The Plight of Yezidis

The Plight of Yezidis: A Report on the ongoing Genocide and need for support

Foundation of India and Indian Diaspora Studies

The Plight of Yezidis: A FIIDS Report

Mrinal Venkatesh, FIIDS Research Analyst Shankar Ram Thyagrajan, FIIDS Research Analyst Foundation of India and Indian Diaspora Studies 2017

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Copyright Š 2017 by FIIDS All rights reserved. This report or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. http://www.fiids-usa.org/

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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................... 7 Demographics, Religion and Social Organization......... 9 Areas of significant Yezidi population ............................... 9 Religious Beliefs ................................................................... 12 God and TawĂťsĂŞ Melek ...................................................... 13 Reincarnation ........................................................................ 14 Heaven and Hell ................................................................... 15 Nature ..................................................................................... 15 Creation .................................................................................. 16 Holy Books ............................................................................ 17 Pilgrimage .............................................................................. 17 Festivals .................................................................................. 18 Social Organization .............................................................. 19 Centuries of Persecution ..................................................... 21 Overview ................................................................................. 21 The harsh rule of Ottoman Empire .................................. 21 Atrocities under Saddam Hussein .................................... 22 Insurgency and Civil war .................................................... 23 Rise of ISIS............................................................................. 25 Attack on Sinjar ..................................................................... 26 Testimonials and Individual stories ................................. 34 Current State of Yezidis........................................................ 36 Organizations helping the Yezidi community ............... 37 Empowering the community ............................................. 38 References ................................................................................ 42

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Introduction The Yezidis are a unique ethno-religious group of the Middle East. Their religion is an ancient one, that has many commonalities with other religions [1]. Yezidis believe that their religion has a calendar that goes back to at least 6764 years [2]. The Kurdish mountains of Northern Iraq is the homeland for this community, though a major diaspora today is present in Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Germany. Most of the Yezidis speak Kurmanji and a few of them speak Arabic. A large number of Yezidis speak Arabic as a second language [2].

There are many who pronounce Yezidis as “Yazidis”.

This is probably because some scholars have associated the name Yazidi with Yazid Bin Muawiyah, a Muslim Caliph of the early Umayyad Dynasty, though there is no correlation between the Yezidis and Yazid Bin Muawiyah. Thus, Yezidi name is not really derived from Yazid [3] and in this report, Yezidis will be referred to as “Yezidis”.

In the early 12th century, Sheikh Adi, a religious reformer and one of the most important personalities in Yezidi tradition, came into prominence. His influence was widespread and he had followers in Iraq, Syria and many parts of Turkey. Sheikh Adi, in the early 12th century AD, had settled in the Lalish Valley, which is in present day Shekhan, a city northeast of Mosul. He later died in the Lalish Valley itself and since then Lalish has become the most important place of Yezidi Pilgrimage.

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Initially, the Yezidi influence and their numbers grew in the region of northern Iraq, but after the 15th century, they were faced with constant conflicts. The conflicts came mostly from extremist Muslims who considered Yezidi’s growing influence as a threat to their expansion in this region. Some elements in the Yezidi religion were also seen as sacrilegious by these fanatic people. Yezidis are not typically "People of Book" because of this, Semitic religions, especially Muslims & Christians consider them different [4].

These religious differences and political aspirations prompted the Muslim neighbors of Yezidis to attack and massacre them. As time passed, Yezidi power declined and the power of Muslims increased in the region with many Kurds converting to Islam [1]. This was followed by the Ottoman rule in Iraq under which Yezidis were further persecuted. They suffered centuries of persecution and today it has taken the most monstrous form ever, due to the attacks by ISIS. These attacks, throughout the history, are on a genocidal scale and have led to a fall in the number of Yezidis. It has also driven many of them to emigrate from their native land Even today the Yezidi community hasn't recovered completely from the attacks by ISIS and many Yezidis are still living in captivity or as refugees in neighboring countries of Iraq. They are in need of support from the international community.

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Demographics, Religion and Social Organization Areas of significant Yezidi population Yezidis believe that in the past some of the today’s Kurds were Yezidis. Even some of the Kurds like Masoud Barzani (the highest official in Kurdistan government) have the same opinion [2]. Though the past populations of Yezidis are not known, it is clear that their population has decreased owing to the various genocides in past [3]. They are distributed in various regions of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia. They also have a significant diaspora in Germany, Russia, USA and Canada.

The largest population of the Yezidis though is still in Iraq. There were about 750,000 Yezidis in Iraq in 2005 but currently, only about 500,000 of them remain [5]. They are particularly concentrated in northern Iraq, in the Nineveh Province. The two biggest communities are in Shekhan, northeast of Mosul, and in Sinjar, at the Syrian border, 80 kilometers (50 mi) west of Mosul [1] [3]. Shekhan, the “Land of Sheikhs,” is the Yezidi heartland. It includes within its borders Lalish Valley, Baadra, the ancient seat of Yezidi Princes and Eyn Sifni, the current residence of the Mir and the Baba Sheikh. The Sinjar Mountains are hot, sun-baked regions, where mostly Yezidi herdsmen live.

Because of their severity and remoteness, the Sinjar Mountains have acted as both a buffer and a refuge for Yezidis against invaders [3]. According to a 2011 report, there were about 230,000 Yezidis in the Sinjar district [6].

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Yezidis in Syria live mostly in two communities. The first is known as Afrin or Jabal Al-Akrad and is located north-west of the city of Aleppo. It is situated in Aleppo province and includes the districts of Afrin and Azaz. The second main Yezidi settlement area, the so called Jazirah, is located in Northeastern Syria, in Al-Hasakah province.

The majority of the Yezidi in both regions live in rural areas. A current Syrian study estimates that there are between 45,000 to 50,000 Yezidis in these areas. Among them, about 20,000 to 25,000 are in Al-Hasakah province and 25,000 in Afrin and Azaz. [7]. In 1963, the population of Yezidis in Syria was estimated to be about 10,000, according to the national census, but numbers for 1987 were unavailable. There may be between about 12,000 and 15,000 Yezidis in Syria today [1] [8].

The Turkish Yezidi community declined precipitously during the 20th century. By 1982, it had decreased to about 30,000, and in 2009 there were fewer than 500. Most Turkish Yezidis have emigrated to Europe, particularly Germany [1]. The current majority of Yezidis in Turkey live in Halitiyeh, in the province of DiyarbakĂŻr (southeastern Turkey) [3]. During the recent attacks on Yezidis by ISIS, many Yezidis took refuge in Turkey. Currently, about 15,000 Yezidi refugees are in Turkey [9].

Population estimates for the communities in Georgia and Armenia vary, but they too have declined severely. In Georgia, the community fell from around 30,000 people to fewer than 5,000 during the 1990s [10]. Most Georgian and Armenian Yezidis have relocated to Russia, which recorded a population of 31,273 Yezidis in the 2002 census [10]. Yezidis are present in a significant number in cities of Leninakan, Etchmiadzin in Armenia and Tbilisi in 11

Georgia. There are also, communities in Aparan, Talin (Armenia), Lachin and Kelbajar (western Azerbaijan).

There are a few small communities in Turkmenistan, which arrived with Kurds from Iran in the twentieth century [3]. Among the European countries, the most significant population of Yezidis is in Germany, which now has a Yezidi community of over 40,000. They are currently located principally in the German cities of Celle, Oldenburg and Bielefeld.

In the United States, the majority of the Yezidi population is in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are about 900-1000 Yezidis in Nebraska. There are smaller populations of Yezidis in other cities of the USA like in Phoenix. There are small communities in Canada also in cities of London, Ontario and Saskatchewan [3].

Religious Beliefs The Yezidi religion is distinct in the Middle East because it believes in Reincarnation [1]. This is central to all Yezidi beliefs. In the Yezidi language Kurmanji, it is called Kiras Guhorin (changing of garments). This means that every Yezidi is believed to be reborn again based on their actions in this life.

The Yezidis believe in the existence of seven angels.

According to Yezidis, God created the world and gave the responsibility of taking its care, to these seven holy beings. These seven angels are called haft sirr. They believe that these seven holy beings or angels reincarnate many times in a human form called a koasasa. This belief acts as a mechanism of syncretism because 12

important religious figures from other religions can also be seen as incarnations of the seven holy beings. Among the seven holy beings, the most important one is Tawûsê Melek (frequently known as “Melek Taus” in English publications) or the peacock angel. Tawûsê Melek is the most important deity of the Yezidis. He is considered as the protector of the world.

A very important characteristic of the Yezidi faith is the lack of belief in hell for the non-believers. In fact, there is no hell in the Yezidi belief. The Yezidis believe that Tawûsê Melek cried seeing the sufferings of human beings and the tears extinguished the fires of hell. That makes Yezidis an amiable community as they do not wish that non-believers should go to hell.

Yezidi religion lays great emphasis on various religious practices. They follow strict rules in their daily lives. The Yezidis see the sun as a source of energy and pray to it regularly, 3-5 times a day.

God and Tawûsê Melek Yezidis are monotheists, believing in one God, who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels or Heft Sirr (the Seven Mysteries). The seven angels are considered to be made from God’s emanation.

Yezidism is not an offshoot of any other religion but shows influence from the many religions. Core Yezidi cosmology has a proto Vedic, pre-Zoroastrian origin, but Yezidism also includes elements of ancient nature worship, 13

as well as influences from Zoroastrianism and other religions.

The Yezidis believe that Tawûsê Melek is an equal partner to God. God is the creator and the biggest force and Yezidis believe that it is wrong to say that there is an evil force which is equal to God. Thus, they desist from using the word Satan.

Yezidis believe that good and evil both exist in the mind and spirit of human beings. It depends on the humans, themselves, as to which they choose. In this process, their devotion to Tawûsê Melek is essential, since it was he who was given the same choice between good and evil by God and he chose the good.

Reincarnation One of the important facets of the Yezidi religion is their belief in reincarnation. Reincarnation essentially means that the soul is imperishable, is not destroyed and changes body after death. Reincarnation is applicable to even the Gods and implies that one’s personal God is not greater but equal to others. That makes the Yezidis one of the most peaceful communities in the middle east. The concept of reincarnation is spiritually intertwined into the Yezidis from an early age.

Each Yezidi during his life undergoes a ritual wherein they become bonded spiritually to a brother and sister of their faith from a family different from the one they are born into. The spiritual sibling relationship is established to assist the Yezidi soul into next life. According to Yezidi beliefs, one’s heavenly broth14

er and sister will be waiting to assist one’s soul when one departs from this world, and act as a guide for the soul through their journey in the spiritual world.

Heaven and Hell The Yezidi religion also has a very distinct concept of hell and heaven compared to Christianity and Islam. They do not believe that non-believers will burn in hell. As mentioned earlier they believe that the hell was extinguished by the tears of Tawûsê Melek. With hell extinguished and together with reincarnation, the Yezidis believe that the soul is born again and again to attain perfection and eventually merge into heaven.

Yezidis believe that bad actions may result in expulsion from the Yezidi society too. Expulsion happens when one violates the regulative principles of the Yezidi faith. This is considered to be the gravest of all punishments by their chief God Tawûsê Melek. It serves as an internal check within the society for ethical values of right and wrong.

Nature Another important facet of the Yezidi faith is their belief in the oneness with nature. They worship the Sun God, three to five times each day. When Yezidis pray, they face the sun. The Sun represents the source of energy or ultimate truth. It is considered sacred and seen as the emanation of God.

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Creation Yezidi accounts of creation differ from that of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They believe that God first created Tawûsê Melek from his own (God’s) emanation (Ronahî) and the other six archangels were created later.

God ordered Tawûsê Melek not to bow to other beings.

Then God created the other archangels and ordered them to bring him dust (Ax) from the Earth (Erd) and build the body of Adam. Then God gave life to Adam from his own breath and instructed all archangels to bow to Adam. The archangels obeyed except for Tawûsê Melek. In answer to God, Tawûsê Melek replied, “How can I submit to another being, I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.” Then God praised him and made him the leader of all angels and his deputy on the Earth.

Hence the Yezidis believe that Tawûsê Melek is the representative of God on the face of the Earth and comes down to the Earth on the first Wednesday of Nisan (April). Yezidis hold that God created Tawûsê Melek on this day, and celebrate it as New Year’s Day. Yezidis argue that the order to bow to Adam was only a test for Tawûsê Melek, since if God commands anything then it must happen. (Bibe, dibe).

In other words, God could have made him submit to Adam, but gave Tawûsê Melek the choice as a test.

They believe that their respect and praise for Tawûsê Melek is a way to acknowledge his majestic and sublime nature. This idea is called “Knowledge of the Sublime” (Zanista Ciwaniyê).

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One of the key creation beliefs held by Yezidis is that they are the descendants of Adam through his son Shehid bin Jer rather than Eve. Holy Books The Yezidi holy books are claimed to be the Kitêba Cilwe (Book of Revelation) and the Mishefa Reş (Black Book). The manuscripts of both books published in 1911 and 1913 were forgeries written by non-Yezidis in response to Western travelers’ and scholars’ interest in the Yezidi religion; however, the material in them is consistent with authentic Yezidi traditions. True texts of those names used to exist earlier.

The real core texts of the religion that exist today are the hymns known as qawls; they have also been orally transmitted during most of their history, but are now being collected with the assent of the community, effectively transforming Yezidism into a scriptural religion.

Pilgrimage The holiest place of pilgrimage for Yezidis is the valley of Lalish, which is the site of the tomb of Sheikh Ādi. It not only contains many shrines dedicated to the Koasasa but a number of other landmarks corresponding to other sites or symbols of significance in other faiths. There are two sacred springs called Zamzam and Kāniyā spi (The WhiteSpring). The former rises in a cave below the sanctuary of Sheikh Ādi, the heart of the holy place. Water from the springs is mixed with soil from the holy valley to make barāt, little molded balls that are taken away and treated 17

with reverence; they play a part in some rites of passage, such as marriage and funerary rites. If possible, Yezidis make at least one pilgrimage to Lalish during their lifetime, and those living in the region try to attend at least once a year for the autumn “Feast of the Assembly” (see below). Apart from Lalish, pilgrimages to lesser sites may also be undertaken, to seek intercession, in gratitude for prayers answered, or as a vow.

There is a white pillar in Lalish which the Yezidis wrap around to ask for good fortune and wishes in life.

A very important symbol in the Lalish temple is the snake in front of the temple. The reason for the snake is not clear, though many Yezidis link it to divine wisdom. Unfortunately, many non-Yezidis classify Yezidis as ‘devil worshippers’ based on these symbolisms.

Festivals The Yezidi New Year falls in Spring which comes around April 15th. This is the same time that other faiths also have their new Year like the Hindus. The festival is generally characterized by joyous events such as the music of dahol (drum) and zornā (shawm), communal dancing, meals and coloring of eggs. The evening before New Year the Yezidis light candles and lamps. The fire is holy and is an integral part of the Yezidi faith. Another important festival is the ṭāwusgerrān (circulation of the peacock) where qawwāls and other religious dignitaries visit Yezidi villages, bringing the senjāq, sacred images representing the peacock and associated with Tawûsê Melek. These are 18

venerated, taxes are collected from the pious, sermons are preached, and holy water distributed.

The greatest festival of the year for ordinary Yezidis is the Ježnā Jamāʿiya (Feast of the Assembly) at Lalish, a seven-day occasion. A focus of widespread pilgrimage, this is an important time for social contact.

The religious center of the event is the belief in an annual gathering of the seven angels in the holy place of Lalish at this time. Rituals practiced during this time include the washing of the ‘bier of Sheikh Ādi,’. Other festivals are more likely to be kept by the few than the many. Religious leaders observe forty-day fasts in summer and winter. A three-day winter fast culminating in the celebration of the birth of the kass Ēzid is kept more widely.

The Yezidis regularly visit their temples. The temple tops of the Yezidis have unique architecture. They are conical and are quite distinct from other temples and churches. Each temple can have many conical tops. Architecturally they are similar to many Hindu temples which also have similar characteristic conical shapes.

Social Organization During initial days, the Yezidis were one people. But Islamization of the region forced the Yezidis under the leadership of Sheikh Adi to divide themselves into different castes. Each caste was to perform a particular religious duty. Yezidis divide themselves into 3 major castes, murids, sheikhs and pirs. The Sheikhs and pirs are the clerical class while the Murids are common people. Every murid must have a sheikh and a pir and the lineage of 19

these are determined by the murid’s own heredity. The Sheikhs are divided into three endogamous lineage groups, the Šamsāni, Ādāni and Qātāni, the latter of which also shares its ancestry with the family of the mir. The pirs are divided into four main groups, and forty clans, most of whom may intermarry. Most of the Yezidis cannot marry into different castes [1]. Yezidism as a religion is also strongly opposed to conversion, both to other religions and into Yezidism.

These stringent social rules are probably due to the threat they have been living in since centuries. The constant persecution would have forced them to become a closed community.

The Qawwāls or reciters constitute a different class, and come from two clans, the Kurmanji-speaking Dimli and the Arabic-speaking Tazhi, settled in the villages of Baʿšiqa and Beḥzānē, in the Shekhan area. They specialize in the playing of religious music on sacred instruments, the daf (frame-drum) and šebāb (flute), and in the recital of the sacred hymns or qawls. They also carry out the ṭawusgerrān.

The Bābā Sheikh (Father Sheikh), is the leader of the Sheikhs and must come from the Šamsāni branch.

He must lead a pious life; regarded by many as the spiritual leader of the Yezidis, he supervises the Kočaks and many of the ceremonies at Lalish cannot take place without his presence. The Kočaks are a small non-hereditary group charged with outdoor labor for Sheikh Ādi, such as cutting wood and drawing water for the shrine [1].

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Centuries of Persecution Overview Yezidis list 72 genocides which had happened against them by Muslim extremists and others in the past. Though a recent one in 2007 and the latest attacks by ISIS are considered by some as 73rd and 74th Genocide. It is estimated that 23 million Yezidis have been killed in these genocides in the past 700 years. Their population continues to decrease. It was estimated to be 2 million about 200 years ago, and currently, it is less than a million [3].

Iraq has come under the control of many different people in the past, Arabs, Kurds, Ottomans and British.

Most of them have tried to exterminate the Yezidis even though Yezidis were not hostile towards them [11] [12].

The harsh rule of Ottoman Empire The Ottoman empire attacked and took control of Iraq in the mid-17th century. They ruled the region till the beginning of 20th century (world war I). Under their rule, the Yezidis have been attacked many times but two major ones are known.

In 1640, Firari Mustafa Pasha with his army of 40,000 soldiers attacked the Mount Sinjar area. In the ensuing battle, 3,060 Yezidis were killed. Later the Ottoman army raided 300 villages and set them on fire. About 1000 2000 Yezidis escaped to the caves in Mount Sinjar. But 21

they too were chased and killed by Ottoman army using cannons [13].

In 1892, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, as a part of his campaign to Islamize the Ottoman empire, order the conscription or murder of Yezidis [14].

Many other Ottoman rulers like Suleiman Pasha, Amin Pasha, Ali Pasha etc. started military campaigns against the Yezidis. If caught they were either killed or forced to convert. The Yezidis also fought back many times and sometimes had to move their whole population to prevent unnecessary killing [3].

Atrocities under Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein rose to power in Iraq in the 1960s.

Saddam Hussein, apart from being a dictator, was also a sectarian chauvinist. Iraq and its northern neighbor Iran were engaged in an armed conflict between September 1980 to August 1988. This Iran-Iraq war was a result of border disputes and fear of Insurgency by Shia majority in Iraq who were motivated by Iranian revolution in 1979. During 1982 and 1983, in the midst of Iran-Iraq war, the Kurdish people of Northern Iraq also rebelled against Saddam Hussein government. The Kurdish rebellion was largely put down by mid-1980s, but in 1985 the Saddam Hussein government wanted to eradicate any potential Kurdish resistance. They started a campaign called Al-Anfal against the Kurdish people which not only affected the Kurdish Militia (Peshmerga) but also the civilian population [15].

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The Yezidis also fell victim to this campaign [12]. The Anfal campaign included the use of ground offensives, aerial bombing, systematic destruction of settlements, mass deportation, firing squads, and chemical warfare.

On March 16, 1988, Yezidis suffered huge casualties when in Saddam’s campaign, which included a poison gas attack, thousands of women and children were killed. Iraqi forces destroyed about 100 Yezidi villages during the campaign. It was reported at the time that about 10,000 Yezidi men died fighting for Iraq in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war.

Several hundred Yezidis disappeared at the hands of the Iraqi secret police during the Anfal campaign. About 150,000 Yezidis in areas controlled by the government were cut off from their ancient shrine at the Lalish Valley [12].

Insurgency and Civil war Saddam Hussein’s 24-year long reign came to an end in 2003 when the Allied forces of USA, UK and other countries invaded Iraq. He was captured and later hanged in 2006 [16]. This was followed by a period of insurgency and later civil war between Shia and Sunni militant groups [17]. Unfortunately, in this civil war between Shia and Sunni militant groups, Yezidis became a target for Sunni militants.

On April 23, 2007, A bus carrying workers from Mosul Textile Factory was hijacked. The hijackers checked every worker’s identity cards. Muslims and Christians were asked to get off the bus while the remaining 23 Yezidis were made to lie face down and shot.

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On 14th August 2007, while the civil war was still going on, four coordinated suicide bombs were detonated in the Yezidi towns of Kahtaniya and Jazeera (Siba Sheikh Khidir), near Mosul. About 796 Yezidis were killed and 1,562 people wounded [18]. It was considered the deadliest suicide attack since the Iraq War began. It was also considered the second deadliest act of terrorism in history, following only behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.

For several months leading up the attack, tensions had been building up in the area, particularly between Yezidis and Sunni Muslims (including Arabs and Kurds). Some Yezidis living in the area received threatening letters calling them "Infidels" [3]. Leaflets were also distributed denouncing Yezidis as "antiIslamic" and warning them that an attack was imminent [8].

A possible reason for the attack might be that Sinjar area, which has a significant population of Yezidis along with Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs was scheduled to vote in a plebiscite on accession to the Kurdish region in December 2007. This caused hostility among the neighboring Arab communities. A force of 600 Kurdish Peshmerga was subsequently deployed in the area, and ditches were dug around Yezidi villages to prevent further attacks.

In August 2009, at least 20 people were killed and 30 wounded in a double suicide bombing in northern Iraq, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Two suicide bombers with explosive vests carried out the attack at a cafe in Sinjar. The deadly attack was one of 24

the most lethal insurgent strikes in more than four years of war in Iraq [18] [19] [20].

The Allied forces were able to defeat the insurgents and conduct elections in the country. A stable government was formed, but as soon as US troops left Iraq in late 2011 [21], sectarian tensions began growing again. The newly formed government was pro-Shia and many prominent Sunni leaders and generals were discriminated.

Rise of ISIS One of the groups who took part in the insurgency in Iraq was AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq). During the retaliation from Allied forces, Al-Qaeda in Iraq suffered heavy losses [22]. Al-Qaeda in Iraq came under different leaderships as the leaders got killed in the fight with Allied forces. In 2006 Al-Qaeda in Iraq renamed itself to ISI - Islamic State in Iraq to gain local support [23].

In May 2010 Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi became the leader of ISI [22] and he replenished ISI by including Sunni generals who had been ousted by the new Iraqi government [24].

In August 2011, ISI started sending its troops to Syria to support the protests against the government of Syria. In March 2013, ISI combined with Syrian organizations like Nusra front, who were protesting against the government and jointly formed the ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) [24]. They are also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). They now had enough troops to attack and control many cities in Syria and Iraq. On January 4, 2014, 25

ISIS captured the city of Fallujah in Iraq. Later on January 14th, 2014, ISIS took over the city of Raqqa in Syria which also became its de facto headquarters. By June 2014, they controlled many other cities like AlAnbar and Aleppo of Northern Iraq and Syria.

ISIS was motivated by fanaticism and saw all nonMuslim people in the region as their enemies. It forced them to either convert to Islam or die. Yezidis became a prime target for ISIS as they were non-Muslims and generally did not accept conversion to other religions.

The atrocity and massacre that ISIS perpetrated on Yezidi people lead to the death of at least 5000 Yezidi men and women, enslavement of 7000 Yezidi women and exile of 200,000 Yezidi people.

Attack on Sinjar

On June 10th 2014, the ISIS got an easy win on Mosul where the Iraqi commanders and their soldiers had abandoned their posts [23]. Mosul had a considerable 26

Yezidi population and it is about 80KM east of Sinjar. In August 2014, the ISIS had reached till Sinjar mountains.

Sinjar at that time was a controlled city under the Peshmerga which are the Kurdish security forces. Before ISIS attacked, Peshmerga and the Kurdish political parties like Federal party of Kurdistan or the PDK (Democratic party of Kurdistan) assured the Yezidis that they will protect them and fight for them till their last drop of blood.

The Yezidis also trusted them [25].

In fact, when ISIS started growing in Syria some of the Yezidis tried to escape to the north of Iraq but Peshmarga did not allow them to run away to other Kurdistan areas and they claimed that they would protect the Yezidis.

On 3rd August 2014, early in the morning, ISIS with a lot of heavy guns, PKGs, AK47s, heavy machines, tanks, all the ammunition that they had taken from the Iraqi army after defeating them, attacked the south of Sinjar mountains [25].

Before even the first bullet was fired against the Yezidis, the 250 Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers who were present in Sinjar, escaped Sinjar and they left the Yezidis without an arm to face the ISIS [26].

Even some Yezidi fighters requested Peshmerga to give them some rifles, AK47s so that they can protect themselves and their villages. The Peshmerga refused and even injured some of the Yezidi fighters [25].

The Peshmerga left Yezidis defenseless with no weapons. The ISIS attacked first the village of Sebaya and 27

people who were living there tried to repel them and fired back to them but ISIS outnumbered the Yezidis both in terms of weapons and soldiers, therefore, Yezidis couldn’t resist for a long time. While the Yezidi soldiers were fighting the ISIS, the civilians tried to escape to the mountains. Around 50,000 Yezidis fled to the Mountains. After a few hours, ISIS controlled the whole village and they killed or beheaded all the soldiers or people who were resisting them.

While the people who could reach, the mountains did not have any weapons as they could not carry them. The people who could not reach the mountains were caught by the ISIS and tortured. They abducted around 7000 Yezidi women, girls and children and they killed around 3000-5000 Yezidi men.

The techniques used to kill such a large number of people were extremely brutal. Sometimes people were lined up at checkpoints and then shot dead. At times, they were herded into their own temples and later the temples were blown up. Many of them were beheaded.

The dead bodies were bulldozed into mass graves.

More than 10 such mass graves have been found [27].

Before the attack on Sinjar, ISIS had attacked nearby areas in Nineveh region like Tal Afar. Many people escaped from these regions also and took refuge in the Sinjar mountains. An estimated 200,000 people including those who fled to the mountains were encircled by ISIS fighters in control of the surrounding areas at the base of the mountains. The displaced persons, including thousands of women, children, people with disabilities, and elderly had traveled long distances, 28

many on foot, and were in need of urgent assistance, including water, food, shelter and medicine. They had to endure for days at temperatures above 45°C without water and food. The people on Sinjar mountain were starving and dying because of dehydration. More than 12 Yezidi children died of hunger, dehydration, and heat on Sinjar on 3 August. By 6 August the number of people dying out of hunger and dehydration reached 200. On 4 August, ISIS fighters reportedly attempted to ascend from the base of Sinjar Mountain, killing 30 Yezidi men and abducting a number of women. Some witnesses mentioned the many women along with their children jumped off the mountain in desperation [28].

Among the women and girls captured by ISIS, most of them have been converted to Islam and many of them have been sold for sex slavery in Syria, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries. A magazine purportedly published by the ISIS, Dabiq attempted to justify the militants' capturing of thousands of innocent Yezidis during the attack on Sinjar. The magazine also tried to justify Yezidis being sold into sex slavery while those from other groups have not, by saying that Islamic Sharia law allows the enslavement of innocent 'polytheists and pagans' but not of those the militants regard as simply heretical [27]. The children of captured Yezidis are being trained to join IS from a young age [29]. ISIS also allotted women who refused to covert as war booty (‘malak yamiin’) to ISIS fighters or were being sold as slaves. ISIS started to use Yezidi civilians captured in Sinjar as human shields, forcing them to dress like ISIS fighters and detaining them at sites in Sinjar city center, at the former Asayish headquarters and at the main food stores in Al-Shuhada neighborhood. Married women who converted were told by ISIS that their previous mar29

riages were not recognized in Islamic law and that they, as well as unmarried women who converted, would be given to ISIS fighters as wives. Men who converted with their wives were told they would be transported to new locations where their conversion would be monitored. Some of the women who were abducted managed to escape from captivity and were able to reach Sinjar mountains. It was found that sale of abducted women was opened in the Al-Quds area of Mosul city. Women and girls were brought in with price tags for the buyers to choose from and negotiate the sale. The buyers were said to be mostly youth from the local communities. Apparently, ISIS was “selling� these Yezidi women to the youth as a means of inducing them to join their ranks [28].

The Yezidi people in Lincoln Nebraska and other places in the USA came to know about the attack on Sinjar and they went and did a peaceful demonstration in front of white house. President Barack Obama, who till now had tried to keep united states army away from actively taking part in the offensive against ISIS, decided to do airstrikes on the ISIS on 7th August 2014.

The great atrocities being done on Yezidis was one of the prime reasons that motivated President Obama to give these orders. They wanted to prevent ISIS from taking Erbil city. On 8 August 2014, USA also initiated airdrops of humanitarian aid for the civilians trapped on Sinjar mountain, followed by the United Kingdom, France, and Australia in subsequent days.

Between 3rd and 6th, August ISIS continued to make more attacks on the displaced Yezidis. In most of these attacks, the men were killed while the women 30

and children were abducted. Many witnesses reported about the mass killings and mentioned that many of the dead bodies found showed signs of torture. ISIS not only killed and abducted people they also robbed their houses.

For those who were converted, ISIS told them that they were under their “protection” and would receive food/water. All men were instructed to shave their mustaches and grow their beards; women were told that they would be provided clothes in accordance with their takfiri doctrine. They were forced to pray inside the house, but ISIS told them that a mosque would be built where their praying would be ‘properly’ monitored. ISIS confiscated all their identity cards. Many of the children who were abducted (aged from 5 months to 17 years) were later returned to an orphanage in Mosul. They were reported to be traumatized from having witnessed the murder of their parents. Some of the older children may have been physically and sexually assaulted. Later ISIS fighters returned to the orphanage and made the children pose with ISIS flags so they could take photos of them. [28] In Sinjar, ISIS had destroyed most of the houses and looted all of them. The eyewitnesses say that the ISIS either burned the houses, or destroyed it or broke everything within it. They say that it is not safe for anyone to stay there and also, they have been putting IED (Intensive exclusive detonators) in the houses so that houses are ready to explode when Yezidis go there.

The ISIS attacked many Christian villages also and they gave them three choices, either convert to Islam, or fight alongside ISIS or move their villages to somewhere else, but in the case of Yezidis they only had the option to either convert or get killed. Yezidis generally don’t want to 31

convert and even if sometimes people were ready to convert the ISIS still killed them.

These killings went on as the siege around Mount Sinjar continued. In the village of Hardan, 250-300 Yezidi men were killed. 200 more in Adnaniya and Jazeera and 70–90 in Qiniyeh. In Al-Shimal dozens of people were killed and their bodies were left on the roads.

Fortunately, between 9th and 11th August, a safe corridor was established from the north of the Sinjar mountain enabling 10,000 people to be evacuated on the first day. PKK fighters from Turkey to Syria had opened this path for Yezidis to escape to the north of Iraq to Syria. They came with trucks and tractors to carry the sick and elderly. PKK from Turkey and PDKI from Iran, even though they were considered militant organizations in their respective countries, came forward to help the Yezidis [30]. They even provided counter offensive against ISIS. Now, most of the Yezidis are staying in tents in Turkey, Syria and north of Iraq.

On 15 August, ISIS attacked the village of Khocho which is south of Sinjar. A witness recounted that the villagers were being forced to convert but when the village elder refused to convert, all of the men were taken in trucks under the pretext of being led to Sinjar and gunned down along the way. The entire male population of the village of Khocho, up to 400 men, were shot and up to 1,000 women and children were abducted.

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ISIS continued to hold onto the city of Sinjar after August 2014. On Sinjar mountains around 10,000 Yezidis were still remaining [31]. Many of them saw the mountains as a safe refuge while others some were afraid to go back to their homes because of the possibility of explosives and further attacks by ISIS. On 21 October, ISIS seized the northern part of the mountains, thus cutting the escape route which was created by PKK and other Kurdish forces. The mountains had once again been partially besieged by ISIS [32].

In this war against ISIS, Yezidi men and women had taken up arms and formed the HPS Êzîdxan Protection Force HPS (Hêza Parastina Êzîdxanê) and Sinjar Resistance unit YBS (Yekîneyên Berxwedana Şengalê) in 2014. Later YBS also had an all-women militia unit called Êzidxan Women's Units or YJE (Yekinêyen Jinên Êzidxan). These units actively retaliated against the ISIS and took part in the joint offensive to free Sinjar from ISIS occupation. Some of the women who escaped from the ISIS after abduction joined these forces to avenge the atrocities and free other women who are in similar condition [33].

On 17 December, the Yezidi and the Kurdish forces backed by 50 US led coalition air strikes launched an offensive to liberate Sinjar and to break that partial ISIL siege of the Sinjar Mountains [34]. In less than two days, they seized the mountain range. Once the ISIS forces retreated a land corridor was opened to those mountains, enabling Yezidis to be evacuated. The operation left 100 ISIS fighters dead.

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Later, on 21 December, Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters ascended the mountains from the south and the two fronts were linked [34]. The next day, the YPG broke through ISIS lines, thus opening a corridor from Syria to the town of Sinjar. Finally, Sinjar was liberated completely.

The fight against ISIS is still going on, though the coalition of Iraqi, Kurdish and US forces has achieved major victories. The city of Mosul has been retaken from ISIS in July 2017 [35].

Testimonials and Individual stories The Yezidis who could escape from the genocide by ISIS recounted the unfortunate and appalling incidents that happened in 2014.

A person by the name of Ashad had his extended family of 66 people. In the ISIS attack, only he and his father survived i.e. 64 people were killed from the same family [25].

Faisal Mahmud Kharow a Yezidi, originally from Sinjar who is currently living in Germany had many of his family members living in Sinjar. On August 3, he received a phone call from his mother informing about the attack by ISIS. ISIS reached Faisal’s family who was living on a farm at around noon of August 3. They arrived in 12 cars on the paved highway and turned off the highway to Faisal’s home. His family could hear random shoot 34

ing as ISIS approached near their house. Around 20 people were killed around their family’s farm. ISIS attackers then gathered more than 100 of his relatives inside several houses on the property. They divided the family into three groups of men and boys over 10, adult women and their children, and girls and single young women. They loaded the single women and girls into the family’s four vehicles and drove west toward the Syrian border. Then they gathered the men in one room. They shot and killed three men in the room, then took the remaining 8 men and one woman outside the house to an area enclosed by a wall.

They told them that they had to convert to Islam or they would be killed. They refused to convert to Islam, so ISIS attackers shot and killed all but one of them.

The women and children were being held inside the house. They heard the shooting when the men were being killed. Then some ISIS men poured kerosene over all the women and children. Before they could set them on fire, one of them received a phone call, and then all the ISIS immediately left. All these events occurred within half-an-hour. There were between 60 and 70 women and children left behind.

Faisal’s mother and other adult women made it off Sinjar Mountain with the children to Befür Einweck refugee camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq. During rains in November their tents were flooded and they had to suffer the severe cold.

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Current State of Yezidis The Yezidis today are still displaced and suffering.

Few of the families that could escape Sinjar to the North of Iraq, have immigrated to countries like Turkey and Syria. They are still living there as refugees, just confined to their tents. They are not even allowed to go out of their tents unless they take permission.

They don’t have jobs or other means of earning livelihoods.

The Yezidi people do not want to go back to Sinjar and even if they go there, it would be against their will because it is not safe, they would be surrounded by the Arab villages and these Arab villages had helped ISIS in attacking the Yezidis. The Yezidis earlier trusted their Arab neighbors and in 2014 when ISIS attacked Tal Afar the city very close to Sinjar, Yezidis invited the Arab refugees to stay with them. They opened their houses and provided them with food, shelter and water. Similarly, when ISIS attacked Baaj, then also Yezidis helped the Arab refugees and welcomed them to stay with them.

But unfortunately, when ISIS attacked Yezidis, all the people from Baaj, Tal Afar and other neighboring villages took the side of ISIS and attacked Yezidi houses, killed them, raped their women and took many of them as sex slaves [25].

Yezidis are waiting for the united nations and governments of different countries to open immigration for them because they don’t feel safe going back to their country.

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The Yezidis also aspire to have their own autonomous state. A concept of such a Yezidi nation has been there for a long time in their culture and has many references in their traditions and sacred texts. They call it Ezidkhan. The Yezidi heartlands of Sinjar and Shekhan are part of it.

There has been growing awareness about Ezidkhan in the Yezidi community and the Yezidi militia who are fighting against ISIS have included it in their names.

Lastly, even if ISIS is completely defeated and their expansion is curbed in the near future, Yezidis still need the help of leading countries around the world to get resettled and resume their normal lives.

Organizations helping the Yezidi community Yezidis International is a leading Yezidi organization worldwide. Its mission is to preserve the Yezidi faith and empower the Yezidi people all around the world through selfless service. Yezidi International is committed to helping and finding every meaningful way of helping the Yezidis. It is helping the victims by providing them humanitarian relief. It is also helping Yezidi children and students to continue their education so that they can support the community in future. Yezidi International is also spreading awareness about the issue, educating the public, and preserving the Yezidi faith. It has spoken during events in many different countries including USA, Canada, India, and Sweden.

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Empowering the community Some of the best ways we can help a community to recover from oppression and massacre are: -

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• Move people away from the scene of their massacre The ISIS attack on Sinjar had affected hundreds of thousands of Yezidis families within a few days. Many of the Yezidi families became displaced and scattered over three different countries in different camps. These displaced families need assistance to overcome the trauma of the incidents, resettle and lead a normal life. Among the 7000 Yezidi women and girls, still many are in possession of ISIS and need support in escaping.

• Support Medical Relief camps Many Yezidis in Iraq are in need of urgent medical support, either due to injuries during the attack or preexisting conditions which cannot be treated due to lack of money or medical resources.

For example, Dilleen Tarq Khedr is a three-year-old child in camp Kabarto, Kurdistan, Iraq. On early August 2015, a surgery was set that her parents couldn't afford but that could mean a difference between life and death for a child of three. She has a brain tumor but the family cannot afford such amount after fleeing their homes in a frenzy.

Her situation sums up the story of nearly half a million Yezidi who lost everything and in many cases even relatives and loved ones. Yezidi International along with other humanitarian organizations is helping Dilleen.

• Provide Humanitarian Relief Aid Currently. there is a shortage of basic necessities wherever Yezidis have taken up shelter. Most of the displaced families have few clothes, and are, in general, woefully un 39

prepared to face the extreme weather whether it's cold of winter or the heat of summer. There is also a shortage of basic needs such as food. The government is too occupied to be concerned with corruption that is going on of the aid already sent. • Help Children in the camps to continue their education

The children in camps are consumed by the tragedy that took place in their homes. These children need support to continue their education. Education will help in building their future and provide them with a positive distraction from the dire situation they are in.

For these young children, education is the answer to an empowered community. • Support Students in College Yezidi students are unable to fund their education anymore. Many lost everything due to the attacks by 40

ISIS and thus many of them have opted to leave school.

These students are the beacon of light, the beacon of hope for the Yezidis generations to come. If they are helped, then they will be more empowered to support the Yezidi cause worldwide. Many countries are providing them scholarships and helping them in continuing their studies.

This should be encouraged further as this will ensure at least good source of livelihood for these students so that they, in turn, can support their families and community who are unfortunate victims of the genocide that is happening with the Yezidis in Iraq. • Educate the public The most important way to help the community would be to spread awareness about their current situation and engage governments of different countries and different organizations. Yezidis are in need of help and it is important to reach out to people and organizations and bring to their notice the plight of Yezidis.

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References 1. “Yezidis General”. Iranica Online. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1 2. www.yezidis.org 3. www.yeziditruth.org 4.“Yezidis”. Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Yezidis.aspx 5.“Iraq’s widening war imperils a religious minority”. npr.org. www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/08/07/338618281/iraqswidening-war-imperils-a-religious-minority 6.“IOM Emergency Needs Assessment: Increased In-cidents of Suicide Among Yazidis in Sinjar, Ninewa, July 2011.” http://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iom-emergency-needs-assessmentincreased-incidents-suicide-among-yazidis-sinjar-ninewa 7.“Yazidi in Syria”. Kurd watch Report 7. http://kurdwatch.org/pdf/kurdwatch_yeziden_en.pdf 8.Federal Research Division. Syria. "Chapter 5: Reli-gious Life".

Library of Congress Country Studies. Ac-cessed August 20, 2010.

9.Displaced and Traumatized By IS, Yazidis Try -- And Fail -To Reach Europe. www.rferl.org/content/tracking-islamic-stateyazidis-iraq-turkey-/27116455.html 10.Megalommatis, Muhammad Shamsaddin (February 28, 2010).

"Dispersion of the Yazidi Nation in Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and Europe: Call for UN Action". American Chronicle. Retrieved August 20, 2010.

11.1935 Yazidi revolt - Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Yazidi_revolt 12.Yazidis Suffered Under Rule of Saddam Hussein. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/yazidis-suffered-underrule-of-saddam-hussein 13.Evliya Çelebi, The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman: Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588–1662), Trans-lated by Robert Dankoff, 304 pp., SUNY Press, 1991; ISBN 0-7914-0640-7, pp. 169–171 42

14.Edip Gölbasi, The Yezidis and the Ottoman State: Modern power, military conscription, and conversion policies, 1830-1909 (Master’s Thesis: Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, 2008). See also: Nelida Fuccaro, 'Communalism and the State in Iraq: The Yazidi Kurds, c.1869-1940", Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 35, No. 2 (April 1999), p. 6 15.“The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds.” A Middle East Watch Report: Human Rights Watch 1993. www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/08/14/iraq13979_txt.htm 16.“Decrying violence in Iraq, UN envoy urges national dialogue, international support". UN News Centre. 25 November 2006.

17.“Al-Qaeda blamed for Yazidi carnage". Retrieved 11 December 2014 18.“Toll in Iraq Bombings Is Raised to More Than 500". Retrieved 11 December 2014.

19.NPR: General Calls Attack on Yazidis 'Ethnic Cleansing'.

20.Jaffe, Greg (18 December 2011). "Last U.S. troops cross Iraqi border into Kuwait". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2011.

21.Targeting al Qaeda in Iraq's Network, The Weekly Stand-ard, 13 November 2007 22.Shadid, Anthony (16 May 2010). "Iraqi Insurgent Group Names New Leaders". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 August 2014.

23.“Timeline: The Rise of ISIS”. Time.com 2014 http://time.com/4030714/isis-timeline-islamic-state/ 24.Abouzeid, Rania (23 June 2014). "The Jihad Next Door". Politico.

Retrieved 22 August 2014.

25.A call with Haji Hameka 26.“If it wasn’t for the Kurdish fighters, we would have died up there”. Pri.org 2014. https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-08-29/if-it-wasnt-kurdish-fighters-we-would-have-died-there 27.“Full horror of the Yazidis who didn’t escape Mount Sin-jar: UN confirms 5,000 men were executed and 7,000 women are now kept as sex slaves”. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2792552/full-horror43

yazidis-didn-t-escape-mount-sinjar-confirms-5-000-men-executed-7000-women-kept-sex-slaves.html 28.“Reports on the protection of Civilians in armed conflict in Iraq. 6 July - 10 sept 2014”. www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IQ/UNAMI_OHCHR_PO C_Report_FINAL_6July_10September2014.pdf 29.“Young girl who escaped ISIS captivity shares her Or-deal.”

Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/Young-girl-whoescaped-ISIS-captivity-shares-her-ordeal-says-they-sell-girls-andcovert-their-religion/videoshow/45240935.cms 30.“A U.S.-designated terrorist group is saving Yazidis and battling the Islamic State.” Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/11/a-us-designated-terrorist-group-is-saving-yazidis-and-battling-the-islamicstate/ 31.“Mortality and kidnapping estimates for the Yazidi population in the area of Mount Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014: A retrospective household survey.” May 9, 2017 http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.p med.1002297 32.“Iraq Sinjar Battle (21 oct 2014).” www.agathocledesyracuse.com/archives/115 33.“Sold by IS in Raqa, Yazidi female fighters back for revenge.” http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/20/17/sold-by-isin-raqa-yazidi-female-fighters-back-for-revenge 34.“Islamic State counterattacks refinery as fight for Iraq swings back and forth.” web.archive.org/web/20151117021143/http://www.mcclatchydc.c om/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article24777757.html 35.“Iraqi forces have fully retaken Mosul, U.S.-backed coalition confirms.” www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/10/iraqi-forceshave-retaken-mosul-u-s-backed-coalition-confirms/465022001/

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