Revolution under attack: the story of Kobanês resistance Ever since September 16, 2014, the Syrian town of Kobanê has been under siege from ISIS. During their advance towards the Kurdish-dominated town, ISIS forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes, pushing them across the border into Turkey. In early October, ISIS swore that they would celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha—the Feast of Sacrifice—in the central mosque of Kobanê. After weeks of fierce resistance, the Kurdish fighters of the YPG/YPJ (Peoples/Womens Defence Forces) continue to hold major parts of the city, while the advance of ISIS finally appears to have been stopped. For the last week Ive been at the Turkish side of the border, spending time with Syrian Kurdish refugees, talking to aspiring resistance fighters and even managed to have a brief chat on the phone with an alleged ISIS fighter in Kobanê. Their stories are without exception—OK, with a single exception: that of the ISIS fighter—tales of bravery, determination, hope and despair. Now, I want to tell their story. I want to tell the story of Medya, the 18-year old girl who wanted to be a football player in the Syrian national team, but now she cant because ISIS has destroyed all my dreams; I want to tell the story of Feram, who kissed his wife and eight children goodbye in Germany, and left for Kobanê to join the resistance against ISIS; I also want to tell the story of Müslüm, who spent three years in a Turkish jail for little more than being a Kurd demanding democracy, and who went out of his way to help me getting around and meeting me with the right people. On top of that, I want to explain about the unique social revolution that occurred in Rojava, the Kurdish region in northern Syria, ever since the Kurds declared their autonomy on June 19, 2012. I believe that the social revolution of Rojava, which was based on principles of direct democracy, gender equality and ecological sustainability, is key to understanding why the Kurds have been all but left alone by the international community in the face of ISIS onslaught. Part of the revenues for this article will be donated to the refugees I met in Suruç, the Turkish border town, where tens of thousands of Syrians have found shelter and are in dire need of simply everything. The rest of the revenues will go towards refunding my flights and transportation, and my time spent on writing this article. I expect the article to be around 2,000 words in length. https://contributoria/issue/2014-12/543ef769c7fa034e74000029/proposal
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 06:46:19 +0000
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