Women progress in Kurdish press ... legacy of thousands of female media professionals

The media march that the martyr, Gurbet Aali Arsuz, started in the Kurdish press is being followed by young women's pens and energies, bringing the voice of millions of women to the public opinion through media outlets specialized for women.

WOMAN

22 April, 2021 22:59

QAMISHLO - SULAVA ABDUL RAHMAN

April 22^nd marks the 123^rd anniversary of Kurdish Press Day, in relation to the issuance of "Kurdistan" newspaper, the first Kurdish newspaper by Al-Amir, Miqdad Medhat Badrkhan, in the Egyptian capital Cairo on April 22, 1898.

The history of the Kurdish press in Rojava and Syria extends to the publication of "Hawar" newspaper, which was issued by Al-Amir, Jaladat Badrkhan, on May 15, 1932 in Kurdish with a license from the Syrian government at the time, and it is considered the first newspaper to be published in Latin Kurdish characters.

At the time, Kurdish women had important role in launching the Kurdish press, as Rewshan Badrkhan participated in publishing and writing since the inception of the first Kurdish newspaper (Kurdistan newspaper), which directed a cultural discourse that defines and praises the Kurdish heritage and culture.

The newspaper stopped on August 15, 1943 after issuing 57 issues, and in subsequent periods, as a result of the policy of denial and extermination against the Kurdish people, all Kurdish newspapers and magazines were closed, and the Kurdish press suffered from the suppression of the ruling authorities, forcing journalists to work in secret.

With the establishment of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, the way was opened for Kurdish women to play a greater role in the media, so the struggler, Sakina Cansiz, made great strides in this field, and played her role in showing the reality of the attacks that the Kurds were subjected to in Kurdistan.

During the successive years, the women's progress in the media field continued with Zainab Ardam, Gulnaz Karatasch, Gurbet Aali Arsuz, whose struggle had turned into an approach for Kurdish women, and Shelan Aras, Denise Furat, Nujian, Delishan Ibsh and dozens of other women who became a beacon in their path joined them.

The July 19^th Revolution is a quantum leap in the history of the Kurdish press

With the start of the July 19^th Revolution in 2012 in Rojava, women became heavily involved in the media domain, and actively exercised their activities in the battlefields, while covering events on the street, as well as in work offices.

In Rojava, several "visual, print and audio" media foundations were established for women, such as "Jin TV, which is the second of its kind in the world, the Women's news agency and Star Radio."

These media institutions work extensively to communicate everything related to women in north eastern Syria to the public opinion, and urge the struggle against reactionary mentality and social concepts that bind and restrict women.

More than 65% of media workers are women

Media institutions in north eastern Syria are characterized by more than 65% female representation.

The Co-chair of the Free Media Union, Avin Youssef, told ANHA agency: The female media professionals during the Rojava Revolution demonstrated their ability to struggle in order to reveal the truth, and conveyed the voice of women and their suffering, especially the displaced women from the occupied areas of Afrin and Serekaniye.

She indicated that in the Free Media Union, they communicate with a number of international and Arab press bodies interested in women, and she said, "There are few institutions that are interested in women media, and we in turn communicate with them to share the feminist media experience, and we have previously conducted some training for women in the media field in cooperation with these institutions."

She pointed out that the press is an important tool for knowledge and cultural development of any nation or people in the world, adding: "The process of communication among all peoples must be extended and continued, especially as we live in an era of globalization, the spread of human rights culture and the communication revolution."

She also pointed to the importance of the press, saying: "The Kurdish people, whose lands have been divided among several countries, have realized their reality through the press."

Suppression

Throughout the rule of the Syrian regime, no real Kurdish media movement was formed in Rojava, north and east Syria, due to the regime's repression against the Kurds and their political, cultural movements, so the press was limited to the circle close to the authority in Damascus as its mouthpiece.

The presenter of the GOTÛBÊJ program on Jin TV channel, Dijlah Ito, said to ANHA agency that the Kurdish press in Rojava Kurdistan witnessed a state of stagnation due to the suppression of the Syrian regime, but despite this, a number of journalists emerged and many newspapers and magazines were issued, as the Syrian arena was not without a fair number of writers and poets compared to the pressure exerted on them at that time, including Nuri Dersemi and Mir Jalad Badrkhan who became a role model for the Kurdish people.

At that time, women also had an effective role in journalism, among them was Rewshan Badrkhan, one of the writers who contributed with their pens in writing the culture and history of Kurdistan, and the love of the media increased in her heart and she continued her journalistic career.

Dijlah Ito attributed the reason for the absence of other feminist names in the history of the Kurdish media, to the policy of oppression, extermination and pressure on women, which did not allow them to work openly and at the required level.

The reality of women within the Kurdish press

In Rojava, women played a prominent role in developing media outlets, as they became program presenters, reporters, editors and took positive steps according to the requirements and sensitivity of the stage that the areas of north eastern Syria are going through, in transmitting reality to the public opinion.

Dijlah explained that the Kurdish press was revived through pens and young energies in parallel with the escalation of the revolution, by establishing a number of media outlets and showing the truth about what happened in the region, despite the lack of competencies and experiences in the media field.

Dijlah Ito emphasized that the repressive pressures, denial and the deprivation of the rights of the Kurdish people and Kurdish women in particular pushed women to engage in the media field with the beginning of the Rojava Revolution, and added: "Through our organization and our pens, we will oppose the totalitarian regime and the nation-state system."

Gurbet Aali Arsuz's pen is carried by dozens of women

JINHA Women's news agency was established in a short period of time, and it was considered the first news agency in the Middle East, all its members are women. The same is true for Jin TV, the second feminist satellite channel in the world.

Dijlah Ito explained that these two media outlets have become a voice for women in the world, the Middle East and Kurdistan, and that "the pen of the martyr Gurbet Aali Arsuz today is carried by dozens of media women professionals."

Yazidi women

The Yazidi community was subjected to 74 massacres, the last of which was in August 2014, where ISIS mercenaries directly targeted women and children in their attack on Shengal district, and kidnapped more than 5,000 Yazidi women, according to the statistics of the Yazidi institutions.

To show the history of Yazidi women, their customs and traditions on the one hand, and the massacres and suffering they were subjected to throughout history on the other hand, ClL KEZI cultural and social program addresses the reality of the Yazidis in north eastern Syria.

Gara TV correspondent and presenter of ClL KEZI program, Shinda Akram, said: "Throughout history, the Yazidi people have been subjected to marginalization, exclusion and violence, especially Yazidi women, so I wanted through this program to show the genocide, the pain of the Yazidi people, and to shed light as much as possible on their suffering and the women's resistance."

D.H

ANHA