02-05-2025
Berlin exhibition showcases Yazidi genocide by ISIS
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An exhibition in Berlin on Wednesday documented the brutal attack by Islamic State (ISIS) militants on the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in 2014.
Titled Rojda – In Light of Memory, the exhibition showcased photos, documents, and personal belongings of Yazidis that displayed their life before and after the brutal attack.
It will run through May 5.
Walid Tozo, the organizer, emphasized to Rudaw the importance of the exhibition, saying it serves to stress the severity of the atrocities committed by the extremist group on the Yazidi community.
'We will not gain any progress if we complain for years. On such days, we have to think about our future. The images tell dozens of stories of Yazidi families. Their gazes are full of experiences, and the videos talk about the massacres,' Tozo said.
Jihan al-Omar was ten years old when she and several members of her family fell into the hands of ISIS. To prevent herself from being raped, she disguised herself as a boy, wearing boys' clothes and cutting her hair.
She was freed after ten months, but nine members of her family remain missing.
'After ten months, the ISIS members who had bought us and our family took us to Anbar. There, we stole a phone. If ISIS had known we stole a phone, they would have killed us. Through that phone, we contacted our uncle, spoke with him, and my uncle found someone to rescue us from there. My uncle paid money for it. That means he bought us back from ISIS,' she said.
The exhibition also served to display the Yazidi culture and their resilience in light of the atrocities.
'The aim of this exhibition is to create an archive that preserves Yazidi culture and history through photographs, videos,, and other media,' said Renas Hassan Babakr, a participant.
ISIS's 2014 assault on Shingal resulted in the abduction of 6,417 Yazidi women and children, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. Despite being territorially defeated in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, ISIS continues to pose a security threat in the region.
The United Nations has recognized the systematic targeting of the Yazidis as genocide. Up to 200,000 Yazidis were displaced from Shingal, many of whom now live in camps across the Kurdistan Region, particularly in Dohuk province.
As of now, 2,590 Yazidis remain missing, according to the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
