Listen here to the daily update:
Dear friends, sisters and comrades,
Today is the 11th February and here is our daily update from Rojava, from the heart of the women’s revolution. where right now humanity and life are being defended.
As in recent days, we are beginning our daily message in the besieged city of Kobani, which continues to be the epicenter of tension in Rojava.
While the implementation of the peace agreement is progressing, the troops of the Syrian Transitional Government have still not completely withdrawn from the area surrounding Kobani. The presence of the Turkish military on their side of the border also continues to exert pressure.
The electricity provider has now announced that on Monday, a team of technicians succeeded in repairing the damage caused by the attacks and restoring the city’s power supply. This is very welcome news, because it means that the people of Kobani now have electricity again!
Another aspect of the humanitarian crisis here is the hundreds of thousands of refugees housed in the Cizîre Canton. They live in schools, mosques, and institutions and are being cared for by a broad network of organizations.
Hediye Abdullah, co-chair of Heyva Sor a Kurd (Kurdish Red Crescent), speaks about the situation of the thousands of refugees with a clear appeal:
“Schools are not homes. Tents are not homes. Our people need a safe, dignified place to live, back on their own land. A political and structural solution is needed now. And urgently.”
The situation in the rest of Syria also remains tense. In recent days, we have reported on attacks by the Syrian Transitional Government’s forces on Suweida, as well as widespread demonstrations against the rising prices of electricity, gasoline, and food. Yesterday, a confrontation occurred at the university in the Syrian city of Homs between students and security personnel after a student was verbally abused and physically assaulted by security guards.
These tensions between society and the transitional government could have a positive impact on the democratization of Syria. There is potential that the climate surrounding the ceasefire and integration agreement, as well as the resistance in Rojava, could trigger broader democratization in Syria if the economic demands of the protests were to evolve into political demands and unity could be achieved across ethnic divides.
The situation in Syria and the attacks on Rojava were debated today in the European Parliament and the US Congress. Both also criticized the Western powers’ relationship with the Syrian Transitional Government and identified human rights violations.
In the US Congress, the “Save the Kurds Act,” which primarily includes the threat of sanctions against the Syrian Transitional Government, was discussed. The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on a cross-party resolution on Thursday. Whether the European Parliament will go beyond symbolic appeals, for example with concrete demands for the recognition of Rojava or for the conditionality of EU funding, remains to be seen.
The past few weeks have shown once again: we are not waiting for Western powers; our security lies in the resistance of society here and its connection to the resistance worldwide.
The women’s movement remains at the forefront of this resistance. These days, it is fighting to safeguard its achievements and principles. This primarily concerns the co-chair system and the autonomy of women within institutions. These principles are not only principles for the women’s revolution in Rojava, but principles for gender liberation in general, which is why we want to examine them in more detail.
The autonomous organizing of women is currently being discussed primarily in relation to the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). But in fact, it applies to all areas of life where the women’s revolution fights for concrete change: from the economy and politics to knowledge production, from defense to the neighborhood, women in Rojava organize autonomously and develop their collective voice, with which they help shape the entire societal process.
This is not about sectarianism, but on the contrary, in the understanding that gender freedom forms the basis of a liberated society, the autonomous framework bears a great responsibility for the entire society. It is the responsibility to develop free thought and free will in order to lead the revolutionary social transformation from which all genders benefit.
In this way, the principle of autonomy is also a mechanism of self-determination. Defense of relationships among women, against patriarchal divisions, and of the organizational power of the entire women’s revolution.
The self-defense of the women’s revolution is always also a self-defense of the entire revolution, as it expresses what is at stake: that the goal is not a takeover of power in the classical sense, but rather the liberation of life.
The principle of autonomy, as well as that of co-chairs, should not be confused with the adjustments to which many of the advances achieved in the name of women’s liberation in the West today are limited to, such as quotas, legal equality clauses, certain representation rights, etc.
These achievements within the system always remain fragile within the confines of the male-dominated system and are among the first to be abolished in times of war or crisis.
However, the principle of autonomy always endures, linked to the liberation of the sexes, which can only be achieved through revolutionary social transformation.
For the women’s revolution, through its connection to life, leads to freedom for all of society.
That’s why we say: Jin, Jiyan, Azadi! Women, Life, Freedom.
And with that we wish you revolutionary greeting from Rojava
