In 2012, the regime forces withdrew from the region, which created a vacuum that the Kurds then seized. ... In the North of Syria, the Kurdish regions - the Kurds now control this area. And what have they done? They have put this system of democratic confederalism into active practice. ... There is co-presidency on all levels; there is a forty per cent womans quota; the first laws that were issued were: the criminalization of honor killings, of polygamy, of child marriage, of forced marriage, of domestic violence. ... How much can this claim to statehood give us independence in a system that in itself does not let you be independent? If we think of the state as the liberator, if we stick to this paradigm that only the state can liberate us, we will end up in this system that completely leaves us in the status quo. People then depend on the state, and the state depends on the nation-state system, and the nation-state system of the international order is in the hands of a few states. ... It is not a booming economy or international approval that will make you independent in a meaningful way, but self-sustainability - your grassroots organization, your support of the people, your cooperation with others, rather than isolating yourself through state borders - that will give you a real, meaningful concept of independence and autonomy and self-determination. -Dilar Dirik cc: Jake Shifman; Ingrid Bell
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:22:58 +0000
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