2 September 4, 2015 News & Analysis Minorities in the Arab World The tragic plight of Iraq’s under ISIS

Nermeen Mufti is continues and their frustration that at least 76 deputies signed a grows. petition in Iraq’s legislature calling “A year has passed and our land, for questioning Kurdish leader Ma- Baghdad civilisation and history are being soud Barzani on Sinjar’s fall to ISIS. wrecked by strangers and we’re The Yazidis consider themselves oled up on a moun- still crying out for help,” lamented , with an independent culture tain range overlooking Princess Auroba Bayzid Esmail Beg, and traditions. But they are not rec- their ancestral hub, from a northern Iraqi Yazidi royal ognised by the Kurds and others the Yazidis have had to family. in Iraq as such. They are scattered watch the town of Sin- across several countries, mainly in Hjar being occupied by Islamic State “We were Iraq, but also in Syria, Turkey, Rus- (ISIS) militants with no hope that abandoned and also sia, Armenia, Georgia, Germany, the area will soon be liberated. attacked because of Sweden and the Netherlands. At least 40,000 Yazidis fled Sinjar They are monotheists, who be- and the surrounding area in north- our faith, not for any lieve in God as creator of the world, ern Iraq to Mount Sinjar in the wake other reason.” which has been placed under the of an ISIS onslaught that began Au- care of seven angels, or holy beings, gust 3, 2014. Without food or water, “In this year, Yazidi families ruled by an ambivalent character the Yazidis were surrounded by ISIS have been broken and scattered called the Peacock Angel. militants. all over,” Esmail Beg, who is also a As ruler, the Peacock Angel caus- They abducted and raped Yazidi rights activist and former adviser es both good and evil to befall indi- women and killed hundreds of ci- to the governor of Iraq’s northern viduals. He fell from God’s favour vilians, including children. The Nineveh province, told The Arab but was reconciled after an arduous process was widely called a “forced Weekly in a telephone interview remorseful experience. conversion campaign”, but to the from her residence in Germany. They pray three to five times a United Nations it was simply “gen- The princess said that Yazidi boys day in the direction of the sun and ocide”. under 13 years-old and living under call themselves the “children of the International media estimated ISIS in the Iraqi village of Kojo near sun”. Their holy scriptures are the the number of Yazidis killed at Sinjar were being transformed into Yazidi Book of Revelation and the more than 5,000, but the Kurdis- jihadists “rigged up for bombings . tan Regional Government (KRG) and primed for suicide attacks”. ISIS, which has set up a self-pro- which controlled the area said 1,280 Boys older than 13 were killed. claimed caliphate in parts of Iraq Yazidis were killed in the ISIS offen- She blamed ex-Iraqi prime min- and Syria, pledged to purge the sive and 841 were missing. ister Nuri al-Maliki for the agony Arab world of people it considers of her people, explaining that the “infidels” and Muslims — includ- The Yazidis consider pullout of Iraqi forces under his ing those who follow the Sunni themselves Kurds, command — his being at the time sect just like ISIS — have not been the supreme commander of the spared its violence and persecu- with an independent Iraqi armed forces — from northern tion. culture and Iraq led ISIS to advance and take Jian Aziz, another Yazidi activ- traditions over Sinjar and other Yazidi areas. ist, said women members of the Another Yazidi, a male activist community suffered significantly The persecution of Iraq’s Yazidi in Iraq who insisted on anonymity under ISIS. An Iraqi Yazidi praying near Dohuk, during a ceremony to minority gained international at- for safety reasons, blamed the Iraqi “ISIS raped them and those saved celebrate the Yazidi New Year, in April 2015. tention and resulted in the US-led Kurdish peshmerga for the fall of among them gave birth to babies air campaign against ISIS hideouts Sinjar and other towns with Yazidi who were adopted by Kurdish Iraqi They are heartbroken, feeling hu- no real efforts, neither Iraqi nor in- in northern Iraq. Iraqi Kurdish inhabitants. Muslim families,” Aziz said. miliated, yet they are responding ternationally to this end”. peshmerga forces, alongside Turk- “On the eve that ISIS captured Esmail Beg insisted “the level of to treatment,” Esmail Beg noted. “We tell the world that our reli- ish Kurds fighters from the Kurdis- Sinjar, Kurdish peshmerga forces support by the international com- She angrily added that a year has gion, civilisation and culture as a tan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Syrian withdrew from the area, leaving a munity is way below our expecta- passed while Yazidi women were whole face extinction,” she said. Kurds from the People’s Protection largely unarmed civilian popula- tions”. still “being held captive by ISIS as “Isn’t there a way to save the re- Units (YPG) captured Mount Sinjar tion vulnerable,” the activist said. Thankfully, she pointed out, Ger- the world watches the tyranny, but maining ‘children of the sun’?” from ISIS in December 2014, giving “We were abandoned and also at- many has been welcoming Yazidis, didn’t move to end it”. some relief to thousands of Yazidis tacked because of our faith, not for including the battered and raped The princess said she did not ex- Nermeen Mufti, based in Iraq, has trapped there. any other reason.” women for treatment. pect her hometown in northern Iraq been covering Iraqi affairs for three Nevertheless, the agony of Yazid- Meanwhile, Iraqi media reported “I spoke with a number of them. to be freed soon because “there are decades. Mosul Christians seek harbour in Jordan

Roufan Nahhas said more than 500 Iraqi Chris- fled to Jordan with neither money absolutely nothing except their “We cannot go back to the un- tians took refuge in seven church- nor personal effects. They left eve- faith because they know that God known that is why we need a coun- es in Amman and the eastern city rything behind so we had to pro- will not leave them alone,” Sharay- try that can sympathise with us and Amman of Zarqa. They are sponsored by vide them with urgent assistance,” ha said. accept us,” he said in an interview in the Caritas Jordan Association, a Sharayha explained in an interview Sharayha explained that the cost a church hall that was separated by bout 1,200 Iraqi Chris- humanitarian non-governmental with The Arab Weekly. He said the of hosting one family of four is fabric of false walls to provide rela- tians, having fled perse- organisation affiliated with the Ro- assistance included cash, food, about $230 per month. “But the real tive privacy to each family. cution by Islamic State man Catholic Church. clothes, medical care and shelter. cost is much higher because we pay “What we have here isn’t much (ISIS) militants in Mosul, “With help from the Caritas, we thousands for electricity, water and but we call it home until things get are sheltered in Jordan, There are no were able to host them since they ar- other utilities,” he said. better.” someA holed up in churches that are rived in August 2014,” he said. “But The priest also noted that ad- On the side of the hall, two Christians in Mosul trying to deal with the added finan- this turned out to be a big challenge ditional volunteers were needed women sweat in the heat of a small cial burden and staffing hitches. for the first time in because we initially thought they’d to help the families adapt in Jor- kitchen as they cook rice for other Mosul’s Christians, estimated at nearly two millennia be here temporarily but a year has dan. “Their children need to go to families. In an adjacent room, filled 3,000 among a population of about passed and they’re still here.” schools and the families need to with plastic bags and torn carpet, a 2 million and deeply rooted hav- The rest leased apartments across The challenge is not only to meet mingle with the local community,” psychologist volunteer talked with ing lived there for more than 1,900 the country, according to Sharayha, their needs and allocate funds to he said. “Some Christians and Mus- the Iraqis about their dreams and years, escaped the city when ISIS who said his church sheltered 23 shelter them but also to deal with lims in Jordan are helping by pro- hopes. seized it in June 2014. Iraqi families, totalling 85 individu- their physiological state, he said. viding food, clothes and even cash They had been given the choices als at least half of whom are young- “They all come from good fami- assistance. Still, this is not enough. of converting to Islam, paying a pen- er than 18. lies who lived well and had their “They’ve been through a lot and About alty tax, leaving the city or death. “There were needy Iraqis who own businesses but now they have we cannot give up on them now.” They headed to Jordan by the One of the Iraqis, Ziad Behnam, hundreds, with some continuing on 54, who owned a turnery shop in 1,200 to resettle in France, Canada, Aus- Mosul, is seeking resettlement in tralia, the United States and other Australia. He insisted in an inter- Iraqi Christians are Western nations. Many, however, view with The Arab Weekly that he sheltered in Jordan remained in Jordan. will not return home. There are no Christians in Mosul “ISIS threatened to kill us if we Ban Moayad, 50, said sharing for the first time in nearly two mil- did not manufacture silencers for space with other families brought lennia — a serious blow to its tightly their pistols. When we refused, about an “effective system for knit social fabric, which allowed they killed my brother. So, we were cleaning, preparing meals and even its various communities, including forced to leave Mosul and headed praying; with each family being Sunni Muslims and rival Shias, to for Jordan,” he said. committed to making this hall a live in peace and coexistence de- “It was either leave or be killed,” home for all”. spite sectarian violence that ripped Behnam said tearfully. “It took us Reyadh Hazem, a 42-year-old apart communities across Iraq. a while to heal and overcome our businessman who owned several Cash-strapped Jordan said it fears.” furniture shops in Mosul, said his could not provide financial assis- Zaid Imad, 26, left Mosul with plight made his faith grow stronger. tance to the Iraqi Christians except eight family members after ISIS “I know that God is with us and to give them a safe haven away announced that Christians should He will never abandon us,” said from ISIS. Jordan is grappling with convert to Islam, or pay the jizyah Hazem, who wore a bracelet with a an influx of an estimated 1.5 mil- — a tax levied from non-Muslims in cross on his left hand. “This is just a lion Syrian refugees, a situation that return for social protection. phase that will go away.” stretched the country’s services and “We heard that although some meagre resources. Christian families paid the jizyah, Roufan Nahhas, based in Jordan, Jordan-based Greek Orthodox Iraqi Christians, who took refuge in Jordan after fleeing Mosul, ISIS asked them later to convert to has been covering cultural issues Catholic pastor George Sharayha attend mass in Amman. Islam or leave,” Imad said. for more than two decades.