Introduction

The invasion of ISIS1 (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in August 2014 was not the first assault carried out under the banner of Islam against the Yezidis. Throughout their history, the Yezidis have endured numerous genocidal campaigns, each justified in the name of Islam and carried out using similar religious and political reasoning. The patterns of these assaults have remained remarkably consistent, forced conversion from Yezidism to Islam, mass executions (particularly of Yezidi men and elderly women), captivity and enslavement (especially of younger women, girls, and children), the destruction of temples and shrines, and the looting of property.