Members of Yezidis International have been honored to speak throughout the globe through media to create awareness and stir hearts to action. Take a moment to look at the articles below to learn more about our organization and its members.
A member of Yezidi International was interviewed about Yezidi beliefs and the ongoing genocide. In the interview she shares ways that the community’s beliefs empowers them and contribute to their tolerance and ability to coexist peacefully with others. She also shares a little on the community’s history that is filled with persecution as a minority group that is indigenous to the Middle East.
On Monday, April 11th, 2018 some of our members met with Pir Khedr Sulyman who is one of the forefront Yezidi scholars. He and couple of his friends were the first Yezidis in Iraq to publish work on the religion and have the Yezidis qewls or hymns commit to writing. Interest in Yezidism which had died away for decades became renewed thanks to their effort.
Pir Khedr accompanied YI members to the Yezidi Cultural Center which he use to preside over years ago. The center had an extensive collection of books, videos, and other media related to Yezidi history, religion, and culture.
Our team asked about the possibility of having part of their collection become available on the net so that more people could have accesses to it. just as bahzani.net has done.
They week before they also had an opportunity to meet with another Yezidi scholar, Dawood Murad Khatari. He too has devoted a better part of his life to serving Yezidis by writing about the culture and religion and helping make sense of it. He has so far written 28 books on Yezidism. Our team collected much information about the Yezidi heritage from these meetings and hope to later have it published and make available to the public.
“In Mountains we trust”
Why Yezidis chose Sinjar mountains as a safe haven in middle of summer.
Our members interviewed prominent Yezidi scholars and collected information that will later be published in a book as part of the our Preservation of Heritage project. During the visit to Iraq and to Yezidi holy sites, they also purchased some necessary items to help the custodian of the shrines take care of these neglected sites. See Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdS_-6KAjUE
There has been a need for mental health first aid training due to the ongoing genocide that has effected both Yezidis in Iraq and their relatives who now reside in USA. Several members and volunteers of Yezidis international attended and encouraged community members to attend this training to better help the community.
Hundreds of Yezidi families lost their tents in Sardashty refugees camp in Iraq. Yezidis International worked with two other organizations and helped purchase and install tents for some of the families who lost their shelter due to flash flooding in Spring 2018.
See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GnZ5DTiuc&feature=youtu.be
Khalaf’s focus in Lincoln has “shifted to setting up services and doing community-building for new immigrants, which she hopes will bolster their ability to practice their traditions. She co-founded the nonprofit Yezidi International (“Yezidi” is an alternate), which offers English instruction and driving classes to older Yazidi women.”
Members of Yezidis International in an Interview with NET Radio discuss the importance of the programs they have in Nebraska. “Khalaf says programs like this one have made what can be a lonely transition a bit easier for these women.”
“They were these ladies who took care of their families and were confident in their ability to do it well. And now they’re here. Reading, they cannot do. Writing, they cannot do. Driving, they can’t do,” she said. “So basically they end up being sort of mute, not able to see and if you cannot drive, it’s equivalent to not having feet.”
As many Americans complete their Thanksgiving feasts and look forward to the celebration of Christmas, Kwanza or Hannukah, Yezidi Americans, prepare for their most important time of fasting. The Rojit Ezi or the Fast Of Ezi is a three day observance of fasting and time spent with family and making offerings to charity and those less fortunate.
Members of Yezidis International in an Interview with NET Radio discuss the importance of the programs they have in Nebraska. “Khalaf says programs like this one have made what can be a lonely transition a bit easier for these women.”
“They were these ladies who took care of their families and were confident in their ability to do it well. And now they’re here. Reading, they cannot do. Writing, they cannot do. Driving, they can’t do,” she said. “So basically they end up being sort of mute, not able to see and if you cannot drive, it’s equivalent to not having feet.”
The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia issued a statement on April 8, 2015, in which it states, “Armenia’s diplomatic representatives and legislators have on numerous occasions raised the issue regarding the impressibility of what is occurring and the need to ensure humanitarian assistance at the United Nations and other organizations.” In conclusion, the statement says that the (six) parliamentary factions of the National Assembly share the pain of the Yezidi community and promises to continue to raise the matter of the immediate need to end the persecutions and will utilize all possibilities to do so.
The New York Times: ISIS Accused of Genocide
United Nations Investigators Accuse ISIS of Genocide Over Attacks on Yazidis
GENEVA — United Nations human rights investigators on Thursday leveled accusations of genocide and war crimes at the Islamic State, citing evidence that the extremist group’s fighters had sought to wipe out the Yazidi minority in Iraq.
Raising Awareness with Lincoln Journal Star
Gulie Khalaf recalls the optimism with which she approached childhood in a Syrian refugee camp.
Her family fled Iraq when Saddam Hussein launched a genocidal campaign against indigenous Yazidis in the country’s northern Kurdish regions.
Inside her refugee camp, a bakery served insect-infested bread, water arrived infrequently, and some of that was so bad it had to be poured on the family’s small garden.
Raising Awareness Through “Taking Refuge”
Most of us – myself included – first heard the term “Yezidi” last summer when ISIS sent thousands from the minority group running to Mount Sinjar, where they encountered death. But, this was not the first time Yezidis had been the subject of a humanitarian crisis. Members of the faith have faced persecution long before the rise of the jihadist group, often bordering on genocidal proportions.
One Yezidi woman is working to change that.
Gulie Khalaf came to the United States with her family at age thirteen. While excited to embark upon the journey from the Middle East to America, the family’s one-way ticket also symbolized change, fear, and the unknown – the Khalafs were coming to America as refugees.
Seeking Help From Hindu Religious/Spirtual Leader
The meeting was arranged for the 8th. However, as soon as the security was cleared the Yezidis were told that they were going to have a meeting right then and there.
– Honorable Swami Ramdev ji, a religious social political leader who has more than 4 million followers on social media, received the Yezidi delegation and listened intently to their concerns.
Raising Awareness Where the Intellectuals are
The plight of the Yezidis rocks JNU campus in India
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a name synonymous with leftist intellectualism in India. It is also where pseudo-secularism finds its intellectual legitimacy. Pseudo-secularism thrives on keeping people ignorant about the perils of fanatical Islam and give it an intellectual patronage to keep people blissfully unaware. In more simple words , keep people from knowing the truth and prevent the freedom loving people from uniting against the horrific persecutions by fanatical Islam worldover which is presenting itself as an organized religio-political setup. The common pattern and the goal of this regio-political setup is to isolate ancient communities, make them vulnerable and wipe them off.
Thus a talk by the Yezidi delegation, comprising of three women leaders from US and Sweden (Gulie, Layla and Mavi) and Mirza Ismail (Chairman of Yezidi Human Rights International ) from Canada, lasting for 3 and half hours (9:30 pm to 1 am in the morning ) , being attended by 150 students at Koyna Mess at JNU , was a historic event to say the least. The Yezidi delegation , was articulate, had powerful speakers and people listed intently to the Yezidi plight inspite of the chilling cold. They empathized with the Yezidis and the Yezidi crisis, something that many had no clue before. They realized the gravity of what fanatical Islam presents to the world and how ugly the world can turn into if it is not addressed right way. They realized for the first time that slavery which the humankind tried hard to remove through the efforts of people like Abraham Lincon, Martin Luther King Junior, Prabhuapada, Bhakti Tirtha Swami and Nelson Madela is being systematically undone by ISIS, starting with women being sold as sex-slaves and rape being used as a weapon of war
It was a meeting that addressed future leaders of the government, decision makers of the future and future politicians. What could have otherwise been dubbed communal if it had been speakers from India , became possible through the voice of young Yezidi leaders , taking up the cause of the community, and has the potential to change the world view of many of the intellectuals of tomorrow in India. Many of these young Yezidi leaders have lost near and dear ones, relatives and friends and it thus became a re-visit of their personal journey, Tales of a journey they had not read in story books, but one they had lived themselves. From the start of the crisis in August 2014, Hindu and Yezidi activists have worked as family to attract the world attention to the cause. They jointly organized the rally at Washington DC, hosted major fundraisers in Chicago, Houston and California. Jewish activists have also joined them in these efforts, as one ancient community trying to help another, and took the lead to organize canvassing efforts for their cause. Other freedom loving communities worldwide like the Zoroastrians have also joined hands. Hindu Spiritual leader His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shanker personally visited Lalish , the holiest place of the Yezidis, met the supreme spiritual leader of the Yezidis Baba Shek and helped to deliver 120 tonnes of supplies. All this was to keep the Yezidis alive in the Shingal (Sinjar) mountains using US army helicopters and through his organization IAHV , till the grip of ISIS was released. Till date 10,000 Yezidi men have been killed in the 74th genocide. 7000 Yezidi women and children have been sold in the market as sex slaves by ISIS and 5,00,000 (half a million) Yezidis are still refugees in Iraq.
Some Islamic fanatics had tried to create a raucus to disrupt the event. One can only salute the spirit of these brave young women who refused to give in to these distractions. The event organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the largest student body in India, in just one day’s notice was a stupendous success and a Yezidi-Hindu Intellectual Form is in the offing. ABVP has vowed to extend all possible support to the Yezidis. The Yezidis have the oldest calender in the middle east, which is 6764 yrs old, and believe in Reincarnation just like any other Dharmic faith. Being a distinct religion surrounded by hostile neighbors has caused 74 genocides in the last 1400 yrs and have resulted in the Yezidi population dwindling from 23 million to less than 1 million. The present delegation of the Yezidi leaders is the largest global delegation to visit anywhere ever and has representatives from US, Canada, Sweden , France, Armenia , Iraq and India. Yezidi Nationalists led by the Yezidi National Union and the Yezidi Human Rights Organization International is being prominently represented in the delegation.
The Foreign Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj ji met the present delegation for over 45 minutes and promised all possible help. The present Government in India led by Narendra Modi is taking steps to connect to all communities globally who share the same values, gender equality, belief in mutual respect and equality of humankind, and is trying to stand with them to realize the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – the whole world is one family and protect the fundamental human values from being wiped out by ideologies like ISIS. Values that generations have given their lives for.
Rally at Washington DC to Help Raise Awareness
Yezidis and Hindus from across the US came together at Washington DC to protest the repeated targeting of Yezidis in Middle-East by the terror organisation Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISI
