Abstract Title of Dissertation: NEGOTIATING the PLACE OF
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Abstract Title of Dissertation: NEGOTIATING THE PLACE OF ASSYRIANS IN MODERN IRAQ, 1960–1988 Alda Benjamen, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Peter Wien Department of History This dissertation deals with the social, intellectual, cultural, and political history of the Assyrians under changing regimes from the 1960s to the 1980s. It examines the place of Assyrians in relation to a state that was increasing in strength and influence, and locates their interactions within socio-political movements that were generally associated with the Iraqi opposition. It analyzes the ways in which Assyrians contextualized themselves in their society and negotiated for social, cultural, and political rights both from the state and from the movements with which they were affiliated. Assyrians began migrating to urban Iraqi centers in the second half of the twentieth century, and in the process became more integrated into their societies. But their native towns and villages in northern Iraq continued to occupy an important place in their communal identity, while interactions between rural and urban Assyrians were ongoing. Although substantially integrated in Iraqi society, Assyrians continued to retain aspects of the transnational character of their community. Transnational interactions between Iraqi Assyrians and Assyrians in neighboring countries and the diaspora are therefore another important phenomenon examined in this dissertation. Finally, the role of Assyrian women in these movements, and their portrayal by intellectuals, will be evaluated using a gendered perspective. NEGOTIATING THE PLACE OF ASSYRIANS IN MODERN IRAQ 1960–1988 by Alda Benjamen Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Peter Wien, Chair Professor Madeline Zilfi Professor Ahmet Karamustafa Professor Maxine Grossman Professor Orit Bashkin ©Copyright by Alda Benjamen 2015 To Danny and Aryo i Acknowledgments Over the course of researching and writing this study, I have been fortunate to meet and benefit from numerous people and institutions. They have shared their knowledge, wisdom, and life stories, thereby improving the resulting study. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their generosity and help. I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my advisor, Professor Peter Wien, for his mentorship, encouragement and support over the years. His guidance has been immensely valuable every step of the way—in choosing the topic, finding and analyzing sources, and developing my arguments. I could not have asked for a better advisor. At the same time, I have benefited greatly from the direction provided by Professor Madeline Zilfi, particularly from discussion pertaining to the study of minorities and course work on women and Ottoman history. Professor Ahmet Karamustafa read and provided commentary on numerous chapters, and directed my attention to some larger, overarching themes. Professor Orit Bashkin’s work on pluralism in Iraq and the Iraqi Jews was instrumental to my study. She also provided useful tips on how to navigate archival collections in search of minority sources, as well as advice on a number of chapters. Professor Maxine Grossman provided a comparative perspective and helped me rethink certain ideas and themes. I am sincerely grateful for the valuable advice, insightful criticism, and support provided by my committee members. ii In addition, I have benefited tremendously from the guidance provided by Professor Antoine Borrut. I thank him for being a constant source of ideas, intellectual stimulation, and support. I am also indebted to Professor Julie Greene for her direction in steering an earlier version of this study in her course on transnational history, and for her support and interest in my studies. I have also benefited from conversations and correspondence with many scholars in Iraqi studies, and related fields. I sincerely thank Professors Peter Sluglett, Dina Khoury, Eric Davis, Joseph Sassoon, and Sami Zubaida for taking the time to meet with me, and offer helpful advice. I am thankful to Professors Nadje Al-Ali, Nabil Al-Tikriti, Arbella Bet Shlimon, Sargon Donabed, Fadi Dawood, Yasmeen Hanoosh, Benjamin Isakhan, Abbas Kadhim, Edward Odisho, and Sarah Pursley for their useful commentary and insight at various stages of the dissertation. The late Professor Donny George took an interest in my topic, and was generous with his time and knowledge of a period of Iraqi history he lived through. He offered advice on approaches to the study of Iraqi Assyrians and on ways of locating sources inside the country. While I was an MA student at the University of Toronto’s Near and Middle Eastern Studies Civilization Department, Professors Amir Harrak and Amir Hassanpour directed an earlier project and related research inside Iraq, which led to the present study. In addition, Professor Harrak introduced me to a number of scholars and librarians in Iraq who shared important collections with me. I thank them both for their guidance, support, and constant encouragement over the years. The late Dr. iii Hormiz Aboona was kind and unselfish with his time, extensive knowledge, and large private collection of unique sources. Many of the discussions we had, particularly pertaining to his native Alqosh, were immensely useful. This study was funded by a dissertation fellowship from the American Academic Research Institute in Iraq, along with travel grants, dissertation completion awards, and other grants provided by the University of Maryland, College Park. These generous funds allowed me to access British and U.S. archives, and to make use of original sources at the Iraqi National Library and Archives in Baghdad, as well as those in smaller libraries and private collections in Erbil, Duhok, and Mosul. I thank Dr. Beth Kangas, at TAARII, and Jodi Hall at University of Maryland’s History Department for their kindness and support. I am grateful to the archivists and librarians who assisted with my research. At Harvard University, I thank Michael Hopper, of Widener Library’s Middle Eastern Division, and Dr. Eden Naby for giving me access to their Assyrian collection, and for Dr. Naby’s generous hospitality during my time at Cambridge. At Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Haidar Hadi was instrumental in helping me navigate the Iraq Ba ʿth Archives collection. I thank Tomas Isik, at the Modern Assyrian Research Archive at Cambridge University, for his personal assistance. In California, I thank Wilfred Bet Alkhas, the editor of Zinda Magazine , and Firas Jatou for sharing sources with me. In Iraq, I am indebted to numerous individuals for their generous hospitality and diligence in helping me to locate sources and navigate everyday life. At the Iraqi National Library and Archives, I thank Dr. Saad Eskander, and iv his staff members, Dina Abbas, Mrs. Dawod, and especially Shatha Ismail, for their assistance in uncovering sources assumed to be lost, and for their companionship during my time in Baghdad. I am immensely grateful for the assistance provided by the Honorable Yonadam Kanna, and others at the Assyrian Democratic Movement, in particular for allowing me access to their collection of Baʿth Archives in Baghdad. I thank Bishop Jacque Isaac, of the Chaldean Church, and Bassam S. Nagara for giving me access to Nagem al-Mashriq ’s publishing house and library in Baghdad. At the Oriental Cultural Center in Duhok, I thank Father Shlimon Esho Khoshaba for sharing many periodicals with me. At the Dominican Library in Baghdad, I am grateful to Fathers Amir Jaje and Yousif Toma for their hospitality and fruitful discussion. In Duhok, I was fortunate to meet and have stimulating conversations with the prominent intellectual Benyamin Haddad. I thank him for sharing with me both his collection of periodicals and books, and also his knowledge of a period of Iraqi history he was deeply engrossed in. Finally, I am profoundly thankful to numerous individuals who shared their private collections and memories with me in North American, as well as in Iraqi cities, towns, and villages. It pains me to know that many of those kind and generous people who welcomed me in their homes, particularly in the Nineveh Plain and Mosul, have become homeless today. May they be sustained by the rich and valuable lives they have had, and find peace and comfort in the future. I also give thanks to a particularly valuable informant, who passed away recently, and who was essential to my understanding of workers’ history in Iraq, and in v particular their unionization efforts. He was a kind and generous gentleman, and I consider myself fortunate to have met him. I hope that I have conveyed his story accurately and to his satisfaction. I thank my friends and colleagues at the University of Maryland for their friendship and support throughout the years—especially: Fatemeh Hosseini, Harrison Guthorn, Allison Finkelstein, William Burghart, Brandi Townsend, Shawn Moura, and Josh Furman. Many of them read and provided commentary on numerous chapters and helped keep me sane towards the end. I am also thankful for the friendship and intellectually stimulating conversation I have enjoyed with Fadi Dawood, Mariam Georgis, Samuel Helfont, and Shamiran Mako. I am especially grateful for Fadi Dawood’s commentary on a couple of chapters, and for always being available. My most sincere gratitude is due to my family. I thank my parents, Ramsin and Suzan Benjamen, for their constant love and unwavering support. They have generously encouraged my academic endeavors and provided an intellectually stimulating environment in our home. They taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and caring for others. I thank my loving sister Renya for always believing in me and for being my console and best friend. I thank my brother Ramen for keeping me grounded, for our stimulating intellectual conversations, and for his sense of humor. My grandmother, Florence Malik, has offered an example of how much women can accomplish academically and professionally—even if they were born in 1918.