About
About the Syriac Press Project
Syriac Press is a media organization and news agency. We seek to provide in-depth information, analysis, background, context, and opinion on important events related to the Syriac-Aramean-Assyrian–Chaldean people in their homelands in Mesopotamia, Lebanon, Israel, the wider Middle East, and in the global diaspora, publishing in Syriac, English, and Arabic.
Focusing on democratization processes, multiculturalism, environmentalism, and minority, women’s, and human rights, Syriac Press aims to function as a media hub to increase the visibility of the social, cultural and political life and needs of the Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people around the world.
Syriac Press Project Objectives
- Establish a professional news agency, news website(s), and social media presence focusing on Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean events and issues.
- Create a network of news writers, editors, correspondents, and commentators committed to bringing professional content, commentary, and news about the Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, the broader Middle East, and in the diaspora.
- Increase daily use of the Syriac language by operating a Syriac language media and news website. This website (Syriac Press Syriac) will publish news, information, and commentaries in the Syriac language in both Latin and Syriac script. Syriac Press Syriac will enable young Syriacs–Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans to have a space for intellectual interaction in their mother tongue, contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage and supporting the modern use of the Syriac language.
Coverage Focus
In its coverage, Syriac Press publications will focus on:
- Processes of democratization and advocacy of multicultural societies, in particular in the Syriac-Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people’s home countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Jordan. The Middle East is incredibly diverse. Syriacs–Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans, alongside Yezidis, Druze, Mandeans, Jews, Alevis, Kurds, Copts, Turkmen, Arabs, and other indigenous peoples are essential to the social fabric of the region.
- Advocacy of the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities, the protection of fundamental human rights, women’s rights, press freedom, climate change, and environmentalism.
- Advocacy for decentralization and federalism. As the Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people have become a minority people in their home countries, federalism is important in advancing local governance and preserving endangered cultures and languages.
- The ancient and, often tragic, modern history of the Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people. Critical reflection on the past, especially on atrocities and policies of exclusion, is important in moving towards justice and reconciliation.
Background
As a small but millennia-old people currently divided over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Jordan, the Syriac–Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people remain underexposed in media coverage of events in their respective home countries, as well as internationally. Syriac Press is dedicated to filling this gap in national and international media coverage by gathering information and news from and about the Syriac-Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean people and producing original content to provide information to an international audience and raise international awareness about this Semitic and Christian people.
In response to the oppression and neglect of Syriacs–Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans in their home countries, Syriac Press also aims to be an information hub for non-Syriac media organizations and international and non-governmental organizations, enabling the spread of trustworthy and verifiable fact-based media resources.
