#yazidigenocide

[dilanensemble]

Music lovers💚today is Bandcamp Friday, you can get your copy of recent record #MySunsetLand_Rojava from Bandcamp now!

ALL PROFITS OF THIS ALBUM WILL BE GOING TO SUPPORT "Yazidi Women" SUFFERING FROM "Yazidi Genocide"

[partnersrelief]

Staff Update: Shihab, Iraq

Update from Shihab, Partners Iraq Staff Member, on the recent completion of a school extension at Duhoola School in Shingal, Iraq.

In the year of 2014, Yazidis were subjected to a very terrible genocide at ISIS hands. This radical Islamic group targeted vulnerable religious ethnic groups such as Yazidis and Christians in Iraq, because of the way that they believe. Many of those became easy prey for ISIS and were killed, kidnapped, tortured, made homeless, and more. Moreover, ISIS destroyed the construction sites within where those communities lived. For example, schools, hospitals, religious sites, and their properties. Hence, numerous people became displaced because of these terrible attacks, and most of them live in refugee camps in Kurdistan.

For many refugees living in (camps) tents, this is the worst experience that they have ever dealt with. So, in the last few years many families decided to return to their homeland and start a new life. 

Duhoola (Dohoola) community is basically one of the majorities that moved back to Shingal (Sinjar) in the last few years. Currently, there are roughly 1500 families live in Duhoola village, which is 75 percent of the community’s previous size. Most of the community moved back during the years 2016-2017. Generally, the lifestyle in Shingal is harsh and difficult so far because there are many different political parties and irregular armed groups involved which create instability in the entire region. 

People moved back to Shingal to build what ISIS destroyed and to start a new life, a life which is full of prosperity, love, and peace. 

Furthermore, to build a better future for their children like everyone else in the world hopes for their kids. A future that is difficult to achieve nowadays in this unique world as the Yazidi community has been neglected by the Iraqi governments for many decades. Presently, the children and community in Duhoola village and many others villages in Shingal are suffering and facing difficulties with meeting their daily basic needs. For example, lack of water, electricity, healthcare, jobs, and education.

The support that the community in Duhoola and in other regions in Shingal receives, are mostly from humanitarian organizations. So, supporting education is one of the basic elements that helps and rehabilitates new generations.

During this year, Partners built or extended three new classrooms, two bathrooms, and a yard in Duhoola school. This extension gives an opportunity to over a hundred-sixty students to join classes. The entire community is very happy that this extension was built. 

The teachers and students are excited for their new school; now they have more space to rest and to attend their classes. 

The project does not support just only the educational field, it supports vulnerable laborers and their families as well. 

For example, as Partners started the project, one of the laborers who lives next to the school came and asked to work on the school as he could not afford to buy any supplies to meet his basic needs. Therefore, the entire community is very grateful for Partners for building this great project.

To learn more, visit www.partners.ngo/our-work/middle-east

[scarletwitchie2]

Angelina Jolie and Nadia Murad paid a joint visit to the Sinjar region of northern Iraq to mark the progress made towards rebuilding the region and highlight the needs of survivors eight years after the Yazidi genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The pair spent a day visiting Nadia's village, her old school & childhood home, as well as Sinjar Kindergarten, Sinjar City, the new Sinjar Medical Center & other project sites where sustainable, community-driven & centered recovery efforts on survivors...

[lephenixkurde]

7 ans séparent ces 2 photos d'une enfant yézidie enlevée en 2014 et vendue plusieurs fois avant sa libération en 2019. 2719 Yézidis toujours retenus par Daesh ou portés disparus attendent de retrouver le sourire 8 ans après le #GénocideYézidi. Ne les oublions pas. #YazidiGenocide

Source : Zidan Ismail @zidan_yezidi

This beautiful Yezidi was abducted by Isis in 2014 with her family. She was sold multiple times between Isis members. She was freed from captivity in 2019. This photo is a testament to how women are abused on a daily basis. There are still 2,719 missing Yezidisin captivity pic.twitter.com/RC5r5g03dJ

Shadha Salim is a Yezidi survivor: Yezidi women who were raped by ISIS militants, ISIS has kidnapped more than 2,500 Yezidi women and there are still almost 3000 thousands women and children in Isis captivity.#YazidiGenocide pic.twitter.com/tL10WsYvN5

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Jewish Congress (@worldjewishcongress)

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the #YazidiGenocide. ISIS started to kill the men and murdered the women deemed too old to be sold as salves. Uncounted numbers of  young women were sold as slaves, raped over months and killed.   1000s of Yazidi women and girls are still missing. Those, who survived, have to live with the trauma. Much to late only some countries helped the Yazidis who suffer genozide, betrayl and ethnic harrasment for several thousand years. A scar on the conscience of the world. We can't say we didn't know.

[ourfnn]

‏‎في مثل هذا اليوم ‏3/آب من عام2014 انطلقت يد الغدر والخيانة لتنهي حياة العشرات تاركتا خلفها مقابر جماعية للطائفةالايزيدية ‎#الابادة_الايزيدية ‎#YazidiGenocide ‎‏ https://www.instagram.com/p/B0syd8eJ8NX/?igshid=1c44uesokyteb

[bobbyfriction]

100 years of some women getting the right to vote here in the UK. 100 years of the mighty Suffragettes. 100 years later & a whole race/religion of women sold into sexual slavery. LIBERATION SHOULD BE GLOBAL! #YazidiGenocide #100years #Suffrage100 #Vote100

[germandejuana]

Tweeted

🇮🇶 El 15 d'agost de 2014, pràcticament tots els homes del poble yazidita de #Kocho van ser assassinats per Estat Islàmic (només van sobreviure uns pocs ferits). Totes les dones i nens van ser segrestats i esclavitzats.https://t.co/CoK9dAzuBd#YazidiGenocide #الابادة_الايزيدية pic.twitter.com/r3jPSGEZvr

— Jordi Llaonart (@arabislamblog) August 15, 2020

[partnersrelief]

Witness: Madina

Photo: Portrait of Madina sitting in her newly constructed one-room home.

“For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war.” — James Nachtwey

I remember sitting down with my grandma before she died and she spoke to me about the war, something she would never talk to anyone about. She was a young lady back then working in the large factories in London during the Blitz of WW2. Hearing her story about what she went through and how she overcame her struggles inspired me greatly. Being vulnerable and willing to share her past history with me and no one else was an honour. My grandma had faith in me to feel and understand the pain she went through. She was an old-school British lady who would always remind me to keep a stiff upper lip when things become tough. That conversation that we had has stayed with me, to be understanding, caring and willing to hear people’s stories and to share their experiences as a spokesperson to the people who are willing to listen and to learn. 

I look at my work and my stories as a bridge for the viewer, to be transported to the location that I and Partners are working in, to have an understanding of what these people are currently going through. These people are witnesses, and my images and stories are their testimony. These events in history should not be forgotten and must not be repeated. "This centers the voices of the marginalised whose stories have gone unheard and it is my honour to share them with you.

Due to the sensitivity of some of the locations that Partners operates in, I will remain anonymous. All images and stories have been documented by me while on assignment with Partners Relief & Development. 

Madina’s Story

I met Madina in June, 2021 just after a large fire had broken out in Sharia camp a couple of weeks previously. I walked into her one room house on the edge of the newly built section of the camp. The smell of burning rubbish in the air reminding us both of the disaster that took place a couple of weeks ago. The fire destroyed a quarter of the camp, including Madina’s home. She is now in her new home, happy that it is finally a solid structure building and not a tent, but that did come at a price. I sat down with Madina in the middle of summer in the Kurdish territory of Iraq, sweat beading off our heads and quickly evaporating as soon as it hit the hot concrete floor. The camps generators were down at the time so the luxury of a fan was out of the question. 

I remember distinctively her eyes, they reminded me of my own mother, showing empathy, love and resilience. She wanted to cover her face to protect her identity but sharing her story was all that she wanted to do. Madina with her humble warm voice asked where she should begin, I said “from when things changed for you”…

I am originally from a small village called Gerzarek (Al Adnaniyah) in Shingal (Sinjar). In 2014, ISIS attacked our region, displacing me and my six children. We had to take refuge in a camp in Sharia, Kurdistan. My dad and uncle have been missing since the ISIS occupation leaving me with no support. My husband left me and the kids when I was pregnant with my youngest child. I see him around the camp sometimes with his new family, but he doesn’t care about us at all. I am a mother and a father to my kids; I love them deeply but I constantly stress about their safety. Life was a lot easier when my husband was still with us.

Photo: Map of Madina’s journey starting from Gerzarek (Al Adnaniyah) to Sharia.

I woke up in a panic, to the sounds of gunshots and screaming, ISIS attacked our village early in the morning on August 3rd, 2014. I remember it so clearly, it was 2 o'clock in the morning, still dark. Anyone that had a gun was fighting to protect their family and community from the Islamic State. The fighting lasted until 6 o’clock AM. That’s when everyone ran out of bullets, but not ISIS, they were getting closer to us, the sound of gunfire growing more and more intense by the second. You could feel the shockwaves hitting your chest like a punch. The community leaders made the decision that everyone should flee, we couldn’t hold them back and we lost so many members of our community during the battle. My husband and I grabbed our children within a second and left the house, we didn’t have time to take anything else, we had to run! The sun was already beating down on us at this point, we had no shoes so the ground was burning the soles of our feet with every step. We had to make our way to Sinjar City, it was our only hope to find a vehicle.

We reached Sinjar City just south of the mountain. A man with a pickup truck offered to drive my family and others up the mountain to seek refuge. ISIS couldn’t reach us from there, it was the safest option at the time. After an hour of driving up the torturous winding road, we came across a shelter on the Northern side of the mountain. It was quiet, we were the only ones there but we took time to rest and drink water so that we could think rationally. We had to protect our children at all costs. It didn’t take long until we heard fighting on the North side. It was ISIS, they had surrounded us and they were only getting closer. My husband and I realised that we were now stuck on the mountain waiting for our fate. We made the decision that we had to move on and find a way down the mountain before it was too late. Whilst we were walking, we came across a vehicle carrying another family. We asked them if they were trying to get down the mountain, they said yes and told us to jump in. We warned them that ISIS was on the North and South side of the mountain, there are few roads going down so our choices were limited. Halfway into our decsent we were confronted with a road block. My heart was in my throat unable to catch my breath, it was the moment that we all hoped would never happen. Three ISIS vehicles full of soldiers stopped us, panic arose and we all started to scream and beg for our lives. We all knew what was going to happen to us as we are all Yazidis, the women and girls would become sex slaves, the boys would be made to become fighters and the men would be killed. The ISIS soldiers told us to follow them in the vehicle as they were taking us to Sinun (Alshamal) City where our nightmares would begin. The driver, taking off the hand brake slowly, began to creep forward with the convoy with extreme hesitation. He made the decision that he was not going to take us to our inevitable deaths. The driver quickly made a U-turn and drove as quickly as the vehicle was capable, back up the mountain. We ended up in a small village called Karsi. There was no food for us to eat but there was a stream close by for us to stay hydrated. That night we slept on the rocks, looking up at the stars and wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Photo: Madina and her youngest child standing in the entrance of her newly constructed home waiting for the tea to boil. 

We spent 9 sleepless nights up on Sinjar Mountain, waiting to be hunted down. We had no food up there. The men would take turns climbing down the mountain and sneaking into the villages and farms to find food for us to eat. Sometime the men came back but many were less fortunate. It became too much for us on the 10th day. We were starving and suffering from sleep deprivation, there was no way we could spend another day up in the mountain, the sun constantly beating down on us whilst we hid amongst the rocks. It was a decision everyone agreed on, we had to climb down, we were desperate. It took us the whole day to walk across the mountain under the blistering sun. We were very weak at this point, but fortunately we came across an old Yazidi temple known as Mzar Shybi Qasm. We took refuge there for the night. Sunrise hit and that was our time to move, we started descending down the mountain, constantly hiding behind anything that would protect us from being spotted or shot. We knew ISIS was watching the mountain but we had no idea if they were watching us. To our own surprise we reached the bottom of Sinjar mountain safely. It was 10 miles straight to the Syrian border from where we were. My whole family was still bare footed at the time, my husband and I taking turns carrying our children through the hot dusty desert. I saw so much horror throughout those 10 miles, innocent people dead on the side of the road, people burnt within their homes, the screaming of desperate women and children begging for water as they slowly died of thirst. I felt so helpless, there was nothing I could do apart from moving forward one step at a time until my children were safe. I can still to this day hear their screams when I sleep. ISIS invaded us, captured us, killed us and massacred us. Still the corpses of the innocent are buried under the dust waiting to be found. 

Photo: Madina making tea after the interview. The tattoo on her hand symbolises the star and crescent, a symbol that Yazidis and Muslims share.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were waiting for all the survivors that managed to escape the massacre. We crossed the border into Syria where we were given food and water. Spending the night there was the first time I managed to sleep since ISIS had attacked us. My body ached from head to toe but we were finally safe. In the morning we were told to jump onto a truck, the vehicle drove us to Duhok in the Kurdish territory of Iraq and we arrived at a disused school. We stayed there for a while until the construction of Sharya camp was completed. The Yazidi people have been suffering for a long time. It has been 8 years since the genocide yet we are still living in tents, living in fear, wondering if we will ever be able to return home. There is a big difference between living here in the camp and Sinjar. In Sinjar, we were close to our families, parents and community, we would have fun all the time. It was eventful, we supported one another. It’s not like that anymore. I have lost my home once again, not because of war but because of carelessness and selfishness. No one in the camp has supported me, if this was back in Sinjar the community would come together to support me and my children. After seeing everything throughout the war and going through the trauma of the fire, I wonder how we didn’t go crazy, how did we not lose our minds…

Madina finished her story with a single tear running down her cheek. She asked if we wanted some tea. Just like that, Madina carried on with her life, carrying the horrors on her back like an overloaded Sherpa. She was a true inspiration to be around and made me realise that the problems I have suffered is nothing compared to what Madina and many others have been through. When she came back, she explained that talking about her experiences has helped her a lot. This was all possible because she was attending a trauma care clinic that Partners has been supporting for many years. Madina and many other women and children have been involved with this support and because of these classes they can start rebuilding their lives in a community that has shared tears, love and hope along their treacherous journey. Partners believes in communities and when someone feels alone and lost, we are there to help them for a better future. 

Learn more.

[letraescarlataorg]

"Ninguna palabra puede describir cuán emocional pero doloroso es este momento". Una niña yazidí en cautiverio durante 5a por terroristas de ISIS se reunió con su hermano. #YazidiGenocide ¿Alguna vez se les hará justicia? Esclavas sexuales del daesh, tantas desaparecidas aún. https://t.co/48laX2K0AC

"Ninguna palabra puede describir cuán emocional pero doloroso es este momento". Una niña yazidí en cautiverio durante 5a por terroristas de ISIS se reunió con su hermano.#YazidiGenocide ¿Alguna vez se les hará justicia? Esclavas sexuales del daesh, tantas desaparecidas aún. https://t.co/48laX2K0AC

— Teresa Domínguez ✍ (@letra_escarlata) June 11, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/letra_escarlata

[freedomfightersofamerica]

via Twitter ( Oathkeepers)

[nogodinvolvedsblog]

Thread by @AzzatAlsaleem: "Muslim SunN!s to Yezidis: we offer you Islam and if you refused,we will invade you,enslave your women, make your children orphans. SuNni nei […]" #YazidiGenocide #YazidiPlight #Yezidi #YazidiFighters

Thread by @AzzatAlsaleem: “Muslim SunN!s to Yezidis: we offer you Islam and if you refused,we will invade you,enslave your women, make your children orphans. SuNni nei […]” #YazidiGenocide #YazidiPlight #Yezidi #YazidiFighters

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1097050887791493126.html

[claudioghera]

via Twitter https://twitter.com/clagher

[vixlw]

via Twitter https://twitter.com/Vix_LW

[wmathison]

RT @MaanKhider: Not saving the #Yazidi children from #ISIS hands means the victory of ISIS against humanity&means the world became… https://t.co/srHFB2hENS

Not saving the #Yazidi children from #ISIS hands means the victory of ISIS against humanity&means the world became a forest#YazidiGenocide http://pic.twitter.com/6DfvWjV3hn

— Maan Khider (@MaanKhider) February 22, 2017

via Twitter https://twitter.com/wmathison February 26, 2017 at 11:43PM

[partnersrelief]

Stories From The Ground: Vian, a Yazidi Knitter

*Trigger Warning: Story includes sensitive topics such as sexual assault and violence.

The following is a story of Vian, a Yazidi woman who is a part of our livelihood training in the EmpowerME program. She crochets as a part of our job creation initiative within EmpowerME. 

The Yazidi people experienced horrific violence at the hands of the Islamic State when they took control of Sinjar in Iraq in 2014. Nearly 8 years later, hundreds of Yazidis remain missing and more than 200,000 are displaced.

My name is Vian, and I am 25 years old. In 2014, I was living with my family in Sinjar, Iraq. On the night of August 3, 2014, ISIS members took control of the villages around us. On the morning of August 4, some of these ISIS members came to our village, telling no one to leave, but my family had called relatives and heard that ISIS was taking girls and women. 

At 5 pm, seventy-five of us, my family and my uncle's family, left the village. We came to a checkpoint where they stopped us and separated us, men from women. They took the women and children to a checkpoint between our village and Tala'far and took our gold and IDs from us. As night fell, they took us to a school in Tala'far, where we stayed for one week and were given two pieces of cheese per day. 

At the end of the week, they moved us to the Badosh prison in Mosul, where we stayed for ten days. They then took me, my sister, and my cousin to a house in Mosul where there were Syrian and Iraqi ISIS members. We were there for maybe four days before they took my cousin away. They then split all of the girls into groups. My sister & I were placed in a group of 107 girls and taken to a house in Ba'aj. 

That night, one of the girls went into the bathroom and committed suicide. The following day, they transported us to a center where an ISIS woman searched us for phones, and those of us who had phones were forced to stay there for four more days. I was then placed in a group of 7 girls and moved to an ISIS house in Alwihda District, Mosul, where a woman taught us the Qur'an. After one week, an ISIS member came to the house to take my sister. I would not let him take her alone, so he took us both to his family's house. He had a large family, including a grandson, Alam, who was 42 years old. 

His wife treated me poorly and would hit me; she even broke my tooth one time. I could not escape. 

Alam took me to a home in Mosul that had belonged to a Christian family before ISIS took control of it. I was with him for one year, during which he would rape and beat me. Eventually, he brought his wife and five kids to the house. His wife treated me poorly and would hit me; she even broke my tooth one time. I could not escape. 

My captor was studying to become a member of ISIS. He told me that he wanted to become a part of ISIS because he had once been captured by the government and beaten in prison. He would hit me the same way they had hit him. One day, he took me with him to his work. He put me in a room separate from the male ISIS members while he taught them how to carry out suicide bombings. He then moved me to the Biji District in Mosul. I tried to escape, but I couldn't. He told me that he would take me to see my sister if I stopped trying to escape. 

He brought me to meet my sister at another house in Mosul. Together, we escaped from the house, but they caught us and brought us to their base in Hamdaniya, where they beat us. When Alam came to the base to collect me, he hit me and took me to the house of another ISIS member.

I was kept in this house with the man's wife and 12 kids. He raped me, and the family refused to give me food. After some months, they gave me to another ISIS member from Morocco. He took me to his house in the Old Mosul area, where he had three wives; two were Syrian, and one was Moroccan. I was like a slave to them. He also raped me and hit me. 

After several months, I was sold back to Alam. He took me back to his house, where it was very cold, and we were without food because it was during the liberation of Mosul when food was nearly impossible to find. I tried to escape on July 17, 2017, but they captured me again. 

Another time, when we were going to bring water outside in the morning, I tried to escape, but ISIS captured me and took me to a mosque. It was a place for women to pray; I stayed there for one month before they took us to a place where we had to bake bread for ISIS. When bombings started again, we were moved to a hospital for the elderly, providing care to the people there. One day, Alam came & took me to a house where I was all alone. Because of the war and fighting, we started to move from house to house. 

Once, I was sitting in a house with ISIS wives, and an attack started nearby; two ISIS men came to our home, telling us that everyone in their group had been shot and asked us to help them. The ISIS wives cared for them, but they died the following day. Their bodies stayed with us in the same house. 

Since we were all wearing the khimars ( the long black dresses), I was able to escape with the group without them recognizing me. 

Next, we moved to an unfinished building near a river. We were there for one night before some women decided to go out to bring water back, but there was an attack that stopped them. In the morning, the women said, "We will go. We want to escape with the children." Since we were all wearing the khimars ( the long black dresses), I was able to escape with the group without them recognizing me. We traveled until we got to an army checkpoint, and because we had children with us, they let us cross through. 

I managed to break off from the group. I knocked on the door of a family in Al Yarmouk District. I was afraid to tell them that I am Yazidi, so I told them that I was from Tal Afar and that I have relatives in Mosul. I asked if I could use their phone to call my brother, and they allowed it. At first, my brother didn't believe it was me because I wasn't speaking Kurdish, so he gave the phone to my uncle. When my uncle listened to me, he understood that I was not in a safe place where I could speak freely. I gave him the address of where I was, and he came with my brother, cousin, and members of Asayish (a security and intelligence organization operating in Kurdistan, northern Iraq). They took me out of the house and started interrogating the family about whether they had contacted ISIS or in any way told them that I was there. On July 11, 2017, I returned to my uncle's house in Kurdistan. I finished high school and am now waiting to travel to Australia because we have applied for asylum there. I still do not know what has happened to my parents and two brothers. They are still missing.

After escaping ISIS, I learned how to knit. I find it comforting. I like to knit because it helps keep my mind focused from thinking about my past. I was so happy when I found out Partners would give me money to pay for my knitted hats. This helps provide for me and my siblings.

*All names have been changed for security.

To learn more about the Yazidi genocide, you can read this and this.

To learn more about our EmpowerMe program, click here.

Want to support Vian and the other women in our EmpowerMe program? You can give a one-time donation or join our Partners monthly giving community here. 

#toloveistoact