Monday, April 30, 2007

Killing of a Yezidi Girl by own Mob

There is not a day that fills our mind with some happy news or events. Even if there is a piece of happy news, it is flashed away with gruesome happenings that override and destroy jolly ones. Previously I wrote that the month of April was the bride of the months. I heard the story from a Kurdish Ezidi/Yezidi friend that I had met in Marburg, Germany when I was a student at the university there. I would frequently visit them because they were refugees in Germany and need language help. I helped them a lot concerning the German language. I learned a little bit about their culture. Since they knew my background was Alawite, they trusted me. Because both my Alawite culture and their Yezidi culture were minority cultures in Kurdistan, there was a tacit bond between us. This did/does not mean that I did not have Muslim or Christian friends. From the view point of my Yezidi friends I was closer to them because of the persecution of culture in Turkey. I learned about their culture. For example, in their culture “Satan” is a bad creature or a demon. Cursing Satan was regarded something appropriate. Satan is still an angle for them. They would not marry an outsider who is from their Yezidi belief. They would kill a Yezidi girl who marries a Muslim Kurd etc. They are very strict in preserving this tradition. So they would marry among themselves. Kurdish love songs are full of such tragedies. The young girl who is a Yezidi may not marry her lover who is a Muslim Kurd. The songs contain sad lyrics about the tragic loves just because the beliefs are different.

A few days ago, Kurdish Web sites were discussing a Kurdish girl killed by a mob in Iraqi Kurdistan. The girl was of Yezidi fell in love with a Muslim Kurd and ran away with him. The Yezidi relatives found her and killed her in mob styles. Yezidis, I believe, would not accept converts; you are either born as a Yezidi or not. I bet many young people have loved each other from Yezidi and other religions but could not marry because there is not escape out of it. I wonder how it is now among the Yezidis in Germany where most of the Yezidis from Kurdistan (Turkey) live now. I would like to see the impact of the German society on the Yezidis in Germany whether or not they have relaxed their traditions in that regard. The tragedy happened a few days ago spilled cold water on heart on the tightly knit societies and belief systems that allow revenge as a mode of solution no matter what the ethnic background is—Kurd, Turks, Arab, or Persian.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Yezidis are an oppressed and repressed society and as a result they have become a closed and backward society because they refuse interaction not only with people of different faiths, but people from their own ethnic origin.
It is ironic and sad that while the Yezidis suffered the most from violent coming of Islam, their religion has taken far more influence from this religion than they would like to admit. Backward religious behavior of putting down women, seeing/treating them as perishable and disposable objects comes clearly from Islam. It is unfortunate that the Yezidis don't see the advantages of modernization. I would recommend that they 1) accept converts to and from Yezidism 2) remove Islamic-influenced behaviors including the hideous names that they use such as that of the poor girl that was killed by them "Doa Dakhil Aswad". What kind of a name is this? You were killed by Islam and muslims and you put such a disgusting name! This name literaly means "Prayer Nosey Black" in arabic. The Yazidis have a habit of using unusual(y disgusting, uncommon and illogical) arabic names; please get over it!

Anonymous said...

In response to the prior comment:

Yes, the Yezidis are oppessed which is deeply saddening. However, your main aim is to put down another religion. Why not be a adult and see how senseless the killing really was. I've read up about several different religions, and NO religion permits killing a girl because she liked a boy of another religion. So please keep to the topic, don't spread hate, and most importantly, think before you post next time...thanks

Anonymous said...

In response to the first and second comment:
yezidis in bashiqa are mostly arabs. that is why the girl had an arabic name.

about other religions not killing girls. that is not true. Muslims kill too. but of course no one will write anything negative about themselves.

If it is not video taped, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

MAY GOD BURN ALL MEN IN HELL... AMEN!