News Article on Mandaeans and their need for help NOW

Here is the latest news feed on the Mandaeans. It is written by Y. Berman and was released yesterday. He predicts that the Mandaeans will not survive the next two decades without immediate help. It is a lengthy piece with lots of information and stories. Berman begins:

With between 50,000-70,000 believers worldwide, Mandaeism is one of the tiniest religions in the world; and if nothing dramatic changes soon, it is probably a matter of a few decades before it will vanish from the world.

In the past two millennia, the Mandaeans have resided along the banks of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers (in southern Iraq) and along the nearby Karun River (Iran). The rise of Saddam Hussein to power and more so the civil war which followed his demise in 2003 have caused this tiny community to spread around the world and face one of the greatest threats to its existence.