Prada Moves to Remove Kangaroo Leather from Products

When people think of what being Vegan means, it’s often confined to the choices one makes regarding food. While this is certainly a large part of it, being Vegan is a lifestyle that reaches beyond food. Being Vegan is choosing not to eat or use products created from animals. For years, we have used animals from around the world to produce high-quality goods like shoes, handbags, clothing, furniture, and more. 

Earlier this week, Prada announced that it will suspend the use of kangaroo leather for all future product lines. (This is GREAT news for kangaroos and people around the world!) A company spokesperson confirmed that, while they have not used these materials in their products for the past year, they are committed to creating and designing more cruelty-free products in the future. As a result, thousands of these wonderful animals can live freely, without dying unnecessary and cruel deaths. 

Have your favorite brands adopted similar policies and stopped using kangaroo leather? You can find out by visiting the Center for a Humane Economy’s “do not buy” list here. 

They’re making luxury more loving – which is something I will support. To me, being Vegan is just one lifestyle choice that I make with the hope that it makes a better world for myself and others. We all have our own ways of making the world more loving and more peaceful – what are some ways that you choose to do that? Thanks for doing all you can!

~Nadia Cavnerwww.nadiacavner.com

Prime Minister of Iraq Encourages Assyrians to “Return to Iraq”

In recent months, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, urged Assyrians to return to Iraq and resettle the land in which they once lived. This invitation comes after the defeat of the Islamic State, which heavily controlled the region and is responsible for much of the persecution experienced by Assyrian Christians in recent years. 

Among this invitation was a call to unite the people of Iraq to build a better future. In an official statement, Prime Minister Al-Kazemi said, “Iraq is the country for everyone, and that Christians are the original children of the country, and there is no difference between the people of the same country, as everyone is a partner in building the future of Iraq. We are serious about providing assistance to our Christian families and solving their problems. We are glad that Christians will return to Iraq and contribute to its reconstruction. Iraqis of all sects are yearning for a new Iraq that believes in peace and rejects violence.” 

A notable Bishop living in Baghdad, Patriarch Saint Louis Raphael I Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, issued a response to the Prime Minister’s statement saying, “The Church supports Al-Kazemi’s steps towards achieving security and stability throughout Iraq.”

He continued by stating, “[Assyrian] Christians are proud of their Iraqi identity, and they feel more reassured, in light of the serious handling of the Al-Kazemi government with the Christian file,” adding that there are “a large number of them wanting to return to Iraq.” 

This statement was issued during a time where we remember the 1933 Simmele Massacre which took place in Iraq 87 years ago this month, killing and displacing thousands of Assyrian Christians. (You can learn more about this is my most recent post here.)

Could this be a new turning point for the Assyrian people? Could this perhaps be the beginning of a new era of peace between displaced Assyrian Christians and those living in Iraq? We should continue to pray for reconciliation, peace, and an end to the persecution and displacement of the Assyrian people. 

~Nadia Cavner
www.nadiacavner.com

The 1933 Massacre of Assyrians in Iraq

The Fall season of 2020 marks the 87th anniversary of the Simmele massacre of Assyrians in Iraq. It’s likely that you have not heard of this event, but it is an important part of history to countless people in the Middle East and to me as well.

In 1933, the Iraqi military strategically and systematically marched into more than 100 towns and villages of northern Iraq and mercilessly took the life of virtually everyone in sight. Scholars estimate about 6,000 innocent people lost their lives in this horrifying attack, and tens of thousands more were forcibly run out of their homes. Many of them travelled into Syria to settle, with little to no possessions of their own.

No doubt, this was a significant moment in the history of the Assyrian people – a courageous people who have endured incredible amounts of persecution and displacement many times in their history. After all, the Assyrian people originally called the Hakkar mountains of Turkey “home” before being driven out by the Turkish government during the genocide of 1915. Once expelled from Turkey, they were moved just south into northern Iraq under the protection of the British Mandate. This protection only lasted from 1929 until 1932, when the British quickly ended their protection, which they relied upon as Christians and minorities in the region.

When British protection was coming to an end, an agreement with the Iraqis was made to protect the independence of the Assyrian people, but this agreement did not last long once Iraq was granted independence in the Fall of 1932. Within a year, the Iraqi military invaded the villages of the Assyrian people, slaughtering thousands and driving out the rest of the inhabitants. Those who survived, tens of thousands of them, fled across the border into Syria.

This is just one milestone in the history of the Assyrian people, but it is also an all-too-common theme we have been forced to endure time and time again. We remember events like this to educate ourselves on our history, but we also wish to use this reminder as we continue to fight for our future and the hope that one day there will be peace to the Middle East.

~Nadia Cavner
www.nadiacavner.com