#Victory to Rojava

[dzthenerd490]

News Post

Palestine

Meet the Polish pro-Palestinian artist challenging taboos about Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera

Ten percent of all civic repression worldwide related to Palestine, study finds | Middle East Eye

Francesca Albanese and the industry of pro-Palestine defamation (newarab.com)

Ukraine

Canada bans more types of firearms and proposes donating guns to Ukraine | AP News

Russia ready to use ‘any means’ to prevent defeat in Ukraine: Lavrov | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994. Now it's asking why (bbc.com)

Russian disinformation aims to drive a wedge between the US and Ukraine | AP News

Sudan

Sudan documentary implores world to remember how a hopeful revolution became a forgotten war - ABC News

Threat of RSF invasion looms over el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur | Features News | Al Jazeera

Democratic lawmakers threaten to derail UAE arms sales over support for RSF in Sudan: Report | Middle East Eye

South Sudan resumes Tumaini peace talks in Nairobi | Africanews

Lebanon

Israel’s buffer zone, created by bombing Lebanon with white phosphorous | Israel attacks Lebanon | Al Jazeera

Middle East latest: Lebanon closes all land border crossings with Syria | AP News

LIVE: 29 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza hospital | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Syria

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani: Syrian rebel HTS leader says goal is to ‘overthrow’ Assad regime | CNN

Why the rebel capture of Syria's Hama, a city with a dark history, matters | AP News

Inside the Iraqi factions’ decision to keep out of Syria | Middle East Eye

Syrian rebels capture second major city as army withdraws from Hama | CNN

ANF | To defend Rojava is to defend humanity (anfenglishmobile.com)

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

Project2025 #TechBros #CorpMedia #Oligarchs #MegaBanks vs #Union #Occupy #NoDAPL #BLM #SDF #DACA #MeToo #Humanity #FeelTheBern

JinJiyanAzadi #BijiRojava Rojda Felat: The feminist taking on Isis [UPDATES]

'We are not weak any more. Women are playing a vital role in leading and managing the society'…

RELATED UPDATE: US-backed assault on Raqqa to last months, commander says

RELATED UPDATE: Raqqa largely liberated, Rojava revolution holds commune elections

RELATED UPDATE: Second military regiment formed in Tabqa

RELATED UPDATE: Rojda Felat: by women's leadership, historic victory achieved in al-Raqqa

RELATED UPDATE: WATCH YPJ Commander killed in Turkish attack in Qamishlo laid to rest in Kobanê

RELATED UPDATE: Afrin Liberation Forces pay tribute to their co-founder Karker Tolhildan

RELATED UPDATE: YPJ announces the death of commander Jinda Cudi in Turkish drone attack

RELATED UPDATE: TJK-E: Let's fill the streets with the slogan 'Jin Jiyan Azadi'

FURTHER READING:

[himedanshicult]

if you are to praise the "FSA" victory over assad, then why stop there? why not praise the looting of shi'ite shrines? why not praise the turkish military's genocide in rojava? why not praise the wahhabis stuffing shi'ites and alawites in animal cages? why not praise the israeli invasion in the south? why not praise the concerted decade of forced starvation, isolation and air strikes that the us imposed upon syria? why not praise the rubble that suffocated children and the sick who died without medicine? after all, that's what was needed for assad to fall. now assad's going to spend the rest of his life comfortably in moscow, while the rest of syria is at the total mercy of a handful of imperialist funded gangs and fascist paramilitaries. this is your victory, eat it up

[nando161mando]

Statement of Internationalists in Rojava: "Mobilize Resist Struggle !"

We should not be mistaken, the aim of those attacks is the revolution, their aim is to prevent the people of Rojava and N.E Syria to live a life of dignity and freedom, their aim is to crush the hope of another world and to put the people in slavery.

The situation is very serious and the stakes very high. Our martyrs have taught us that surrender leads to betrayal but resistance leads to victory. We will be worthy of them and continue their struggle with an unshakable determination. We call on every socialist, feminist, anti-fascist and democrat, to take a stance against those criminal attacks. Organize with your local solidarity network or create one, show your solidarity through marches and creatives actions. Turkish war machine is international, the resistance too has to be international!"

➡️ Full statement and link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xei8UpWbG_w

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.20 (after 1950)

1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded. 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan. 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France. 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962. 1969 – A United Arab airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people. 1972 – The Troubles: The first car bombing by the Provisional IRA in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland. 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT. 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet. 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering. 1991 – Khaleda Zia takes oath as the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh. 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland. 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people. 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US. 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English. 2003 – Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq. 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby. 2010 – Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland begins eruptions that would last for three months, heavily disrupting air travel in Europe. 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq. 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people. 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day. 2015 – Syrian civil war: The Siege of Kobanî is broken by the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Free Syrian Army (FSA), marking a turning point in the Rojava–Islamist conflict. 2019 – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

[rakhmetov-from-ararat]

Kalatanian fighter of the kurdish freedom movement in the war against turkish/islamist proxy militias. after the classico victory

Visca el Barça, visca el Catalunya!

-12.01.25, Tishreen Dam Rojava

[yuri-alexseygaybitch]

I think it can be safely claimed that over the last ~10 years or so the neoconservative worldview and American exceptionalism has claimed one of the largest ideological victories (if not the largest) in the United States since the end of the Cold War. The idea that the United States is a city on a hill with a unique vision of freedom and democracy it has a duty to evangelize to the rest of the world at gunpoint is such political orthodoxy across the entirety of the mainstream US political spectrum it can be taken for granted as being a default part of every elected and appointed official's agenda, even the most self-declared "left" ones.

"Progressivism" isn't measured in how much you oppose the military-industrial complex or USAmerican interventionism anymore, it's quite the opposite in fact. Now how "progressive" you are is measured in how many interventions you support. "How can you call yourself a leftist/socialist/whatever if you don't support Ukraine/Hong Kong/Taiwan/Rojava/etc.?" When US imperialism is weakened by even the smallest amount by the ruling class as part of a shift in tactics, e.g. when Trump pulled some US troops from Syria or Biden finalized the withdrawal from Afghanistan, it's treated as an affront to "democratic values" or "human rights" by the entire mainstream media apparatus. Progressive discourses are now entirely folded into the supposed need for a USAmerican empire, i.e. "we need a Big Strong America to protect LGBTQ rights/women's rights!". Bush and the rest of his early 2000s neocon cronies are now the darlings of respectable liberal and progressive think tanks and media outlets. Piccrew avi "leftists" truly believe deep down that, if the United States isn't "perfect", it's definitely at least the "lesser evil" on the world stage, and are left in a state of sheer panic when told sanctions, weapons, and more US troops and military bases aren't the "answer" to whatever "problem" they just heard about through an Instagram infographic.

[anarchopuppy]

A friend was trying to respond to a Marxist that said that there’s never been a successful anarchist revolution and provided two examples of “failed” anarchist movements, and they asked me for help figuring out what to say. I thought my reply was pretty good, so I’m reposting it here. If you want to see historical examples of successful anarchist organizing and stateless societies, read Anarchy Works

I don't think it's really worthwhile to confront Marxist’s claims of "all anarchist revolutions failed" on their own terms, since their definitions of "success" and "failure" are so different from ours and often seem almost ad hoc constructed to exclude anarchist experiments. It's better to inspect those definitions and assumptions more deeply instead

There are a few questions I like to ask with these kinds of claims:

Did they even really fail? What were their goals? What did they achieve? What did they lose? Was it ultimately worthwhile to do? Many of the examples that they point to weren't even meant to topple governments and destroy capital, but are just direct action campaigns that did succeed in things like preventing deforestation, capturing and squatting territory, building connections, educating people, achieving reform, or improving people's material conditions. Calling something like Food Not Bombs a failed revolutionary movement is, to quote Michael Stevens, "like calling your peanut butter sandwich a not-fast airplane". Even temporary or localized victories are still victories, and that's often all anarchists are aiming for with an action (while Marxists sit around waiting for the "right historical moment")

Why did they fail? Was it really due to an inherent flaw with anarchism itself that can't be overcome? Have any other anarchist organizations been able to avoid that pitfall? Would Marxist tactics have been able to avoid it? If they're just criticizing a specific poor tactical decision, that's not fatal to anarchism as a whole - anarchists themselves can, should, and do inspect and criticize previous actions to learn from them. If there's even a single example of anarchist organizing that faced the same challenges as their examples and overcame them, then that invalidates their entire point, because it proves that anarchism can work despite that

Turn the question around on them - what successes of Marxist organizing can they name? Were those really successes if looked at with the same harsh qualifications that they put on anarchist movements? No Marxist state has ever successfully dissolved into stateless, moneyless, classless communism - why is that? Is there any reason to believe that Marxist strategies would be effective in the modern day, or in the type of country you/they live in? Are there any examples of that?

At the end of the day, the Marxist definition of a successful movement seems to just be "any movement that puts Marxists in power", which is very telling. Meanwhile, anarchists are carving out pockets of freedom in squats, occupations, communes, autonomous zones, and even entire large-scale societies like in Catalonia, Ukraine, Rojava, and Chiapas, and though they may in many cases be small and temporary, they still achieve a level of true liberation that Marxist tactics never have

[ultraviolet-techno-ecology]

Speaking of protests, do you think it's childish to feel hopeful every time you see people rise up in various countries against oppression? I ask because no matter how many times it happens, I see no changes being made. The oppressors just wait out the protests and not care. I still feel hopeful though, and I wonder if I'm being naive. Any advice?

If you are anywhere in “The West” you aren’t going to hear stories of successful revolutionary programs/struggles/revolutions because it would go directly against the hegemony of the capitalist states.

There are many small victories to be found across the world - and even temporary victories are important. Someday the hegemony will crumble, and the seemingly indestructible status quo of our time will come to an end. (For better or worse depending on the context)

There are small victories to be seen on the ground - from Rojava’s fight to protect women (in general) and Kurdish people from deash, to Cuba’s healthcare system... From the Zapatistas autonomy of indigenous people, to Vietnam’s food program. 

Right now lives are being saved - and just as life itself is temporary we should not be surprised when the fruits of revolutionary efforts are also temporary. The joy we get when we finish cleaning out the house does not offer eternal protection from a mess in it’s future.

[louisdotmp3]

honestly if you want to hear about abolitionist ideas being put into practice i really recommend listening to the women’s war, which is an 8 episode podcast about rojava (an autonomous region in northeast syria) where there was a feminist, anti-authoritarian revolution.  (if you’re an american you’ve probably heard rojavans spoken about in the news only as the syrian kurds, or the kurds that beat isis - which they did.  this series covers what they’ve built in the wake of that victory.)  the series gets into, among other things, the justice system they’ve set up, radical prison reform, what punishments are like and why, what alternatives exist to incarceration, and how isis members and their families are being handled by the justice system.  i don’t have all the answers when it comes to abolitionism but as someone who is learning i think it was incredibly valuable for me to hear about some of these ideas being put into practice, and to hear about alternatives to carceral punishment in situations like, for example, murder

[dzthenerd490]

News Post

Palestine

UNRWA pauses aid through key Gaza crossing as hunger stalks Palestinians | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Tens of thousands attend pro-Palestine march in London | Middle East Eye

Palestinian woman and two children crushed to death outside bakery in Gaza | CNN

Which countries recognise Palestine in 2024? | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Ukraine

US will send Ukraine $725 million more in counter-drone systems, anti-personnel land mines | AP News

‘Major compromise’: How Ukraine’s Zelenskyy shifted goals to end Russia war | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

Has Ukraine helped the Syrian rebel offensive in Aleppo? | Middle East Eye

Sudan

Sudan conflict: BBC hears of horror and hunger in massacre town El Geneina

Chad struggles as refugees pour in from Sudan – DW – 11/28/2024

South Sudan kicks off Certificate of Secondary Education exams - Radio Tamazuj

Sudanese army advances in Al Jazirah state, retakes key locations - Sudan Tribune

Lebanon

Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, but tense ceasefire holds | AP News

She fled Israel's bombing of Lebanon four times. It still found her (bbc.com)

Trump taps Lebanon-born Massad Boulos as Arab and Middle East adviser | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera

Gaza’s hopes for ceasefire dim despite renewed US efforts following Lebanon truce | CNN

Syria

Turkey calls for reconciliation between Syria government and opposition to end conflict | AP News

Who are the rebels who have seized control of Aleppo, Syria? : NPR

Mapping who controls what in Syria | Syria's War News | Al Jazeera

ANF | KNK calls on everyone to defend Rojava (anfenglish.com)

Syria's 13-year civil war: All you need to know | AP News

ANHA (hawarnews.com)

ANF | To defend Rojava is to defend humanity (anfenglish.com)

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

Project2025 #TechBros #CorpMedia #Oligarchs #MegaBanks vs #Union #Occupy #NoDAPL #BLM #SDF #DACA #MeToo #Humanity #FeelTheBern

JinJiyanAzadi #BijiRojava Syria conflict: US officials withdraw troops after IS 'defeat'[UPDATES]

The Trump administration says US troops are being withdrawn from Syria, after the president said the Islamic State (IS) group had been "defeated"…

RELATED UPDATE: Counter-terrorism Implications of a Second Trump Presidency

RELATED UPDATE: Patrice Franceschi: If Kurds lose, we all lose

RELATED UPDATE: Duran Kalkan: The experience of Northern and Eastern Syria will be a model for all of Syria

RELATED UPDATE: Islamic State: the terror group's second act

RELATED UPDATE: Trump can’t leave Syria to others

RELATED UPDATE: Pakhshan Azizi sentenced to death in Iran for helping ISIS victims in Syria

RELATED UPDATE: TJK-E: Let's fill the streets with the slogan 'Jin Jiyan Azadi'

RELATED UPDATE: KONGRA-GEL calls for mobilization to defend the Rojava revolution

FURTHER READING:

[antifainternational]

I'd love to go to a solidarity demo for Rojava today, but there's no one coming with me and I suffer from terrible social anxiety, I feel so guilty... What can I do?

We’re glad you’re asking this.  Here’s what a friend in Rojava had to say about this today: A lot of people have been asking me what someone in Europe can do to help the people in Rojava so I decided to make a public post about it that you can share: 1. Absolutely the most important: Spread the message. I don't just mean retweeting my shitposting on twitter (@lapinesque) or liking my facebook posts. I mean actually speaking in person to you friends, your parents, co-workers, *everyone* about what is going on. People should be fucking livid even if they have no personal connection to the cause: A NATO state of 100 million people is literally using an army of former ISIS and Al-Qaeda militants to commit ethnic cleansing on the very people who defeated ISIS militarily. This isn't propaganda: Turkey's use of jihadist forces and gross human rights abuses are well documented and have been going on for years now with zero condemnation from the intl community. 2. Fight the social media fight. Look at any post on twitter, reddit or facebook about this war and you will see an army of Turkish nerds and their bots commenting, downvoting and generally stirring shit. We have an amazing campaign running called #RiseUp4Rojava as well as #WomenDefendRojava but we need all the help we can get. Sharing our content is great, but even better is contributing: if you get photos from demos or actions send them to us, if you know how to edit videos, offer your services, if you can translate, let us add you to our list of translators. 3. Organise. If you are not a member of a solidarity group like London Kurdistan Solidarity or YXK, join now. Go to their meetings, organise with them. One of the things that the Kurdish diaspora are great at is community organising and action and they will welcome you with open arms. 4. Act! Whenever you can, go to a demo. Whenever there is a meeting and you can go, go. Generally these are being organised under the umbrella of RiseUp4Rojava but there will be others too. 5. Even better is direct action, but to save myself another line on my arrest slip when I get back I won't make any suggestions exactly what. 6. Contact you MP, local politicians, celebrities, your trade union general sec. Ask them to use their platform to support this cause. Explain to them passionately the the international catastrophe that is happening here and how we can stop it. 7. Prepare to come to Rojava. Seriously. If you were in YPG/YPJ/IFB before, if you're a doctor, nurse or EMT, or someone with skills useful in these times (engineers, technicians, linguists, whatever), get ready At some point there will be open call by the movement for people to flood the region like there was in the time of Kobanê. They will be preparing the legal and logistical framework to get large numbers of volunteers across from Başur (Iraqi Kurdistan) now and will make the call in the near future. [please don't contact me about this as I am not involved at all and can't help] Finally, and this might sound like a sore point but I have to be honest: So many people have been telling me to 'stay safe'. I appreciate the sentiment, really, but it is not safe here. Not for anyone, and there is no way to leave.I do not know a single internationalist here who will not fight if the frontlines come to them. If you want to help prevent that scenario, you can make a big difference by following the advice above and taking the fight to the Turkish state in Europe and around the rest of the world. An serkeftin. An serkeftin. Victory or victory.

[mazenhassoun]

ISIS Has Left the Syrian City of Raqqa, but Its Landmines Continue to Maim and Kill This article was originally published on The Global VoicesMazen Hassoun – 12 February 2018For nearly four years, between 2013 and 2017, Syria’s Raqqa city remained under the control of one of the bloodiest jihadist groups of this century: ISIS, also known as ISIL, Daesh, and Islamic State.During its reign, ISIS forced inhabitants of the city, which it had declared to be the capital of its “caliphate,” to follow its extreme rules. Those who disobeyed were killed by crucifixion or other brutal methods of public execution.In October 2017, after a four-month-long battle, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a US-backed alliance of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and other groups — managed to take control of the city and drive ISIS out. The retaking of Raqqa reportedly included an agreement between SDF and ISIS through which ISIS fighters and their families would be allowed safe passage to Deir Ezzor in Syria’s east, according to the BBC.But despite the group’s defeat in Raqqa, ISIS wasn’t finished with inflicting damage on the city’s population. As one ISIS fighter told civilians before withdrawing from the city, “The land will fight for us”.One of the ways “the land” is “fighting” for ISIS is through landmines.Speaking to Global Voices over the phone, Abu Fares, a 53-year-old man who lost two of his sons to landmines planted by ISIS, said in a voice full of sorrow:When the SDF and the international coalition attacked the city, we were forced to leave. However, we couldn’t leave at the beginning of the fight, because ISIS used us as human shields. I lost one of my sons while we were trying to flee the city in the Shahdah district when a landmine exploded.Abu Fares lost his second son a month after the battles were over:A month after the battles ended we were allowed to return to our homes. I sent one of my sons to check our home near the clock roundabout, but when he arrived, the landmines were waiting for him in front of the house’s door”.A total of 220 civilian have been killed and dozens have been injured in Raqqa since the SDF victory due to mines planted by ISIS, according to a member of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”, a group of local activists who document violations in the city.When operation “Wrath of Euphrates“, the codename for the anti-ISIS operation, started in November 2016, ISIS began to plant a large number of mines to prevent SDF forces from advancing towards Raqqa. But rather than hit their intended targets, these landmines often killed civilians fleeing the battles.The explosive devices have also killed several SDF fighters, including British volunteer Oliver Hall who lost his life months ago while he was clearing the mines. As of the time of writing, the SDF has yet to announce the number of fighters killed due to these mines.A voluntary organization called “Roj” (short for Rojava, a region in northern Syria and western Kurdistan) is working in the city on removing thousands of mines with the help of Raqqa’s Civil Council and international organizations. “The number of unexploded ordnance in Raqqa is something that we never seen before”, UN assistant secretary general Panos Moumtzis told news agency Reuters in February 2018.But that work isn’t happening fast enough for some residents. Amira, 35 years old, told Global Voices that she had to pay 50,000 Syrian pounds (approximately 100 US dollars) to a private person to clear the mines in her house after the organizations working to clear them in the area rejected her request, saying that her neighborhood’s turn hasn’t come yet.She said she had to return to Raqqa after initially fleeing because of the terrible living conditions in the camps in the north for internally displaced people:ISIS planted mines everywhere, under beds, among the rubble, inside fridges and wash machines even inside an electric lamp experts found a mine.According to residents, the Al-Tayar, Al-Mishlab and Al-Darriah neighborhoods were the only residential districts that have been completely cleared of landmines so far.The process of de-mining in Raqqa is going very slow because of the lack of funds and resources available to the Civil Council. This situation is forcing civilians to return to their unsafe homes, causing regular casualties in a city that has already suffered under ISIS occupation for nearly four years.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.20 (after 1950)

1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded. 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan. 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France. 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962. 1969 – A United Arab airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people. 1972 – The Troubles: The first car bombing by the Provisional IRA in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland. 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research. 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT. 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet. 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering. 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland. 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people. 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US. 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English. 2003 – Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq. 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby. 2010 – Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland begins eruptions that would last for three months, heavily disrupting air travel in Europe. 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq. 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people. 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day. 2015 – Syrian civil war: The Siege of Kobanî is broken by the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Free Syrian Army (FSA), marking a turning point in the Rojava–Islamist conflict. 2019 – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

[crimethinc]

Interview with the Internationalist Commune in Rojava: Facing the Threat of Invasion

As Turkey begins its attack on Rojava, the autonomous region in Northern Syria, we are calling for people all around the world to mobilize to impose consequences on Turkey and the Trump administration for this senseless atrocity. We present the following short interview with participants in the Internationalist Commune, one of several projects in Rojava that involves participants from around the world, to offer visibility to some of the many people who may be murdered in a Turkish offensive and to the worthwhile projects they are undertaking. The interview was conducted after Trump gave Turkey permission to invade Syria two days ago, with death’s scythe hanging in the air.

A list of upcoming protests in the US and Canada scheduled in solidarity with Rojava is available here.

A call to action to respond to the Turkish invasion.

A revolution began in Rojava in 2012, radically changing the lives of millions of people in northern Syria. The Kurdish people joined with several other peoples in the region, organizing themselves into autonomous councils, communes, and cooperatives, in the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the authoritarian Assad regime at the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. Women’s self-organization has been a driving force in this social and political revolution. A unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious project has emerged, which today provides for the peaceful coexistence of millions of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Yazidis, Armenians, Christians, and Muslims. At the same time, people in Rojava have been at the forefront of fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), sustaining casualties well into five figures.

For months now, Turkey has threatened to attack the Democratic Federation of North-East Syria. The government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that it is determined to invade Rojava, which will inevitably result in the ethnic cleansing of Kurdish groups, the resumption of jihadist violence from ISIS and others, and the rekindling of civil war in the country.

After the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) achieved victory over the last territory remaining to the Islamic State, the US government tricked the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into dismantling defenses along the border with Turkey, promising to secure peace in the region and discouraging them from seeking other international allies. As soon as they had done this, Trump gave Turkey permission to invade.

In the midst of this terrifying situation, our comrades Facção Fictícia conducted the following brief interview with the Internationalist Commune, a revolutionary enclave in Rojava that welcomes volunteers from all over the planet interested in ecological, horizontal, and communal practices.

Describe the work of the Internationalist Commune of Rojava. Where are you located and what is your relationship with the surrounding communities?

The Internationalist Commune is a place of communal living and learning situated near Derik, in the Cizre canton of North-Eastern Syria. Its aim is to be a place where internationals first learn the bases of the revolution, such as Jineolojî and the history of Kurdistan and Middle-East, as an introduction to the activities in which they will participate then in other places. This educational aspect is organized through the Internationalist Academy Șehid Helîn Qereçox, which is located inside the commune. This is one of the main activities of the Commune. But it is also a place that serves as a base for internationals involved in variety of activities, where we can discuss our experiences, exchange on ideological topics and further our understanding of the revolution. Practical activities are also carried out with the Make Rojava Green Again campaign, which implements ecological projects.

What are the main principles and values of the commune? How is it connected in people’s daily lives there with other forms of struggle such as anarchism, Zapatismo, feminism, and ecology?

One ongoing discussion at the Commune is—what does it mean to be an internationalist ? So we can say that it is behind this word that a lot of our values are placed, such as international solidarity, remembering our şehids [martyrs], and the desire to learn from this revolution as well as from all revolutionary history.

The internationals here come from very different backgrounds, which cover said topics, so we can say that these struggles are part of this new internationalism, and we learn from all of them every day through discussion. More concretely, here, women have their own space and are organized autonomously. People who want to take part in ecological activism can do so through Make Rojava Green Again, but also everyone at the Commune is involved in the ecological works. Our connection to anarchism and Zapatismo is expressed by the portraits of figures from these movements that hang on the walls, such as Comandanta Ramona or Federica Montseny, and their achievements are discussed in education or more informally. Also, through our media projects, such as the Internationalist Commune website and the RiseUp4Rojava campaign, we share information and perspective on radical movements around the world and maintain solid bonds with them.

A video about the RiseUp4Rojava campaign with English subtitles.

What has changed in the context of daily life and grassroots organizing since the collapse of ISIS as an organization that controlled territory?

The fall of ISIS has made it possible to go further in organizing society in a communal way and with a longer-term perspective than we could while facing the constant threat they posed. But some hidden cells still exist and terrorist attacks are happening regularly. In addition, the presence of many members of ISIS in the region, for whom it is unclear whether they will be judged in their home countries, poses a serious security threat.

Turkey has openly declared itself the chief enemy of the achievements of the revolution in Rojava. How does this impact the region and the politics there? Is this threat indeed the greatest so far?

Right now, as we write these lines, we are facing the threat of an immediate invasion, as Erdoğan has announced that Turkey is about to attack and the USA is removing its troops from the region. These threats have been made several times, with increasing intensity over the past year, peaking before in December/January and July/August, when we thought a war could start any time—possibly as a total war, since we know what Turkey has been capable of in the past. Indeed, they’ve been announcing it: they want ethnic cleansing, they want genocide.

So yes, Turkey is the greatest threat in the region since the beginning of the revolution. In such times, when we have to freeze our projects to think about our security, it impacts all aspects of society. Everyone asks themselves: what do we do if war starts? So a lot of our activities are undertaken in relation to the context of war, and our politics become focused on finding a democratic [sic] solution to the Turkish threats and post-ISIS situation.

We communicate more about the achievements of the revolution, to show what is in danger. But we also try to keep life going as it should, and somehow this pushes us to be even more democratic, go further in the revolution, as a response.

What is your perspective regarding the future for the revolution and the legacy of the Internationalist Commune for revolutionaries around the world?

The moment we are living now is historic: the revolution will either grow stronger or be annihilated. What is at stake is not only the revolution in North-Eastern Syria, but the possibility of a revolution in the whole Middle-East and worldwide. We hope the seriousness of the situation will push people around the world to express solidarity, rise up, and maybe come and join us. The Rojava Revolution should illuminate and inspire other revolutionary movements. The Internationalist Commune will keep on providing news and perspective on the situation here, with an international focus, and welcome expressions of solidarity from around the world.

Thank you very much for taking some time in this delicate moment. We hope this interview will convey to people around the world why it is important to support to the people in Rojava. Any final considerations?

The Rojava revolution is a women’s revolution and it’s everyone’s revolution. Everyone should be concerned about what’s happening here because what is threatened is the possibility to live a free life, a democratic and communal life, with grassroots, feminist, and ecological principles. So talk to your neighbors, to your colleagues, to your grandmother about it!

Thank you for your solidarity. Down with all fascists!

From the Internationalist Commune of Rojava