#daanes

from the Rojava Information Center's Instagram: “RIC interviewed civilians taking up the call for general mobilization.”

For anyone seeing this who doesn't know the context: Syria is gearing up to do a genocide on, amongst other groups, the Kurdish people, from whom the Rojava Revolution was born in North East Syria. This revolution has been working to create a grassroots democratic alternative to capitalism and the nation-state which centers women, youth, ethnic minorities, & nature, in the form of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (DAANES).

The city of Kobanê is currently under siege, the supply of bread and fuel has been cut off, and they are running out of medicine. There are reports of massacres of civilians including children being done by groups aligned with the Syrian government. Several babies have died due to freezing temperatures because they've cut access to power. And this is just in the past week or so.

Here's an article that explains the political context behind these attacks, & this post has a ton of links on Rojava, DAANES, the ideology behind the revolution, etc. to educate yourself. If you have money for humanitarian aid, donate to the Kurdish Red Crescent here. February 1 is World Rojava Solidarity Day so if you can, respond to the Global Call for Solidarity and organize a protest in defense of Rojava.

[...]

Il Collegio dell’accusa ha raccolto da diverse fonti, una messe di prove documentali e di testimonianze che raccontanoche dal 2018 in Rojava è in atto un sistematico e pervicace tentativo di sradicare il popolo curdo dalla propria terra, di distruggerne non solo la vita ma l’identità, la cultura, l’economia, costringendo migliaia di persone a fuggire. Con l’occupazione della città di Afrin è stata posta in essere una politica di ingegneria etnica con la sostituzione dei curdi, residenti nell’area, con popolazioni arabe sunnite e turcomanne, spesso a propria volta profughi a causa della guerra civile. Con la conseguenza che ad Afrin la popolazione curda è passata da oltre il 90% al 25% e il numero di sfollati dal Rojava è stimato in 300.000 persone.

Nel corso delle udienze sono state ascoltate testimonianze terribili (compresi documenti video) di attacchi indiscriminati su civili, come per esempio a Tel Rifaat nel dicembre 2019, in cui sono morti otto bambini che giocavano nel cortile di una scuola, oltre a numerosi altri feriti. Sono emerse prove evidenti della distruzione attraverso bombardamenti deliberati da parte della Turchia di risorse vitali, come le infrastrutture per l’elettricità, il gas, il petrolio, che hanno portato alla mancanza di combustibile e di acqua pulita con danni ambientali e alla salute dei civili nei villaggi, nei campi profughi, negli ospedali.

Particolarmente doloroso è stato il capitolo dei femminicidi. Il 12 ottobre del 2019 è stata assassinata da una banda di miliziani sostenuti dalla Turchia la dirigente politica Curda Hevrin Khalaf, 35 anni, segretaria generale e co-fondatrice del partito Siriano del futuro. In aula è stato proiettato un video girato dai suoi stessi assassini, in cui si odono le grida di scherno degli aguzzini che profanano il suo cadavere. Quindi sono state ascoltate le testimonianze coraggiose e drammatiche di alcune donne vittime degli stupri compiuti nelle prigioni di Afrin. Il ricorso ai femminicidi e allo stupro da parte dei militari turchi e delle milizie controllate dalla Turchia si profila come un tentativo deliberato di colpire attraverso i corpi delle donne uno degli assi portanti della rivoluzione del Rojava, e cioè la loro emancipazione e il ruolo politico centrale nell’attuazione del Confederalismo democratico.

Il bersaglio politico delle aggressioni della Turchia, effettuate direttamente attraverso i bombardamenti e indirettamente attraverso le milizie filoturche della SNA (Armata nazionale siriana), è l’Amministrazione Democratica Autonoma della Siria del Nord-Est (DAANES), un’esperienza di autogoverno democratico che realizza la convivenza pacifica di tutte le etnie presenti nel Nord est della Siria (curdi, yazidi, sunniti, sciiti), garantendo il pluralismo e promuovendo l’uguaglianza e il ruolo politico delle donne. Una autonomia che il popolo curdo ha conquistato a duro prezzo, nel corso della guerra civile, liberando la regione dall’ISIS attraverso una lotta portata avanti dalle milizie Ypg e Ypj (queste ultime composte da donne).

— Clara Moore, activist and researcher, who spend two years living in Rojava and working for both the Mala Jin and the Rojava Information Center, interviewed by Truthout.

Afrin’s olive oil, known worldwide as “liquid gold”, is now sold across Europe, the United States and the Middle East under the label “Made in Türkiye.” Yet the people of Afrin, the true owners of these groves, have been unable to access their land or benefit from even a drop of its produce since 2018. The orchards, systematically confiscated by the Turkish state and the armed mercenary groups operating under it, have been turned into one of Turkey’s major olive oil export sources.

Afrin is one of the best-known olive-producing regions in Northern and Eastern Syria, as well as across the rest of the country. The region is home to at least 18 million olive trees, some more than a century old, of which around 14 million are highly productive. Afrin olives are also the raw material for the world-renowned “Aleppo Soap,” a 2,000-year-old tradition. For generations, olive oil has been regarded by the people of the region as their own form of “liquid gold.” [...]

Everything changed after the Turkish state launched its occupation on 20 January 2018. More than 300,000 civilians were displaced, and their homes were handed over to families of armed groups brought from different parts of Syria and even from third countries. Of Afrin’s 300 olive-pressing facilities, 140 were looted and the rest fell under the control of these groups. As farmers lost any possibility of working safely, killings, kidnappings, ransom demands and systematic theft became widespread. Large numbers of olive trees were cut down, burned or seized by force.

Local sources and human rights organisations have documented the destruction of over 2.1 million olive trees since the occupation began, with much of the wood sold to Turkey.

Farmers can no longer enter their own land. Those who manage to reach their orchards are forced to pay fees ranging from 4 to 15 dollars per tree. Many villagers are compelled to harvest their own olives for armed groups who declare, “These trees belong to us now.” [...]

Farmers are forced into a struggle for survival between harvest seasons. Like every year, the arrival of the harvest period has triggered another round of organised looting. Many farmers face harassment aimed at forcing them to pay extortion fees. Those who resist are frequently threatened with violence, abduction, murder, confiscation of property or the destruction of their olive trees. [...]

"held by pro-Kurdish fighters" sure is one way to say "governed by the will of the people through direct democracy, until the violent assault by the Syrian and Turkish states which is now repressing that democratic system and the people's autonomy" but okay! sure let's present things this way. say these regions were "under Kurdish rule" when that isn't how it works but sure!!!!!!!

Democratic confederalism is a revolutionary new model of governance with potential to bring about a radical, international shift in humanity—but it rarely gets the recognition and discussion it deserves. Let's change that.

Drawing from many sources, including Murray Bookchin's "communalism" which has been described as "drawing on the best of Marxism and anarchism," democratic confederalism breathes new life into democracy, socialism, politics, and society itself. Put to the test in North East Syria (DAANES) by the Rojava Revolution, who have fought dictatorship, extremism, terrorism, and occupation, it has been proven a robust and powerful tool in the hands of the people—ALL the people.