Women’s Revolution Forum: Unifying women is a mainstay for success of July 19 Revolution

 This morning, Tuesday morning, the work of the first forum of the women's revolution in the Middle East was launched under the slogan "With women's solidarity, we will protect and develop the gains of the revolution."

 After concluding my speech on behalf of the Kongra Star coordinator, Ramzia Muhammad, and a member of the Joint Presidency of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Fawza Yousef, the work of the first session of the forum, entitled "Assessment of the Women's Revolution in Ten Years", began, which included four axes on (the status of women and the level of  its organization before the revolution, how women organized themselves and how they took their place within the revolution, the most important achievements and gains of women during ten years, and the joining of international women to the revolution).

 This axis, was delivered by the former co-chair of Afrin canton, Hevi Mustafa, in which she referred to the role of women within societies throughout history, and said: “Since the creation of mankind until this day, women have taken on the most influential roles in societies and civilizations.  It is an active force in societies and their development, and the important half for maintaining the continuity of humanity.

 Assessing the status of women in the history of Syria

Mustafa drew attention to the history of Syrian women, and said: "Many women have left their mark in the history of Syria, such as Mawya, the greatest Syrian queen, Zenobia, the leader, Cleopatra, and finally the Syrian woman today, in light of the Syrian tragedy, and despite her lack of space to express her attitudes towards matters of religion, society and politics, and the multiplicity of types of restrictions that paralyzed her movement, and the changing forms of these restrictions through time and place, despite all that her rebellion did not stop and she continued her attempts to break these restrictions, and she decided to become an inspiring leader instead of  being a victim."

She referred to the role of women in their revolutions against dictatorial regimes in the history of Syria, saying: "There was a women's movement with a prominent role in ending the Ottoman occupation, and then an effective role in resisting French colonialism, as this movement was organized within what are known as literary salons."

 The status of Kurdish women under the nation-state in Syria

 On the status of Kurdish women under the nation-state in Syria, Hevi indicated that Kurdish women suffered from persecution in all its forms, national, social, economic, and legal by the nation-state, in addition to persecution by men and society. The Kurdish woman was a double victim, once a victim  the patriarchal society with its customs and traditions, and once a victim of national and gender oppression.

 She added: "The constitution, which states that the people of Syria are part of the Arab nation, entrenches national oppression and deprives Kurdish women and all women of minorities and other nationalities of their true identity, in addition to depriving them of their sexual identity."

 She referred to the implementation of the unjust census project that stripped more than 250,000 Kurdish citizens of Syrian citizenship and the right to citizenship, in addition to imposing a state of emergency since 1963, in the country, especially in the Kurdish areas, paralyzing political activity in general, in addition to following the Arabization and attempted extermination by forbidding speaking the mother tongue of other components.

 She stressed that, despite this, the most prominent role in thwarting this policy was the Kurdish woman who rebelled in a covert and silent manner, as she adhered to the customs and traditions that consolidate her national and sexual identity.

At the conclusion of her speech, she noted the impact of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, which was founded in 1978, on the reality of women.

 'Developing a strategy for the revolution according to two principles, the first is the identity of women and the second is protection'

 In the second axis, entitled “How women took their place in the revolution”, delivered by the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party, Asia Abdullah, she referred to the history of the Rojava revolution and northern and eastern Syria, saying: “In 2012 all women’s movements and organizations had a role  in reviving the revolution, the example of Kongra Star.”

 She added: "During the Rojava revolution, we developed a strategy to launch the revolution, and the struggle against the nationalist and authoritarian mentality, so during the 2012 revolution, it had a legacy. It is the struggle of revolutionary women during the eighties in the person of the martyr Zilan, Shelan and the martyr Dijla, in addition to hundreds of revolutionary women who decided  walking the path of freedom to protect women's rights.

 She stressed: "Therefore, we can say that this stage gave women in Rojava the opportunity to become empowered with will and power, which affected society and women, and opened the way to escalate their struggle and struggle more, so when the spark of the Rojava revolution was launched, the ground was prepared for discussion about how to escalate the revolution."  In addition to the women’s revolution, in Kongra Star (formerly Star Union) in 2013, they were discussing how women can lead the revolution, until preparations for the revolution began and a strategy was developed on two principles, the first of which is the identity of women and the second is protection.

Asya Abdullah explained that “the women’s movement at the beginning of the revolution faced criticism. So the revolution of women has become the basic identity of the revolution.”  The democratic nation in northern and eastern Syria.

 The main pillars that led to the success of the revolution

 She indicated that the mainstay for the success of the Rojava revolution is the unification of the efforts of all women at the level of Syria, and said: "The resistance has become an example for the world to follow."  She explained that within ten years, women were able to become owners of identity.

 She stressed: "To lead the revolution, a strong strategy must be developed, which is the protection that falls on all of us. All women must turn into fighters to protect their neighborhoods. On the political level, they must represent the will of all women. In organizing society, women must strengthen their community system;  We are under attack, and on the educational level, our educational system must be strengthened.”

 At the conclusion of her speech, Asia Abdullah focused on the necessity of solving the issue of women in the eleventh year of the July 19 revolution, and said: "The issue of women is the issue of society in general, and they cannot be separated from each other. If the issue of women is not resolved, then we cannot solve the issue of society."

 A new stage of struggle

 As for the third axis, it included the most important achievements and gains of women during ten years, and it was managed by a member of the Women’s Council in North and East Syria, Sama Bagdash, who at the beginning of its axis noted the passage of ten years since the July 19 revolution with the toil and struggle of women, saying: “We receive the tenth anniversary  for the July 19 revolution, and we are entering a new stage of struggle based on the achievements and gains of the Rojava revolution, which is considered the birth of women and youth, and we hope for all oppressed peoples who aspire to live in freedom and dignity. 

Emphasizing that this revolution, which is considered one of the sacred revolutions throughout history and which is no less important than the Bolshevik revolution that occurred at the dawn of the twentieth century, as it acquired a character that left its mark on the entire century, as well as the Rojava revolution, which was based on a moral and sentimental basis against the injustice extended to the  over the course of hundreds of years, this revolution, which represents the line of historical truth, calls for the construction of a natural human with a human essence who deals with everything in this universe on a balanced basis.

 Sama drew attention to the pioneering role of women within the revolution, saying: "Women participated in the Rojava revolution with their own identity and color as a woman. This identity is based on a women's organization that dates back to years and long struggle stages and stems from the principle of women's liberation.  The struggle within this revolution, and it was the forerunner to the massive uprising, and the most segments of society made sacrifices and were affected by those sacrifices.

 The most important achievements of women in the July 19 revolution

 Regarding the most important gains achieved by women in the revolution, Sama indicated, "With the leadership of Kurdish women in Rojava, women were able through the identity of Kongra Star, which organizes itself according to the most important principles of democratic ecology and women's freedom, and the Women's Protection Units to show the color of free women in the world, was able to play a role in practicing democratic politics, which it seeks to implement in society, based on the principles on which the revolution was based.

 She added: "The women's victories have had an impact on the whole world in terms of moral and spiritual terms, as they showed the strength of the free woman and her struggle for freedom, her national loyalty and her willingness to sacrifice and redemption for the sake of her cause and the cause of her society.  the whole world".

 The meritorious participation of women in all areas of the revolution

 Sama highlighted the most prominent gains achieved by women during the ten years of the revolution, the most important of which was the participation of women in democratic self-management, saying: "At a time when some regions and Arab countries are witnessing a timid change in the field of women's participation in the political process and access to decision-making positions.  We find that women in the areas of the Autonomous Administration, during the past ten years, have had a great experience in terms of their participation in political and public life, where women have been prominently represented in the institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration.

And she continued: "In addition, women have been able to achieve many important gains for all women and society in general, most notably the application of the joint presidency system in the institutions of north and east Syria, in addition to their leadership in the political, justice, defense and fundamental protection fields, and their prominent participation in the diplomatic field.  The media, the economy, culture and art, in addition to being able to issue a law of its own in the Autonomous Administration.

 As for the axis of international women joining the revolution, it was delivered by the Brazilian activist and international artist Rogda Dandara, in which she said: “Here we share experience, knowledge and culture, through participation we live together, learn from places, people and cultures, this is how hope grows, we need each other.  Some to live and struggle."

 As Commander Abdullah Ocalan said: “Hope is more important than success,” and Rojda Dandara added: “Many fighters hope to determine their own destiny, in order to brighten up the daily life in our lives, we try different ways for years to change the reality of life, I remember when I started acting.  "I wanted to change the world. I tried different alternatives, until one day I realized that I first needed to change my history and join a lot of fighters."

 She explained, "During my interactions with the fighters of this revolution, with Kurdish women and getting to know the local culture closely, I learned the importance of maintaining my mentality day in and day out, liberating ourselves from the patriarchal system that attacks and sickens women's bodies. They freed themselves from the oppression planted by imperialism."

 And she continued in the context: “When we see people connected to our culture, we get the courage to transcend borders, we have the courage to defend ourselves and fight to be able to express the culture of our country, especially when we talk about countries where imperialism and patriarchy are manifested in extreme violence, such as the countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia.  It is unacceptable for women today to be seen as the property of men and to be killed for this reason.”

 The Brazilian activist came to mention a specific date, saying: “In 2021 a woman was raped every 10 minutes and a woman was killed every 7 hours in Brazil, at the same time, criminals are protected by law for economic interests, maybe they think we will disappear, because they  They do not understand that the power of creation is the seed of life, so our duty as fighters for this revolution is to fight, create a new world, rise to the stage, and take our strength from those fighters who were martyred and still live among us.”

 After completing the axes of the first session, discussions and interventions began by the participants in the forum, and all discussions agreed that women in all of Syria need renewal and the responsibility will be doubled on women.  Because Turkish threats are irreversible.

 It is noteworthy that the forum’s activities are continuing in the meantime, with the discussion of the second session entitled “Women’s struggle to protect the revolution, what are the attacks that target the gains and achievements of the revolution”, and it includes three axes (the role of women’s protection units in protecting the revolution and its development, the reality of women in the occupied territories and their resistance,  What is the ideological attack targeting the women's revolution).

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