YEZIDI GENOCIDE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

The Yezidis, who total about 1 million persons worldwide, practice one of the world’s oldest religions. The Yezidis are a peaceful, insular community. Before the attacks by ISIS, most Iraqi Yezidis report living happily among other Yezidis, largely in rural, farming communities as well as in the mountainous area of Mt. Sinjar.   

Yezidis are born into their religion and do not convert non-Yezidis to Yezidism as this is not permitted. Marriage by Yezidis outside of the Yezidi community is also not permitted. The Yezidis' Holy Place of Worship is Lalish, Iraq, where Yezidi priests and other religious safeguard and keep holy the Yezidi temples and burial grounds.  Yezidis travel to Lalish for holy pilgrimages for blessings, prayers and religious ceremonies and celebrations.  Yezidis are encouraged to visit Lalish, Iraq, in their lifetime.  Prayer, dance, music and food are very important to Yezidis and are an integral component of their religious and cultural identity.  Yezidi temples, many of which were destroyed by ISIS and others in the past decade, can be found in Iraq, Syria and Turkey where Yezidis have resided for centuries. 

Outside of Iraq, the largest Yezidi temple is in Armenia. 

Yezidis believe in God.  In Yezidi creation stories, God created the world and entrusted it to the care of seven Holy Beings, often referred to as the Seven Angels.  The most preeminent of whom is Tawûsê Melek, the Peacock Angel.    Yezidis are also often referred to as Children of the Sun as  another important facet of the Yezidi faith is their belief in the oneness with nature. Yezidis pray three to five times each day.  When Yezidis pray, they face the sun. The sun represents the source of energy or ultimate truth.  The sun is sacred for Yezidis and seen by them as the emanation of God.
 

Unfortunately throughout history the Yezidi people, who once numbered in the millions in the Middle East, have been subjected to more than 70 genocides. Yezidis have been persecuted for their faith by their neighbors who have tried to wipe out the ancient Yezidi people, either through actual murder or through forced religious conversion. Throughout their history, Yezidis have also been ethnically cleansed of their ancestral homes and villages in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and other places in the Middle East. As a result, over the centuries, many Yezidis have had to flee countries such as Iraq, Syria and Turkey where they have been persecuted.  Yezidis have migrated and immigrated to safer countries in Western and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia, where they can live more peacefully. Additionally, Yezidis have a growing diaspora who now live in the United States, Canada and Australia.