Halime Mihemed Osman is doing well. She sits in front of us, strong and attentive. In a place that must remain unknown. Otherwise she will be targeted again by the Turkish state. She can hardly move outside and has to think carefully about every step she takes.
We last reported on Halime on April 19, 2024, one day after a Turkish drone tried to murder her. She had just gotten into the car with her husband when the drone struck. Her husband was almost unharmed, while she was rushed to hospital seriously wounded. An attack that was undoubtedly aimed at her. At the time, she was the spokesperson for the women’s organization Sara. The organization that deals with serious violent crimes against women on a daily basis.
Sitting across from her today, it is not immediately apparent that she survived such a serious attack six months ago. She looks us in the eyes with strength, is happy to see us and shows us a lot of trust.
It is only at second glance, that her injuries become visible. She lost her right leg, which had to be amputated. Her left hand is stiff. The burns on her face are no longer visible, her skin looks firm, she does not look aged or exhausted.
She shows us pictures of her therapy sessions and the daily progress she is making with her prosthesis. “When I have time, I read, educate myself – I can keep myself busy, despite the danger”, she says and continues:
“I am not afraid and will continue to be active.”
10 years have passed since the successful defense of Kobane. Halime has spent her entire life in the region, she is part of this history. She and her husband both took part in the resistance, and they sent their children to a safe place at the time.
“In Kobane, not only was Daesh defeated, in Kobane women rebelled against the patriarchy and started a revolution,” says Halime. In these days around the 1st of November, in various conversations we hear about the significance that Kobane had and still has.
That the situation of women in the traditionally conservative small town has changed radically in a short time. “If you look at the structures of self-government, most positions are held by women. They go out, they work, they build, they are visible everywhere,” she says.
When Daesh attacked in 2014, her youngest daughter was small and she was still breastfeeding her. During the decisive phase around Kobane, Halime was active as a member of the internal security forces. Before the fighting ended, she left the city like many others. She went to Turkey and took part in the work of the HDP. There she was arrested for her political activities in Syria during the regime’s time, and now in 2014 the secret service tracked her down there in Northern Kurdistan.
She was charged, sentenced to 24 years in prison and returned to northern Syria, to Kobane, the liberated city.
“It is important to tell the story of Kobane correctly,” she says.
“The forces of the Global Coalition only intervened when Daesh was already in the city. Only when they saw that we had a chance did they send support,” says Halime. She is one of the countless women who are exposed to attacks by the Turkish regime and its militias throughout the entire region of Northern and Eastern Syria. We as Women Defend Rojava report on a daily basis. About Emine, Zehra and Hebun. About Hevrin Khalef. Jiyan Tolhildan, Xalide Mihemed Serif. They were all murdered insidiously and brutally, they were all pioneers.
“They keep attacking women. I am a woman who works for women’s rights and they took my hand and my leg. When I was in the hospital, they wanted to put a psychologist at my side. I said that he was welcome to come if he needed support, I don’t need it. My conviction and my will are not broken.”
