The first people to draw interest to the Ashurai were the TV Evangelists of the late 80s and 90s. In the Western Bibles, the name given to the Ashurai was Assyrians. According to the TV evangelists, the Assyrians were the most hated people of the Biblical times. This is, however, is only reflected in the Western Bibles, and specifically in certain Old Testament books. If you read the New Testament, Jesus blesses the memory of the Men of Nineveh in Matthew 12:39-40.
But according to the TV evangelists and the "Born Again" movement, the Assyrians were a cruel people. This view is still taught in American universities and the majority of the religious schools.
Now that Iraq is in the news everyday, the evangelists have shifted their focus to the Islamic Extremists, which to some extent is a good thing as far as the remnant of the Ashurai people are concerned. However, the Western Churches still refuse to help the Ashurai people escape from persecution in the Middle East. The Western Churches and the Western nations have put the remnants of the Ashurai people in a bad light. They refer to the Ashurai as Christians, but they don't help them escape from the hatred of the Islamic Extremists. It would be better if the West did not refer to the Christians in the Middle East as Christians, because the Eastern Christians do not share with the Western Churches the same faith. The word Christian is a Greek language derivative anyway, and the religion of the Eastern Churches is based on the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures, not the Greek Original and the Septuagint Bible. In fact, the Ancient Church of the East is considered a heretical Church, so it would be best to leave the Eastern followers of the Messiah out of Western politics altogether.