1) After a long absence, I have returned to Shingal (Sinjar) to attend ceremonies commemorating the 10th anniversary of the #YazidiGenocide.
Yesterday, I visited this memorial display in the heart of the old city of Shingal, a bloody front line with the Islamic State in 2014-15: 2) Here are some photos from the memorial site:

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:

1) Last week the #Yazidi community lost a true hero. Jameel Ghanem Chomer was a pivotal and constant figure of the humanitarian and advocacy response to the #YazidiGenocide. 2) This man’s life deserves a much greater tribute than I can offer, but I do want to share some comments and images about his story and his service.

1) This beautiful drawing of Salih Nasir Naso, a twelve-year-old #Yazidi boy murdered by #Turkey in #Sinjar on Wednesday, was done by @HishamHaji2: 2) The girl in the drawing is Salih’s sister, seen in a video captured moments after the bombings, screaming for help on the street, and saying "my brother is in there." At the end of the video she walks past a business named after Nadia Murad.

1) Two+ weeks of violence in #Shingal—following the Iraqi army mobilizing to force-implement the Sinjar Agreement—recently ended. Time for a THREAD on the reasons why the #Sinjar Agreement was unworkable from its inception, and why its implementation will harm the #Yazidi people. 2) Recap—In the past month: Masrour visited Erdogan; Turkey then subsequently launched a new anti-PKK campaign in Iraq ; Kadhimi simultaneously ordered the Iraqi army to mobilize against the #YBŞ, which produced two weeks of hostilities; thousands of #Yazidis were displaced; >

Thread on #NoVaccineMandates:
1) Surreal—The CDC director is asked to confirm the inaccuracy of Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's gross overstating of numbers of kids hospitalized with COVID, but she quickly pivots to a "give your kids the vaccine" mantra.
vimeo.com/665727683 2) It's like watching a programmed robot play an endless game of redirect back to the acceptable talking points. Refusing to treat people as adults who deserve nuanced discussion of all aspects of an issue will only exacerbate the decline of trust in medical authorities.

1) A tenacious investigative journalist has published the latest revelation of the corruption of billionaire KRG prime minster Masrour Barzani @masrour_barzani, namely an $18,300,000 property in Miami he secretly owns through an anonymous shell company. 2) While Kurds are so desperate to secure humane livelihoods and hopeful futures that they are willing to face dreadful conditions in Belarus and elsewhere, @ZackKopplin's crucial article details just one example of the PM’s corruption:
prospect.org/power/cowboy-d…

1) The first ever visit of an Iraqi prime minister to #Sinjar in the post-Saddam era is occurring now. In a telling gesture of dominance over Iraqi PM al-Kadhimi, Turkey has today assassinated a key #Yazidi leader inside Sinjar City who had arrived there as the PM was en-route. 2) Prime Minister al-Kadhimi is in Kocho at this moment. Yesterday was the anniversary of the #Kocho Massacre. As the PM was about to arrive in Sinjar, a Turkish airstrike inside Sinjar City killed Saeed Hasan Saeed, a #YBŞ leader who played a major role in the fight against IS.

1) Reports today of #KDP secret police preventing displaced #Yazidi families from returning to their homes in #Sinjar.
facebook.com/ezidxantv.tv/p…
#Iraq #Kurdistan #KRG 2) This is a sick game the KDP has played since Jan. 2016—a deliberate political strategy that prevents genocide survivors from recovering until KDP powers can unilaterally reassert control and regain hegemony in Sinjar.

1) Important: The #KDP has rejected sensible recommendations from the International Crisis Group @CrisisGroup on returning stability to #Sinjar so that the #Yazidi people can return home, rebuilding, and have a future. This affair deserves comment.
#KRG #Kurdistan #Iraq 2) The @CrisisGroup is one of the few analyst entities to produce reasonable suggestions that, in fact, reflect what the Yazidis have been demanding for the past 4 ½ years. They recently recommended that the #Yazidi people choose their own administrative leaders for #Sinjar.

1) Today—on the 4th anniversary of the Kocho Massacre, when #IS slaughtered an entire town as part of the Yazidi Genocide—#Turkey bombed a #Yazidi convoy in #Sinjar that was returning from the Kocho Massacre memorial ceremony, killing Mam Zaki, an important Yazidi #PKK leader. 2) The convoy contained leaders & members of the Yazidi #YBŞ defense force and affiliated political institutions, including Mazlum Shingal, the military commander of the #YBŞ, who—like Mam Zaki—is also a #Yazidi. Mazlum (shown in photo) was injured but not killed in the attack.

1) The KDP is the most responsible actor for inhibiting #Yazidi post-genocide recovery & preventing resettlement/reconstruction in #Sinjar. The @HudsonInstitute should be cognizant of these well-documented issues before featuring a mouthpiece who routinely defends these abuses. 2) A perusal of any number of articles/reports would enlighten event organizers as to the reaction of incredulity that such an embarrassing choice engenders on the part of Iraqi minorities and those involved in advocacy, humanitarian endeavors, and human rights work.

@RichardDawkins 1) Some church bells sound nice. Others clang annoyingly and sound like a hammer smacking a cooking pot. Sometimes the adhan (Muslim call to prayer) is delivered in an aurally pleasing way by the muadhan (the man who calls). At other times it can be a terrible affront to the ear. @RichardDawkins 2) Muslims don't like to think of the adhan as "singing," but in fact in many countries the adhan is delivered in one of the Arabic maqams—musical scales used in traditional music of the Middle East/Arab World. It can have a very musical quality, depending on the muadhan's skill.

@RichardDawkins 1) Some church bells sound nice. Others clang annoyingly and sound like a hammer smacking a cooking pot. Sometimes the adhan (Muslim call to prayer) is delivered in an aurally pleasing way by the muadhan (the man who calls). At other times it can be a terrible affront to the ear. @RichardDawkins 2) Muslims don't like to think of the adhan as "singing," but in fact in many countries the adhan is delivered in one of the Arabic maqams—musical scales used in traditional music of the Middle East/Arab World. It can have a very musical quality, depending on the muadhan's skill.

1) Yazidi enslavement was condemned as extremism, but an Egyptian lawyer publicly says that rape is “national duty:”
independent.co.uk/news/world/mid… 2) His warped logic: Indecency is dangerous b/c it tempts men into sexual sin; indecent women should be punished w/ the same male sexual sin

1) New updates on #Sinjar—this thread provides details following KDP pullout.
Photo: Haider Shesho greets #Yazidi Hashd commander Khal Ali. 2) On KDP withdrawal from #Sinjar, see previous thread:

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1) A MONUMENTAL DAY: The #KDP has FULLY WITHDRAWN from #Sinjar. I'm completely SPEECHLESS—(well, not completely): Bye-bye KDP!
#Yazidi #Iraq 2) After over 3 years of fighting for this outcome, the #Yazidi community has finally scored a major victory in reclaiming their homeland.