A Michael Totten photo essay from “The Beginning of the Universe;
In Northern Iraq there is a place called Lalish where the Yezidis say the universe was born. I drove south from Dohok on snowy roads through an empty land, seemingly to the ends of the earth, and found it nestled among cold hills.
I went there because the President of Dohok University told me to go. �I am a Muslim,� he said. �But I love the Yezidis. Theirs is the original religion of the Kurds. Only through the Yezidis can I speak to God in my own language.�
Yezidis are ancient fire-worshippers. They heavily influenced Zoroastrianism, and in turn have been heavily influenced by Sufi Islam. The temple at Lalish is their �Mecca.� Hundreds of thousands of remaining Yezidis � those Kurds who refused to submit to Islam � make pilgrimages there at least once in their lifetimes from all over the Middle East and Europe.
[..]
�Can someone from another religion become a Yezidi?� I said.
�No,� Baba Sheik said. He shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head. �We are the original people,� he said and spread out his arms. �We can�t become a cocktail religion like Islam.� Everyone, including my Muslim driver and translator, thought that was hilarious.
They�re a bit like the Druze then, the fierce people who live in the mountains of Syria and Lebanon. You can�t convert and become a Druze either. Yezidis believe they will be reincarnated as Yezidis after they die, just as Druze believe they will be reincarnated as Druze.
Baba Sheikh apparently didn�t want me to think they were close-minded bigots. �We are a peaceful people,� he said. �We don�t interfere with others. We are the nation of generosity and kindness.�
He didn�t think that about everyone else in the region.
�72 times Muslims tried to conquer us,� he said. �Christians never once tried to conquer us. The Christians are wise, not like Muslims.�
Meh….nothing there to make me toss in Banff for Lalish any time soon…..and does TO know their claim to “center of the universe” is in dispute by these Iraqi hillbillies?
Smart folks, in their discernment of Islam versus Christianity.
72 – 0 whatever the reasons, something to think about…
Ha ! maybe they’re just slow learners.
With every Michael Tottem article, I like the Kurds more and more.
I hope they get a nice chunk of the oil fields that are in dispute. I hope the US provides them with a significant arsenal to defend themselves if things fall apart in Iraq.
Two groups with historic homeland issues: compare the behavior of the Kurds versus the Palistinians.
It says it all.
72,… 72… hmmmm ,..
Isn’t that the same number of muslim virgins that you get to molest in heaven if you splode your carcass in an Israeli pizzaria or fly a plane into a building ?
Further to nowhere
It’s also the year that the Miami Dolphins went undefeated ,…and BTW ,…there a lot of Jews in Miammi?
I bet the Mussi’s can create some hatred for the number 72… you know,.. if they have’nt already!
Kudus to Michael Totten! (As for the trolls-get back under your bridges.)
Some interesting fotos of the people in the Kurdistan at
http://www.conflictpics.co.uk/kurdistan/index/htm
Some terrifying fotos of the same folks in the Kurdistan at
http://www.kdp.pp.se/chemical.html
includes a foto of the memorial to +5000 dead from the March.1988 chemical bombings in Halabja Iraq, a town that had sympathies to Iran…
no weapons of mass destruction? I guess… because they were all used by the start of gulf war 2
as Penny notes above, the behavior of the Palistinians is worth comparison. Additionally, if the Kurds are part of the Arab world, note the difference between them and the moslems…
Iran : Persia,Zoroastrians. Fire plays an important role in their rituals. +
History of [Muslim] Jihad against the Zoroastrians of Iran (634 -651)
How the Jihadis mercilessly vandalized Zoroastrian Persia and wiped out … Using imagery we can say that Zoroastrian Sassanian Persia was like a strong …
http://www.historyofjihad.org/persia.html – 60k – +
The Next Iranian Revolution
Open Democracy ^ | 2/26/06 | Nazenin Ansari
Posted on 02/23/2006 4:59:49 PM PST by freedom44
The hopes of Iran’s democratic activists for a fundamental shift in Iran’s relation to the world are undiminished by the nuclear dispute between Tehran and the international community, says Nazenin Ansari of “Kayhan”.
“Iran is my land. Although her name has espoused history since ever, the world has forgotten her since 27 years ago. Nowadays, my country’s name is back on everyone’s lips for a threat, bigger than ever, emanating from the idiocy of those theocrats who govern us, is hanging above us all. A looming menace that, with the sagacity of our people, we are determined to turn into an opportunity for awakening.” So commences a letter from Iranian student activists beseeching the “people of Iran” to unite and participate in a “Congress for the Freedom of Iran”, and pleading with the international community “not to abandon us once again � when the atomic issue is resolved.” The signatories of the 10 February letter include political prisoners such as Amir Abbas Fakhravar, Peyman Aref, Manouchehr Mohammadi, Arjang Davoodi and Akbar Mohammadi.
The letter is written at a time when the regime in Tehran has been given until 6 March to consider � in the words of Sean McCormack, United States assistant secretary of state for public affairs � “what pathway it wants to follow. Does it want to pursue the pathway of understanding and dialogue or does it want to pursue the pathway of isolation?”
If you find this material enjoyable or provoking please consider commenting in our forums � and supporting openDemocracy by sending us a donation so that we can continue our work for democratic dialogue. +
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1584444/posts
Ah the Yezidi’s yep an interesting religion, which flourished in Iraq but was repressed elsewhere like Iran and Turkey. Oh yeah that was under Saddam….snarkiness aside I also posted recently on them in my article; My Favorite Muslim They are known in the West as Satanists, a mistaken appelation, they like the Sufi’s are closer to classical Gnosticism. Manichism to be exact. Anyways with his tongue firmly in cheek Sir Captain Richard Burton published his famous Sufi poem Kasidah under the pen name of el Yesdi, the devil.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1962 and a Bachelor of Law degree in 1966 from the University of Manitoba. He was called to Bar of Manitoba in 1966. He was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1979. In 1966, he married Sheila Dorfman, a Montreal native and doctor. They have four children, Ronald, Douglas, Tracey and Robert.