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“At least a third of the defence forces of Rojava are female. They are in the frontlines and in the command. Many women have perished after resisting heroically to the end. Such examples by women are demolishing social taboos and challenging feudal, patriarchal values in society. Rojava has also mounted a big ongoing campaign against domestic violence.”
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — This resolution was adopted by the Australian Socialist Alliance National Council on October 4, 2014. Below that is the text of a leaflet being distributed by Socialist Alliance members at solidarity mobilisations in Australia.
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1. Socialists have always supported the legitimate national aspirations of the Kurdish people, left divided by the colonial powers at the end of World War I between four countries.
2. The struggle of the Kurdish and other communities in Rojava (the liberated zone in northern Syria) is of enormous importance for the future of the Middle East. Their attempt to establish a society where all ethnicities and religions can live amicably and cooperatively side by side is profoundly progressive. So too are their efforts to empower women.
3. The Kurdish people in Turkey, who have suffered severe discrimination since the inception of modern Turkey, are today also struggling vigorously for their rights.
4. Today the Kurdish people are on the frontlines of struggle against the inhuman “Islamic State” gangs. The centre of this struggle is Rojava and right now the flashpoint there is the city of Kobanê, which is heroically resisting an all-out assault by the IS, backed to the hilt by Turkey. The defence of Kobanê has become a national cause for the Kurdish people.
5. Even if the IS gangs are driven back at Kobanê and elsewhere there is the danger that Turkey will attempt to impose a “buffer zone” which would be directly aimed at the Rojava revolution.
6. Socialists must actively solidarise with these struggles, especially the struggle in Rojava, which is at such a critical point.
a. Socialist Alliance branches should take all necessary steps to ensure that members are aware of the great importance of this issue. These could include reading circles around articles in Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal and Green Left Weekly and educational reports to branch meetings.
b. Socialist Alliance branches should make contact with any Kurdish group(s) in their city and discuss the possibility of solidarity activities (rallies, public meetings, Kurdish speakers at various events, etc.). Other Middle Eastern communities who are part of Rojava (Assyrian, Syriac Christian, etc.) could also be contacted.
c. In order to alert progressive opinion to the reality and importance of this issue, Green Left Weekly should plan a reasonably regular and prominent coverage of Rojava as a living revolution (articles, editorials, interviews, etc.).
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