“I am proud to convey struggle led by women”

On the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day, which symbolizes resistance, determination, awareness, and women's organization, and is celebrated worldwide, we extended the microphone to a journalist reporting on developments in the battlefields.

We spoke with Joanna Jumaa, who worked as a war correspondent in various regions of the North and East Syria region, about the struggle and difficulties.

Joanna pointed out that in the course of the revolution that began in Rojava and North and East Syria in 2012 and affected the entire world, women began to play their pioneering role in all fields; politics, society, defense, and diplomacy. She mentioned that they also play an active role in the field of media.

Joanna Jumaa revealed that women who were previously unable to go out into the streets due to the patriarchal mentality are now leading the society in the revolution, and she showed that they have demonstrated the same determination and resolve in the media field as well.

"Confidence and determination overcome obstacles."

Joanna Jumaa pointed out that the difficulties faced by women working in free journalism are not limited to battlefields only; they also struggle against a patriarchal mentality. She said, "Of course, there are difficulties in many issues, but when you have faith and determination to achieve your goal, you can overcome all obstacles. We women in the field of free media fight against all kinds of patriarchal mentality with this conviction, and with the revolution, women's achievements increase every year."

"We are proud to be the voice of the people."

Joanna Jumaa, who has been working in the media field for 8 years and is currently following the resistance on the Tishreen Dam, spoke about the developments taking place in the region. She stated that she is proud to convey the resistance against attacks, injustice, occupation and massacres to the world. She said: “This has great meaning for me as a journalist. We are female journalists in North and East Syria. We closely followed the attacks of the mercenaries of al-Qaeda, Jabhet al-Nusra and ISIS/Deash, as well as the attacks of the Turkish occupation state, and we conveyed them to the world. More importantly, we have become witnesses to the resistance, heroism and epics that are being made against the attacks according to the philosophy of “Women, Life, Freedom”. We are proud to be the voice of the fighters who bravely resisted on the battlefronts. We will work to convey the truth to our people and public opinion wherever they are. We believe that we have the ability to expose the mentality that seeks to influence our people, especially women, with misleading propaganda. Women lead the fields of struggle, and today we are following the people’s struggle on the Tishreen Dam. It is our responsibility to be the voice of this people.”

"We have sacrificed and we will not retreat."

Joanna Jumaa pointed to the great sacrifices made by women working in the field of free media and the heavy price they paid during the women's-led revolution. She said: "Many of our colleagues who followed the hot events and developments in various regions were martyred. Delishan, Dolovan, Jihan, and many of our female and male colleagues were martyred in the attacks by ISIS and the Turkish occupation state. But we never retreated. We suffered, and the greatest pain was seeing our colleagues martyred before our eyes without being able to do anything. The greatest thing we can do is to honor their struggle and crown it with victory. Even if we pay a heavy price, we will stand by our words and work more with the fighting spirit of Delishan and Dolovan."

Joanna Jumaa continued her speech, saying: "Of course, we face great difficulties as female journalists in war zones, as the Turkish occupying state targets and threatens journalists. They have threatened me too, directly threatened me, but we will continue this work. We also take into account the risk of martyrdom for this cause, and we will succeed in our struggle to convey the truth. We are motivated by the fighting spirit of our fallen female colleagues."

"The thing that affected me the most was the freedom dance at the Tishrin Dam."

Joanna revealed her deep emotional impact from the resistance of the locals at the Tishrin Dam, saying: "Being a witness to something is different; there might be some shortcomings in sharing and explaining it. One of the most astonishing and moving things for me was the Freedom Dance at the dam. The dance circle was targeted, and a horrific massacre occurred, but the people's determination continued. They persisted in their resistance after transporting the martyrs and treating the wounded."

"We are greater than death, and we will protect our dam under the bombardment of warplanes and drones." We have witnessed these words, so how can the strength, morale, sacrifices, and heroism of this people be broken?

Mothers aged between 70 and 80 joined the dam resistance despite their health issues. I was deeply moved by this and said, "If I am to die, let me die with dignity." These scenes are extremely touching and attract the attention of the whole world. Who can dance for freedom under the attacks of warplanes and drones on the Tishrin Dam?

Of course, many of our colleagues have been martyred in many places, but Tishrin is the place that has affected us the most and where we felt the pain deeply. The resistance is led by women. We have paid a heavy price here, and our colleague journalist Agid Roj was martyred before our eyes. In the spirit of our journalist colleagues Agid, Jihan, Nazem, Delishan, Issam, Hero, Gulistan, and Dolovan, we will continue to cover the resistance of Tishrin Dam.

"We will be the voice of the people."

Joanna Jumaa concluded her speech by saying: "We will be the voice of our people and continue no matter what happens. We will bring smiles to our mothers' faces. We will be the voice of the heroic women who are writing epic tales of valor on the battlefronts, and we will convey their hope, strength, and morale. With the strength we draw from our fallen comrades, we will amplify the struggle led by women."

T/S

ANHA