The Jazira region in northeast Syria, which is known as the Syrian Food Basket, witnessed a decline in the production of strategic and important crops such as wheat, barley and lentils during the last season, due to the lack of rain and the interruption of Khabur River and other local rivers.
A new academic year has begun at the University of Rojava, a university dedicated to pluralism, gender equality and environmental justice in a land surrounded by threats of war and ‘occupation.’
On November 13, 1960, Amouda Cinema burned down in a fire and more than 200 children died inside it. Maybe the reason why there isn’t a full-fledged cinema in NE Syria. But Rojava Film Commune keeps working to positively revive the memory of people about cinema. We spoke to Nadiya Derweş, a board member of the Rojava Film Commune about cinema, what people in the region think about it, and the effects of women on cinema.
Bodette discusses her observations of a people seeking self-determination, the democratic spirit and values that are visible everywhere in the region, her take on the women’s revolution in North and East Syria, and her recommendations on US policy toward the region going forward. She recalls walking into the Raqqa Civil Council building and “seeing women everywhere” in public life, in the city where ISIS was in power half a decade ago. She shares her observations on Turkish aggression and the Turkish occupation of North and East Syria. She recommends that the US draw closer to North and East Syria, promote negotiations between Turkey and Kurdish groups to resolve the Kurdish question, and “end its support for Turkey’s efforts to seek a military solution.” She encourages others to deepen their awareness of the region, saying, “Their fight is not over. And because their fight is not over, ours isn’t either. Anyone with any interest whatsoever in peace and democracy must continue to talk about North and East Syria.”
Women Defend Rojava interviewed Naima Mehmud, co-chair of the Mala Jin (Women’s House) in the canton of Heseke. They talked with her about the work of Mala Jin and how it is influenced by the current Turkish state’s invasion and war and the recent Covid-19 pandemic.
Syrian Free Women’s Foundation works for women in every part of life. The foundation has recently begun to work for the education of women and children.
The only prosthesis workshop in the autonomous region of northeast Syria is located in a village near Qamişlo. Eight dedicated employees take care of tens of thousands of war-disabled people, and the need is enormous.
Over the past thirty years, instructor Dorşîn Akîf told us, women participated in the Kurdish freedom movement, first as fighters, then in women’s institutions. Three years ago Kurdish women produced Jineolojî, or “women’s science,” which they regard as the culmination of that decades-long experience.
At the academy in Rimelan, students are first given a general overview of Jineolojî, “the kind of knowledge that was stolen from women” and that women today can recover. “We are trying to overcome women’s nonexistence in history. We try to understand how concepts are produced and reproduced within existing social relations, then we come up with our own understanding. We want to establish a true interpretation of history by looking at the role of women and making women visible in history.”
Three women bake local bread in their “Tandoor House they opened in Çêwlig to have economic freedom. The Tandoor House become the hope for women living in the city and the people of the city prefer to buy bread made by these three women. Zehra Ataoğlu is one of three women and she tells us how they decided to open their bakery.
When Raqqa was liberated four years ago, the city was largely in ruins. The streets were covered in rubble, its citizens were largely displaced, and tens of thousands of mines and IEDs that were left by ISIS littered the city, posing a huge risk to the safety of both security forces and civilians. The education system of the city had been utilized by ISIS to brainwash the people, including children. Services were nonexistent after months of warfare. The status of women in the city had been abysmal under ISIS rule. Raqqa’s society had to be rebuilt from the ground up.
In a time of deep despair, human and ecological crisis, the example of Democratic Autonomy in Rojava has created hope, and given new inspiration to people in Syria and the Middle East. In fact, a lot of people in other parts of the world have become a part of this process and are connecting it to the struggles in their own regions. Despite all the shortcomings and numerous obstacles during the last decade, we have learned that the democratic confederal organization of society can fulfill many spiritual and material needs of society. We have learned that democratic transformation is a continuing process, which requires constant societal and self-reflection. Our achievements are not assured forever, if we do not protect and advance them.
The founding conference of the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Northeastern Syria was held in the city of Qamishli.
