Persecution

From forced conversion to genocide: How Yazidis carry centuries of persecution into exile

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: The Islamic interpretation of the Yazidi faith is what members of ISIS used to justify the enslavement of over 6,000 women and children and the murder of more than 5,000 people.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
A Yazidi woman holds a flame during the Charshama Sor Red New Year ceremony at the Lalish temple in Iraq in April. For a community repeatedly driven from its ancestral homes and subjected to forced conversions, religious tradition has become an enduring expression of survival and continuity.
New Year's Eve celebrations at the Saint Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran, 2023; illustrative.

Tehran has arrested at least 21 Christians since Israel ceasefire, non-profit claims

The arrests occurred in Tehran, Rasht, Urmia, Kermanshah, and Varamin, with a further arrest in Kerman before the conflict, UK-based non-profit Article18 claimed.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
IRAQI JEWS in Israel protest their counterparts’ persecution under the Ba’ath regime. (Fritz Cohen)

'Ensuring their story is remembered': Report highlights forgotten exodus of Iraqi Jews

The report comes amid discussions on population transfers in the Middle East, following US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Gaza relocation.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi

Iranian rapper who took part in Mahsa Amini protests sentenced to death

Rapper Toomaj Salehi was arrested in October 2022 amid nationwide protests against the regime.

|ByTZVI JOFFRE

Persecution of Christians likely to rise in 2019, report warns

The two most populous nations on Earth, India and China, are increasingly hostile toward Christians.

MARCH 8, 2019ByZACK EVANS
Iraqi Christians attend a mass on Christmas Eve at the Grand Immaculate Church in Qaraqosh (al-Hamdaniya), near Mosul