me !

16.06 Enough now

53

COMM

16.08

The family were forced to leave their village.

Seven years later, when they returned, they discovered that some Kurds had had their names added to the local land registry. This made them joint owners of land that had previously belonged only to the Danho family.

54

DENHOS

TOROYO

1

MELKI -

16.26

You can see also how they have made themselves co-owners

For instance, this is the deed...

which is in my father's name, Melke Ergun Danho.

Hacho, can you point out where (lose ?)

16.35

ELI (English) - So, this is the name, this is his name, their father? This is his father’s name, and all of these are the people claiming that they are the partners of the father?

YES

16.50

MELKI - If they really own anything

they would own each piece separately.

They wouldn’t be joint owners

They own nothing.

COMM

17.03

The Danhos have had to launch separate legal cases to recover each of their 54 pieces of land. They recently won the first two, and are waiting for the court to decide the rest.

55

Driving shots

COMM

17.17

Meanwhile their fields lie fallow because, they say, the new joint owners are blocking their use.

56

COMM

17.30

With Khacho and his brother Eyyup in the back, we go in search of the people who’ve laid claim to the Danho land.

57

show more of Shamus

SOUND

COMM

17.41

We meet Sehmus Hajo. His family have(Eli says has) long been neighbours of the Danhos. 

Sehmus’s grandfather, a Kurdish clan leader, saved the Denho family from almost certain death during the massacres of 1915.

58

COMM

17.58

But now his clansmen are amongst those claiming the Danhos’ land. Sehmus says they’re wrong to do so.

59

SEHMUS HAJO

TURKISH

Sehmus uses Suryan

SEHMUS

18.09

These people are still persecuting the Asyrians of the region

We’ve lived together  for centuries,

but some people are still oppressing the Christians

In Derqube, without you knowing,

they made themselves co-owners of your land

18.34

In Derqube Muslims never bought

a single piece of land

Derqube belongs to Assyrians

It will remain theirs.

60

COMM

18.46

Sehmus’s respect for the law would seem to outweigh his clan loyalty. But like many other Kurds, his family have lived peaceably with their Christian neighbours for generations.

61

COMM

19.01

The long drawn out assault on their houses and farms is forcing the Syriac Christians to quit their homeland.

19.16

They leave behind them a landscape of ruins, symbols of a people who never really recovered from the massacres of the Seyfo, just over a century ago.

62

ELI MELKI

ARABIC

ELI PTC

19.28

After the massacres during World War 1,

the Christians of Turkey fled

to Iraq and Syria

63

MAP 2

COMM

19.37

Some survivors from Tur Abdin headed south to Syria.  

Most of those from Hakkari and Urmia fled into Iraq.

64

COMM

19.52

Many came through these mountain passes. For centuries they’ve been a lifeline between what are now Turkey and Iraq.

65

ELI MELKI

ARABIC

ELI PTC

20.04

This valley in northern Iraq….

 is the closest to the Hakkari mountains

The ancestral  homeland

of many Iraqi Assyrians

They walked on this path in their hundreds to seek refuge in Iraq,

20.16

away from death and oppression

66

COMM

20.24

In northern Iraq they found refuge amongst a long-established population of fellow Assyrians.

But here too, they’ve become the victims of other people’s wars.

67

IRAQ

MOUNTAIN SHOTS

TURKISH BASES

COMM

20.39

The evidence is unmistakable. We’re well inside Iraqi Kurdistan, but these military bases are Turkish.

They scan the valleys below for the PKK, who also operate on this side of the border.

67A

COMM

21.01

Just as in Turkey, this imported conflict, now more than 30 years old, has sucked in the local Assyrians.

68

MIKHAIL BENJAMIN

ARABIC

21.09

In the early nineties, we became  victims

Both of a foreign group,  the PKK,

and local forces fighting it 

21.23

 We’re an indigenous people

who’ve become a minority

So we’ve become

the weakest element….

 in the conflict between

more powerful forces. 

69

GRAVEYARD

From 42.15

COMM

21.33

Mikhail Benjamin is an Assyrian activist whose family fled from Turkey after the Seyfo massacres

This is his village graveyard, in the valley of Nahla.

70

MIKHAIL BENJAMIN

ARABIC

MIKHAIL BENJAMIN

21.44

Our biggest problem is that we live in an area of conflict

21.51

For example the conflict in the 60s between the government and the Kurds

(THIS IS CROSSING OVER THE CUT)

We were the victims

22.01

It was the same situation for us during the Iraq-Iran war

71

COMM

22.05

As a consequence Mikhail’s village has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the last 50 years.

72

COMM

22.13

He wishes to introduce me to relatives who’ve suffered from the turmoil.

73

*

COMM

22.24

His 86-year-old uncle, Enwyia, has lived in the valley all his life. He tells me he’s been a victim both of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and the Kurds.

74

ENWIYA

ASSYRIAN

ENWYIA

22.31

We were persecuted by our neighbours

We left several times…

but we  never let go

We always come back to our land

75

ENWIYA

ASSYRIAN

ENWYIA

22.41

Our  house was burnt down four times

Every time I rebuild it

22.49

Even after all this suffering,

I haven't left

76

ENWIYA

ASSYRIAN

ENWIYA

We’ve remained here until this day

23.04

They still want to uproot us

but we won't leave

This is our homeland, we won’t leave

77

COMM

23.09

Cousin Mark’s family were forced to flee the valley to Australia in the 1990’s.

78

Mark Moshee

MARK SYNC (ENGLISH)

23.16

We are indigenous…

This is our land even though we had to leave, but this is really our land.

ELI

So are you worried about the future, in a way?

MARK

We do have a big worry. It’s mainly because of what is happening here.

When we left we still felt we had roots here and we are still connected.  But at the moment .. this is… I think now we feel that we are… tree has been ripped from the roots and we are going to disappear.

78 A

COMM

23.49

Mikhail has a new project. He’s recording the Aramaic names of all the local animals and plants. Before they, along with his people, become extinct.

79

COMM

24.08

Here in Northern Iraq, just as in southeast Turkey, the Assyrians claim that more powerful neighbours are seizing their land.

80

COMM

24.22

Like this gravel quarry. Once it was farmland belonging to local Assyrians.  

81

SABAH

ALI

COMM

24.31

Sabah Toma is descended from survivors of the massacres in Turkey.  

He tells me his land is being illegally exploited by the Zebaris, a powerful Kurdish clan.

82

Eli MELKI

ARABIC

ELI

24.43

Where are the borders of your land?

83

SABAH TOMA

ARABIC

SABAH

24.45

It starts from piles

of stones over there

It ends by those buildings

Over there by the trees

We call it Plot No. 4

on the agricultural map

25.02

This bank of the river…..

all  belongs to us.  

But they’ve built quarries

and factories on it

We never got a penny

from this land

84

COMM

25.15

Sabah says there’s not much he can do about it - even though he

knows who took the land.

85

SABAH TOMA

ARABIC

SABAH

Farzander has taken everything.

He is accountable to nobody

He is immune

He became a member of Parliament.

86

COMM

This man, Farzander Zebari, insists he’s entitled to use the land.

87

Farzander Zebari

KURDISH

FARZANDER

25.38

There are surveyors

 who can check the land 

There were some problems….

but they’ve been sorted out

by the local administration

Anyone who feels their rights been abused…

25.53

is free to ask the

courts to defend them

88

COMM

25.57

Sabah wants to show me a document. He says it’s an agreement that requires Farzander Zebari to return the land to its Christian owners.

89

SABAH TOMA

ARABIC

SABAH TOMA

26.07

Sheikh Taher Al Shushi

and Kameran Abdallah,

One is from the Prime Minister’s office

and one from the office of the president of

the Kurdish Government

SABAH

I can see it clearly in Arabic

(Is this translation correct?)

ELI

26.20

‘To return all Christian lands used by Mr Ferzander back to the owners’

To confirm the location of the village’

NINEB LAMASSU

His name is Farzander.

Farzander Zebari.

91

NINEB LAMASSU

ARABIC

THIRD MAN

26.33

Those  are  signatures of the seven owners

The deputy governors

26.41

Qasem Abdul Samad Abdullah

and Khalil Mahmoud Ous

But he (Farzander) hasn’t signed

He refused to sign

92

26.53

COMM

26.52

The signatures don’t seem to count for much, because nothing has been done.

According to Farzander Zebari, the documents aren’t even valid. 

92AA

Farzander Zebari

KURDISH

ZEBARI SYNC

27.07

The administrative and judicial establishments have issued no orders…

regarding problems between

owners and farmers

92B

COMM

27.17

I heard that in Kurdistan there are scores of cases like Sabah’s. Few are ever settled.

93

Eli MELKI

ARABIC

ELI

27.27

What would happen if you lose the case?

94

SABAH TOMA

ARABIC

SABAH TOMA

27.30

We would be forced to

 leave the land and emigrate

My father never found peace in this land

Neither have I, nor will my children

I am forced to pack and leave

94 A

COMM

27.43

 And, just as in Turkey, Assyrians here believe their culture is being erased.

27.50

High above the city of Dohuk are these ancient sculptures. They’re from the time of the Assyrian empire, nearly three thousand years ago.

94B

NINEB LAMASSU

ARABIC

NINEB

28.03

These carvings go back to

700BC

(Should there be a space?)

They were commissioned by King Sennacherib

He drew his power from these gods

They gave him the strength  

to become a great ruler

94 c

COMM

28.24

Nineb Lamassu is a Christian, but he also sees himself as a direct descendant of these ancient Assyrians.

d

NINEB LAMASSU

ARABICBut there must be a better place to write it than an historical site

ELI -

28.34

How significant is this

place to you as an Assyrian?

NINEB

It’s hugely important

NINEB

It is part of our identity

That’s why they’ve vandalised it

Look at the damage

 “God is great”

Of course God is great

28.54

But there are more appropriate place to

write these words

e

COMM

28.55

The reliefs have recently been defaced. Kurdish flags and graffiti had to be removed by foreign experts.

f

NINEB LAMASSU

ARABIC

NINEB

29.04

Some people sprayed

the Kurdish flag on

These carvings aren’t Kurdish…

They’re Assyrian

This is also an Iraqi legacy

The legacy of global civilization

29.22

This vandalism is an attempt

to erase the Assyrian Identity

29.27

‘If humans stay silent, then the rocks will speak”

29.33

These rocks would say they are Assyrian

BUS ext

Singing UPSOT

29.36

Urmia, Urmia

95a

COMM

29.38

When Assyrians get together, they still sing in celebration of their ancient homelands.

29.47

Hakkari, Hakkari

25.50

I’m joining this coach party travelling from Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, towards the Plains of Nineveh in Iraqi government territory.

95b

COMM

29.59

They’ve come from overseas, and I want to find out how they see Iraq today.

They’re called Gishru, which means bridge – the bridge between West and East.

All have family stories of persecution and flight.

96

MELINDA:

30.14

I had great grandparents who had fled to America at the same time of the genocide and then to Russia, fled to Iraq and tried to resettle there, and then had to flee again.

It’s been a… since we were babies we heard about the atrocities that happened to us.

PETER:

I have relatives, yea, that were definitely involved in Sayfo. I mean we heard about it. Our parents spoke about it. But it was my personal curiosity and interest in the matter, you know, to learn more about myself, more about my history, and some of the atrocities that were committed against our people.

20.57

NINURTA:

I was born here. My family escaped when I was 6 years old, so we left this country, fled, and came to the States as refugees, as immigrants. So my parents did a phenomenal job of bringing up my sister and I and teaching us about our homeland, our country, and preserving our language. So I had to come back and see it.

31.10

THIS COULD BE CUT BETTER TOO.

COMM

31.16

Now we’re crossing the Plains of Nineveh, on our way to the ancient Christian town of Al Qosh.

98

THIS NEEDS RE-CUTTING TOO

COMM

31.26

Legally this area is administered by the Government of Iraq. In reality it’s been controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga since 2004.

COMM

31.37

Much to the outrage of the Gishru tour leaders, as they encounter this Kurdish check point.

99

*Kim questions whether we can state that the flags are illegal.

SUZY

31.42

Everybody  everyone, Gishru, Gishru.

You guys, all these Kurdish flags that are placed here are all illegally placed here. This is another form of propaganda. This is another form of oppression.

100

Checkpoint

COMM

Whether or not the flags should be here, the Kurdish checkpoint is illegal. It’s on land officially administered by Iraq.

101

Joe:  32.05

The basic purpose of this is just to make people leave. You know, it’s frustrating and disappointing for us, and we’re just visitors. Imagine how the people who live in this village feels like, the way they deal with this every day.

Suzy: There’s no Kurds in Al Qosh. And for them to impose this and… It’s just… Sorry, I’m just really pissed off. Seeing all these flags is making my blood boil.

102

DRIVER

ASSYRIAN

DRIVER

32.26

He’s calling his commander

Honestly, what’s going on?

Nothing, he only wants to know where you are from

May we speak with them?

No, I’ve asked

SUZY

What does he want, then?

DRIVER

He is calling his commanding officer.

oh god yes, why?

This is the way it is.

103

COMM

32.56

Finally, we’re allowed through.

We have to keep the camera out of sight.

104

Suzy:

32.58

At the end of the day, when they see a camera crew that is going to be reporting, you know, in the West, and they do not want the truth to be unveiled basically. They know what they’re doing, everything that they’re imposing on us, and they don’t want that leaving this area.

Joe: They’re essentially trying to quarantine the truth.

Suzy: Exactly.

105

COMM

33.18

In Al Qosh, most of the people are Christians belonging to the Chaldean Church.

Outside the town, it’s largely Yazidis. Kurds form less than ten percent of the population.  

COMM

33.34

This is the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit, the NPU.

They’re the first armed Christians the Gishru group have seen.

The Iraqi government supports the Unit, but in Al Qosh its authority is restricted just to the town – so as not to provoke the Kurds.

According to the local commander, foreign backers are unwilling to fund the Assyrians. They prefer other Iraqi minorities.

CAPTAIN FOUAD

ASSYRIAN/ARABIC

CAPTAIN

34.03

They are helping others,

Like the Yazidis

They've helped the Yazidi forces a lot

But not us

JOE (SYRIAC)

Why do you think that is?

Why are they helping the Yazidis and not the Assyrians?

CAPTAIN:

There is pressure from the Iraqis,

and from other ethnic groups in Iraq

They don't want our forces

to become strong

34.36

That's what I think

 34.41

I also think, it’s

because we're among Kurds

They’re saying it’s they who have protected these areas

"We are the ones who have protected these areas….

So they ask why they should give arms

to local people

108

COMM

34.58

Some of the Gishru group suspect the west may even have a policy not to support Christians.

109

JOE (ENGLISH)

35.04

My opinion is, it’s because we are Christian. It’s kind of become like taboo now for western countries to help the Christians out in the Middle East because they are a privileged class. Even though that’s not the reality at all on the ground.

110

COMM

35.24

For now, the NPU is mostly funded by Assyrians living abroad.

111

35.33

NEED MUSICAL STING HERE

COMM

35.32

Alqosh is strategically situated at the foot of the Zagros mountains.

NEED SOUND OF MAP UNROLLING

COMM

35.39

By maintaining their military presence here, the Kurds are defying the Iraqi government.

112

CAPTAIN FOUAD

35.47

The Peshmerga and the Kurdish secret police control this area

The northern part of the Nineveh Plain

has been cut in two.

35.54

This part is under Peshmerga control

The other is under Iraqi army control

Lower case a

COMM

36.01

The Peshmerga’s role in the region is both legal and justified, according to the Governor of Dohuk.

113

GOVERNOR

36.09

It’s not true to claim we control Alqosh illegally

We’ve never said these areas

are part of Dohuk

We say they’re

in a disputed zone

36.2o

Dohuk provides security and other services to Alqosh

36.28

If it is proved that a town…

does n’t belong to Kurdistan,

we’ll hand it back to its residents

If the Christians don’t want the Peshmerga there,

I invite them to formally request that our forces leave

119

COMM

36.52

There are no peshmerga here.

I‘ve come 70 kilometres south from Al Qosh, to where the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit are visibly in charge.

This is Qaraqosh, in government controlled Iraq.  

 37.10

It’s the country’s most populous Christian town.  And in 2016 Christian forces helped liberate it from so-called Islamic State. 

120

ELI NEEDS TO CHECK TRANSLATION

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ELI PTC

37.22

The commanders of these forces..

insist they can provide

security for this area

They hope that in future they will form the core of a force …

that  guarantees the security for minorities in this part of northern Iraq

121

CHECK POINT

COMM  

37.41

At the town’s checkpoints they need to be on their mettle. IS terrorists are still operating in the region.

The commander of the Protection Unit hopes that when peace finally returns, his men’s presence will become permanent.

122

37.59

ELI - Can you secure the safety of the Christians on the Nineveh Plain?

BRIGADIER JAWAD ZACHARIA -

We can achieve this

We proved this when we recaptured this town,

alongside the heroic Iraqi army

We fought side by side, street by street

38.19

 We liberated the city

123

CHANGE PICS

COMM

38.23

There’s another reason the Christians of Qaraqosh want their own defence force. They don’t trust anyone else.

38.32

Before the creation of the NPU, people here expected the Peshmerga to defend them.

But they say that when IS attacked in August 2014, the Kurds let them down.

124

BRIGADIER

38.45

The Peshmerga were here

They did not fire shot

We suffered because IS fighters

could come and go as they pleased

Then IS shelled us,

killing three children

126

A097C734

A097C735

A098C773

AA098C774

A098C775

COMM

39.04

Back then, this Christian militiaman was alongside the Peshmerga.

39.09

He says that when IS attacked Qaraqosh, the Kurds retreated. But, before they left, they took away the Christians’ weapons.

127

LOOK AT SYNC

MILITIA MAN SYNC

39.20

Around three o’clock we got a written order to bring our weapons.

We kept only one gun for guard duty.

They took the rest

At one post

we had seven rifles

They took six, leaving one behind. That’s what happened.

128

FOOTAGE OF DOHUK

COMM

39.43

It’s an allegation that is rejected by the Governor of Dohuk.

129A

Governor of Dohuk

Ferhad Atrushi

GOVERNOR

39.49

As far as I know, the Christians

weren’t armed

All over Iraq,  groups and parties have their armed forces and militias

As far as I know Christians never had any armed forces.

After the Popular Mobilisation Units were formed,

there were some Christian forces

As far as I’m aware,

Christians never liked guns

If someone doesn’t have a gun,

how can you disarm him?

The Christians of Qaraqosh accuse the Kurds of deserting them without warning.

COMM

40.22

But the Christians of Qaraqosh go even further. They accuse the Kurds of deserting them without warning.

125

MILITIAMAN SYNC

Eli

40.33

Did the Peshmerga tell you they were withdrawing?

40.37

They didn't inform us.

They didn't warn us

It happened all of a sudden

At around 12 or 1pm

I was at home

I could see that the Kurds were there

40.50

At 3pm  they withdrew.

I’d even asked them

What the was situation like

They said,was all OK

If it's OK, then fine

41.01

We went for dinner

At 3pm they suddenly withdrew

This is what happened.

126

IS THIS WORKING WITH JUST THIS SYNC

BRIGADIER

41.14

This was a very bad experience for us

We had to leave our town.

We left our money and possessions.

We fled to safer areas

127

USE LETTER TO GOVERNOR over laid back shot of Qaraqosh ruins.

COMM

41.29

We asked the Governor of Dohuk to respond to the allegation that in August 2014 the Kurds left the Christians of Qaraqosh to their fate at the hands of IS.

The Governor has not responded to our letter.

129

COMM

41.47

500 Christians have enlisted in the NPU, and a further 2,000 have applied to join.

But will their presence encourage others to return to Qaraqosh?

Since the town was recaptured, only half the original population have come back.  

130a

ADD MUSIC

THEN PAUSE THE COMM

COMM

42.12

In Mosul, 30 kilometres away,

even fewer have returned.

On the west bank of the Tigris is what’s left of Mosul’s old city.

Its ancient churches are lost in the debris. 

In 2003, 50,000 Christians lived here. Despite the expulsion of IS, almost none have returned.

130

LAY MUSIC IN EARLIER

Eli at the Ankawa service

COMM

42.50

Many fled to the Kurdish capital, Erbil.

COMM

43.01

Among them is the Archbishop of Mosul, Mor Nicodemus Dawood Sharaf.

Today, he’s presiding over the Easter service at the Syriac Orthodox Church, in Erbil.

131

THE OUT DOES NOT WORK.

ARCHBISHOP

43.16

There are almost no

Christians in Mosul

A few have to commute

there each day,

because they might lose their jobs

or university places

Each evening they return

to Dohuk and elsewhere

132

UP SOUND 0R MUSICAL STING

IDP camp

COMM

43.46

This camp for internally displaced people is nearly empty now. Some have returned to their villages, while others have emigrated abroad. 

Those who remain are mostly from Mosul.

44.04

Members of the  Gishru group have come here to meet them.

134

INTERVIEW WITH FAMILY

44.10

Question:

If the situation improves in Mosul,

would you go back?

No

We’re afraid for our kids

But my husband has to

make work trips there

But as a famliy?

44.21

No, I wouldn’t, I am too afraid

Q: How were your neighbours in Mosul

Did they take your property?

Our neighbours were good to us

But people from other areas

came with IS

It was IS who forced us to leave

Our neighbours were nice people

COMM

44.36

Other Christians, were forced out even before IS arrived

LADY

44.40

Other people received threats.

One neighbour’s son was murdered…

in front of us

135

0

COMM

44.52

This wasn’t the Christians’ first experience of persecution. It had been going on for years. 

139

exterior - wide shot

ARCHBISHOP DAWOOD

45.00

IS didn't just start in 2014

45.03

It began with the collapse

of the  Iraqi regime ….

and the fall of Saddam’s

dictatorship in 2003

We were expelled from Mosul four

times before ISIS arrived

45.19

In 2005, calls were broadcast from Mosul's minarets  

’Don't buy  Christian properties:

 You'll get them as war booty’’

140

MILITARY CONVOY IN MOSUL

COMM

45.30

So is it safe to return?

In East Mosul, IS has been defeated. At least for now.

General Najm AL Jabouri oversaw the city’s liberation. He’s now the commander of Nineveh Province.

141

ACTUALITY

142

COMM

45.54

He’s taking me to the central market, to show me how safe it is here now.

143

ACTUALITY

46.00

Any issues?

No, no, no

144

Christians

COMM

46.01

General Al Jabouri was born in Mosul and like most people here, he’s a Sunni Muslim.

He doesn’t pretend that enticing the Assyrians back is going to be easy.

145

GEN. AL JABBOURI

46.15

I will be honest

Most of the people of Mosul

were misled

46.23

They were misled by IS

Many saw IS as the saviour,

as angels

That’s why they agreed

with the ideology of IS

GENERAL AL JABBOURI CONT’D

46.42

This  isn’t Islam,

It’s a conspiracy

to ruin the image of Islam,

and tear apart Iraqi society

They succeeded

to a certain extent

God willing, many people have seen them for what they are

We were able to defeat them

Now we must work to re-create  harmony among the Iraqi people.

The Christians are the original people

of this country.

47.21

The Assyrians are the original people

SOUND ,VOICES, LOOSE

COMM

47.30

I wonder if these people will ever recover from the trauma of persecution. Its a huge challenge for General al Jabbouri.

146

GEN. AL JABBOURI

47.38

This has become a deep scar,

I admit

It needs healing

It needs a cure

It needs time

It will take time to rebuild trust

147

ELI AND Samaan family

Christians

COMM

47.52

Despite the general’s assurance, the scars may be just too deep.

I went back to the IDP camp. Now that much of Mosul is secure, I wanted to ask the Samaan family if they’d consider returning.

148

MUST CHECK ARABIC CONTENT HERE?

ELI