Over the next few days I am planning to write about the Assyrians, the Christians of Iraq, descendants of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, and other Christians in the middle east.

The Assyrians are Iraq's indigenous population, having lived there before the Arabs and before even the Kurds. Their major population centres are now in Arbil and Mosul. They speak the Assyrian dialect of Aramaic (not to be confused with the extinct Assyrian language).

Let's look at their relationship with Israel first, to get some perspective. I met Assyrians from Europe in Israel. They came to study Hebrew even when they were atheists.

And I found this article on the Christians of Iraq Web site which begins with tearing down a few common urban legends in the west about Christians in the middle east.

A final, rather chilling thought: On Dec. 22, 2008, Hamas legalized crucifixion. That would indicate a certain cast of mind you won’t find in Israel, where there is no death penalty, let alone a death penalty so obscenely disrespectful of Christian sensibilities. How many Christians will Hamas have to crucify before those Christians who hate Israel more than they love themselves open their eyes to the truth about who is doing what to whom in the Middle East?

http://www.christiansofiraq.com/war-on-christianity-inthe.middle-east.html