This is Josef Özer, an Aramean musician born in Västerås, Sweden. He wrote this ode to the Syrianska football club, based in Sodertalje, Sweden, in 2012.
Syrianska is a Swedish professional football club founded by Arameans (Suryoye), and Suryoyo Sportklubb was its first name. There are Syrianska fans all over the world, but their most loyal fans are the Syrian and Iraqi Christians who live in Sodertalje. A third of this city of about 90,000 people are immigrants, many of them Christians from Syria and Iraq. In the last four years, and especially in the last year, the city has seen a massive rise in new refugees from the region, who are terrified about the rise of Islamic State. The city is struggling to find housing and jobs for them.
- Joanna Kakissis @joannakakissis
