While serving in hospitals and health facilities as a physician during the U.S. war in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, I witnessed firsthand the suffering of many vulnerable people and came face-to-face with the terrible acts of barbarity that we humans perpetrate against each other. I also discovered that every survivor has a unique and horrifying story to tell.
Among the greatest atrocities in the Middle East today are those committed against the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious and ethnic minority descended from the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. The Yazidis, who number approximately 700,000, observe an ancient religion with elements of Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and Islam.
Accused of being “devil worshipers,” the Yazidis have been persecuted for centuries. In 2014, ISIS massacred …