FOR KURDISTAN, IRAQ AND SYRIA
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/activities/womens-alliance-for-kurdistan-iraq-and-syria/
NEWS:
1. Suspect in Kurdish activist killings dies in Paris
2. Kurdish women continue their diplomatic efforts in Germany
3. Êzidî Kurdish women that escaped ISIS cruelty receive Sakharov Price
4. YPJ fighters: We will liberate not only women but also men
5. Iran: Release Zeynab Jalalian and give her the urgent medical care she needs
6. Ocalan’s ‘Liberating Life: Women’s Revolution’ Published in Tamil
7. HDP Co-chair Yüksekdağ sends a letter to women to mark November 25
8. November 25 message from the imprisoned KJA Spokeswoman Ayla Akat
9. Kurdish female fighters commemorate International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women
10. International Women’s Alliance expresses solidarity with Kurdish women
11. A center of Free Women Body opened in Sheikh Maksoud
12. Women in Iran get lashes instead of personal freedom
COMMENTARY
1. HDP Parliamentary Women’s Group: We will resist your rapist laws
2. How one woman is standing up to Turkey’s purges
3. VIDEO: Turkey’s War Against the Kurds – Women in War YPJ and the struggle for Women’s Rights in Syria. VIDEO The Experiment of the Rojava System in Grassroots Participatory Democracy: Its Theoretical Foundation, Structure, and Strategies
REPORTS
Delegation Report: Fear of Genocide in South-East Turkey by Julie Ward MEP and Melanie Gingell, Barrister.
BOOK REVIEW
A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, by Meredith Tax
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NEWS
1. Suspect in Kurdish activist killings dies in Paris
18 December/DW.com
The man accused of murdering three Kurdish women has died before his trial could proceed. French investigators believe Turkey’s national intelligence agency might have been implicated in the murders.
http://www.dw.com/en/suspect-in-kurdish-activist-killings-dies-in-paris/a-36818655?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-xml-mrss
2. Kurdish women continue their diplomatic efforts in Germany
19 December/ANF News
SARA-Women’s Commune had a series of meetings in Germany’s Munich and Bavaria regions. Kurdish women met with Bavaria Parliamentary Presidency, CSU and the Green Party officials and as well as the Green Party Group Deputy Chair Gülseren Demirel. Women informed the officials on the AKP’s attacks targeting Kurdish people, democratic circles and the free press, and emphasized that the Kurdish politicians in Germany face the threat of the Turkish Intelligence Agency.
http://www.anfenglish.com/news/kurdish-women-continue-their-diplomatic-efforts-in-germany
3. Êzidî Kurdish women that escaped ISIS cruelty receive Sakharov Price
14 December/ANF News
Êzidî Kurdish women Lamiya Bashar and Nadiya Murad, who have escaped ISIS cruelty, received the European Parliament’s Sakharov for Freedom of Thought given to commemorate Soviet scientist Andrey Sakharov since 1988. The 18 year old Lamiya Bashar spoke during the award ceremony in Strasbourg and said “I am here to be the voice of the victims” as she demanded that ISIS cruelty is not allowed to continue.
http://anfenglish.com/news/ezidi-kurdish-women-that-escaped-isis-cruelty-receive-sakharov-price
4. YPJ fighters: We will liberate not only women but also men
12 December/ANF News
YPJ fighters in the Wrath of Euphrates operation Agiri Kobanê and Asi Serêkaniye spoke to the ANF on the reasons they joined the liberation operation. YPJ fighter Agiri Kobanê pointed out ISIS’ approach towards women in the regions under their invasion and stated that YPJ had launched the Wrath of Euphrates operation to avenge Syrian and Shengali women.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/ypj-fighters-we-will-liberate-not-only-women-but-also-men
5. Iran: Release Zeynab Jalalian and give her the urgent medical care she needs
9 December/Roj Kurd Net
Zeynab Jalalian, aged 34, was a political activist working to empower Iran’s ethnic minority Kurds, particularly women. In 2008, she was jailed for life for her supposed links to the military wing of a Kurdish opposition group. Her trial was grossly unfair. Not only was it over within a few minutes, but she was sentenced based on “confessions” she says she made after enduring months of torture.
http://www.rojikurd.net/en/2016/12/09/iran-release-zeynab-jalalian-and-give-her-the-urgent-medical-care-she-needs/
6. Ocalan’s ‘Liberating Life: Women’s Revolution’ Published in Tamil
29 November/Kurdish Question
The Tamil translation of Abdullah Ocalan’s “Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution”was released in Mullivaikaal Memorial at Tanjore, Tamil Nadu on 27 November. The release date coincides with the anniversary of the formation of the PKK and Tamil Eelam Heroes’ Day. The venue, Mullivaikaal Memorial, is a historically significant spot to commemorate the Tamil fighters who fell in battle against the genocidal Sri Lankan state.
http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3654-ocalan-s-liberating-life-women-s-revolution-published-in-tamil
7. HDP Co-chair Yüksekdağ sends a letter to women to mark November 25
22 November/ANF News
“We, despite everything, continue to say, freedom, peace and democracy -no matter what. On 25 November [the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women] in particular, the stance of women who put up a daily struggle against violence, persecution and discrimination will play a vital role. Women will begin to illuminate this darkness. I salute the united struggle that has developed in recent days against the proposed bill for an amnesty to sexual abuse [of children].
http://anfenglish.com/women/hdp-co-chair-yuksekdag-sends-a-letter-to-women-to-mark-november-25
8. November 25 message from the imprisoned KJA Spokeswoman Ayla Akat
25 November/ANF News
In her message, Akat saluted all women that struggle, and said “We know well that the story of Mirabel sisters takes place in different parts of the world, and the truth that emerges from the pain they suffer is the reason for our mobilization and the reason for us to come together and enhance our struggle.”
http://anfenglish.com/women/november-25-message-from-the-imprisoned-kja-spokeswoman-ayla-akat
9. Kurdish female fighters commemorate International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women
26 November/ARA News
Each year on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is commemorated. On Friday, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) took the time to observe the day, even while battling the Islamic State (ISIS).
http://aranews.net/2016/11/kurdish-female-fighters-commemorate-international-day-for-elimination-of-violence-against-women/
10. International Women’s Alliance expresses solidarity with Kurdish women
3 November/ANF News
The International Women’s Alliance (IWA) strongly condemned the brutal attack on Kurdish women in a protest rally held on October 26 against the detention of Gültan Kışanak -the first female mayor of Diyarbakir -and Firat Anli, co-mayors of the Kurdish city who had been detained in the evening of October 25.
https://anfenglish.com/women/international-women-s-alliance-expresses-solidarity-with-kurdish-women
11. A center of Free Women Body opened in Sheikh Maksoud
26 November/Hawar News Agency
ALEPPO– Free Syrian Women Body has opened a center in the neighborhood of Sheikh Maksoud and ceremonies were held. The ceremonies were held in the center, where dozens of Kurdish, Arab, Syriac women attended the ceremonies.
http://en.hawarnews.com/a-center-of-free-women-body-opened-in-sheikh-maksoud/
12. Amal Clooney told the UN they did nothing to help Isis sex slaves.
“When I addressed the UN Security Council earlier this year, I told them I was ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations that states are failing to punish genocide. I am ashamed that there is no justice being done and barely a complaint being made about it. More than that, I am ashamed as a woman that women like Nadia can today have their bodies sold and used like battlefields. I am ashamed as a human being that we ignore their cries for help.”
http://www.nadiamurad.org/blog/2016/11/25/amal-clooney-told-the-un-they-did-nothing-to-help-isis-sex-slaves
13. Women in Iran get lashes instead of personal freedom
23 November/ANF News
The issue of corporal punishment in Iran has been brought to light once again, as journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad took to social media to highlight various cases of the same. A few days ago, Alinejad shared an image of a young woman who had been arrested and given lashes across her back for being at a mixed-gender party.
http://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/127530/0/Women-in-Iran-get-lashes-instead-of-personal-freedom
COMMENTARY
1. HDP Parliamentary Women’s Group: We will resist your rapist laws
19 November/ANF News
“When the negotiations on the Draft Law No. 438 were made in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, as votes for consensus were drawing to an end, six MPs from the ruling AKP proposed an amendment to the provisional article. The proposal brought amnesty to the perpetrator in child abuse cases if they were to marry the exploited child. The motion was accepted to the astonishment of the opposition, who looked stunned. In fact, this amendment was premeditated, planned well ahead of the motion the 6 AKP deputies had prepared. Justice Minister and the ruling party knew about the proposal. The Minister of Justice openly defended the proposal at the General Assembly, without hiding it was his party’s idea. To ward off reactions, this clause was not was included in the original draft but was added on as a last minute amendment to provide amnesty to rapists.
http://anfenglish.com/women/hdp-parliamentary-women-s-group-we-will-resist-your-rapist-laws
2. How one woman is standing up to Turkey’s purges
9 December/Al Monitor
The Human Rights Monument — a sculpture depicting a woman reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — is a well-known hallmark in a bustling pedestrian area in the heart of Ankara. Over the past month, a second fixture has appeared on the site: a woman with a banner. Despite 17 detentions, often by heavy-handed police, Nuriye Gulmen — one of hundreds of academics suspended from office after the July 15 attempted coup — keeps returning to the site to demand her job back.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/12/turkey-one-woman-stands-up-government-purges.html#ixzz4SZCseCO7
3. VIDEO: Turkey’s War Against the Kurds – Women in War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL6ctOS7eJAdQbbZzlmRSvqwKm8v6DVceV&v=GZ7LbzJmxA4&app=desktop
4. YPJ and the struggle for Women’s Rights in Syria. VIDEO
http://aranews.net/2016/11/ypj-struggle-womens-rights-syria/
RESEARCH PAPER
The Experiment of the Rojava System in Grassroots Participatory Democracy: Its Theoretical Foundation, Structure, and Strategies
November/Quest Journals
The country where democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law has come to an end and replaced with battlefields, destruction and dungeons. Balance-sheet for attacks on elected representatives and municipalities. Distrust toward current ruling political systems, democratic and non-democratic, and emphasis on the need to replace them has been a core argument of many of the recent social movements, from the Movement for Global Justice to the Occupy Wall Street (Della porta, 2013; Fominaya, 2015). While many countries have been labelled as democratic, respect for different groups’ rights inside them varies dramatically (Behrend and Whiehead, 2016).
http://questjournals.org/jrhss/papers/vol4-issue11/L4118088.pdf
REPORTS
1. Delegation Report: Fear of Genocide in South-East Turkey by Julie Ward MEP and Melanie Gingell, Barrister.
12 December/Peace in Kurdistan Campaign.
At the time of writing, ten HDP deputies (elected members of parliament) had been detained by the Turkish State during the weeks following the brutal crack down on opposition parties in the wake of the failed coup attempt on 15th July 2016. The HDP had condemned the coup-attempt at the first possible opportunity, describing it as an assault on democracy.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2016/12/12/fear-of-genocide-in-south-east-turkey/
BOOK REVIEW
A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, by Meredith Tax
30 November/Jacobin
According to the back of Meredith Tax’s A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, a “democratic society” with “women on the front lines as fierce warriors and leaders” is growing in the midst of Syria’s destruction. This new society — Rojava — was founded by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian-Kurdish offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/rojava-syria-kurds-ypg-pkk-ocalan-turkey/
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Gingell – Tel: 020 7272 7890
Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Kate Osamor MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, John Austin, Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, General Federations of Trade Unions, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, James Kelman, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Mark Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie, Derek Wall, Melanie Gingell, Steve Sweeney