The Yazidi currently face real and immediate extermination by ISIS, the world yawns, no one cares.

[Kurska]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/world/middleeast/iraq.html

The Yazidi are religious and ethnic community of barely a million deeply linked to Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of the Persian empire. They are seen by Sunni religious extremists as devil worshipers and ISIS has made clear they intend to convert or kill any Yazidi under their domain.

The largest Yazidi community centered in Sinjar just fell to ISIS militia. They'll be converted or they'll die. Hopefully most will flee east to be protected by their Kurdish cousins. But even those that make that hostile trek will lose everything.

And no one cares. No one is talking about it.

[randys1]

1. I care, but I am not sure I understand what is happening.

As to most Americans, they care FAR more about whether or not the Kardashian fools are getting married or their hair done, I suppose.

[Kurska]

2. Yazidi is a modern term for the ancient religion of the kurdish people.

Most kurds converted to Islam in the 10th century. Many still held out and they have survived a thousand years of persecution by their Muslim neighbors. They marry within their faith and over a thousand years have come to be considered a distinct ethnic and religious group.

And they are now doomed to die or flee while the world apathetically watches.

[JI7]

3. i think most of the world has condemned ISIS , is anyone defending it ?

[Kurska]

4. I'm sure the sternly worded letter is in the mail. n/t

[JI7]

6. do you think the US should send troops into IRaq again ?

[Kurska]

9. Should we have just watched Bosnia burn?

Did we do the right thing when we turned a blind eye to Rwanda?

Did the people in Darfur deserve to die?

At minimum we should be arming the Kurds, right now.

[AngryAmish]

17. Samantha Powers, the US Ambassador to the UN.

A year ago she wanted the US to join the Syrian war on ISIS side.

I misstated her name earlier. Stop The Insanity.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. That's Samantha Powers

Her name should live in infamy.

[AngryAmish]

27. editing

[mylye2222]

5. A quite important Yazidi community

Is also living in Armenia and Georgua .former USSR. THERE too they are harassed and discriminante both by authorities and mafias wich racketed them.A lot of those famikies flee to Western europe to seek asylum they rarely are granted.

[hack89]

7. They are not trendy and there is no one to boycott.

[mylye2222]

8. Yep.

Sad. But. Truth.

[Kurska]

11. Boycott? We spent a year arming these people in Syria. n/t

[hack89]

15. Whoosh. Look up. Nt

[sufrommich]

10. Here's more:

Tens of thousands from Iraq's minority Yazidi community have fled their homes after Sunni militants captured their towns in the latest offensive to expand the territory of their self-styled caliphate.

As Kurdish fighters struggled to hold back the onslaught of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) militants on Iraq's north, some 40,000 Yazidis, a minority religious sect, fled the northern towns of Sinjar and Zumar, said Jawhar Ali Begg, a spokesman for the community.

"Thousands of Yazidi people have been killed," he said. The militant group gave the Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism, an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death, Begg added.

Iraq is facing its worst crisis since the 2006 civil war when the Islamic State group, an Al-Qaeda breakaway faction with a strong presence in Syria, captured large swath of land in the country's west and north in a lightning offensive earlier this year.

The United Nations said last month that more than 500,000 people have been displaced by the violence since June, bringing the total this year to 1.4 million, including more than 230,000 Syrian refugees. The group drove ethnic and religious minorities out of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and attacked mosques and shrines, claiming they contradicted strict Islamic teachings.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-04/265985-iraqs-yazidi-minority-flees-amid-militant-threat.ashx#ixzz39TFVeLSK
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)


Very frightening.

[Kurska]

12. "Thousands of Yazidi people have been killed," Crickets from the world community.

Fucking crickets.

[sufrommich]

14. I've been trying to follow the info on twitter,

unfortunately a lot of info is in arabic. But yeah, I hear you.

[notadmblnd]

13. R U saying people are hypocrites because Israel is being criticized for their extermination

of Palestinians and ISis not? From the article you posted:

"A State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said Sunday that ISIS posed “a dire threat to all Iraqis, the entire region and the international community” and that the United States would continue to seek ways to support the Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish pesh merga. "


So I would not say no one cares. Another point I would like to make is that at least these people have the ability to flee if necessary. Where are the Palestinians supposed to go?

I also need to say that I don't think it is ok to target any group of people for extermination.

[Kurska]

16. This thread isn't about Israel or Palestine

Shocking I know, but sometimes things happen in the middle east that has absolutely nothing to do with either Jews or Palestinians.

[Kurska]

19. I've closely followed kurdish issues for a decade, go pound sand.

My point is there is a fucking genocide going on and most of the planet couldn't give half a shit. That is my point.

I'm sorry my mentioning this genocide might have momentarily distracted from what you apparently deem to be the only important geopolitical issue in the world at the moment.

If world had an ounce of humanity in them the Kurds would have been carved a homeland from Iraq after Saddam Hussein's barbarity against them, but I've long ago stopped expecting that from the world.

[notadmblnd]

21. But your claim that no one cares is not true.

So that is your objective? Diversion? Can't shut down discussion by calling critics names, so you're going to point out other atrocities and make accusations that no one cares?

BTW, what exactly does that mean? Pound sand?

[Kurska]

25. "So that is your objective? "

To vent my anger about the people ignoring the suffering of the Kurdish people AGAIN.

[notadmblnd]

28. Oh you're angry alright

However, I have my doubts that your anger is about Arabs dying.

[Kurska]

30. The Yazidi and Kurds aren't even Arabs

You don't even know the basics of this situation do you?

[Rhinodawg]

20. Why do you say he doesnt care about these people?

the fact that he posted about it means he cares.

[notadmblnd]

22. BS

[Rhinodawg]

23. OK....thanks.

[NuclearDem]

29. ...

Just...

[Kurska]

34. This is getting aggressively off topic

There are currently a bunch of threads about Israel and Palestine. Why do you feel the need to interject that situation into this thread, while insulting me?

[Michigander_Life]

37. Jury Results

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service
On Mon Aug 4, 2014, 07:27 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

I call bullcrap on your concern...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5337302

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

A previous post in this thread was hidden for the exact same thing. No one mentioned Israel at all before people started coming into the thread and insulting people's concerns about genocide as fake.

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Mon Aug 4, 2014, 07:36 PM, and the Jury voted 4-3 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: DU should not harbor those who oppose Israel.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I absolutely agree with this post.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Lots of threads go off topic. If you disagree with what's been posted, say so in the thread.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: We can be horrified by more than one atrocity at a time. a great deal of attention has been paid to the horrific acts the Israelis have been engaged in. this thread is an attempt to discuss ISIS ... no need to derail it
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Anti-semetic.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[JI7]

24. UN warns of 'humanitarian tragedy' as ISIS seizes Sinjar

http://www.france24.com/en/20140803-un-warns-humanitarian-tragedy-isis-seizes-iraq-sinjar/

[Dreamer Tatum]

32. Sarcastic post thanking Bush.

There, I helped.

[Kurska]

36. Come now, you haven't really done your part until you retweeted something. n/t

[kelliekat44]

33. It is too painful to keep reading about this stuff. I have taken to just watching movies...

reality is becoming too hard to bear. It is really hard when it appears that our own nation and our own President is siding with the most evil and blood-thirsty venom on the earth. The feeling of helplessness is almost too much to bear. I think I will given even DU a rest. Peace out.

[Kurska]

35. Keep strong, for every ounce of evil there is some good in the world.

[starroute]

39. The Kurds are striking back

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/040820144

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have entered Shangal, said military officials, and they have cornered militants of the Islamic State in parts of the town.

Rudaw reporter in the area said that units from the 10,000-strong Peshmarga force who had encircled the town earlier in the day are now in the town center and try to rout the Islamic militants. ...

Meanwhile, a large Peshmerga forces have made their way to the Shangal mountainside where thousands of Yezidi families have taken shelter. ...

“We decided to go on the offensive and fight the terrorists to the last breath,” said Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani Monday afternoon. “We have ordered the Peshmerga to attack the terrorists and enemies of Kurdistan with all their power.” Barzani said that the Kurdish forces “will not relinquish an inch of Kurdistan and we will defend our dear Yezidi brothers and sisters.”