Astri from the Kurdish women’s battalion in Kobani

gretafsykes@hotmail.com

October 2014

I’m ready. I’m sad. I’m angry. With no more tears,

just one thought on my mind:

I shall protect my family, my homeland,

the earth belongs to us, not to the IS fascists.

 

Before our life was different.

A plot of land was ours, sweet tomatoes, cucumbers,

our shaggy goats free,

their milk and cheese so white and gleaming,

the chickens pecked in grass and gravel,

their clucking the softest sound of peace.

Continue reading “Astri from the Kurdish women’s battalion in Kobani”

World Kobane Day: Two years on the people of Kobane are still fighting and inspiring us all

PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN
Open Letter to celebrate World Kobane Day on 1 November 2016 and demand that the British government takes all the appropriate political actions to bring about peace for the sake of Kobane and the people in the entire Middle East. For more information on global events, see the World Kobane Day website. 

Two years on the people of Kobane are still fighting and inspiring us all

In 2014, when they were successfully pushing back an assault by ISIS on their community and democratic institutions, the men and women of Kobane led by the Kurds demonstrated that ISIS was not invincible and that popular forces acting in unison can triumph over the bitterest and most vicious adversary. Continue reading “World Kobane Day: Two years on the people of Kobane are still fighting and inspiring us all”

German-based project raise money for health and social centre in Rojava

This German-based Initiative is close to raising €150,000 to build an ecologically-sustainable health and social centre for the people of Kobane. You can still make a donation (see details below):

Nationwide initiative for ecological rebuilding in Kobanê / Rojava,

Assist us – 150.000€ for the ecological arrangement of a health and social center in Kobane as a model for the ecological rebuilding of the Region

The city of Kobanê in Rojava (West Kurdistan / Syria) disengaged itself in January 2015 by / under big sacrifices from the Fascist powers of the IS (“Islamic State”). The IS left a trace of destruction behind itself. 80% of Kobane is still destroyed today. The new local community, which the Syrian- Kurdish population builds up in Rojava, is a prototype for the whole Middle East. It puts into practice equality for all people, democracy, religious freedom, equal rights for women and men and the unity of mankind and nature as a guideline of the sociological development.

Continue reading “German-based project raise money for health and social centre in Rojava”

Executive Board of Kobane Canton calls for international solidarity on 1 November

The Kobane Canton Executive Board has released this statement calling for all people to take part in this Sunday’s Global Rally for Freedom and Reconstruction of Kobane: 

A Call for an International Solidarity Day with Kobani

1 November 2015

Kobani and Rojava have faced numerous military campaigns and attacks since the birth of freedom and justice on their soils on 19 July 2012. Ever since, militant extremists have laid siege to this geographic area that aspires to build a new life and new approach that is open to socio-cultural, religious and ethnic diversity.

However, the will of the people in Rojava and the power of their desire for a new era and new administration were invincible, defeating extremists’ campaigns, which culminated in the Kobani’s humane resistance. This resistance marked the beginning of the end of ISIL’s myth of its ability to control any town or city, and proved to the world that the union between the will of the people and local institutions in a geographic area is sufficient to defeat terrorism, and thus safeguarding humanity and peace. Continue reading “Executive Board of Kobane Canton calls for international solidarity on 1 November”

Global Rally for the freedom and reconstruction of Kobane: London Rally

World Kobane Day 

Sunday 1st November 2015

London march: 1pm, gather outside Haringey Civic Centre, High Road Wood Green, N22

London Rally: 2pm at the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC), 11 Portland Gardens, London N4 1HU. Nearest station: Haringey Green Lanes (Overground); Manor House (Piccadilly line)

 

With speeches, music, and festivities!

Continue reading “Global Rally for the freedom and reconstruction of Kobane: London Rally”

Art for Kobane!

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!

Are you a graphic designer? Videographer? Illustrator? Poet? Painter? MC? Does the Kobane resistance inspire you? If so, we want to hear from you! On the 1st November, a global day of action will take place, calling for the freedom and reconstruction of Kobane and we are looking for artists from across the world to take part, to create and share a piece of their art for Kobane. Hear is the call out from the Kobane Reconstruction Board: 

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Letter from Abdalla Kurdi, father of Alan Kurdi

The image of 3-year old Alan Kurdi’s small body on a beach in Turkey quickly became emblematic of the current refugee crisis. Today, we received this letter written by Alan’s father, Abdalla, and Anwar Muslim, which he wrote from Kobane where he has returned. 

Letter from Abdalla Kurdi, father of Alan Kurdi

Dear friends,

There is very good information about the situation in Syria and more generally in the Near East.  The region is involved in a local and international power struggle. Our Syrian homeland has become a focus of this struggle, in which there is now neither security nor economic stability. This is the reason that people have packed up, leaving the country of their fathers and grandfathers for other countries, in hope of finding security and a humane life. Continue reading “Letter from Abdalla Kurdi, father of Alan Kurdi”