In December of 2015 I went back to Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Regional Government. After a drive to Kirkuk I interviewed the police commander Sarhad Qadir and went to the frontlines to meet PAK commander Hussein Yazdanpana. Then there was an interview with Kemal Kirkuki, local commander and former speaker of the KRG parliament.
Kurdish peshmerga from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK )northwest of Kirkuk (Seth J. Frantzman)
In subsequent days I travelled north via Duhok to Shingal, to see the uncovering of mass graves from the genocide of Yazidis in August of 2014. With Vager Saadullah we met with Rojava peshmerga, Yazidi commander Qasim Shahsu and toured the graves and killing fields with Sheikh Nasser Pasha of the KDP in Shingal. We slept at the headquarters of a local peshmerga de-mining unit and met with frontline commanders and local aid workers as well as Yazidi civilians. Lastly we travelled back to the mountain of Amedy and saw the rural mountain tourist attractions there.
Here are some of the articles I wrote,
A year end wrap titled in The Jerusalem Post ‘The world against ISIS‘ with focus on the Kurds
An analysis in The Jerusalem Post asking “will this be the year of Kurdistan”
A magazine piece in The Jerusalem Post featuring Hussein Yazdanpana and focusing on Peshmerga and frontlines from Kirkuk to Shingal
Discussion with Kurdish security officials about the changing face of ISIS in The Jerusalem Post
An exclusive interview with Yazidi member of Iraqi parliament Vian Dakhil in The Jerusalem Post
A night spent with peshmerga who risk death de-mining Shingal from ISIS bombs and booby-traps in The Jerusalem Post
How peshmerga commanders fight ISIS but are keeping an eye on Iran and the Shia militias, featuring Hussein Yazdanpana and his views on Israel in The Jerusalem Post
An article looking at whether Yazidis will return to Shingal in the National Interest
A photo essay of Yazidi genocide and refugees in +972
An interview with Kemal Kirkuki in National Interest about issues facing the KRG
A twenty minute documentary with exclusive photos, interviews and video about the Yazidi genocide here
‘A genocide before our eyes’, February 13, part 1, Algemeiner, link is here
Some of the articles I wrote in June and after about Kurdistan,
‘In Kurdistan, a bond with Jewish people’, The Forward, June, 2015, http://forward.com/opinion/310443/deep-in-kurdish-heartland-finding-a-bond-with-israel/
‘The Liberators: Peshmerga te-take Shingal’, December 2, 2015, http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/The-liberators-434642
‘Kurdistan vs. ISIS’, Mida, June 24, 2015, http://mida.org.il/2015/06/24/kurdistan-vs-isis/
