Happy New Year
I wanted to wish all MEY writers and readers a very Happy New Year. For those unaware, the beginning of Spring marks the new year for many different groups across the Middle East and Central Asia. New Year’s Day called “Newroz”, literally meaning “New Day”, marks the first day of Spring and the beginning of the Iranian year and calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the Spring vernal equinox or that small moment in a year when the Sun can be observed centered above the Earth’s equator. This year, that moment occured at about 05:48UT on March 20th, and so celebrations have begun for people all across the world.
Traditionally, groups celebrate the Newroz holiday by lighting fires, which symbolizes the victory of good over darkness; a practice believed to have been derived from the traditions of Zoroastrianism by some, and by other ancient religions that preceded it’s founding by others. Regardless of it’s roots, the tradition remains the same regardless of the present-day religious backgrounds of the people who celebrate this day. Many other traditions are practiced on Newroz including Heft Sin and Ciwarseme Suri, which may vary from group to group. Nevertheless, all share the tradition of getting together with family, friends and loved ones, dancing, singing, having feasts and enjoying the warmth of the coming of Spring.
For Kurds, Newroz has always held a very special meaning beyond that of a holiday. Newroz has become a symbol of the struggle for liberation and a day to celebrate the freedoms one has and the freedoms one deserves and longs to achieve. In the old traditions, songs and folktales of the Kurds, it is believed that Newroz has been practiced in this respect for centuries with the liberations of various ancient kingdoms including Mitanni and Medya to the modern region as we know it today.
Today, in the various countries which Kurds live, Newroz celebrations have been carried out with a certain political significance. For example, in Turkey - like the banning of public-use of the Kurdish language until 1991 or the denial of Kurdish identity - Newroz had been an illegal holiday until 2000. Unable to prevent millions of Kurds from breaking the law and celebrating the holiday, the Turkish government lifted the ban on the holiday by claiming it was Turkish all along. Prior to then, Kurdish celebrators were arrested simply for their participation in the festivities. However, even with such bans in place, people by the millions poured into the streets on Newroz and lit large fires in celebration to carry out the traditions of the festival. Today, those celebrations continue.
Happy New Year, or as it’s said in Kurdish, Newroz Pîroz Bê!
(Translation: May your New Day be blessed until your old days… )
Goran
Have a beautiful Nowrooz dear, I wish I could ay the same thing in the beautiful Kurdi language. I hope as we celebrate the festival of spring and revival of nature, we have a beautiful year to celebrate each and every moment of it, all of us together in our Middle East
Goran, Thanks for sharing that with us. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Happy Newroz to you and to all of our friends who celebrate it. May the new year bring peace, justice, brotherhood to all of Middle East.
NEWROZ we piroz be
Happy NEWROZ
doostan aziz Eid shomaha mobarak
Reports from Syria say the security forces have shot dead three Kurds celebrating the Kurdish new year.
[From the BBC]
this was an interesting read
http://shahrzaad.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/my-haft-sin-table/
DAMN!!
:@
Clashes erupted during celebrations in several Turkish cities as well.
Happy nawroz.This year’s nawroz celebrations in occupied parts of kurdistan in Turkey and Syria show how kurds long for freedom and justice and how porressive regimes and the international community controlled by demons of capital deny this. May God ruin the unjustified, inhumane system ruling the world
[…] holiday Author: Goran (Kurdistan/USA) - March 25, 2008 After posting some information about the New Year holiday, some of you replied with some comments regarding the response of Syrian and Turkish forces to the […]