Yazidis

‘They don't have to fight alone’: Why victims of jihadism are turning to the Jews

TERROR AFFAIRS: Jewish activist Charles Jacobs has launched a global coalition bringing together Jews, Christians, Yazidis and other minorities facing jihadist persecution.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
ISLAMIC STATE fighters wave jihadist flags in Raqqa, Syria, in June 2014. The persecution of religious and ethnic minorities by jihadist movements has prompted efforts to unite threatened communities, including Jews, Christians, Yazidis, and others, against a common enemy.
A view shows the conical temple roofs, courtyards and pilgrims at the Lalish sanctuary during the Jama'i festival in Lalish, Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on October 10, 2026; Illustrative.

Fourteen years after genocide, Yazidis may see stability in Iraq - analysis

The Yazidi region was largely abandoned by Iraq. The Yazidis remained, but they were divided.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
An abandoned improvised mortar system is seen on the side of a road in Sinjar, Iraq, with a Kurdish flag flying in the background, January 26, 2016

Yazidi fighters disarm in Iraq's Sinjar after a decade of division - what comes next? - analysis

Baghdad’s push to bring armed groups under state control is gaining traction with the YBS, unlike with Iraq’s more powerful, Iranian-backed militias.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Yazidi woman holds a flame during the Charshama Sor Red New Year ceremony at the Lalish temple in Iraq in April. For a community repeatedly driven from its ancestral homes and subjected to forced conversions, religious tradition has become an enduring expression of survival and continuity.

From forced conversion to genocide: How Yazidis carry centuries of persecution into exile

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: The Islamic interpretation of the Yazidi faith is what members of ISIS used to justify the enslavement of over 6,000 women and children and the murder of more than 5,000 people.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD

After pivotal role saving Yazidis from ISIS, PKK leaves Sinjar

With the PKK gone, it is unclear what comes next. Threats of a Turkish campaign may be reduced, but the presence of Shi’ite militias and the uncertainty looming over the Yazidis does not bode well.

APRIL 4, 2018BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
YAZIDI FIGHTERS secure a road on Mount Sinjar on Wednesday that their displaced brethren use to escape to Newrooz camp in Syria’s Hasakah province.

Yazidis who once fled ISIS now flee Turkish offensive

“Many Yazidis are hesitant to leave Afrin because they think they won’t ever be able to return.”

MARCH 16, 2018BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
YAZIDI STUDENTS play last month near the psychotherapy center in the Rawanga camp in Iraq.

Jilan’s story – a Yazidi girl who chose to take her life

Jilan had been taken to Ba’aj where an ISIS leader took her as his sex slave.

FEBRUARY 7, 2018ByKHALAF DAKHEEL
Yazidi refugees flee for their lives from Islamic State forces near the Syrian border, August 11.

Yazidi women suffer from complex post-traumatic stress disorder

Although ISIS no longer poses a threat to them, they still feel less safe, and their current living conditions may exacerbate their symptoms.

JANUARY 31, 2018ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A displaced woman from the minority Yazidi sect, who was kidnapped by Islamic State militants of Tal Afar but managed to flee, reacts in Duhok province, northern Iraq, November 24, 2016.

Un référendum, et après ?

Pour sortir de la crise engendrée par le scrutin sur l’indépendance du Kurdistan, les dirigeants de la région prônent un dialogue avec Bagdad

NOVEMBER 12, 2017BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
La citadelle d’Erbil pavoisée le jour du vote

Nationalism, chauvinism and conflict with Kurds undermine post-ISIS Iraq

Yazidi genocide survivor speaks of need to remember women enslaved by terrorists.

NOVEMBER 6, 2017BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Shi'a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighter looks inside an armored vehicle after liberating the city of Al-Qaim, Iraq

Baghdad-Kurdistan dispute shifts control over Yazidi genocide sites

Iraq has deployed its military to assert control over Mount Sinjar, the site of 40 mass graves from ISIS's genocide of the Yazidis who lived there.

OCTOBER 25, 2017BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Two photos of mass grave sites near Sinjar in 2015 of Yazidis who were mass murdered by ISIS in the 2014 genocide.

A Yazidi in America

The struggles of Yazidis who survived the genocide against their people know no end.

OCTOBER 24, 2017ByDAWOOD SALEH
Yazidi refugees flee for their lives from Islamic State forces near the Syrian border, August 11.

Brainwashed by a cult: French priest offers therapy to Yazidi captives

Nearly 3,000 women and children are believed to remain in Islamic State captivity, even after the militants' retreat in Iraq and Syria.

OCTOBER 13, 2017ByREUTERS
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate in 2014

Report: Jihadist groups luring recruits with promises of sex slaves

"Modern day slavery may increase as Daesh struggles to sustain its financial reserves," says researcher.

OCTOBER 9, 2017ByREUTERS
A displaced woman from the minority Yazidi sect, who was kidnapped by Islamic State militants of Tal Afar but managed to flee, reacts in Duhok province, northern Iraq, November 24, 2016.