Ahwaz – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org Resisting Humanity's Downward Spiral Sun, 29 Jan 2023 19:30:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://countervortex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/newsflash_logo-1-300x300.png Ahwaz – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org 32 32 From Palestine to Iran: free the land https://countervortex.org/blog/from-palestine-to-iran-free-the-land/ https://countervortex.org/blog/from-palestine-to-iran-free-the-land/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2023 04:17:33 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=22461 Episode 160 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes hideous ironies in the current horrific headlines. Russia was excluded from the official commemorations of Holocaust Day at Auschwitz-Birkenau as it pursues its war of aggression and extermination in Ukraine in the perverse name of "de-nazification." But Israeli flags were of course displayed at the commemoration—even as Israel escalates toward a genocidal solution to the Palestinian question. The fundamental contradiction driving the conflict is the expropriation of the Palestinian people of their lands, and the denial of their self-determination by Israel. The emergence of an explicitly anti-Zionist bloc in the protests against the new far-right government in Israel is a sign of hope. The US, however, is undertaking its biggest joint military exercises ever with the new Israeli regime, despite Biden's supposed rejection of its extremist policies of settlement expansion and annexation—viewing the Jewish State as a strategic ally against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Meanwhile, the oppressive regime in Iran treats minority peoples such as the Kurds, Baluch, Ahwazi and Baha'i much as Israel treats the Palestinians. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: B'Tselem)]]> In Episode 160 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes hideous ironies in the current horrific headlines. Russia was excluded from the official commemorations of Holocaust Day at Auschwitz-Birkenau as it pursues its war of aggression and extermination in Ukraine in the perverse name of “de-nazification.” But Israeli flags were of course displayed at the commemoration—even as Israel escalates toward a genocidal solution to the Palestinian question. The fundamental contradiction driving the conflict is the expropriation of the Palestinian people of their lands, and the denial of their self-determination by Israel. The emergence of an explicitly anti-Zionist bloc in the protests against the new far-right government in Israel is a sign of hope. The US, however, is undertaking its biggest joint military exercises ever with the new Israeli regime, despite Biden’s supposed rejection of its extremist policies of settlement expansion and annexation—viewing the Jewish State as a strategic ally against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Meanwhile, the oppressive regime in Iran treats minority peoples such as the Kurds, Baluch, Ahwazi and Baha’i much as Israel treats the Palestinians. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

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Photo: B’Tselem

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/from-palestine-to-iran-free-the-land/feed/ 1 Iran: oil workers strike, join protests https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-oil-workers-strike-join-protests/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-oil-workers-strike-join-protests/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2022 03:57:35 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=22211 national uprising in Iran continues to spread, with petrochemical workers walking off the job at the major Asalouyeh plant on the Persian Gulf coast of Bushehr province—shortly followed by a similar wildcat strike at Abadan refinery in the neighboring restive province of Khuzestan. Videos posted to social media show workers at the Asalouyeh complex chanting "This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali Khamenei is done!" and "Down with the dictator!"—both references to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Security forces fired on protesters in Sanandaj, capital of Kordestan, another traditionally restive province. Lawyers in Tehran gathered in front of the Iranian Central Bar Association to protest the repression, and were themselves dispersed by tear-gas. In scenes across the country, schoolgirls held protests in which they removed their hijabs in defiance of authorities. In the southern city of Shiraz, Fars province, dozens of schoolgirls blocked traffic on a main road while waving their headscarves in the air and shouting "Death to the dictator!" (Photo via Iran International)]]> The national uprising in Iran continued to spread over the past week, with petrochemical workers walking off the job at the major Asalouyeh plant on the Persian Gulf coast of Bushehr province—shortly followed by a similar wildcat strike at Abadan refinery in the neighboring restive province of Khuzestan. Videos posted to social media show workers at the Asalouyeh complex chanting “This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali Khamenei is done!” and “Down with the dictator!”—both references to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. (Iran International) Security forces fired on protesters in Sanandaj, capital of Kordestan, another traditionally restive province, killing at least five. (BBC News) Lawyers in Tehran gathered in front of the Iranian Central Bar Association to protest the repression, and were themselves dispersed by tear-gas.  (Jurist) In scenes across the country, schoolgirls held protests in which they removed their hijabs in defiance of authorities. In the southern city of Shiraz, Fars province, dozens of schoolgirls blocked traffic on a main road while waving their headscarves in the air and shouting “Death to the dictator!”  (BBC News)

While details remain sketchy, there was apparently a rebellion at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. At least four inmates died with many more injured after a fire broke out at the facility Oct. 16. (BBC News, Iran International)

The death toll since the protest wave began last month is now placed by rights monitors at 224, with at least 23  children among the slain. (Al Arabiya, Amnesty International)

The current uprising now far surpasses the nationwide wave of protests over economic grievances in 2019.

Photo via Iran International

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-oil-workers-strike-join-protests/feed/ 1 Iran: protest, repression as food prices soar https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protest-repression-as-food-prices-soar/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protest-repression-as-food-prices-soar/#respond Tue, 24 May 2022 02:44:20 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21829 Twitter)]]> Angry protests have swept through several provinces of Iran over the past two weeks amid an economic crisis exacerbated by subsidy cuts that have seen the price of basic goods soar as much as 300%. According to reports on social media, at least six people have been killed as security forces have been deployed across the country to quell unrest. The protests have turned political in many areas, such as the Isfahan provincial capital of Golpayegan, with crowds calling for an end to the Islamic Republic. The government has cut off the internet to a number of areas hit by protests, including traditionally restive Khuzestan province.

Last month, Iran’s government, led by the newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi, announced a decision to cut subsidies for wheat and flour, calling it necessary “economic surgery.” (Middle East Eye, Iran Briefing, Al Arabiya)

Iran witnessed a wave of protests over similar issues in 2019. There have since been intermittent protests by the Ahwazi Arab people in Khuzestan over access to contested water resources. The new protests come amid a harsh drought and rising food prices across the Middle East region, worsened by a cut-off of Ukrainian wheat exports due to the war.

Image: Hajar Morad via Twitter

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protest-repression-as-food-prices-soar/feed/ 0 Middle East: ‘peak wheat’ fears amid deep drought https://countervortex.org/blog/middle-east-peak-wheat-fears-amid-deep-drought/ https://countervortex.org/blog/middle-east-peak-wheat-fears-amid-deep-drought/#comments Thu, 21 Apr 2022 17:49:26 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21714 long lines and bread shortages, Lebanon's government has been forced to give private importers $15 million to bring more wheat into the country. But it's a short-term fix for a government that is broke and waiting for the IMF to approve a bailout deal. And nations across the Middle East may be looking for similar solutions as they struggle with the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine—both countries are key wheat producers, and exports are effectively cut off by the war. The food crisis is deepened by a decades-worst regional drought impacting Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and especially Iran. A new assessment on Iran from the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) documents water shortages, disappearing wetlands and emptying villages, making the impacts "impossible to ignore." (Photo of IDP camp in Yemen: Moayed Al Shaibani/Oxfam)]]> Facing long lines and bread shortages, Lebanon’s government has been forced to give private importers $15 million to bring more wheat into the country. But it’s a short-term fix for a government that is broke and waiting for the IMF to approve a bailout deal. And nations across the Middle East may be looking for similar solutions as they struggle with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—both countries are key wheat producers, and exports are effectively cut off by the war. Oxfam is warning that wheat reserves could run out within weeks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Mercy Corps reports that food prices are up in rebel-held northwest Syria, where food security was already a major concern. Last month Egypt put a cap on unsubsidized bread prices before they could get too high. Yemen, which imports the vast majority of its food, is of particular concern as it already has so many hungry people and is heavily dependent on Ukrainian wheat. Last week, UNICEF said that “the number of malnourished children [in the region] is likely to drastically increase.”

The food crisis is deepened by a decades-worst regional drought impacting Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and especially Iran. A new assessment on Iran from the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) documents water shortages, disappearing wetlands and emptying villages, making the impacts “impossible to ignore.” In recent years, Iran has been roiled by lengthy protests that were triggered at first by economic hardships; water shortages have added to the many grievances. “Food insecurity and a breakdown in societal cohesion are highly likely to follow if increased strains on households and communities are not addressed,” the IFRC assessment warns. The federation has launched an appeal, pegged at about $9.5 million, to help the Iran Red Crescent Society respond, but sanctions on Iran continue to be a barrier to aid.

From The New Humanitarian, April 15

Note: A Food & Agriculture Organization report in 2017 warned that the Middle East may become “uninhabitable” in a matter of decades.

Photo of IDP camp in Yemen: Moayed Al Shaibani/Oxfam

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/middle-east-peak-wheat-fears-amid-deep-drought/feed/ 1 Iran: political prisoners on hunger strike https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-political-prisoners-on-hunger-strike/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-political-prisoners-on-hunger-strike/#respond Wed, 19 Jan 2022 01:22:24 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21380 Evin Prison after poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin died of COVID-19 at the facility. Abtin, who expired after being put into an induced coma during temporary transfer to a hospital, had been serving a five-year sentence on the charge of "assembly and collusion against national security." Ardeshir Zarezadeh, director of the Toronto-based International Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), said in a statement: "The government of Iran must immediately and unconditionally release the political prisoners, and prisoners of conscience, specially due to the serious concern over the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran's overcrowded jails.” Abtin was the second known political prisoner to die in Iran in the first week of 2022. On New Years Day, writer Kian Adelpour died at Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz province after going on hunger strike a week earlier to protest being imprisoned without a fair trial. (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)]]> Six political prisoners began a hunger strike at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison Jan. 12, four days after poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin died of COVID-19 at the facility. Abtin, who expired after being put into an induced coma during temporary transfer to a hospital, had been serving a five-year sentence on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” Ardeshir Zarezadeh, director of the Toronto-based International Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), said in a statement: “The government of Iran must immediately and unconditionally release the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, especially due to the serious concern over the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran’s overcrowded jails.” (Asranarshism, ICHR, HRW, Al Jazeera)

Abtin was the second known political prisoner to die in Iran in the first days of 2022. On Jan. 1, writer Kian Adelpour died at Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz province after going on hunger strike a week earlier to protest being imprisoned without a fair trial. Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said: “We are extremely concerned for all prisoners in Iran and call on the UN and governments worldwide, especially those now in negotiations with Iran, to demand that political prisoners be freed and that all prisoners be allowed fair trials and access to proper medical treatment, food and safe shelter.” (CHRI)

Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-political-prisoners-on-hunger-strike/feed/ 0 Podcast: climate change and the global struggle https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-climate-change-and-the-global-struggle/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-climate-change-and-the-global-struggle/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2021 23:03:30 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20766 Episode 81 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the fast-mounting manifestations of devastating climate destabilization—from Oregon to Siberia, from Germany to Henan. In Angola, traditional pastoralists are joining the ranks of "climate refugees" as their communal lands are stricken by drought. In Iran's restive and rapidly aridifying Ahwazi region, protests over access to water have turned deadly. These grim developments offer a foreboding of North America's imminent future. Yet media commentators continue to equivocate, asking whether these events are "linked to" or "caused by" climate change—rather than recognizing that they are climate change. And the opportunity for a crash conversion from fossil fuels that was posed by last year's pandemic-induced economic paralysis, when already depressed oil prices actually went negative, is now being squandered. Oil prices are again rising, with the return to pre-pandemic dystopian "normality." Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo of Ahwazi protesters in Iran: Ahwazna)]]> In Episode 81 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the fast-mounting manifestations of devastating climate destabilization—from Oregon to Siberia, from Germany to Henan. In Angola, traditional pastoralists are joining the ranks of “climate refugees” as their communal lands are stricken by drought. In Iran’s restive and rapidly aridifying Ahwazi region, protests over access to water have turned deadly. These grim developments offer a foreboding of North America’s imminent future. Yet media commentators continue to equivocate, asking whether these events are “linked to” or “caused by” climate change—rather than recognizing that they are climate change. And the opportunity for a crash conversion from fossil fuels that was posed by last year’s pandemic-induced economic paralysis, when already depressed oil prices actually went negative, is now being squandered. Oil prices are again rising, with the return to pre-pandemic dystopian “normality.”

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

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Photo of Ahwazi protesters in Iran: Ahwazna

Erratum: This podcast was, of course, recorded on July 23, 2021—not (as erroneously stated) Feb. 23.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-climate-change-and-the-global-struggle/feed/ 2 Iran: protests over water rights in Ahwazi region https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protests-over-water-rights-in-ahwazi-region/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protests-over-water-rights-in-ahwazi-region/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2021 04:35:15 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20759 Dur Untash Studies Center)]]> Two were killed July 16 as Iranian security forces opened fire on Ahwazi Arab protesters in Ahvaz, capital of southwestern Khuzestan province. The deaths came after days of demonstrations in the Arab-majority region, which is now stricken by withering drought. Hundreds of sheep, cattle, buffalo and other livestock have died in the region over the past weeks. The protests began a week ago, with a peaceful vigil outside the governor’s office, demanding that authorities open the sluice gates on the network of massive hydroelectric dams built upstream on the region’s main rivers, which divert some 90% of the waters to other regions of Iran. Protesters held up placards in Arabic, Persian and English, with messages including: “Water is a human right”, “We are thirsty–give us water!”, “Stop killing our environment!”, and “Stop drying out the Ahwazi rivers and marshlands!” The protesters also chanted slogans condemning Iran’s central government, such as “The regime stole our rights and our wealth!” and “The regime keeps us in poverty in the name of religion!” Small protests were also held at government offices in several rural villages across the region. (Dur Untash Studies Center, DUSC, Ahwazna, Ahwazna)

Photo: Dur Untash Studies Center

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-protests-over-water-rights-in-ahwazi-region/feed/ 2 Iran: sweeps target Ahwazi women activists https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-sweeps-target-ahwazi-women-activists/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-sweeps-target-ahwazi-women-activists/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2020 04:56:37 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20092 Dur Untash Studies Center)]]> Rights advocates in Iran’s Khuzestan province, homeland of the marginalized Ahwazi Arab people, report another wave of sweeps and incommunicado detention of local activists. Agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Dec. 11 detained Zeinab Sawari, a teacher and prominent Ahwazi advocate for women’s and children’s rights. Sawari’s younger siblings were also detained when they came to her defense during the raid on the family’s home in Neysan district of Howeyzeh shahrestan (county). Agents simultaneously raided the nearby home of their aunt, Fatema Sawari. Zeinab Sawari had recently been involved in fundraising to help victims of the severe flooding that devastated the region both this year and in 2019. Both Zeinab and Fatema Sawari remain in detention at an undisclosed location.

Maryam Ameri, an activist in provincial capital Ahwaz, was twice detained by IRGC agents late last month. The first time on Nov. 26, she was released after a few hours of questioning. But two days later she was arrested again and held for several days. She later told her family that IRGC agents threatened her with being “left to rot” in solitary confinement if she refused to sign a document stating falsely that her friend and fellow activist, Fatema Tamimi, had been receiving support from “enemy states” overseas via anti-regime groups in exile. She was released after steadfastly refusing to sign.

Fatema Tamimi was herself arrested by IRGC agents Dec. 9—this time armed with assault rifles and wearing balaclavas to hide their faces. The agents also searched and ransacked her home in Ma’shour city, confiscating personal belongings including her phone, books, laptop, a voice recorder and DVDs. Her husband and two young children were held at gunpoint during the raid. She was taken away blindfolded and handcuffed, and her family  has not been able to obtain any information about her whereabouts since.

After the raid on Tamimi’s home, Maryam Ameri was arrested yet a third time, and her whereabouts likewise remain unknown. Maryam and Fatema had worked on Ahwazi cultural programs together, cataloguing traditional folk songs and producing short documentaries about Ahwazi music, lore and history. On Dec. 11, Azhar Alboghbiesh, a young activist also involved in the project, was arrested in a raid on her home in Falahiyeh town, in which agents reportedly fired in the air to intimidate her family. (Dur Untash Studies Center)

Photo of Azhar Alboghbiesh and Maryam Ameri via Dur Untash Studies Center

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-sweeps-target-ahwazi-women-activists/feed/ 2 China elected to UN rights council: Orwellian irony https://countervortex.org/blog/china-elected-to-un-rights-council-orwellian-irony/ https://countervortex.org/blog/china-elected-to-un-rights-council-orwellian-irony/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2020 03:40:38 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=19932 elected China to the Human Rights Council—despite the country holding some one million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps. The General Assembly also elected Russia, Cuba, Uzbekistan and Pakistan—all similarly accused of human rights violations, if not quite such ambitious ones. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the election of countries with "abhorrent human rights records." A week before the General Assembly vote, China's UN ambassador Zhang Jun read a statement before the body, denouncing the US for "systematic racial discrimination and violence," which was endorsed by 25 other nations—including Russia, Iran and North Korea. Of course the perverse irony of this is that Pompeo and Zhang are both correct. And therefore neither has any moral credibility to criticize the other. (Photo: Xinjiang Judicial Administration via The Diplomat)]]> Another one to file under #OrwellWouldShit. The UN General Assembly has elected China to the Human Rights Council—despite the country holding some one million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps. China was supported by 139 of the 191 nations that voted, and was one of 16 nations that sought the 15 available seats. (The General Assembly also elected Russia, Cuba, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, all similarly accused of human rights violations, if not quite such ambitious ones.) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the election of countries with “abhorrent human rights records,” stating: “These elections only further validate the US decision to withdraw and use other venues and opportunities to protect and promote universal human rights.” The US left the Human Rights Council in June 2018. (Jurist)

A week before the General Assembly vote, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun read a statement before the body, denouncing the US for “systematic racial discrimination and violence,” which was endorsed by 25 other nations. “Instances like the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake continue to take place and vulnerable people continue to suffer or lose their lives to racism and police brutality,” the statement read. Co-signatory nations included Russia, Iran and North Korea. (American Military News)

Of course the perverse, hilarious irony of all this is that Mike Pompeo and Zhang Jun are both correct. And therefore neither has any moral credibility to be criticizing the other. Nor are China’s co-signatories in the statement any better positioned. Russia is establishing a concentration camp system for the Crimean Tatars. Iran is guilty of “systematic racial discrimination and violence” against the Kurds and Ahwazi Arabs. And North Korea is a totalitarian state that rules in the name of racial purity and superiority.

Now, we were heartened by the news in June that several African countries, led by Burkina Faso, called on the Human Rights Council to investigate systemic racism and police violence in the US. Not that these nations do not have grave human rights issues of their own. Burkina Faso’s armed forces are accused of war crimes in their counter-insurgency campaign against Islamist militants. Nigeria is just now seeing a wave of protest demanding the disbanding of a police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), that is accused of widespread abuses. Protests against the squad were sparked by a video of a man being killed by officers. Since the protests erupted more than a week ago, at least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured. (AP, BBC News)

But the African nations, having been subject to European colonialism, have greater moral authority to protest white supremacy in the United States—and are certainly doing so for less hypocritical reasons than China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Photo: Xinjiang Judicial Administration via The Diplomat

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/china-elected-to-un-rights-council-orwellian-irony/feed/ 1 Yazidis call Middle East indigenous alliance https://countervortex.org/blog/yazidis-call-middle-east-indigenous-alliance/ https://countervortex.org/blog/yazidis-call-middle-east-indigenous-alliance/#respond Tue, 22 Sep 2020 01:12:26 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=19854 Ezidikhan in northern Iraq, representatives of tribal peoples and ethnic minorities from across the Middle East and North Africa agreed on a framework for a region-wide alliance of stateless nations struggling for self-determination and autonomy. The meeting at the Ezidikhan seat of Shingal was attended by representatives of the Mandaeans and Zoroastrians as well as Yazidis. Messages of support were also sent by the Shabaks of Iraq, Ahwazi Arabs of Iran, Berbers of Libya, and Palestinian Bedouins residing in the state of Israel. Delegates announced formation of a Confederation of Indigenous Nations of the Middle East open to all stateless peoples of the region. The Confederation pledges to seek greater recognition for stateless peoples of the Middle East at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and to seek redress for persecution, exclusion and genocide. (Photo of Yazidi delegates: Ezidikhan.net)]]> In a meeting hosted by the Yazidi autonomous territory of Ezidikhan in northern Iraq last month, representatives of tribal peoples and ethnic minorities from across the Middle East and North Africa agreed on a framework for a region-wide alliance of stateless nations struggling for self-determination and autonomy. The meeting at the Ezidikhan seat of Shingal (also rendered Sinjar) was attended by representatives of the Mandaeans and Zoroastrians as well as Yazidis. Messages of support were also sent by the Shabaks of Iraq, Ahwazi Arabs of Iran, Berbers of Libya, and Palestinian Bedouins residing in the state of Israel. Delegates announced formation of a Confederation of Indigenous Nations of the Middle East open to all stateless peoples of the region. “We are are expecting even more indigenous nations to sign on,” said Ezidikhan Minister of Justice Nallein Sowilo. She noted that the Kawliya and Yarsanis, whose territory is divided between Iraq and Iran, have also expressed interest in joining. “We are all natural allies. That is why we call this an alliance of First Peoples. We represent the Middle East’s ancient heritage of ethnic and religious diversity.”

“Ezidikhan is firmly committed to serve justice to all victims of genocide, whether they are Yezidis or indigenous minorities of whatever nation,” Sowilo declared at the conclusion of the conference. “This idea came to me on the very day of the ISIS attack on Ezidikhan on Aug. 3, 2014.” For the following 16 months that ISIS occupied Ezidikhan, Yazidis were subject to genocide and slavery.

Under the new Shingal Treaty, the Confederation pledges to seek greater recognition for stateless peoples of the Middle East at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “Foremost in everyone’s mind was how to obtain justice for wrongs including the genocidal policies of nation states,” said Sowilo. “On behalf of this Confederation, Ezidikhan will begin to raise these issues at international forums, including the United Nations.”

Condensed from Ezidikhan.net, Sept. 16

Photo of Yazidi delegates: Ezidikhan.net

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