Commemorating our past to secure our future: The Feast of 42 Martyrs

Today, on the 1,170th feast of the 42 Martyrs of Amorium, we remember those Rûm, who were martyred for their refusal to be Arabized. On March 6th, 845 A.D., 42 Rûm hostages of the Abbasid Caliphate were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam. Taken hostage by Caliph al-Mu’tasim, a Turko-Arab, after the 838 A.D sack of Amorium, the capital of the Anatolic Theme (Province) of the Romaiic Empire. They were taken to the city of Samarra in Arab-occupied Mesopotamia. Where they stayed until their execution.

OA Letter to Carson City Council

Dear Mayor Jim Dear & Council Members,

We are Operation Antioch, a network of Middle Eastern Greek Orthodox & Greek Catholic Christians with roots tracing back to countries of modern-day Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine. It has come to our attention that your city is considering erecting a sculpture in honor of Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk”. As Middle Eastern Christians, it deeply saddens us, especially now as we are facing a Genocide at the hands of Islamic Terrorists like ISIS, that you are considering erecting a monument in honor of this man. 

ACTION ALERT – City in California to erected Ataturk Sculpture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 4^th, 2015

URGENT! CALLING ALL DEFENDERS OF HUMAN DECENCY

According to Massispost.com, Carson City, California is considering erecting a sculpture in Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s honor at the request of the Association of Turkish Americans of Southern California. If passed this butcher of Anatolia will be forever portrayed to future generations of Californians as a ‘hero’, rather than what he really was, a murderer!

Understanding a Rûm Shu’ubiyyah

By Ilias Michail & Elias Antonius

Many seem to have a difficult time understanding the meaning of a Rûm ethnic identity. They often confuse the message with some kind of ludicrous attempt at “turning Lebanese or Syrians into Greeks”. Thus, portraying ethnic Rûm supporters as “extremists” or people obsessed with a ‘foreign’ identity. However, this is a complete distortion and misunderstanding of the very idea of a Rûm Shu’ubiyyah. The main culprit behind this confusion is a misunderstanding of two things. First, the difference between Nationality and Ethnicity. The second, the concept of what it means to be Greek and Greece itself. 

ACTION ALERT – Arabist Father Georges Massouh betrays our Roum heritage AGAIN!

On February 4^th, 2015, Greek Orthodox Priest and Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Studies at Balamand University, Fr. Georges Massouh released a statement in response to Lebanese Druze MP Waleed Jumblat, who recently blamed the failure of Arabism on the Levant’s indigenous minorities. 

In the statement, which was published by Lebanonfiles.com, Fr. Massouh defended MP Jumblat’s words. Going as far as to say, “The Byzantine Greeks lost their power in this country. Their empire has fallen, thanks to Allah it fell, and the Greeks in our country accepted for themselves separation between religion and the state, and consented to themselves a secular state”.  

Second Commemoration of the kidnapping of Greek and Armenian Priests

Today, exactly two years ago, on February 9th, 2013, Greek Orthodox priest Maher Mahfouz and Armenian priest Michel Kayyal were kidnapped by Islamists patrolling the road from Aleppo to Damascus. The two holy men were taken from a public bus while traveling to the Rûm town of Kafroun. Their fate and whereabouts, to date, are unknown. 

Remember our 300! Remember Sergius!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 4^th, 2015

Today, on the 1,381 Anniversary of the Battle of Dathin, we remember the 300 Rûm Soldiers that gave their lives alongside their commander, Sergius, for a Romaic Levant. For the Rûm people, today is not a day celebration or bravery, but one of mourning and self-reflection. For although generations have past, the wolves which surrounded Sergius still encircle us.