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Thread: REVOLUTION IN ROJAVA

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    Veteran Member crazyladybutterfly's Avatar
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    Default REVOLUTION IN ROJAVA

    While our supposed "democracy" is dominated by the 1%, this alternative uses local participative councils to direct society from the bottom up. - See more at:



    http://www.occupy.com/article/revolu....SPdTbLkU.dpuf

    Many politicians in the West may talk about fighting ISIS, but as many know, the West helped to build – then poured fuel on – the jihadist-fascist bonfire. In contrast, the strongest challenge to ISIS is in fact the democratic, autonomous and predominantly Kurdish region of Rojava in northern Syria. The area shows a route toward a peaceful, progressive Middle East.

    FUEL TO THE FIRE
    The jihadist-fascist force of ISIS formed in large part due to Western oil-driven imperialism – not least from the devastation caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq. ISIS has captured Iraqi heavy weapons and armored vehicles given by the U.S. and its allies. In addition, the group gets significant funding from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two of the West’s crucial oil suppliers and weapon customers. ISIS even profits greatly from black market oil sales. Arguably, no terrorist organization has ever been so integrated into the oil-based global capitalist system.

    Western imperialism also acts as an ISIS recruiting agent, starting with illegal drone wars that drive young people into the fascist-jihadist group. Other ISIS propaganda opportunities include Western war crimes; torture camps like Guantanamo; extra-judicial killings, and other human rights abuses. Climate change, itself the product of capitalism’s unquenchable thirst for oil, has also assisted ISIS: it catalyzed drought crisis conditions in Syria, which alongside the brutal Assad regime, led to the Syrian Civil War. As it did in in Iraq, ISIS was able to capitalize on the chaos and spread quickly through Syria.

    ROJAVA RESISTS ISIS
    In its brutal advance across Syria and Iraq, ISIS portrayed itself as invincible until its first major defeat in Kobanî, Rojava, between late 2014 and early 2015. With their victory, the self-organized Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) gained international attention and recognition. A mixed fighting force of men and women, the YPG along with the women-only YPJ have arisen as the primary challenge to ISIS in the region. The empowerment of women – expressed in part through the YPJ – is central to the Rojava democratic model

    HOW DID ROJAVA EMERGE?
    The same Arab Spring and Syrian uprising that led to the wider Syrian Civil War also enabled the Rojava Revolution. On July 19, 2012, public uprisings in Kurdish cities, one after the next, enabled Kurds to liberate the northern region of Syria from Assad's Ba’ath regime, beginning in Kobane City. Two factors were crucial for the Kurds' long-term stability, which were absent in much of the Arab Spring. First, the Kurds were expanding on a long history of bottom-up self-organization, with strong ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which for decades has fought against Turkish oppression. Second, the Assad regime had largely fled the region, and his forces mostly surrendered peacefully.

    This power vacuum enabled the Rojava democratic experiment to begin.

    ROJAVA AND WESTERN INSECURITY
    Rojava is not only fighting ISIS and other jihadist groups to the south. It is also under strong embargo on its border to the north and east, enforced by Turkey and Kurdish Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkey continues to bomb the PKK and allow ISIS to move easily over the border to sell stolen goods and resupply with weapons and foreign recruits. After the New Years nightclub massacre claimed by ISIS in Istanbul, changes to Turkey's border policies may ensue. But nonetheless, Turkish attacks on Rojava mirror the historic and ongoing human rights abusesendured by Kurds in the Turkish state.

    At the same time, Iraqi Kurdistan supports Turkey as its main, closest ally. It also opposes Rojava since its democratic model conflicts with Iraqi Kurdistan, a country known for its rampant corruption and cronyism.

    If Western politicians are serious about tackling ISIS, they should be supporting Rojava – and at the same time criticizing the tacit support that Turkey is lending to ISIS. Meanwhile, they should pressure Kurdish Iraq and Turkey to end the embargo on Rojava and remove the Kurdish People's Defense Units from international terrorist lists. In a conflict that is seemingly without beginning or end, these steps would at least be a move in the right direction.

    - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/revolu....r3CTI7gM.dpuf
    http://www.theapricity.com/forum/att...0&d=1471874957

    Quote Originally Posted by al-Bosni View Post
    I also have nails that I can use as a weapon.
    https://www.theapricity.com/forum/at...8&d=1509531094


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    Veteran Member crazyladybutterfly's Avatar
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    One of the revolution’s starting points, assert the authors, is that we live in a patriarchal world in which men violently dominate women. This means, quite simply, that there is no true democracy without smashing patriarchy.

    CHALLENGING PATRIARCHAL EXTREMISTS
    The Rojava Revolution is not only about challenging traditional patriarchy. It is also a message of resistance against one of the most extreme anti-women forces in the world: ISIS. The jihadist-fascist group's severe abuses against women have been widely documented, including torture, rape and selling young girls into sex slavery.

    To survive against this attack, the Kurdish Rojava region of northern Syria defends itself with the use of mixed and women only fighting units. Women’s leading role in the fight is essential, the authors write, for at least three reasons: 1) Without defense there would be no space for any revolution; 2) The women, by taking what are traditionally considered men’s roles, challenge the patriarchy of both their traditional society and ISIS; and 3) A core focus of the defense unit is devoted to education and workshops, including the teaching of Jineolojî, which translates as women’s science.

    This education system is geared toward rethinking society and knowledge critically in order to challenge imperialism, elitism and male domination. As a social science, Jineolojî seeks to include women in history, recognize women’s input politically and empower women in society.

    A REVOLUTION FOR WOMEN BY WOMEN
    Women are, in fact, central throughout Rojava’s new society: through the concept of Dual Leadership; in the bottom-up council democracy system where every meeting must have a 40 percent women's quorum to make decisions; and in every council, which must have one man and one woman co-chair.

    There are also women-only security Asayîş Jin (bottom-up police) to deal with domestic violence and other crimes against women. Every town or city has a women’s house, a place that can serve as a sanctuary or place of education. Called Mala Jinan, these centers are organized by the Kongreya Star (previously Yekîtiya Star).

    Formed in 2005, the Kongreya Star plays a pivotal role in Rojava. A confederation of women’s movements, Kongreya Star focuses on education, economics, media, ecology, international relations and justice. One example of how the organizations are changing local economics is the establishment of women’s cooperatives, which represent a broader shift towards a bottom-up economy serving people, not profits.

    This statement from the Kongreya Star explains the mission well: “Only when women are able to organize themselves, we believe, will they be able to challenge the current patriarchal structures and mentalities in order to build viable, sustainable alternatives. Without the liberation of women, a truly free society is impossible.”

    - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/resist....5iuNoc1p.dpuf
    http://www.theapricity.com/forum/att...0&d=1471874957

    Quote Originally Posted by al-Bosni View Post
    I also have nails that I can use as a weapon.
    https://www.theapricity.com/forum/at...8&d=1509531094


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    Rojava is in many ways the most unlikely of revolutions. It provides an antidote to the multiple crises of capitalism out of the ashes of the Syrian conflict and shows that another Middle East is possible. Women are leading this revolution; women’s liberation is at its core. The wholescale change has been framed as a "Third Way," a path diverging away from the state which is fundamental in the capitalist and communist systems that dominate most of the world.

    With a global population of around 35 million, Kurds are often referred to as the world’s largest population without its own state. But the Democratic Confederalism model that Kurds have put into practice in Rojava, northern Syria, shows that it is possible to think beyond state and capitalism, and build public services and an economy from the bottom up.

    Liberation from the state

    On July 19, 2012, across the predominantly Kurdish part of the Syrian state, Assad regime forces were expelled, largely peacefully, through public uprisings backed by defense forces. The dictatorial regime had mostly withdrawn the state security apparatus to fight the influx of jihadist-fascists and other militia. The Syrian uprising was first for democracy, but descended swiftly into a proxy war between competing capitalist states.

    Earlier this century in Rojava, councils were formed at the local level providing functions usually associated with the state, such as security (which often meant protection from Syria) and political education. The Women’s Confederation of Organisations, Kongreya Star, and the political party PYD drove these organizing efforts. The organizations had been banned and repressed, but after the revolution fractured Syria, they came into the open. Importantly, the People’s Council of West Kurdistan (MGRK) was created August 2011.

    The MGRK is a participative people’s council system, where decisions are taken as close to the "bottom" of society as possible. For instance, these councils control the Asayîş (bottom-up police). The local street councils send elected representatives to neighbourhood councils; in turn they send elected representatives to the city councils and the same happens on the canton regional level.

    Rojava consists of three cantons. The spokespeople are always one man and one women, under the principle of "dual leadership." As we explored in Part III of the series, positive discrimination to enable women’s liberation is a cornerstone of revolution in Rojava. Additionally, Kongreya Star created a parallel system of women’s councils. The representatives of the MGRK are on mandates and can be de-selected if they do not represent their local community.

    Bottom-up power is the realization of thinking within the Kurdish liberation struggle fermented in North Kurdistan (Southern Turkey), a movement driven by Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK leader. Imprisoned since 1999 for fighting against the Turkish state, Öcalan shifted the Kurds' liberation struggle: initially a Marxist struggle aimed at gaining a Kurdish state, the movement went on to reject the top-down patriarchal nature of states, in tandem with rejecting capitalist oppression. Murray Bookchin’s political theories were influential.

    “Democratic confederalism is open towards other political groups and factions," wrote Öcalan. "It is flexible, multi-cultural, anti-monopolistic, and consensus-oriented. Ecology and feminism are central pillars. In the frame of this kind of self-administration an alternative economy will become necessary, which increases the resources of the society instead of exploiting them and thus does justice to the manifold needs of the society." Published in 2011, the ethos underpins what has happened in Rojava since.

    - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/revolu....M0pmX3Z3.dpuf
    - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/revolu....M0pmX3Z3.dpuf
    http://www.theapricity.com/forum/att...0&d=1471874957

    Quote Originally Posted by al-Bosni View Post
    I also have nails that I can use as a weapon.
    https://www.theapricity.com/forum/at...8&d=1509531094


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    Quote Originally Posted by Etain View Post
    stfu
    your crush on assad is serious then
    http://www.theapricity.com/forum/att...0&d=1471874957

    Quote Originally Posted by al-Bosni View Post
    I also have nails that I can use as a weapon.
    https://www.theapricity.com/forum/at...8&d=1509531094


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    A social economy without a state

    Pre-Syrian revolution, the three cantons of Rojava had mainly produced wheat, fruit and oil, which were all refined elsewhere in Syria. To become self-sufficient and overcome the embargo, it was vital that Rojava started producing products from its own resources. In response, cooperatives were set up, run by workers and supported through the MGRK system. The local councils provide the cooperatives with land and resources. In turn, generally 70 percent of the profits from cooperatives go to the workers while 30 percent goes back to the MGRK.

    The MGRK system also took control of public services and as a result has set up schools, educational academies and other public commons. Another stream of funding comes from levies to those who can afford to pay, for instance, for water or electricity.

    Peace and justice without a state

    Rojava has also created a bottom-up justice system through local peace and justice committees, which seek resolution through consensus with the parties involved. Again, the principle is taking politics to the most local level. The justice system additionally focuses on rehabilitation for the person committing the crime.

    Serious acts of criminality in Rojava are taken to higher courts, and the death penalty has been abolished. Violence and serious crime are dealt with by the Asayîş, with women-only Asayîş-Jin to resolve violence against women.

    - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/revolu....M0pmX3Z3.dpuf
    http://www.theapricity.com/forum/att...0&d=1471874957

    Quote Originally Posted by al-Bosni View Post
    I also have nails that I can use as a weapon.
    https://www.theapricity.com/forum/at...8&d=1509531094


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