Friends, for some time I focused on the Kobane situation and the Rojava revolution as well as the threat of ISIS on the Kurds when the situation was particular dire. Thousands were in danger of being massacred in cold blood, including women and children, the elderly and the disabled. Thousands more flooded the borders to escape ISIS barbarism. Many of you joined this page because of the updates on the Kobane situation. Today, the situation in Kobane is much better and the threat of ISIS in Shengal (Mount Sinjar) has been successfully removed as a result of joined Kurdish forces, including the YPG-YPJ, PKK, and the infamous Peshmarga. The Kurds are a long oppressed minority group in the Middle East, divided between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. These regimes have enacted horrific levels of violence, genocide and oppression towards the Kurds as well as other minorities within the confines of their state borders. And though the Kurds have resisted they have not been able to gain basic human rights, such as the right to speak their own language, the right to even mention that they are Kurdish let alone speak Kurdish in public without being lynched, jailed and often killed through extra judicial killings. My own family is a survivor of the Anfal campaign and the chemical bombings in the Halabja genocide in 1988. As a Kurdish woman I am deeply proud to say that today I had the privilege of meeting Salih Muslim the co-leader of the PYD (Democratic Union Party of Syria), the Kurdish movement that is leading the resistance in Rojava and whose military groups the YPG-YPJ have been kicking ISIS ass to hell where they belong; as well as a number of other important key figures in the Kurdish resistance movement- if you know Kurdish politics. But I want you to know that this most proudest moment in life- more than when I received my Ph.D as the first Kurdish woman in my family- would not have been possible without this page, without you and your support, love and contributions. I am deeply proud as a Kurdish woman that my people, particularly our fierce Kurdish women are paving the way for a new paradigm: a fiercely and unabashedly feminist and ecologically sound ideology of confederalism in which all minorities can live in peace and in prosperity together, freed from the violence of the capitalist, imperialist, Eurocentric model of the nation-state. But, this feeling of pride is not meant to come at the detriment of other communities or groups. Rather, democratic confederalism is designed to help communities who have been long at war over power and resources to find a peaceful solution and co-exist. Moreover, it is the women who are leading the movement. It is these women who are ideologically informed, aware of the history of repression and violence that has occurred as a result of the white supremacist, capitalist, imperialist, patriarchal system. Let it never be said again that Middle Eastern women are not empowered! Let it never be said again that there is no organic feminism in the Middle East. Let it never be said again that Middle Eastern women are all oppressed and cannot choose their own life. If you still feel that way, look to the women of Rojava who are leading the fight against terror, against the patriarchy, against traditionalism, state violence, rape, against conservative religious ideologies, and against all the threats that these women face on a daily basis just to survive. I also wanted to say thank you to all of you who were so concerned and continue to be concerned about the Kurds and the situation in Rojava. We stand in solidarity for a common desire to create a better world. A world where words like freedom, justice, human rights, women’s rights, environmental protection and children’s rights are realities rather than abstract concepts. My heart is filled with so much love for all of you, all of us, all of humanity, for the women and the children. I am so proud, more than I can say.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 23:21:45 +0000
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