Iraqi Dominican Sister Speaks to Congressional Committee re ISIS

Iraqi Dominican Sister Diana Domeka, OP speaks to the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs regarding ISIS and the fate of Religious minorities along with the looting and destruction of the cultural heritage of so much of the region. The text of Sister's comments are included below (with some uncorrected transcription problems). I apologize for the all caps. I have inserted some somewhat arbitrary paragraph breaks to make the whole more readable visually. The comments of the entire video can be found at: Congressional Hearing on Religious Minorities and ISIS

REMARKS by Sister Diana. >> THANK YOU. THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN ROYCE AND DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR INVITING ME TODAY TO SHARE MY VIEWS ON ANCIENT COMMUNITIES UNDER ATTACK. >> SISTER, I'M GOING TO SUGGEST YOU MOVE THE MICROPHONE RIGHT IN FRONT THERE. JUST PROJECT A LITTLE BIT. THANK YOU. >> OKAY. THANK YOU. NOVEMBER 2009, A BOMB WAS DETONATED AT OUR CONVENT IN MOSUL. FIVE SISTERS WERE IN THE BUILDING AT THE TIME AND THEY WERE LUCKY TO HAVE ESCAPED UNHARMED. OUR SISTER [PRIORESS] ASKED FOR PROTECTION FROM LOCAL CIVILIZATION AUTHORITIES, BUT THE PLEAS WENT UNANSWERED. AS SUCH, SHE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE US. ON JUNE 10th, 2014, THE SO-CALLED ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ OR SYRIA, OR ISIS, INVADED THE NINEVEH PLAIN. STARTING WITH THE CITY OF MOSUL, ISIS OVERRAN ONE CITY AND TOWN AFTER ANOTHER, GIVING THE CHRISTIANS OF THE REGION THREE CHOICES, CONVERT TO ISLAM, PAY TRIBUTE TO ISIS, LEAVE THEIR CITIES, CITIES LIKE MOSUL, WITH NOTHING MORE THAN THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACK.

AS THIS HORROR SUPPRESSED [SUFFUSED?] THROUGH ALL OF THE NINEVEH PLAIN, BY ALL 6th, 2014, NINEVEH WAS EMPTY OF CHRISTIANS AND SADLY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SEVENTH CENTURY A.D., NO CHURCH BELLS RANG FOR MASS IN THE NINEVEH PLAIN. FROM JUNE 2014 FORWARD, MORE THAN 120,000 PEOPLE FOUND THEMSELVES DISPLACED AND HOMELESS IN THE KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ, LEAVING BEHIND THEIR HERITAGE AND ALL THEY HAD WORKED FOR OVER THE CENTURIES. THIS UPROOTING OF EVERYTHING THAT CHRISTIANS OWNED, BODY AND SOUL, STRIPPING AWAY THEIR HUMANITY AND DIGNITY. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, THE INITIATIVE IS THAT IRAQI AND KURDISH GOVERNMENTS WERE AT BEST MODEST AND SLOW. APART FROM ALLOWING CHRISTIANS TO ENTER THE REGION, THE KURDISH GOVERNMENT DID NOT OFFER ANY AID EITHER FINANCIAL OR MATERIAL. I UNDERSTAND THE GREAT STRAIN THAT THESE EVENTS HAVE PLACED ON BAGHDAD AND ERBIL. HOWEVER, IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR AND CHRISTIAN IRAQI CITIZENS ARE STILL IN DIRE NEED FOR HELP. MANY PEOPLE SPEND DAYS AND WEEKS IN THE STREET BEFORE THEY FOUND SHELTER IN TENTS, SCHOOLS, AND HOMES. THANKFULLY THE CHURCHES STEPPED FORWARD AND CARED FOR DISPLACED CHRISTIANS.

DOING HER VERY BEST TO HANDLE THIS DISASTER. BUILDINGS WERE OPEN TO ACCOMMODATE THE PEOPLE. FOOD AND NON-FOOD ITEMS WERE PROVIDED TO MEET THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND MEDICAL HEALTH SERVICES WERE ALSO PROVIDED. MOREOVER, THE CHURCH PUT OUT A CALL AND MANY HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS ANSWERED WITH AID FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN NEED. PRESENTLY, WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. WITH MOST PEOPLE NOW SHELTERED IN SMALL CONTAINERS OR SOME HOMES, THOUGH BETTER THAN LIVING ON THE STREETS OR ABANDONED BUILDINGS. THESE SMALL UNITS ARE FEW IN NUMBER AND ARE CROWDED WITH THREE FAMILIES. EACH WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE, OFTEN ACCOMMODATED IN ONE UNIT. THIS IS, OF COURSE, INCREASING TENSION AND CONFLICT, EVEN WITHIN THE SAME FAMILY.

THERE ARE MANY WHO SAY, WHY DON'T THE CHRISTIANS JUST LEAVE IRAQ AND MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND BE DONE WITH IT? TO THIS QUESTION, WE WOULD RESPOND, WHY SHOULD WE LEAVE OUR COUNTRY, WHAT HAVE WE DONE? THE CHRISTIANS OF IRAQ ARE THE FIRST PEOPLE OF THE LAND. YOU READ ABOUT US IN THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE. CHRISTIANITY CAME TO IRAQ FROM THE VERY EARLIEST DAYS, THROUGH THE PREACHING OF ST. THOMAS AND OTHERS OF THE APOSTLES AND CHURCH ELDERS. WHILE OUR ANCESTORS EXPERIENCED ALL KINDS OF PERSECUTION, THEY BUILT A CULTURE THAT HAS SERVED HUMANITY FOR AGES. WE AS CHRISTIANS DO NOT WANT OR DESERVE TO LEAVE OR BE FORCED OUT OF OUR COUNTRY ANY MORE THAN YOU WOULD WANT TO LEAVE OR BE FORCED OUT OF YOURS. BUT THE CURRENT PERSECUTION THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS FACING IS THE MOST BRUTAL IN OUR HISTORY. NOT ONLY HAVE WE BEEN ROBBED OF OUR HOMES, PROPERTY, AND LAND, BUT OUR HERITAGE IS BEING DESTROYED AS WELL. ISIS HAS CONTINUED TO DEMOLISH AND BOMB OUR CHURCHES, CULTURAL ARTIFACTS AND SACRED PLACES, LIKE A FOURTH CENTURY MONASTERY IN MOSUL.

UPROOTED AND FORCEFULLY DISPLACED, WE HAVE REALIZED THAT ISIS PLANS TO EVACUATE THE LAND OF CHRISTIANS AND WIPE THE EARTH CLEAN OF ANY EVIDENCE THAT WE EVER EXISTED. THIS IS HUMAN GENOCIDE. THE ONLY CHRISTIANS THAT REMAIN IN THE NINEVEH PLAINS ARE THOSE WHO ARE HELD AS HOSTAGES. TO RESTORE AND BUILD THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN IRAQ, THE FOLLOWING NEEDS OUR URGENT. HELPING US RETURN. COORDINATED EFFORTS TO REBUILD WHAT WAS DESTROYED THROUGH SLAUGHTER, AND ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES AND BUILDINGS INCLUDING OUR CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES. INCOURAGING ENTERPRISES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUILDING OF IRAQ AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE.ENCOURAGING ENTERPRISES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUILDING OF IRAQ AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE. THIS COULD BE THROUGH SCHOOL AND ACADEMIC PROJECTS.

I AM BUT ONE SMALL PERSON. A VICTIM MYSELF OF ISIS, AND ALL OF ITS BRUTALITY. COMING HERE HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR ME. AS A RELIGIOUS SISTER, I'M NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE MEDIA AND SO MUCH ATTENTION. BUT I AM HERE, AND I AM HERE TO ASK YOU, TO IMPLORE YOU FOR THE SAKE OF OUR COMMON HUMANITY, TO HELP US, STAND WITH US, AS WE, AS CHRISTIANS, HAVE STOOD WITH ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD AND HELP US. WE WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO GO BACK TO OUR LIVES. WE WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO GO HOME. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS