辛加尔雅兹迪教派庆祝悲剧周年纪念日

AS IT IS 2015-08-04 Yazidis of Sinjar Observe Tragic¹ Anniversary 辛加尔雅兹迪教派庆祝悲剧周年纪念日

One year ago, Islamic State militants² raided the homelands of Iraq's Yazidi community. The attackers killed hundreds of men and enslaved thousands of women.

Many Yazidi families fled to the top of Sinjar Mountain. But they had very little or no food and water. Reports of their situation led Kurdish fighters to action. Western military aircraft began flying food and water to the Yazidis. Then, the U.S. military launched airstrikes against the Islamic State.

Yazidis who survived the violence have settled around the mountain. Many of them went to the city of Lalish on Sunday, a day before the first anniversary of the killings³. The city has a famous Yazidi shrine⁴.

Yazidis went there to meet, pray and wash in the holy waters of their temple.

'There was no food, no water'

Murad Aloo was among them. He walked around the temple grounds, stopping at the stand selling water and ice cream treats. But he could not find peace. He said his mind replayed images of what happened 12 months ago.

On that day, he said, the shooting started at around 10 in the morning. The Yazidis soon realized that they were the targets of Islamic State militants. So, tens of thousands of Yazidis fled to Sinjar mountain.

"I will never forget what happened,” Mr. Aloo said. “I saw mothers leaving their daughters behind, fearing for their own lives. I saw women and men being slaughtered⁶, even pregnant women."

Mr. Aloo then pulled out a cell phone to show a picture of his brother. He said his brother decided⁷ to stay and fight for Yazidi land. Mr. Aloo said he never saw him again.

The man began to cry as he remembered the days on the mountain. He said there was no food or water. Many starved or died of thirst.

Shrinking population

Women and girls walked without shoes at the Yazidi temple. They washed in its holy waters. Some children filled plastic bottles with water from a pipe sticking out of stone wall.

Not all the visitors were from Sinjar, but those among them who fled the attack are haunted. They remember what was happening a year ago. The Islamic State considers the Yazidis devil-worshippers. Its fighters executed young men, raped⁸ little girls and enslaved thousands of women.

Yazidis are a minority community in Iraq, and a religious group with fewer than a million members in the world. Being forced from their ancestral Iraqi land is like a death sentence.

Sheikh Ismail Murad Qasim, another survivor⁹, sat in the cool shade of a stone cave. He mourned the death of his community.

"This is the end of our people,” he said. “They have massacred us in the thousands, raped eight- and nine-year-old girls, the future of our Yazidi community."

The spiritual elders of the shrinking population are trying to keep their people together. They urged them to stay in Iraq. But it is difficult, they said.

Baba Sheikh, the Yazidi's spiritual leader, told VOA, "We call for the protection of the Yazidis. We are alone. We have no one to turn to. And we pray, we pray for God to bring harmony among all religions."

No 'future for me'

Mr. Aloo is too traumatized to even think of that kind of understanding.

"I wish I were among the dead, instead of witnessing what I have seen,” he said. “I don't think there is a future for me, I am just so heartbroken. I don't think there is a future for me."

Words in This Story

shrine – n. a place connected with a holy person or event

temple – n. a religious center

slaughter⁵ – v. to kill (many people) in a very violent way

massacre¹⁰ – v. to violently kill (a group of people)

harmony – n. people living together in a peaceful and friendly way.

traumatize – v. to cause (someone) to become very upset or troubled in a way that often leads to serious emotional problems

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

5 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

6 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

9 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

10 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！