Yezidi Town Recovers From Arabization
Shangal, a town in Nineveh province, has overcome the Baath regime’s Arabization campaign and created one of the few areas in Iraq run by Yezidis.
Yezidis, a religious minority who are ethnic Kurds, primarily live in the western province of Nineveh which is home to most of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities.
Shangal became an official administrative district in 1922. Its first mayor, Ibrahim Bakir Afendi, and the 41 mayors who followed him were all Arabs, as were the police chiefs. Yezidi and Muslim Kurds, who were persecuted under Saddam Hussein’s regime, never held an official post.
Shangal’s first population shift of the twentieth century occurred in 1940, when the Iraqi government gave Bir Qasim, a village of the Aldikh Yezidi Kurdish tribe, to the Al Rashid Arab tribe.
The Baathist campaign known as Arabization, which changed the demographics of Kurdish and Shiite areas, impacted Shangal. Sheikh Haji Simo, a journalist and expert on Shangal’s history, said, “The Baathist regime brought more than 800 Arab families of the Hawas Sdedi tribe from Hawija and settled them around Shingal.”
In 1975, the Iraqi regime destroyed 150 villages in Shangal and forced residents to resettle in collective towns.
As part of the Arabization process, the Iraqi government forcefully changed the identity of many Yezidi Kurds and registered them as Arabs. Poor Shiite Arabs were also moved to largely Kurdish areas in northern Iraq to upset the demographic balance in ethnically mixed Kurdish strongholds.
I am a Yezidi from Shangal I wish to thank you for what you are reporting to everyone who wants to know the reality of yezidi because in the ast people have different ideas about yezidis and that was because as yezidies we dont have any good writer to write about us or even we were not allowed to write the truth.Thank you and hoe you all the best.
A yezidi from Shangal.
i think world government should eliminate all those jihadist which are trying to kill Yezidi people….those jihadist are widespred virus of the world..I am an Indian..my heart and soul always stand alongside the Yezidi
Wish the Yezidis migrate to India as other Zoroastrians the Parsis and Iranis have done. Welcome to India dear Yezidis.
The same thought crossed my mind in 2014. I was not aware of the existence of Yezidis people in Iraq till we read about the 2014 genocide and their migration to other safer countries. They were Aryans (followers of Arya Dharma- Following the path of Righteousness as extolled in our ancient texts)
Yes our long lost brethren should be welcomed to the motherland-India as were the early Jews, Zoroastrians, Druz of Palestine and all others who were threatened persecution and sure annihilation.
Dear Reporter:
Thank you very much for your report, but I think we all need to know that Yezidis has no relation with either kurds or arabs they are yezidis in both religion and nationality.
Please send me all information possible about Yezidi-Jewish relations throughout history. I am trying to publicise the Yezidi situation in the Jewish community.
Thank you.
Renanah
yes the yezidis people speek kurdish and arbic and both some time bout the religion one are yezidis in both religion and nationality.
heart wrenching what has happened in recent times under isis …my heart and hopes are with you and i wish i could do more to help you wonderful peaceful people ..may god help you all and deliver you from the evil that is isis
To: Khudhur
June 9, 2012 at 8:19 am
I am a Yezidi from Shangal
I pray that one day a pious Yezidi may come to America for safety or Canada. If you read this. Muslems don’t appreciate what beauty is behind the Yezidi Believe. Man made religions hurt others a true religion considers all to be equal in humanity no matter what faith they derive from. (I do believe in Yezidi and would like to learn more and it should be kept preserved) Religion doesn’t teach evil. ISIS ruined the name of Orthodox ISLAM and they deny where their believes came from Pre-Arabian Mythology. Quran teaches there was nothing before Adam and no other religion until David (Sumerians) But they forget that China and India Zoroaster and Yezidi’s are religiously older than David. If you worship one God as they do that takes no shape or form then they should not be genocide a good peoples on earth. My heart desires to help. I am an American and Student
God bless you . He keeps you forever
Yezidi the oldest calendar in world 6250 years old religion and ethnicity 2 survive every enemy of God
Now, from now 2 only move forward and truth shall triumph
The Yezidi are some of the most peaceful, beautiful people on this planet.They have never attacked anyone, all they have wanted is peace. They are true Kurds, and without them, all Kurds would lose their cultural, historical and religious identity. Islamic extremists wish to destroy the Kurdish identity, and anyone who is not Muslim, so they attack the Yezidi. So the Yezidi suffer doubly because of their ethnicity as well as the religion. They need protection more than anyone else in the region. 3500 women and children are still under ISIS, and yet Obama does nothing. 500 girls were stolen by Boko Haram in Africa, and Michaelle Obama tweeted about it and raised awareness, yet 5000 women and children were kidnapped by ISIS and nothing has been done. To all my Yezidi brothers and sisters, I love all of you. We pray every day for you. Please, if any of you can donate to the various Yezidi organizations, there are still many families trying to release their captive family members.
Delete this information, because not all of this information is true!!! We are not Kurds and not arabs!!!! The Kurds are like Arabs, more of them burned down our house and they say that Yezidis are devil worshiper!!!! Our religion is Sherfedin!!!
Our nationality is Ezidxan!!
Our people are Yezidis!!!
Fuck Kurds and Arabs!!!!
They attacked Yezidis in thousands of years and they are still attacking us!!!
#stopyazidigenocide
#standforyazidiwomen
All I can say is that no true human being commits the atrocities suffered by the Yezidi people…these horrific acts can only be performed by a sub-human society. The Yezidi should be the first people rescued from the area…not moslems. Thus is not a time for Islam sympathy. If you belong to a religion that does these acts in the name of your religion, your leaders need to stand up and excommunicate anyone having IS involvement. I cant sleep at night without trying something to help the Yezidi. (Greek-American Christian.) Yezidi are in my prayers everyday.