Shuraya party (Syriac: ܫܘܖܝܐ) is an Assyrian political organisation established on 25 July 1978 in Lebanon, when the country was in the middle of its civil war.
It is composed of "free philosophers" of different Eastern Church origin, who see themselves as Assyrians. Shuraya insists it is not bound by any Church, but resists against the reproach to be anti-Christian. It stress out to represent all oriental Christians and to maintain a coined Christian Lebanon. Since its foundation, it has worked closely together with the founder and leader of the Lebanese Forces militia party Bachir Gemayel, in which it see itself connected in the struggle and destiny for all Lebanese Christians.
The party established its own magazine in Lebanon in the 1980s, dubbed "Shuraya". The party also opened its own radio show named my voice, to the wave of FM-radio.
Shuraya supports a formation of an Assyrian State in the Assyrian homeland, in what is today Northern Iraq. The term "shuraya" means 'beginning'.
See also
- Assyrian nationalism
External links
- Der VGH Kassel über Aktivitäten und Bedeutung der „Shuraya“ „Informationsangebot“ der Organisation
- www.shuraya.de.vu
- www.lebanese-forces.com