Thread by @Matthew__Barber

1) Kurdish Islamists plan a terrorist attack on #Yazidis in a TikTok conversation yesterday, mentioning grenades and other specific weaponry:
facebook.com/watch/?v=94820…

2) The men, in Zakho, call for an attack on the nearby Chamishko IDP camp. They refer to other cells—in Erbil and Slemani—whom they encourage to join to help attack Yazidis in other places in Dohuk. An anonymous person made this clip adding translation of a few comments:

3) This situation follows tensions that developed a few days ago following the Iraqi army's decision to officially escort a number of Sunni Arab returnee families back to their homes in #Sinjar City, homes they have not inhabited since 2014.

4) Young Yazidis demonstrated in Sinjar, demanding that a thorough vetting/name check process be undertaken to ensure that no returnees were IS collaborators. Older Yazidis stated that they did not oppose returns of Arabs confirmed innocent of participation in the Genocide.

5) A young Yazidi woman then complained to Iraqi authorities that she recognized among the returnees a man whom she claims enslaved and raped her in Mosul. The Iraqi military authorities then arrested the man.

6) Among the demonstrators were young Yazidis who threw stones at the al-Rahman mosque in Sinjar City. This is the primary mosque of the city; though it was used by IS as a holding site for enslaved Yazidi girls in 2014, it has not been demolished.

7) A video clip was circulated of boys throwing stones at the mosque. They clearly posed little threat, with Iraqi security present and looking fairly unconcerned:

8) After this, Internet Islamists and dozens of Kurdish mullas began circulating reports that the mosque had been burned or destroyed by Yazidis. The clip of the demonstrators was circulated alongside two misleading photos to imply mosque damage/destruction.

9) The first photo was taken from a 2020 article and shows damage to the Mus'ab ibn Umayr Mosque in Diyala; the second image shows Sinjar's al-Rahman Mosque being cleaned after liberation from IS occupation (probably 2015).

10) Because of these rumors and propaganda, mullas across Kurdistan yesterday gave Friday sermons—in Kurmanji and Sorani—condemning Yazidis for attacking/destroying the al-Rahman Mosque.

11) Two example sermons (the url links to a different one from the attached clip):
facebook.com/mamostaabdulxa…
Some others have already been removed from social media platforms.

12) This has prompted a visible outpouring of hate on social media:

13) The initial reaction of both the KRG Awqaf authorities and the Yazidi leadership seemed focused on the protesters ("the actions of a few," etc.) and did not clearly refute the veracity of alleged mosque damage:
- kurdistan24.net/en/story/31308…
- shafaq.com/en/Iraq-News/Y…

14) In contrast, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior’s “Department of Combatting Rumors” issued a statement saying that the photos were misattributed and that a Nineveh police official had visited the mosque and reported it had not been burned/attacked:
mawazin.net/Details.aspx?j…

15) A press conference of Yazidi leaders today further clarified that no actual attack on the mosque had occurred and that it had not been damaged:
facebook.com/XaniAgency/vid…

16) And another article provided more accurate details on the situation:
ekurd.net/iraqi-forces-d…

17) Today, Yazidi and Muslim leaders stood together in front of the mosque for a joint photograph demonstrating peace and the integrity of the mosque:
h/t @farhadbarakat

18) And a local Yazidi religious elder performed a tour inside the mosque for the camera to demonstrate its condition:
h/t @farhadbarakat

19) The hysteria that can quickly explode when these kinds of rumors are circulated is ridiculous, but also dangerous. The absurdity of the hysterics is summed up by this comment:

https://twitter.com/MousaviDean/status/1651900331540852738

20) Hopefully this situation calms down quickly, but the fact that some Kurdish men are calling for an organized assault on Yazidis, while mullas preach against Yazidis from pulpits, is extremely serious and must be dealt with by the authorities.

21) I am unaware of any statement from the #KRG in response to these calls for terrorism and violence.
#TwitterKurds
#Kurdistan #YazidiGenocide

22) Another one:
h/t @WahhabHassoo