Rojava.

          In this world in the grips of insanity and savage brutality in the name of power and wealth, it is no surprise that the powers that be turn a blind eye to such atrocities as the Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people and seizure of their lands, the Turkish state's war crimes against the people of Rojava. Our media is filled with how bars, restaurants, airlines are suffering because of covid19 and are screaming for tax payers money to keep them in the style to which they have become accustomed. The destruction of lands and killing of its people doesn't seem to register with their mind set.
       It is up to the ordinary people of this world to take to task the fascist Turkish state the Zionist genocide brigade and their bedfellows, among them all the major states on the planet.
      This call for support from the fighters of Rojava should receive all the solidarity and support we can muster, their dream can be our tomorrow.

The following from Enough is Enough:

 

Originally published by Anarkismo.

        Embargo, cutting off water sources and air strikes against civilians have been some of the war crimes committed by the fascist Turkish state throughout this year against the revolution in Rojava.
       While facing the internal political and economic crisis, the Erdogan government has to accept the failure of the military operations in the mountains of Kurdistan, appealing to the use of chemical weapons, in the face of the resistance of the Kurdish warriors of the revolution.
       The intensification of the attacks last October, the flyers launched from the aeroplanes and the recent troop movements threaten a new invasion of the autonomous territories in the North and East of Syria.
       At this delicate moment, we want to reaffirm our solidarity with our revolutionary comrades and all the peoples of Rojava and condemn once more the occupation of Rojava, the multiple aggressions and war crimes of the Turkish neo-fascist state and its jihadist allies, as well as their preparations for war.
      The Rojava Revolution, which is about to celebrate 10 years, and together with the free Kurdish mountains, represents not only a grassroots democratic and federalist alternative for the Middle East, but for the peoples of the world.
      In this 21st century of economic, social and ecological crisis, in a world transformed into a junta of great powers and capitals for financial speculation; the struggle and creation of projects of a different society have a global strategic role. The Rojava revolution, with its strong roots in the struggle of women, the deepening of democracy with broad popular participation and the protection of the environment, is a revolutionary example of these times from which the peoples of the world must learn.
      It is not a coincidence that since its beginning thousands of people all over the world have risen up in solidarity with the heroic resistance of Kobanê against the fascist forces of ISIS.
      ISIS, a criminal, obscurantist and fascist group, whose creation was facilitated by the disastrous US military intervention in Iraq, the funding and support of Saudi Arabia, and which has the ideological and tactical support of the Turkish state, and whose fighters were recycled as mercenaries for the invasions of Afrin and Serekanyie, and are now preparing to invade Rojava as a paramilitary force of the Turkish army.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

In Defence Of An Ideal.

       I was recently, reading on Anarchists World Wide, an interview with a defender of the city of Serekaniye in the district of Rojava against the second largest army in NATO and its air-power, the fascist Turkish forces and their co-patriots ISIS fighters. An extremely moving report on what it is like to be involved in the defence of a territory that is more than land but an ideal a vision of a better world for all.
     One passage stood out in my mind about the importance of creating a solid foundation for that ideal that you wish to fight for and defend.

From Anarchists World Wide:

        I think one of the most important things I’ve learned here is the value of commitment. The commitment to really decide to fight the rest of your life. To make a decision that is not easy and to dump all your energies and time in building a base, to do it in the long term and with perspective. Not wanting to do things too quickly, but having perspective of what the revolutionary construction of a territory means, including society, people. I am not saying that in Catalonia there is no commitment, I say that there comes a time when, in the face of oppression, there is no possibility or half measures, it is one thing or another. And sometimes we expected to respond, but if we respond without having built the entire base on a social, ideological and structural level, the response to the attacks will be very short. It will not be long because it will not be ideological, it will not be based on common and shared values.
       And then, of course…how to say it in Catalan? There is much talk here about bawerî, about faith. I believe that at home we have no faith in our own steps, in our structures, in our commitment, also at the vital level. Because if we do not start with ourselves, if we do not fight against our sexist personality, against the competitiveness that exists in us and the capitalist mentality that we have, if we do not learn to live collectively, how can we consider a real change? This is what I have seen here, that life and struggle are the same, that we have to get people to believe again, get organized again and not be afraid of difference, because the difference is what makes community.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Silence Is Complicity.

       Not much in the news just now about the Turkish invasion into Syria aided and abetted by their jihadi friends, and given the nod by America. No mention of the destruction of an area democratically organised by the people, the area of Rojava. A small area being brutally and savagely destroyed by NATO's second largest army. No pictures of the suffering of those people at the mercy of a messianic dictator armed to the teeth with the latest and most powerful weapons. Silence in the presence of brutality is complicity. Since 2011 the people of Syria have seen their country obliterated, hundreds of thousands killed or maimed, and millions of the people displaced, and now Turkey wants to carve a slice of the country off for as its own, and still the silence. A people brought to deprivation, desperation and their infrastructure destroyed, all as part of the power game between the various power-blocks vying for control of the resources in that area. Let's stop electing leaders and playing their games to their rules, and make that decision, that for the peace of the world and the benefit all the people of this world, the entire system has to be destroyed, root and branch.

This from 325:  

via barrikade:

Comrades,

        I think it is important now that our voices of Rojava, out of the heart of that battle, are being heard. A fight for the life, for an existence in dignity, for real democracy and for the freedom of all women. I want to tell how the resistance of Serekaniye went on, how the beginning was, how the end was and also what happened in between. Serekaniye right now is in the hands of jihadist groups that are being supported by Turkey, upon approval by the United States. At a time they said there would be a five-day firearm rest…. we didn’t believe it for one second. And that’s how it was – the attacks didn’t stop, maybe they’ve been reduced, but they continued attacking us with heavy artillery, bombings and airplanes. When there are bombings, there is not much that can be done; hide behind a tree and hope, that they didn’t see you running or that they found your place.

Those five days of supposed firearm rest actually have been decisive for the United States and Turkey, to redefine the conflict, to realign the situation of war, confrontation and resistance against our forced withdrawal that no one expected. No one could believe it, after 11 days of resistance, beautiful and very hard at the same time. Leaving the city. The Turkish invasion of Serekaniye did start some days before, 8th of October, with a bombing of our military post that hasn’t been answered, for not to unleash what happened later anyway. It was an attempt of the friends to protect the people and the society. But the next day, about 3 to 4 pm, another bombing of a post of the YPG took place, where 5 friends have fallen, and since then they bombed the whole border.

        The first days have been very chaotic. We tried to keep calm and to prepare for the invasion. Yes, the last months of the preparation made sense, it became reality. To realise despite all fear, what war actually means, the bravery to assure oneself of a made decision, and at the same time, there are the doubts, that everything will be silenced, that no one in this world will hear about that barbarism. When war arrives, it is a distant war, with a lot of unexpected bombings, that you’ll only hear at the very last moment. When the bombs fall, they fall, when it happens, it happens. After days you learn to acknowledge them, and at the same time when the wounded friends start to arrive, along with the feelings they awake in us; sadness at one hand, because the war machinery is monstrous, and at the other hand the strength to also fight for them. All the defending units, those that already have been here and those that arrived when the Turkish aggression intensified, kept the city safe despite movements of the jihadist groups and enabled the transfer of the wounded to the city Til Temir. Until Turkey cut that road and it wasn’t possible anymore to bring them there.

Continue reading the article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Internationalist Commune Of Rajava.

One year in the Internationalist Commune of Rojava

Posted on June 12, 2018 by MW IntCommune:

Dear friends,

        One year ago, 12th of June 2017, we shared the first public statement of the Internationalist Commune of Rojava, presenting our project to the world. Today, after one year of non stop working, we look back and see the big steps we have achieved in this year.

         After the public presentation of the commune under the slogan ‘learn, support, organize’, we started to develop our work and our projects, putting in practice the ideas and dreams we had, and searching for a place to build the first internationalist academy of the Democratic federation of Northern Syria. After a few months, we finally found the right place, and at the end of summer in 2017, we started to build of the academy. Since then, we have been working mostly focused on 3 main lines: internationalism, women liberation and ecology.

      Concerning internationalism, our main task has been the construction of the Internationalist Academy, the place to debate, study, research and also to host new internationals who also want to learn, support and organize the Rojava Revolution. At the same time, we have also been working on the up building of the Internationalist Commune itself, as the organizational frame for us and other internationals who want to join, developing a system and a network to integrate and strengthen the international dimension of this revolution.

         Concerning ecology, we launched the ‘Make Rojava Green Again’ campaign in coordination with other institutions working topics related with ecology. We wrote a book that we will start to publish soon in different languages, presenting our project and what motivates us to carry it out. Our main goal is to spread an ecological perspective of the revolutionary life, building our academy with a sustainable approach and starting a tree cooperative to help to reforest the arid lands of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.

         Concerning the liberation of women, the women of the commune are organized as an autonomous group, connecting directly with the different institutions and structures of the women’s movement in this revolution. We also supported different projects and campaigns of the women movement, taking part in the work developed by Jinwar, the women’s ecological village. We also studied and organized education programs about jineolojî and the women liberation movements.

         In the middle of this first year of life as a Commune, the Afrin war erupted. We know that the revolution will be in defense of the land or there will be no place for the revolution, so we saw the need to slow down our normal projects and take part in the Afrin Resistance, mostly doing translations, international solidarity work and other kind of media work.

        The Afrin invasion was hard and brutal. It’s very sad to see the Turkish army and other islamist armed forces destroying the most beautiful region of Rojava. The war in Afrin affected us in ways we were not able to imagine before. The invasion, the struggle, the resistance… it opened for us processes of debate and reflection about what should be, and what can be, the role of internationalism today. Also about how can we help and contribute, as internationalists, to the Rojava Revolution and to all the resistance movements and struggles around the world. A lot of friends lost their lives fighting to resist the fascist invasion, and also several internationalist friends fell sehids in this war. In their memory we will continue walking their path.

        In this last month of May, after several months building the academy, we have finally finished. We have decided to name it the ‘Internationalist Academy Sehid Hêlîn Qereçox’ in memory of Anna Campbell, the British YPJ fighter who became sehid in Afrin. With sadness for her loss, but at the same time with the will to continue her struggle against fascism and patriarchal oppression, we started the first education course of our academy. We also continued the ecological work for the Make Rojava Green Again campaign, translated and published in different languages an article about the importance of the women struggle in the revolution, started an internationalist radio project in collaboration with other internationals in Rojava, published different articles and letters of international solidarity in our website, etc. But of course, our main project this month has been to organize this first education course.

         Now, after one very intense year of work, we have succeeded in organizing a one-month education course for the new internationals, together with the ones who have been here since the beginning of the commune. The education included Kurdish language lessons, ideological debates, knowledge about the society, the history of Midle East and the Kurdish people, and of course, debates about internationalism and the history of the Commune. A few days ago we finished this first education course, and a new wave of internationalists from different parts of the world are just starting to work and travel around Rojava, taking part in the Commune’s work. We are really happy to see how this project is growing and evolving, consolidating and step by step turning into reality the dreams and ideas that one year ago were just in our minds.

         Today, we are proud to say that the Internationalist Commune of Rojava is stronger than ever, and that this is just one step more towards the democratic and revolutionary movement that is growing and being connected all around the world. For all those reasons, we invite all the internationalists, revolutionaries and democratic forces once again, all those who want to walk with us, to learn, support and organize this revolution. Because we know that Rojava can be the spark that ignites a new way of understanding life, of developing a society outside capitalism, patriarchy and Nation-States. And because we know that this is just the beginning. As sehid Hêlîn once said:

You should fight with us, and light the fires of resistance.

Biji Soresa Rojava!
Long live international solidarity!

ann arky's home

 

The Birth Of Freedom Is The Cure For The Capitalist Cancer.

      Night after night, news broadcast after broadcast, that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media pour out about the death and destruction, by Assad and the Russian military machine. Somehow they manage to remain silent about the dictator Erdogan with his Western kitted out war machine, creating death and destruction around Afrin. It seems that to the babbling brook of bullshit, death and destruction in one part of the Middle East is acceptable, while death and destruction in another part is not. It is not that the West cares about the human misery, suffering and trauma, it is more a matter of how it fits into their power structures.

      What the people of Rojava and Afrin have been doing is building an alternative to the dominant capitalist structure, and that is unacceptable to the capitalist imperial powers, so they will sit back and let Erdogan satiate his bloodlust and build another slice to his empire. They may sort him out later, once he has done their dirty work, or they may just reward him by letting him keep his new plundered territory. 

        This death and destruction in Afrin and on to Rojava, will continue unless the people across the world stand up, come together and show their anger and determination to call a halt to this attempt to crush the will of the people, and stop this imperialist power grab.   

This from Enough is Enough: 

          Kurdish red crescent (Heyva Sor) Co-chair Jamila Hame in Afrin: ” Yesterday one of our teams were nearly killed. They tried to evacuate 5 killed civilians from the village Marate/ Afrin district. While arriving a Turkish warplane started to bomb that area 2 times. The crew left the car and hides in the surrounding till they finished the attack. We can’t work proper. If observation drones & warplanes flying we can’t move without also getting targeted. It’s really difficult and the whole world stays silent. Why?”

      Jamila Hame continues: “We provide first aid, help to distribute food, blankets, water, Milk for the children, there is a lack of medications. We are non-stop with the people. We send so much pictures of the warcrimes & brutality the people of Afrin are facing. But there is just silence. Why?”
      Enough is Enough supports the work of Heyva Sor. We printed solidarity t-shirts and all profits will go to Heyva Sor. More information: https://enoughisenough14.org/2018/02/22/solidarity-action-for-afrin-antifa-enternasyonal-t-shirts-profits-go-to-heyva-sor/

 

Or go directly to our shop: https://enoughisenough14.org/product-category/solidarity/

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

An Inborn Desire To Be Free.

         The desire to be free is something that smoulders in every heart, but under conditions of repression and exploitation, it is all too often, a frustrated personal secret. At times in some individuals it bursts forth in acts of rebellion, this is an irritant on the harsh skin of this repressive society, it may be tolerated or, as in most cases, authority will attempt to extinguish that free spirit. However, when the desire to be free explodes in an area, as it did in Spain 1936, and  now in Rojava, the treatment to extinguish that explosion is far more savage and brutal. The possibility of people living together in co-operation and harmony, controlling their own lives, can not been seen to succeed, so will not be tolerated, it will be a fight to the death, as authority does it worst to extinguish that inborn desire. Come what may, the desire to be free will not die, each explosion of that desire feeds another, and another, until one day the entire planet will glow brightly from those explosions and authority, repression and exploitation will be its ashes.

      More on Rojava:

Thanks Loam for this link:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Stateless Democracy.

        Recently, for some, Rojava has been hailed as the new 1936 Spain, with its libertarian dreams being painfully brought to life, this being the case it would be expected that the surrounding states would take a dim view of that type of structure, and work to undermine its progress. Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, doesn't give it any of that "oxygen of publicity", that it spews out on trivia, sex and scandal. Despite this Rojava has struggled painfully on its course to that better world. However, the cards are stacked against it, as the various states, all of them opposed to any form of libertarian society, try to strangle the dream, as they did in Spain all those years ago, with sanctions, and brutal violence. Now the ultimate weapon is being used in Rojava, starving the region of the blood of life, water. Nothing is too sadistic, nothing is too brutal, as they work hard at stopping the idea of a libertarian society gaining ground. To our imperialist masters with their state apparatus, death and destruction is a price worth paying as they preach their mantra, capitalism or nothing.  

This from Insurrection News:

        The water and electricity cuts continue on its 4th day in Kobane. The Firat river’s water supply is so low that the base of the river, at least 3 kilometres in width is visible. The canton has announced that the cuts are indefinite. Those who have wells are sharing their water supply with their neighbours but this is a limited and ineffective alternative and thousands are without a drop of water.
       The use and control of natural resources has been something that the Turkish state has used against the Kurds for decades. As the crackdown and mass human rights violations against the Kurds continue in Bakur, Rojava is slowly strangled with the ongoing humanitarian embargo and water cuts. Worse, when Turkey finally releases the water from their end hundreds of villages will be flooded causing massive damages and disruptions to agriculture and livestock (as it did last year) which is the backbone of the economy. This is a tactic that Turkey has used repeatedly against Rojava; as did Assad by cutting water supplies to Kurdish regions or rerouting water from Kurdish areas to Arab regions.
        Terrorism takes many forms, whether its bombing and destroying thousands of villages, to burning hundreds of acres of forests and farms, to stopping water flowing further down to other regions, to embargoes. The use of the environment and land to oppress and terrorise the colonised is a well used tactic by states against indigenous communities and minorities.
       The motto of the Rojava Revolution is “Resistance is Life”, but I wonder how a deeply oppressed, economically underdeveloped society that lacks resources, infrastructure and access to multiple borders is able to resist such terrorism.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

When Criticism Is A Crime.

       The state’s survival is dependent on submissiveness and control, hence it will always try to find ways and means of stifling any form of dissent. Anarchist philosophy is based on the creating a state free society, so naturally it goes without saying, anarchist will always be at the sharp end of that state repression. In countries across the globe, anarchist autonomous centres are evicted and trashed, their papers closed down, and in many cases, the supporters imprisoned on trumped up charges. I have always seen Turkey as an extremely repressive state, more so than some of the others in the West. Many years ago I was involved in a campaign in support of a Kurdish lawyer in Turkey, who had been imprisoned for ten years, his crime, editing a Kurdish language magazine in Turkey, the Kurdish language, at that time, being banned in Turkey. Today in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey things have deteriorated much further down the repression route. Journalists are detained at the slightest hint of criticism of the Turkish state, radio stations are closed if they don’t shower the state and its psychopathic leader with praise. Now they have gone one step further, you don’t have to criticise the Turkish state, you can find yourself in prison if you dare to write an article in support of people in another country struggling to build democracy. This is the nature of the beast, “the state”, they are all dependent on your acceptance of their monopoly on power. Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, will point to regimes in other lands and label them “repressive”, despotic” and “undemocratic” but they are all just different flavours of the same poison. The state is an authoritarian edifice that will die if the people grasp their freedom, and freedom will die of we allow the state to flourish.
This from Freedom Press:

Meydan issue 30.

       The editor of Meydan Gazette in Istanbul was jailed for a year and three months on December 22nd for “propagandising the methods of a terror organisation” in a free-speech case which dragged on for nearly a year.

        Hüseyin Civan and the Gazette were taken to court after an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor over a December 2015 issue of the paper, which has supported Kurdish revolutionaries fighting in Rojava. The three offending articles were titled “Both Arrival and Departure of State is From Fear” “Banned Until Further Notice” and “Recreating Life.”

       Representing the Gazette and Civan, lawyer Davut Erkan stated that the decision was illegal and would be appealed, if necessary, all the way to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
      In a statement Meydan, which is based just a few streets away from Gezi Park, said:

Our managing editor was charged with “propagandising for the methods of a terrorist organisation employing coercion, violence or threats, through legitimising, praising or encouraging the use of these methods.”
As we emphasised in articles leading up to the investigation, the “State will never be able to lock away the passion and conviction for freedom of the peoples.”
As an anarchist newspaper we know that the free life we believe in can only be created through struggle. We will never give up writing about what we stand for and distributing what we write. We will continue to resist, act and write against oppression, and against these investigations, custodies and arrests.

Journalists have been heavily targeted in the Erdogan government’s post-coup crackdown, which has been heavily skewed against pro-Kurdish media. In October the left-wing Hayatin Sesi TV station was closed along with 24 other TV and radio stations, and hundreds of reporters have been detained, inspiring even some MPs to attempt civil disobedience in protest.
       The draconian measures have even stretched beyond Turkey’s borders, with the issuing of a red alert to Interpol for well-known Turkish-French journalist Maxime Azadi, who was picked up by Belgian authorities for alleged “co-operation” with terrorists on a year-old warrant on December 23rd.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Deafening Silence From The Media On Rojava.

 

    As far as our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media is concerned, the only thing that is happening in the Syrian bloodshed is the killing of innocent people in Aleppo by the Assad regime, aided and abetted by the Russians. All else can be ignored, the Turkish regime carrying out genocide on the Kurdish people, can be overlooked, the struggling flower that is Rojava, is a name that they must not mention. It would be a crime in the eyes of the West, if the idea of a society based on equality should receive any positive publicity. They must be left to struggle in silence and face the savage wrath of the psychopathic leader of the Turkish nation. Turkey's brutal President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will be given a free hand to destroy the fight for democracy in Rojava, as the West looks the other way, and fills our minds with the suffering in Aleppo, in the hope that we will swallow the message, the West good guys, Russia and Assad, bad guys. However, you and I know that the war in Syria and surrounding area is a world imperialist war for the resources of the area. We owe it to the people of Rojava to offer up what ever solidarity, support and publicity we can, their struggle is our struggle for that better world.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Rojava-Spain??

         Is Rojava, Spain 1936? Well the Turkish state seems to think so. After the recent bombing in the mainly Kurdish area of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's fascist psychopathic president, says, he will play a more active part in the war in Syria, which in his language, translates to, bomb the shit out of the Kurds involved in the Syrian war. Which of course will be Rojava. There are anarchists across the world who passionately believe that Rojava is Spain 1936 and put their lives on the line in support of that belief, and others without any reference to Spain see what is happening in Rojava as a spark of hope for the future of freedom for the individual, and the freedom of all humanity, and likewise, put their lives on the line. They deserve the support and respect of us all.

This from Insurrection News:

       When anarchism was born, it was born as a borderless struggle and as a struggle for a free world. From its inception as a political theory its proponents moved across territories to engage in the struggle, connected with comrades, and fought alongside those who struggled for liberation as virulently as they did.
        In New York we struggle on the backs of giants, yet still for a hundred years, against a massive state that never stopped its colonial, imperial incursions. Rojava has pried open the hegemonic monster of the state and illuminated the possibility of liberation in the struggle of anarchists worldwide; not just anarchists but all those who feel the inescapable draw of a free life.
        We are here to say goodbye to Jordan MacTaggart (also known as Ciwan Firat). He was an american anarchist and YPG fighter who gave his life for the liberation of Manbij: a key point in the struggle for Rojava and a city under the oppressive rule of Daesh.
       We salute you as a comrade who deeply knew the struggle we face here.
      We salute you for recognizing the importance of Rojava in our international struggle and for making the ultimate sacrifice to help keep the revolutionary struggle alive.
       We will never forget that when you lay on that field injured, you asked those of us who remain to keep the revolution going.
       For the sacrifice you have made we deepen our commitments to the struggle here, to fighting for the revolution in Rojava,
and to acting on all fronts of this battle with the dedication you have set.

Biji Ciwan Firat
Biji Rojava
Long live the anarchist fighters
Long live the revolution

-Anarchists of New York

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Rojava From The Inside.

      To know what is really going on in Syria at the moment is very difficult as each faction puts its own spin on the events that are being played out in that unfortunate and blood sodden land. To those who seek real democratic change, the area known as Rojava is of the most interest. Whatever is going on there, it appears that they are not trying to fashion a new nation state, but an alternative bottom up form of of community living. Which of course would be a breath of fresh air in that part of the world which has been sliced and diced by imperialist ambitions for generations. So any information from anybody on the ground in that area, is always very welcome.

This article is from Project Muse:

       The Kurdish movement takes every opportunity to espouse that they are not in the business of creating a new state for the Kurds, and a deep critique of the nation-state is quite prevalent in the recent writings of Öcalan. In his widely read 5th Defense “The Kurdish Problem and the Democratic Nation Solution”, he elaborates that “The greatest weapon which capitalism has to make itself the reigning system is to turn state power into a nation-state power. The nation-state is possible by spreading its power to the capillaries of society…. The national borders, the national army, the centralized civilian bureaucracy, central and local administration, the national market, monopoly economic domination, national currency, passport, national identity, national places of worship, primary schools, a single language, symbols of flags, all of these come together to operate capitalism’s maximum profit rule over society. This process, defined by modern sociologists as a way of overcoming traditional societies and presented as the formation of modern homogenous societies and the primary indicator of progress, in essence, represents a society locked in an iron cage.”3
         This is the ideology at battle in a region where many nation-states are involved in a civil war and where the Kurds are having to make uncomfortable alliances for mere survival. Flowing from this proclaimed statelessness and emphasis of autonomy, many anarchists and libertarian communists have begun to identify with the revolution in Rojava. Various leftist factions have argued over the anti-capitalist and anti-state credentials of what is happening in Rojava, and in some ways Rojava can resemble more the latter than the former. Regardless, based on my own experiences and observations in Rojava, it is obvious that the sentiment captured by the quote at the onset of this article is real and that the challenges of a revolution lie beyond the trenches. This brief essay will attempt to contribute to this discussion.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

       

Rojava, What Is Going On.

       It is extremely difficult to know what exactly is going on in Rojava, we can't rely on that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, they will spew out what ever misinformation bolsters the ideology of their corporate masters, with a complete disregard for truth, people, society or humanity. There has been lots of verbal support from "left" thinking people in the West, but where do we gather the pearls of reliable data on which to base our opinions?

        The following is an extract from one stating to be an anarchist eyewitness on the ground in Rojava.

 From Autistici.org

-------Yet, in positions of power, there are many revolutionary people with a strong anti-state philosophy. [7] So there is an opportunity here. We have a unique space where we can organise, carve out our own projects and implement our ideas. We are at an advantage in this space with access to a lot of resources (think oil fields and country of three million people) rather than your little commune or squat.
        Maybe that’s cool for you and you like the lifestyle but don’t call yourself a revolutionary. I’m disappointed that there’s less than a dozen libertarian type revolutionaries here. They are desperate for solutions here and if we don’t give them, they will go to the corporations rather than allowing their people to starve.
      ISIS became strong when they announced to the world their project for a revolutionary caliphate. Revolutionary Muslims came from all over the world with the strength of their conviction and made ISIS powerful. If Rojava fails it will be because of the lack of international solidarity and I will personally disown the anarchist movement as a joke movement incapable of practical change. Now the revolution has happened but people don’t seem to want to know about it. Cool.
        Here are some excuses I’ve heard from friends I’ve invited:
“I have to look after my dog.”
“I can do more from here advocating and protesting.”
“I don’t know if Rojava is real” (i.e. I will stay comfy in a capitalist state rather than risk a revolution).
“I have important work here” (maybe your work is more useful in Rojava).
        History is made by people that leap into unknowns. If you are satisfied with the status quo, stay where you are. But this revolution is the biggest libertarian project of this century. This is a chance to be a better person that swum against the tide. The more of us that do this, the stronger we become. And we don’t even need to be that great in number.
The time of theory is over. Now is the time of action.
– from Rojava Reality

Additional Notes

1. It has been claimed that the PKK executed 1,500 of its own members.† This may be an exaggeration but one former member insists that Abdullah Ocalan “demanded absolute submission to his person from the people in his surrounding and unrelentingly pushed this through”. Another has said that “you’re not allowed to question Ocalan’s orders. You’re not free. … If there was Kurdish state it would be like the PKK.” Yet another PKK dissident has said: “One man decides everything, nobody else can say what they think. … To become a member of the PKK is like joining a religion.”

2. This claim is backed up by Abdullah Ocalan’s brother, Osman, who says that the PKK still has a Stalinist ideology of ‘one party, one leader’ and that the PKK “orchestrates 90% of what is happening in Syrian Kurdistan.” The Rojava regime, apparently, has even tried to ban the display of pictures of politicians other than those from the PKK such as Abdullah Ocalan.† They have also banned overly critical journalists.†

3. Workers’ “uncooperative” attitude is hardly surprising considering that selling your labour to a cooperative in a market economy gives you no real control of your life anyway.--------

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Turkey's Insurrection.

        Syria, Turkey, Rojava, Iraq, ISIS, plus the American imperialist meat-grinder, all seems like a broth-pot of confusion, we can't rely on our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media to help us out of the fog of confusion, they only spew out illusion, division and sedatives. However I am sure of one thing, it is indeed the end of the world as we know it, but not so sure I feel fine, at least not on the climate front. The corporate greed machine seems intent on planet destruction for a fast buck.

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I'm A Better Anarchist Than You!!!!

    I'm a better anarchist than you!!!! But who is the purest anarchist of all??

    Positions as the one taken by Green Anarchy are neither an exception nor a thing of the past. Certain elements in the “anarchist” milieu still like to criticize in a similarly short-sighted, poorly informed, dogmatic and sectarian manner the struggles of the peoples in the Global South, wittingly or unwittingly reproducing the logic of colonialism in the process.

    I am writing this piece in response to a recent article by Gilles Dauvé, who slanders the Kurdish movement in Rojava in much the same way. A similar piece, based on equally dubious ethical and logical grounds, was published by the Anarchist Federation in London. It is important to emphasize that, although I will be responding specifically to the poorly informed critiques of the aforementioned articles, the issues I am raising here are far more important for the anarchist movement in the West than for the Kurdish or Zapatista movements themselves, which do not need any judgment or approval from some privileged ideological purists elsewhere.

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Anarchy In Rojava.

       The latest video from The Stimulator at Submedia, is on what is happening in Rojava, among other things, plus a wee plug for AK Press.

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