GERALD RUSSELL

The Yazidis are a Middle Eastern minorities with their own culture and their own religion who have lived in out of the way, mountainous, harsh land where they asked for and got nothing from the governments in the area which tended to pay then no attention as they did not much interact with others outside their small area. When the ISIS took over the area, they did pay attention to the Yazdis, insisting that they adopt Islam as their religion. When they did not, many of the men were killed, and the women and girls given to the ISIS fighters as “wives”. The United States airstrikes saved a large proportion of the Yazidis but as Russell points out, modernity was making it almost impossible for a small people to live in de facto isolation.

The Yazidis are a Middle Eastern minorities with their own culture and their own religion who have lived in out of the way, mountainous, harsh land where they asked for and got nothing from the governments in the area which tended to pay then no attention as they did not much interact with others outside their small area. When the ISIS took over the area, they did pay attention to the Yazdis, insisting that they adopt Islam as their religion. When they did not, many of the men were killed, and the women and girls given to the ISIS fighters as “wives”. The United States airstrikes saved a large proportion of the Yazidis but as Russell points out, modernity was making it almost impossible for a small people to live in de facto isolation.