MembersExclusive: Yazidi Writer Narrates ISIS Crimes Against His People

Khalid Al-Qaidi is a writer. He’s also Yazidi, a small religious people group native to northern Iraq, in the region of ancient Nineveh. The Yazidis were attacked and nearly wiped out during the ISIS conquest of much of the region from 2014-2016. The Yazidis were powerless and largely forgotten by the international community. So Al-Qaidi used the one weapon at his disposal and wrote a book detailing the plight of his sister and other Yazidis who were abducted and forced to become slaves or soldiers for the Islamist horde.

Israel Today correspondent Rami Dabbas spoke with Al-Qaidi about his book and the behind-the-scenes glimpse it provides on radical Islam.

Israel Today: Give us a little of your background.

Khaled Al-Qaidi: I was born in Sinjar in 1973. I belong to the Yazidi religion, which is considered one of the oldest religions. I have a BA in life sciences from the University of Mosul. I was born into a very poor family, am married and the father of eight children.