FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Jews, Assyrians Greeks and Christians:
A multi-faith, multi culture intervention to save the Yezidis
Representatives from diverse religious and ethnic groups will gather for A RACE AGAINST TIME: SAVE YEZIDIS FROM ISIS, SLAVERY AND GENOCIDE on Sunday, December 7, 2014 at 6:30 PM at Ezra Habonim/Niles Township Jewish, Congregation, 4500 Dempster, Skokie, IL.
The interfaith coalition mobilized because thousands of Yezidis on Mt. Sinjar (at the Iraq border) are under siege by ISIS, which is conducting a barbaric and brutal march across Iraq, slaughtering all those Yezidis who refused to convert to Islam. ISIS has also kidnapped many Yezidi women and kept them or sold them as sex slaves. As winter approaches, around 7,000 Yezidis are atop Mount Sinjar without food, water, or ammunition to defend themselves.
The program will include Adoul Kejjan, a Yezidi activist, who has put her life in the U.S. on hold as she and others in the Yezidi delegation work feverishly to save their relatives from starvation, slavery, and ISIS slaughter. Adoul was born in a refugee camp in Syria. Her parents are survivors of barbaric acts that were committed against the Yezidis in the 1980’s, and her older siblings died of starvation. Her family managed to get to the United States when Adoul was thirteen years old. In the U.S., Adoul was able to achieve her dream of becoming a pilot and an EMT Paramedic.
There will also be a presentation by Matthew Barber, a University of Chicago scholar on minority religions in Iraq and Syria. He was conducting research in Northern Iraq this summer when the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group attacked Sinjar. During the unfolding crisis, Barber worked to help the Yezidis and is currently focused on efforts to respond to the catastrophic kidnapping of thousands of Yezidi women, which is part of the ISIS Slavery Revival Project.
The Yezidis in the U.S. connected to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an Indian Hindu spiritual teacher famous for his school of meditation, “The Art of Living.” Shankar’s nonprofit, the International Association for Human Values, will be represented by Vinesh Verani.
StandWithUs and Protect Our Heritage Education Fund are spearheading the event on December 7. Sponsoring groups include Viswa Hindu Parishad America (VHPA), Sewa International USA Inc, Global Hindu Heritage, Assyrian National Council of Illinois, Foundation Chicago (GHHF), Assyrian American Civic Club of Chicago, Assyrian News, American Jewish Committee (AJC), Circle for Hellas and Israel (CHI), Grassroots for Israel, Bridges For Peace Chicago .
The Yezidis are an ancient religion and culture that predate Islam and have links to Hinduism,Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Islamic extremists believe the group is not one of the religions “of the Book” (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and have labeled them as devil worshippers and marked them for extinction. Many of the group’s holy sites and temples have been defaced or destroyed.
Source: WHN Media Network