A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Latest Iraq Bomb Targeting Yazidis?

In the latest Iraqi suicide bombing, two suicide bombers have targeted a cafe in Sinjar. Sinjar is in the heart of Iraq's Yazidi country, and it is reasonable to assume that once again insurgents are targeting the Yazidi community. As the BBC account at the link notes, there were a number of attacks on Yazidis in 2007.

The Yazidis are an ancient and somewhat secretive religion with roots in antiquity; it is somewhat syncretistic with overlaps with Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. They are also a more or less secret faith, like the Druze and the ‘Alawites, which has led to some friction. The fact that the Peacock Angel (Malak Tawus or Tawus Malak) venerated by Yazidis is sometimes referred to by the Arabic term shaytan (although considered a beneficent figure by Yazidis) has led to Muslim accusations that they are "devil-worshippers," which Yazidis strongly deny. That historic charge is one of the reasons that Sunni insurgents have targeted Yazidis, though of course they have also targeted Shi‘a and Christians as well. Most live in Iraq, though there are communities in Syria, Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus (Armenia and Georgia), and a large diaspora community in Germany. Almost all Yazidis speak Kurdish, though there are said to be some Arabic-speaking Yazidi villages.

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