by David Baron
It seems there is no one who has not seen the footage of Iraqi parliament member Vian Dakhil's tearful breakdown.
Addressing the Iraqi
parliament, Dakhil, a member of the Yazidi ethnic group, pleaded: "Mr.
Speaker, under the slogan of 'there is no god but Allah' … We are being
slaughtered, annihilated."
She continued: "Five
hundred Yazidi boys and men have been slaughtered up to now. ... Our
women are being taken captive and sold on the slave-market. ... Please,
brothers. ... Please, brothers. ... A genocide campaign is taking place
right now against the Yazidis. ... Brothers, despite all the political
disagreements, we want human solidarity. I speak in the name of
humanity. Save us!" Dakhil cried until collapsing.
Even though her words
received attention in Israel, it seems that until now only one aspect of
the methodical extermination of the Yazidi ethnic group by Islamic
State group (ISIS) barbarians has been of interest here: putting the
crimes of Islamic terror on display, from Iraq to Gaza. But the
annihilation of the Yazidis -- ethnic Kurds who adhere to a particular,
ancient religion -- requires a different approach.
Why, for example,
should we not grant a tiny handful asylum, even temporarily? A few days
ago Australia announced it would grant 4,000 refugee visas to Iraqi
Yazidis. Israel can offer less. After all, this is not a dubious
instance of illegal migrants from Sudan, rather a clear and documented
case of genocide. Incidentally, there have been precedents: In the late
1970s Israel granted asylum to hundreds of Vietnamese refugees, and in
the late 90s to those who sought refuge from the bloodshed in Bosnia and
Kosovo.
Moreover, The United
States has already bombed ISIS positions. It is reasonable to assume it
will be joined by others. It is fitting and appropriate that the Israeli
air force also play a role. People will likely argue that Israeli
military aid will jeopardize the Yazidis and lead to increased violence
against them -- indeed, in the Middle East Israel is not seen as a
desirable ally, at least not openly.
However, according to
reports from the field, the Yazidis are in such dire straits that it is
doubtful they can refuse any offers of help. Their situation cannot get
worse. Additionally, we are not talking about a Muslim faction that can
suffer from being identified with Israel.
Beyond all this, there
should be no concern that helping the Yazidis will open a front against
ISIS, because even if a front does not exist directly it already exists
in theory: Anyone who does not adhere to the ideology eschewed by ISIS
is a target regardless -- Yazidis, Jews, Christians, Shiites or Sunnis.
By taking action to help the Yazidis and against ISIS, even if it is
only symbolic in nature, Israel will join the most worthy of coalitions:
The fight against barbarism, which sentences to death all that are
different. These are horrific deaths as well, by beheadings,
crucifixions and stoning. To paraphrase the documentary film by Haim
Hecht: This is a rare opportunity for just one flight -- for their sake.
This is not merely a humane
measure. Israel, as we know, does not have an abundance of friends in
the region. Perhaps, as recently alluded to by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that new alliances are taking shape behind the scenes of
Operation Protective Edge, we have an opportunity to exhibit a sense of
neighborliness, lend our hand, and who knows, maybe make new allies as
well. In the same breath Israel would add another important page to its
impressive humanitarian record. This is the time to act, and the sooner
the better.
David Baron
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9689
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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