Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

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UN backs Sinjar agreement

The United Nations is all for the complete implementation of the Sinjar Agreement, which envisages the removal of the PKK terrorist organization from the Iraqi city, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday during a visit to Baghdad

“We support this matter,” Guterres said, referring to the agreement signed under the auspices of the U.N. between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Oct. 9, 2020, that never took effect, allowing the PKK to roam free in the territory to this day.

Sinjar is wedged between Türkiye to the north and Syria to the west, making it a highly strategic zone long coveted by both Baghdad and the KRG. Despite being administered by the Iraqi city of Mosul, it is considered a disputed enclave with the KRG.

It fell under the control of the PKK and pro-Iran Iraqi militias following Daesh’s invasion in 2014 where the terrorists managed to establish a foothold under the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh and have been trying to turn the district into a "second Qandil."

The Yazidi is a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group indigenous to Western Asia, with most of the 500,000-strong population living in Mosul and Duhok. While the region was under the control of Daesh, the community was subjected to genocidal attacks, causing some 45,000 to flee Sinjar.

The Sinjar deal was also designed to facilitate the return of these displaced Yazidis, who still await the opportunity to reunite with their homeland.

According to the KRG, the agreement cannot be implemented due to the PKK, which has long been against the government in Irbil and “creating chaos” in the region.

Lamenting “the great harm” the Yazidis living in Sinjar have endured, Guterres on Wednesday said, “We stand in solidarity with them.”

The U.N. chief was speaking to reporters following a series of meetings with Iraqi officials in the capital, which he said were “productive."

“We’re also grateful for Iraq’s solidarity with Türkiye and Syria over the earthquakes,” Guterres noted, expressing grief for the two countries as they grapple with the aftermath of two massive earthquakes that claimed over 51,000 lives combined in Türkiye’s southeast and Syria’s northwest since Feb. 6.

“We appreciate Iraq’s efforts for regional stability and security, as well,” Guterres added, reiterating U.N. support for the Baghdad government’s steps to tackle corruption, provide public services, ensure human rights and resolve unemployment.

The U.N. body supports provincial elections in Iraq and the KRG-controlled regions in the north, Guterres further noted.

“We are prepared to supply the necessary technical assistance in said elections. Although the Daesh terrorist organization ended in Iraq, the war on terror is still a priority for the government,” the secretary-general explained.

Arguing that meetings must be held to resolve the problems between Baghdad and the KRG administrations, Guterres said, “This wouldn’t give the U.N. or any other party the right to impose their opinions. The time has come for the people of Iraq to settle their issues and determine the future of their country.”

The Yazidi community leaders have also been calling on the Iraqi government, the KRG and the international community to implement the Sinjar deal

Türkiye, another strong backer of the deal that would contribute to regional stability, expressed in the past hope that the agreement would be carried out in a way that enables the reinstatement of Iraqi authorities’ control in Sinjar and the eradication of terrorist organizations, including Daesh, PKK and their extensions.

Northern Iraq bordering Türkiye is known to contain many PKK hideouts and bases from where they launch attacks on Turkish soil. In response, the Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations, stressing often that it will not tolerate threats posed against national security and calling on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group.
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https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war ... nt-in-iraq

ALL armed militia groups should be removed from Yazidi lands and a UN peace keeping force should protect the land and it's people, so that the gentle Yazidis feel safe enough to leave the camps and return home

ALL the military forces that bombed the Yazidi homes, lands, businesses, farms, cities and towns while trying to destroy ISIS, should pay for the rebuilding so that the Yazidis are able to restart their lives

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Yazidis in Cyprus

Some Yazidis who survived genocide in Iraq flee to Cyprus, en route to Europe

Genocide survivors from persecution at the hands of ISIS have been fleeing to Europe via Turkey for years now. More than 100 Yazidis have now ended up in Cyprus, according to a member of the community.

The Yazidi minority lives mostly in northern Iraq. In 2014, the extremist Islamic group ISIS conquered Mosul and attacked Yazidi villages near Mount Sinjar, kidnapping thousands and subjecting them to genocide and enslavement.

When ISIS was defeated in 2017, the Yazidis continued to suffer hardship, often living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps. Many have tried to reach Europe, hoping for a better life free from persecution.

Shakib Oso, a graduate of the University of Mosul, studied in the college of arts and department of English before moving to Cyprus. He told of the difficulties Yazidis have faced in their journey: “The Yazidi community has been suffering from the last genocide committed against them since 2014. The main reason for the immigration of thousands each year towards European countries starts from Greece.”

He added that many Yazidis have perished on their journey and because different routes for immigrants have been closed or are dangerous. Some Yazidis sought a new way to reach Europe and they ended up in Cyprus “because the traffickers tell them that Cyprus is a part of Greece and you will get your accommodation and passport just like the people who arrive to the refugees camps in Greece.”

People wearing protective masks walk next to a Cypriot flag painted on a wall in capital Nicosia, Cyprus (credit: YIANNIS KOURTOGLOU/REUTERS)

The Yazidis in Cyprus have mostly all ended up in a camp called Pornara. Yet they face continued struggles there due to lack of services; there are not enough bathrooms, the food is inadequate and people live in small caravans not large enough for their families. Several families will be forced to share one accommodation, for instance. This is the reason that “Yazidi people look for a way to leave the camp as soon as possible,” he said.

The struggles of Yazidi immigrants to Europe

Yazidi immigrants to Europe face unique struggles, different than other migrants, largely due to the added element of religious persecution and discrimination at the hands of other migrants over the years.

This means that, as a minority within a minority, they have extra hardships. Mass immigration via Turkey has been a phenomenon that grew in 2015 when around a million migrants, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, moved through Greece to Serbia and onwards to Germany.

In the wake of this massive influx of people seeking to move to Europe, the EU began paying Turkey to keep migrants within its borders. The route to Greece became more difficult and persecuted people sought other ways to get to Europe, some ending up in Belarus in 2021, and others in Cyprus.

Oso said that when families seek to leave the refugee camp, they received several months of rent and food subsidy from local authorities, but after that they must pay for rent and food, costs that add up.

This makes them want to leave, with some even seeking to return to Iraq rather than stay in Cyprus. Oso told of one woman with two children who went back to Iraq because of her inability to pay rent. “The government pays for each single person 250 euros for the food and for a couple 380 euros, but the prices of food are very high and this payment is also not every moth it’s about one time each two months without paying for the rent at all.”

Rent can be as high as 650 euros a month. “It’s very difficult for the refugees to find jobs here in Cyprus for many reasons, including the language barrier and accommodations,” said Oso.

There are very few organizations seeking to help Yazidis, even though their circumstances are unique in being a minority that survived genocide. Oso said he wishes for people to focus on asking for international organizations, like the International Organization for Migration, to help look for a solution “for us here, in which we want to get our accommodations and passport just like what is happening in Greek refugees camps and travel to European countries.”

International organizations could aid the small community in relocation to other countries. Some European countries have taken in Yazidi refugees over the years.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-736213

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​​​​​​​Yazidi House:

Turkish occupation and its gangs brought us immeasurable suffering

On Wednesday, the Yazidi House in Jazira region organized a gathering, denouncing the mercenary groups' forcing the Yazidis in occupied Afrin to convert to Islam.

Dozens of the Yazidi component and members of the Yazidi House participated in the gathering, which was organized in front of the Yazidi House of the Jazira region in Amuda district. The co-chair of the Yazidi House of the Jazira region, Laila Mahmo, read a statement in this regard, which stated:

"In a step that is not strange about the culture of terrorist groups affiliated with the sinful Turkish occupier, a video clip is circulating on social media about one of the sheikhs of sedition forced 2 Yazidis citizens to utter the Islam’s declaration of faith in occupied Afrin, and the alleged sheikh claimed that they had converted to the blessing of the true religion!!

It added, "Everyone must well- know that the video referred to is the result of prolonged torture, terrorism, and a confirmed death threat. The two aforementioned individuals found no alternative way to avoiding killing further of their families and their people. The information we have confirms what happened, and logic also confirms that an old man has spent his long life." He does not and will not change his faith with such a crude scenario.

It also affirmed that the "heinous acts of these criminals continue, and the crime of handing over Guerilla Harun to the Turkish security authorities is only a link in the series of their actions are disgraceful, adding, "Let them know that what they did to the two Yazidis, as well as what they did by handing over Guerilla Harun, will be their end and imminent death."

In its statement, the Yazidi House called on the Jazira region to preserve human dignity, defend its values, spread the spirit of brotherhood, and reject the causes of division, injustice to people, and insulting feelings.

At the end of its statement, the Yazidi House of the Jazira region saluted everyone who "protects the gains of the Autonomous Administration, which represents hope for all components in a bright tomorrow in which everyone lives away from hatred, grudges and fraud."

https://hawarnews.com/en/haber/yazidi-h ... 35856.html

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Marriages not allowed in April

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – For hundreds of years, the Yazidi people do not perform marriage ceremonies in April, respecting the month as the ‘bride of the year,’ Luqman Sulaiman, a Yazid, told Kurdistan 24

“Many sacred ceremonies are held in Lalish in April, including the Yazidi New Year," Pir Khalat, a Yazidi researcher, revealed.

There are approximately 500,000 Yazidis living in Iraq. More than 70%, or 360,000, of them are still living in camps in the Kurdistan region, according to the figures released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Another 100,000 Yezidis are living outside of Iraq.

Thousands of Yezidi women were sexually enslaved by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was defeated in 2017 by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, with the support of the US-led coalition.

The Kurdish-Kurmanji-speaking community has suffered at least 72 genocides.

European countries, including Germany, have hosted a significant number of Yezidis fleeing the violence. Nearly 10,000 Yezidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS.

The United Nations later recognized the atrocities against the Yazidi people as genocide.

More than 3,500 Yezidis have been rescued so far, according to the KRG.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... d-in-April

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Survivors meet with Dutch
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – [b]The Daughters of the Sun, a documentary directed by Reber Dosky, premiered in a Dutch theater in late March. Six Yezidi women, who are the main characters in the documentary, are currently visiting the Netherlands[/b]

In promoting the documentary, the Yezidi women have met with senior Dutch officials and parliamentarians.

ISIS abducted the six young Yezidi girls after killing their family members. In captivity, the young ladies were beaten, tortured, and sexually abused. The documentary focused on their stories and how they are trying to rebuild their lives.

The Netherlands has provided significant support for the Yezidis, a minority religious group in the Middle East, that has been subjected to persecution and oppression by ISIS. In 2021, the Dutch parliament approved a motion to formally recognize ISIS’s crimes committed against the Yezidi (Ezidi) community in August 2014 as genocide.

Moreover, the Dutch Minister of Justice, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, has supported judicial efforts to bring justice to Yezidi victims. In February, a woman suspected of ties with ISIS and using a Yezidi woman as a slave in Syria in 2015 was prosecuted.

On April 1, the six Yezidi survivors and the film director spoke at the De Balie roundtable discussion, where options for greater assistance by the Netherlands were debated. Participants at the meeting included the Dutch Ambassador to Iraq, Hans Sandee, Wahhab Hassoo of NL Helps Yezidis, Anne Marinessen of Stichting Vluchteling and MP Pieter Omzigt.

MP Omzigt said the Netherlands could do more to serve justice by appointing a public prosecutor and adding a public minister to the Dutch criminal justice agency.

Together with Yoeri Albrecht, director of the Balie, and the film director Reber Dosky, the Yezidi women met with the Dutch FM, Wopke Hoekstra, who expressed his sympathy and admiration for the women.

"It is essential that [the Yezidi] return back to their homes if the situation is safe and poses no risk of danger. We, as an international community, must not let this happen again", Hoekstra stressed. The Dutch FM thanked the women for their openness and bravery. "We cannot imagine the horrors that happened to you," Hoekstra said. "On behalf of the Cabinet, may I say that we are determined to help the Yezidi community."

The MPs were visibly touched by the speech delivered by one of the Yezidi survivors, Sarab Issa. "They killed our family members in front of our eyes. They trafficked us in markets as sex slaves," she explained. "They wanted to make us small but they did not succeed. We are strong, stronger than ever."

Resettling Yezidi women

The Yezidi women also garnered sympathy from MPs Kati Piri (PvdA) and Agnes Mulder (CDA), who acknowledged that the focus on ISIS victims is considerably less than that on the perpetrators.

"I am ashamed that we have let you down," Kati Piri said. "We are working on it but realise that it is not enough," said MP Agnes Mulder (CDA). 'That doesn't feel nice. It's very hard to hear your story."

MP Pieter Omtzigt stressed the need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to also look into the genocide of the Yezidis. "My heart cries for you. I will never forget you,” he said.

Ulysse Ellian (VVD) assured the group that he will concentrate “on bringing these beasts to justice.

I want your story to be told in every trial, time after time, session by session.”

Wahhab Hassoo Hassoo, co-director of NL helps Yezidis, urged for a resettlement programme for these and other women, who have been held captive as slaves by IS. This would also keep them available to contribute to the persecution of IS fighters, he argued.

Hanneke van der Werf (D66) promised to work on inviting more Yezidi women to testify in court, even if a resettlement programme was not created.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... ,-Dutch-FM

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Sinjar agreement

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday received Hazim Tahsin Beg, the Mir of the Yezidis, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)

PM Barzani reiterated the KRG’s support for the rights of the Yezidi people and stressed the importance of implementing the Sinjar agreement, by removing the outlawed groups and militias from Sinjar, as well as securing and normalizing the town to facilitate the return of the IDPs to their homes, the statement added.

The Mir of the Yezidis expressed his gratitude for the KRG's continuous support of the Yezidis and for employing them in government institutions, per the statement.

There are approximately 500,000 Yazidis living in Iraq. More than 70%, or 360,000, of them, are still residing in camps in the Kurdistan region, according to figures released KRG. Another 100,000 Yezidis live outside Iraq.

Thousands of Yezidi women were sexually enslaved by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was defeated in 2017 by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, with the support of the US-led coalition.

The Kurdish-Kurmanji-speaking community has suffered at least 72 genocides.

European countries, including Germany, have hosted a significant number of Yezidis fleeing violence. Nearly 10,000 Yezidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS.

The United Nations later recognized the atrocities against the Yazidi people as genocide.

More than 3,500 Yezidis have been rescued so far, according to the KRG.

[Anthea]

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Yazidi New Year, Çarşema Sor

Çarşema Sor (Red Wednesday) marks the beginning of spring and the first day of the new year in the Yazidi faith. It is celebrated on the third Wednesday of April as the day when both the universe and the world are fermented

"We celebrate the holiday of Yazidi people and welcome Çarşemba Sor, the beginning of the Yazidi Kurds' new year."

The beginning of the year for the Yazidi Kurds, or Çarşema Sor Feast, is celebrated at the beginning of April according to the eastern calendar. This is the holiest month of the year when the creation of the universe is completed, and life is renewed.

Çarşemba Sor is of great historical importance. It represents mutual respect, justice, peace, common life and the fraternity of the peoples of the Mesopotamian region.

RED WEDNESDAY

"Çarşema Sor" in Kurdish means "Red Wednesday". "Çarşem" consists of the Kurdish words "çar" for “four” and "şem" for “week”, meaning the "fourth day of the week", which is Wednesday. "Sor" means red. The day is also called "Sersal" (Kurdish "ser": up, head and/or top; and "sal": year), meaning "New Year".

NEW YEAR TIME

The Yazidi New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which, according to the Yazidi calendar, is always the first day of April and the New Year. Since the Yazidi calendar follows the Gregorian calendar by 13 days, the New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which falls on or after April 14th in the Gregorian calendar. In Kurdish, the month of April is called "Nîsan". The first day of the month "Nîsan" is the "Çarşema Sor".

MYTHOLOGY

According to Yazidi mythology, the "red Wednesday" is the day on which the creation of the earth was completed: The sun's rays reached the earth for the first time, turning the firmament red. The name "Red Wednesday" comes from this.

Furthermore, it was the day on which the head of the Yazidi archangels, Tawisî Melek (God's angel), first came to earth. Tawisî Melek is the center of the seven archangels, so he represents Wednesday, the middle of the week or the center of the seven archangels. Wednesday is the rest day of the Yazidis, similar to Sunday for Christians.

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Colorful decorated eggs

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Every year on the third Wednesday of April, Yezidis celebrate their New Year—named Red Wednesday or Charshema Sor in Kurdish

The Yezidis perform a variety of ceremonies to commemorate the new year.

For example, in the morning of New Year’s Day, Yezidi farmers go into their fields to spread eggshells to receive blessings.

Mam Kurtan Khurzi, a Yezidi farmer, explains that they perform the same rituals as their ancestors to keep up their traditions. After decorating the eggs, they spread the shells across their lands.

According to the Yezidis, the planet Earth was created on Red Wednesday, and they attribute the coloring of the eggs to the Earth's abundance.

Last night, hundreds of young and old Yezidis celebrated Red Wednesday in Lalish, located in a valley in the Shekhan district, about 40 kilometers from Duhok.

Several hundred candles were lit at the ancient temple of Lalish. These candles mark each day on the Yezidi calendar.

Sivo Derbas, a Kurdish Yezidi artist who returned to the Kurdistan Region from Europe, says he prefers to celebrate the holiday in Lalish, although celebrations take place in Europe as well.

Sabah Elias, a Yezidi from Sinjar, said “I came to Lalish with my friends and family to participate in the New Year celebrations. All Yezidis come together on this day.”

There are approximately 500,000 Yazidis living in Iraq. More than 70%, or 360,000, of them, are still residing in camps in the Kurdistan region, according to figures released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Another 100,000 Yezidis live outside Iraq.

Thousands of Yezidi women were sexually enslaved by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was defeated in 2017 by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, with the support of the US-led coalition.

The Kurdish-Kurmanji-speaking community has suffered at least 72 genocides.

European countries, including Germany, have hosted a significant number of Yezidis fleeing violence. Nearly 10,000 Yezidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS.

The United Nations later recognized the atrocities against the Yazidi people as genocide.

More than 3,500 Yezidis have been rescued so far, according to the KRG.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... i-New-Year

Let us NOT forget the 3,000 Yazidis still missing

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President Barzani commitment

to save missing Yezidis

Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On the occasion of the Yezidi New Year, the Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday expressed his commitment to continue the rescue efforts to save the thousands Yezidis who were kidnapped by ISIS

“I extend my warm congratulations to all Yezidi brothers and sisters in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and around the world on the occasion of the Yezidi New Year,” he said in a statement.

“On this day, we pay tribute to the Yezidi victims of terrorism. We stand with them and we assure everyone that as long as there are missing Yezidis, we will continue to rescue them and uncover their fate.”

According to the latest data from the Free Yezidi Foundation, ISIS abducted and enslaved a total of 6,417 Yezidi women and children.

Eight years after the genocide committed against the Yezidi’s, there are still around 3,000 Yezidi’s missing

“Nothing is more agonizing and frustrating to the Yezidi community than waiting and wondering about the fate of the missing,” Pari Ibrahim, Founder and Executive Director of the Free Yezidi Foundation said in a public statement.

“We are realistic, and we know that not every missing Yezidi is still alive. But for those who are still suffering slavery and abuse every day, the international community must make a serious, coordinated rescue effort.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... %E2%80%99s

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Dead or alive

Yazidis anxiously await ISIS-abducted relatives

After paying nearly $100,000 in ransoms to free 10 family members, Khaled Taalou, a member of Iraq's Yazidi minority, is still working to free other missing relatives kidnapped by Islamic State group fighters.

Despite his efforts, five more relatives, along with thousands of other Yazidis, remain missing after being abducted by the jihadists.

"We are still looking. We do not lose hope," the 49-year-old said.

In August 2014, ISIS swept over Mount Sinjar, the Kurdish-speaking minority's historic home in northern Iraq. They massacred thousands of Yazidi men, enlisted children, and seized thousands of women to be sold as jihadists' "wives" or reduced to sexual slavery.

ISIS considered the Yazidis, who follow a non-Muslim monotheistic faith, as heretics.

UN investigators described as genocide the atrocities carried out by ISIS.

Nineteen members of Taalou's family were abducted, including his brother and sister, along with their spouses and children.

"We borrowed money as we could, here and there, to get them out," the journalist and writer said.

Now displaced and living in Sharya, a village in Iraqi Kurdistan, after fleeing his home in Sinjar, Taalou has managed to free 10 relatives over seven years.

Expensive releases are negotiated "via networks of traffickers in Iraq and abroad", he said.

The latest was his brother's granddaughter in February 2022, located in a Syrian camp. He has learned that along with five relatives who remain missing, two family members were killed in aerial bombardments in the fight against ISIS.

'Eyes on the road'

After ISIS's rapid rise in 2014, Iraq declared victory over the jihadists in 2017 and the group's last Syrian stronghold was retaken in 2019.

But the toll left behind by their self-proclaimed caliphate is still being counted. Mass graves in Sinjar continue to be exhumed and the International Organization for Migration says more than 2,700 Yazidis remain missing, with some still in ISIS captivity while "the whereabouts of others is uncertain".

Bahar Elias was separated from her husband Jassem and their son Ahmed, who was barely 19 when the family was kidnapped when IS seized Sinjar.

Relatives paid intermediaries $22,000 to secure the release of Bahar and her three younger sisters.

Now living in a camp for displaced people near Sharya, the 40-year-old said she has her "eyes glued to the road" in hopes that her husband and son will return.

She appealed for international assistance to "help us find a trace of our families, to find out if they are dead or alive".

Knowing their fate, she added, would allow her "to be free from pain".

'Nothing left in Sinjar'

Hussein Qaidi, head of a public office in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region working to rescue kidnapped Yazidis, said IS abducted 6,417 Yazidis from Sinjar.

More than 3,500 have been rescued in Iraq or from neighbouring Syria and Turkey.

He estimated 2,855 Yazidis remain missing and said his team works tirelessly to "gather the available information and free all the kidnapped".

Hayam was 17 when ISIS abducted her on August 3, 2014, along with her parents, five sisters and two brothers.

Now living in Sharya, she has managed to rebuild her life after a journey across the territory once controlled by the jihadists.

In an ISIS prison, she met Leila, a fellow Yazidi. In May 2015, Hayam was sold to a Syrian and Leila to an Iraqi.

Four months later, Hayam was given to a man from Dagestan before escaping her ordeal and reaching Iraqi Kurdistan, after a year and a half in captivity.

She has since married Leila's brother, Marwan, and the couple and their two children have sought asylum in Australia, where Hayam has family awaiting them.

She has the word "huriya" (freedom) tattooed on her wrist and holds no intention of returning to her former home.

"Nothing awaits us in Sinjar," she said, adding that her family and friends are no longer there.

"Some were killed, others are still captives of ISIS, and others have emigrated. Everything has changed."

Link to Article - Photos:

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... -relatives

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Hate speech against Yezidis

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The French embassy in Iraq on Wednesday strongly condemned recent hate speech targeting the Yezidi community

Press release from the French Embassy in Iraq with regards the campaign of hatred and accusations targeting the Yazidi community. pic.twitter.com/LBiFSNyKCj
— La France en Irak (@FranceBagdad) May 2, 2023

“It called for the right of Yazidis (Yezidi’s) to live in peace, security and dignity, in the same way as the other components of Iraqi society,” the statement said.

“It reaffirms France's concrete commitment to the Yazidis in Iraq, whether it be their right to decent living conditions in the region where they have been the target of Daesh's extermination, or in camps where they have sought refuge.”

Moreover, France called on federal authorities and those of the autonomous region of Kurdistan to continue their efforts to improve security, governance and reconstruction in Sinjar.

The French Embassy in Iraq emphasized its “commitment to creating an understanding and a peaceful dialogue between the different components of the Iraqi population and to preserving the country's diversity, one of its main assets.”

Yezidi activists on social media welcomed the statement. “Thanks to the Embassy of France,” Yezidi activist Saad Baber told Kurdistan 24.

“We need such solidarity and statements from the UN in Iraq, the US Embassy, the UK Embassy, and other International missions to stand with Yazidi survivors who are living in fear because of hate speech by religious leaders in Iraq and the Kurdistan region,” he added.

Hunar Kakayi, an activist, documented the hate speech against the Yezidi community on social media and welcomed the French statement in his Twitter page.

“I think the statement by France is good because it should alert security intelligence actors in the KRG about the existence of the Daesh (ISIS) ideology.”

“I believe the KRG government should do more to arrest those who directly threaten national security and disturb the social fabric.”

France has supported the Yezidi community since the beginning of ISIS attacks on the religious minority. Moreover, France supports a project to build a hospital in Sinjar.

Social media was abuzz with unverified claims on Friday that Yezidi protestors had attacked and set fire to a mosque.

Following the incident, hate speech and threats against Yezidis escalated on social media, even some applauding ISIS's past atrocities against Yezidi women.

The Iraqi Sunni Endowment visited the Rahman Mosque in Sinjar to investigate the incident, and determined that the mosque was not attacked and there was no evidence of any material damage to the mosque.

The return of 25 Sunni Arab families to Sinjar lead to protests by Yezidi’s who claimed the families helped ISIS, during the ISIS genocide of Yezidi’s in August 2014.

The return of displaced Sunni Muslims native to Sinjar has been a concern among the Yezidi community, who accuse them of having facilitated ISIS crimes against them.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... -community

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Hate speech against Yazidis

As hate speech and threats against Yazidis in Iraq have risen dangerously in recent days, Nobel laureate Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad on Friday called on the authorities to act before it escalates into physical violence

This rising wave of hate speech began when Yazidi Kurds in Sinjar protested against the resettlement of Arab families in the area.

On 27 April, the Iraqi government repatriated a large number of Arab families from the infamous Al-Hol camp, which is home to thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) affiliates in northeastern Syria, and resettled them in Sinjar (Şengal).

The Yazidi community of Sinjar protested against the return of the families, saying that they had helped ISIS in its massive massacre of Yazidis in 2014, and that some of them were even ISIS fighters themselves.

While Yazidi people were taking to the streets to protest against the return of those who played a role in the massacre which was recognised as genocide by the UN and EU, social media started to spread false messages claiming members of the Yazidi community had set fire to a mosque as well as an image of a destroyed mosque.

Although Yazidis and some Muslim religious figures have said that this is not true, tensions have been exacerbated by the fact that some sect leaders continued to post videos with inflammatory rhetoric and threats against Yazidis.

Later, it was revealed that the image of the ruined mosque that spread and caused the events to escalate had actually been destroyed by ISIS. But that has not stopped many Iraqi Muslims from praising ISIS’ genocide of the Yazidis or threatening to commit the same act themselves.

While the Iraqi government has not taken any action against the sect leaders who spread hate speech against Yazidis, France’s envoy to Iraq condemned the attacks on Wednesday and called on both federal and autonomous authorities to improve security in Sinjar.

“These kinds of discourse targeting the Yazidi people are dangerous and unacceptable,” the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) said in a statement released on Wednesday, condemning the Kurdistan Regional Government for remaining silent in the face of the incident.

According to the US-based Critical Threats Project, ISIS takes advantage of internally displaced people (IDP) flows to hide fighters, and the Iraqi government’s choice to release IDPs rapidly and without any real structural plan means that the government is unable to do its due diligence in ensuring no ISIS fighters are present.

In other words, the Project confirms that the concerns of the Yazidis, who fear that a similar massacre could happen again if Arabs return to the region, are not unfounded.

The ISIS attacks against Yazidis in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq started on 3 August 2014. ISIS overran the Yazidi’s lands, forcing young women into sexual and domestic servitude for ISIS fighters, massacring thousands of people and driving Yazidis from the area.

ISIS was removed from the area on 13 November 2015. In 2016 an independent UN commission of inquiry recognised the massacres as genocide

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[Anthea]

Only just found this:
Yazidis ring in the year 6773

On the first Wednesday of Eastern April, Yazidis commemorate four things: the explosion of the sorghum from which the universe arose, the boiling of the Earth after the end of the ice by the landing of the Peacock King, the feast of creation by pumping blood into Adam’s body and the feast of fertility, which is the memory of the fertility of the first egg to grow a living being

At sunset, when Yazidis believe a new day begins, thousands of worshippers on Tuesday lit candles at Lalish Temple, the holiest of all Yazidi temples. Supreme spiritual leader Baba Sheikh Ali Alyas presided over the ceremony commemorating the coming of light into the world.

The Yazidi New Year falls on the first Wednesday of April according to the Eastern Julian, or Selucid, calendar, which is 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar.

Children boil and colour 12 eggs each for the months of the year. The egg symbolises the Earth. Boiling it epitomises the time it lies frozen, and colouring it stands for the end of the cold, frozen months.

‎‏For Hilda Dakhil, a 17-year-old who has come to the temple every New Year’s for as long as she can remember, the colouring of the eggs is “one of the essential rituals”.

At the temple outside Dohuk, young people play an egg-tapping game that symbolises one of the four divine events the Yazidis commemorate on New Year’s: the bursting of the “White Pearl”, which brought about all life.

“April has a special sanctity for Yazidis,” said Luqman Suleiman, 40. “We don’t cut down trees or plough the land in the first 15 days because this distorts the beauty of nature. We also don’t marry in April because we believe this brings misfortune. For us, April is the year’s bride in which there are no other marriages.”

Families hang bouquets of anemones on their doors and dress in pastel-coloured, festive clothes that are pressed and made ready well in advance.

Ewes are also not milked ahead of the New Year so they can fully satisfy their young.

Amir al-Hajj Hassan Zainal, 63, a Yazidi cleric, says, “This holiday is considered the creation of the universe because Lalish is the leaven of the earth, and ‎‏this is the most important holiday we have because it is the feast of the King Peacock because God honoured him on this holy Wednesday.”

"According to the philosophy of the Yazidi religion, the temple of Lalish is the place of the formation of the earth, the place of creation or the yeast of the earth"

‎‏Luqman Suleiman says that according to the philosophy of the Yazidi religion, "the temple of Lalish is the place of the formation of the Earth, the place of creation or the yeast of the Earth."

"In addition to lighting the temple of Lalish with lamps on the night of the holiday, every Yazidi house also lights one lamp as well as in every Yazidi shrine," Suleiman says. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]

Yazidi New Year's Eve celebrations at Lalish Temple in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]

According to Yazidi beliefs, God finished creating the universe on the first Wednesday of April, so "Red Wednesday" was described as the day of creation.

The Yazidis believe it was called Red Wednesday because, on this day, the Lord pumped blood into the body of Adam, so his flesh became fully formed, blood flowed through his body and life was resurrected on planet Earth.

"After colouring the eggs, we play an egg game," 17-year-old Hilda Dakhil says. "One person taps their egg on another's egg. Whoever is holding the egg that doesn't break will be lucky this year."

"Lalish is our most important temple in the world," says Shawkat Hasan, 50, a Yazidi who lives with his family in Belgium. "My two children have not visited Iraq since they were born in Belgium, and they must be baptised in Lalish. It's busy here today, so we will return in two days to baptise them."

"This holiday is considered the creation of the universe because Lalish is the leaven of the earth, and ‎‏this is the most important holiday we have because it is the feast of the King Peacock because God honoured him on this holy Wednesday," says Amir al-Hajj Hassan Zainal, 63, a Yazidi cleric.

Please follow link below to wonderful photos:

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/ ... le-in-iraq

[Anthea]

Targeting of Ezidi Community in Sinjar

Statement from Refugees International Vice President for Programs and Policy Hardin Lang:

“The Ezidi people have faced decades of persecution. In 2014, the Islamic State launched a campaign of mass violence and abuse against their community in Iraq. These crimes, including massacres, sexual assault, and enslavement amounted to genocide.

Less than a decade later, the Ezidi are being scapegoated and vilified. Ezidi leaders and activists understandably fear that their community will once again be targeted and are sounding the alarm.

The Ezidi people need and deserve a meaningful path out of genocide. At minimum, this means safety, security, and aid to help displaced Ezidis and their communities recover, return, and rebuild. Instead, this type of hate speech risks setting the stage for a slide back into violence.

Today, more than 200,000 Ezidis remain internally displaced in Iraq years after Islamic State fighters destroyed their communities in and around Sinjar. Many still struggle with mental trauma after years of torture, inhumane treatment, and the struggle of coming to terms with the disappearance of family members.

The government of Iraq and the authorities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq need to take urgent steps to push back against this hate speech and to provide security, basic services, and reconstruction for Ezidi communities. These authorities must ensure that the perpetrators of genocide are not able to threaten the survivors once again.

The international community cannot remain indifferent and complacent in the face of renewed threats against the Ezidis. Refugees International stands with the Ezidi community and civil society actors working to empower the Ezidi community.”

https://www.refugeesinternational.org/r ... thern-iraq

[Anthea]

HAWAR, OUR BANISHED CHILDREN

In Hawar, Our Banished Children, director Pascale Bourgaux delves into the harrowing experiences of Yazidi mothers forced to abandon their children, born as a result of rape by members of the Islamic State. The initial joy of these women's rescue from captivity is swiftly overshadowed by grief when community elders compel them to leave their children behind, unwilling to raise "the offspring of their enemies".

Bourgaux follows Ana, a Yazidi survivor of sexual slavery, as she embarks on a covert journey across Kurdistan to reunite with her daughter Marya after four long years of separation. Through Ana's story, this road documentary exposes the seldom-discussed fate of children born from rape by jihadists and unveils the intricate layers of secrecy, hypocrisy, and struggle within the Yazidi and Kurdish communities.

Hawar, Our Banished Children is a journalistic documentary that reveals the hidden realities of a community through the lens of an anonymous protagonist. The film uncovers the dual victimization that these women face, both within their own community and at the hands of external patriarchal forces.

The documentary unveils, indirectly, the distressing life forced upon these women among jihadists, including confronting the parents of her captor. Ana shares little-known and rarely-publicized details about her ongoing trauma, which persists even after her return home.

Ana's quest to rescue her daughter serves as a poignant example of the countless women who have been torn from their children. Bourgaux continues to document the efforts to save other children left behind through no fault of their own. The personal narratives evolve into a broader human rights issue, as organizations work to reunite mothers with their children at the cost of leaving their own communities and families for good.

The film features heartrending scenes of Yazidi mothers reuniting with their children after extended separations. Mothers are overwhelmed with emotion, while their children appear confused and frightened, unable to recognize their own mothers.

Bourgaux recounts the challenges she faced in completing the documentary, which was in production from 2014 to 2022, due to the secrecy surrounding the subject matter. Eventually, she uncovers clandestine initiatives led by Kurds, Swedes, Americans, and even some Yazidis, all striving to help these mothers.

Hawar, Our Banished Children portrays the stark reality of war's aftermath and the resilience of mothers grappling with the ongoing trauma.

The film recently enjoyed its world premiere at the Visions du Reel International Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.

https://screenanarchy.com/2023/05/visio ... rneys.html