Skip to main content

‘Revolution within revolution’: How and why Kurdish women are fighting ISIS (DOCUMENTARY)








RT Photo



Growing up in a society where it was inconceivable for men and women to fight together, Kurdish YPJ female forces engaged in combat against the Islamic State, have been starting their own revolution. They told RT their previously undocumented stories.

RT filmed a unique documentary “Her War: Women Vs. ISIS” about young Kurdish women in Syria, who are defending their country against the Islamic State (IS formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) militants. For three weeks the RT Documentary team lived in a training camp run by the YPJ, on the border with Iraq, three kilometers from the frontline.

Gulan, 18, from the predominantly Kurdish town of Serekaniye, which borders territories controlled by IS, said that she took up arms to protect her family.

The Kurds are an ethnic group, culturally and linguistically related to Iran, which does not have its own state. The Kurdistan region spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.




RT Photo



“I’ll go fight the enemy to keep my father safe at home and make him proud,” she said as she was leaving to train to become a fighter.

Her father, in turn, advised her: “Don’t get caught. If you do, keep the last bullet for yourself.”

IS militants on the rampage in Syria and Iraq, have kidnapped hundreds of women and young girls. They have committed numerous atrocities, which include abuse, forcing them to convert to Islam and marry the jihadi fighters.

Following the capture of Palmyra, IS militants now have half of Syria under the control along with significant parts of Iraq. The Kurds have been fighting various jihadi groups, including IS, since July 2013.

The militants have committed numerous acts of genocide against the Yazidis, a Kurdish minority in Iraq, in a campaign they believe will “purify” the territory from non-Islamic influences.






“For IS militants being killed by a woman means going to hell,” said Chichek, 16 years old.

“That’s why they avoid women’s bullets,” she added. “When IS militants hear female voices they get very scared.”

She ran away from home in Turkey to join the YPJ after her parents tried to force her into an arranged marriage.

“We grew up in a society where women are supposed to be housewives, where men consider them their property and honor. And women are not even allowed to leave the house,” said YPJ commander Roni. “For women, getting married is like going to jail.”

He said that the YPJ women want to create a “new society”, adding that before it was “unthinkable” for men and women to be friends or fight together.

“These women joining self-defense forces in Syrian Kurdistan is a revolution within a revolution,” he added.

YPJ commander Tolheldan said that the Kurdish fighters are trying to build a “life based on equality”and are not “just thinking about Kurds, but all mankind.”

“This region is quite poor, but the Kurds are poorest of all,” she said. “Poor children know what hardship is. That’s their motivation to fight for a free future.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re
Post a Comment
Read more

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has
Post a Comment
Read more

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif
1 comment
Read more