This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
Estimated to number less than 100,000 remaining adherents in Iraq and adjacent countries, Yazidis are practitioners of a “syncretic” (mixed creed) religion combining Judaism and Zoroastrianism along with Manichean and (Nestorian) Christian elements. Many are Kurds. Yazidis have been targeted in particular by Sunni Muslim militants in Iraq.
Campbell Robertson, “Followers of Ancient Faith Caught in Iraq’s Fault [...]
Bulent Ersoy, a popular Turkish singer has been accused of making dangerous propaganda for the PKK. Last February Ersoy spoke about the military, saying that it was “the sacred duty” of every Turk, on national television. Her first hearing in took place in mid-June, but due to scheduling conflicts with her music career, she failed [...]
In the Sunday, August 24, 2008 issue of the New York Times Book Review Michael Goldfarb reviews a new book by Quil Lawrence on the Kurds: Invisible Nation: How the Kurds’ Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East (Walker and Company). The U.S. may become much less friendly to Iraq’s Kurds than [...]
BBC Middle East