(AINA) --

Paul Hannosh, A veteran, teacher, school board trustee and candidate for the 8th California Congressional seat (north San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono County) has just been endorsed by the American Mesopotamian Organization (AMO) for his advocacy on behalf of the world's most persecuted group, Christians from the Middle East.

"As it was for the Puritans and Pilgrims of old, America was also a beacon of hope and religious freedom for my father who came to America to be free from Islamic oppression in Iraq. Therefore to remain the world's champion for the oppressed it is our historical and moral duty to advocate for persecuted believers throughout the world. I agree with Rand Paul that we must end foreign aid, especially to countries that are viciously persecuting Christians," said Mr. Hannosh.

Mr. Hannosh founded the Pasadena City College Coalition for Peace in the Middle East and has been working towards peaceful coexistence in the Middle East since his college days. "While I recognize the institutional discrimination practiced by Muslim nations against Christian minorities, I also believe that war is too often the first response by the bureaucrats in our State Department, the President and some members of Congress. America is tired of neo-con wars and foreign lobby groups dictating our foreign policy. "We need a foreign policy that puts America's interest first," points out Mr. Hannosh.

Mr. Hannosh has met with Assyrian leaders in Los Angeles as well as Chaldean leaders in San Diego to help bring attention to the fact that Iraq has seen its Christian population reduced from over 1.2 million to less than half of that in a 20 year time span due to persecution, forced deportations, death threats, kidnappings and beheadings. He has issued a number of press releases condemning injustices committed by those terrorizing Christians still remaining in Iraq and Syria.

The AMO is a grassroots political organization dedicated to helping elect candidates, regardless of their political party affiliation, to all levels of government that will support the Assyrian nation in its struggle to attain its cultural and political rights on its ancestral lands.