[Peace-discuss] Rojava's Democratic, Feminist Revolution a Source of Hope Among Horror

[David Johnson]

Rojava's Democratic, Feminist Revolution a Source of Hope Among Horror 

Sunday, 22 November 2015 00:00 By
<http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/51680> Tony Iltis and Stuart
Munckton,
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Rojavas-Democratic-Revolution-a-So
urce-of-Hope-among-Horror-20151119-0040.html> teleSUR | 

*	 

Description: Members of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) converse on
August 11, 2015. (Photo: Kurdishstruggle)Members of Kurdish People's
Protection Units (YPG) converse with each other on August 11, 2015. In the
Rojava region of Syria, despite the difficulties, people are organizing
communes and women's councils. (Photo:
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurdishstruggle/20302875530/in/photolist-wW6x
y7-zxCge9-qnPBDW-qkAY71-q6rMt2-pqTS7h-q6khZS-pr8khx-qnT2ED-rBsFYT-pU6hcf-pRR
BnJ-pRRB35-oXdGge-pByVkN-oXdFFX-pU6fgS-pByTWA-pBBS4o-wuFhN2-xDwDxp-zLLE59-AA
gnTw-AxoY8X-zSoYEQ-vNhauf-wSnJeZ-AR5WqK-wJR8n1-xXPSXL-zjkaJk-Aph7pr-yUnASq-y
8dbMW-APU9tC-Beq1bB-Aq3etj-zgaVFm-wjf3yK-Bdpypg-AXmxW8-zHgWTQ-xgJHUm-A23XPL-
zenT8g-BdpyuM-AtsLZq-wJzJJm-yAr4Ax-AGuAwX> Kurdishstruggle)

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Syria can seem an endless black hole of misery, but in the northern, largely
Kurdish region of Rojava, it is also the scene of a profoundly democratic
and humanist revolution, which places the rights of ethnic minorities and
women's liberation at its centre.

Ironically, given the horror that surrounds it, Rojava is the site of the
most profound experiments on grassroots, participatory democracy outside of
the revolutionary projects in Latin America. Like in Venezuela, the ideal of
"the commune" is at the heart of Rojava's burgeoning democracy.

The Rojavan revolution came to the world's attention largely through the
heroic resistance by the fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and
Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in defeating an Islamic State group siege on
the Rojavan town of Kobane in January. But many have noted the profoundly
revolutionary ideology that drives Rojavan freedom fighters - which they are
seeking to put into practice amid great odds.

Rojava is a "liberated zone" in northern Syria that forms part of the
traditional homeland of Kurdistan. The major political party is the
Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is ideologically aligned with the
left-wing Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), based in Turkey.

In 2011, the PYD supported the uprising that broke out against Assad.
However, it was concerned about the opposition overly militarising the
conflict. At first, this was in response to Assad's repression of unarmed
protests, but was fuelled by the intelligence agencies of the West and its
regional allies.

As well as the growing ethnic and religious chauvinism of a largely Sunni
and Arab opposition becoming defined as Sunni and Arab, this caused the
Kurdish movement to stay aloof from the fractious armed opposition.

By July 2012, the Assad government's military presence in Rojava was
depleted by pressures elsewhere in the midst of a worsening civil war. There
was a growing danger Rojava would become a battleground between opposing
forces hostile to Kurds and other ethnic minorities.

In response, a largely bloodless uprising was launched, declaring Rojava a
liberated zone. This popular insurrection allowed the PKK and PYD's ideas of
"democratic confederalism," based on participatory democracy and local
autonomy, to begin to be realised.

The PYD plays an ideological role in Rojava's democratic transformation, but
not an institutional one. It helped establish the Movement for a Democratic
Society (TEV-DEM), which organises and mobilises the population but is
organisationally independent of the PYD.

Institutional power is based on a system called "Democratic Autonomy".
Ecology or Catastrophe blog said in January that TEV-DEM representative
Çinar Salih told a visiting academic delegation, "Our system rests on the
communes, made up of neighbourhoods of 300 people. The communes have
co-presidents, and there are co-presidents at all levels, from commune to
canton administration."

"In each commune there are five or six different committees. Communes work
in two ways. First, they resolve problems quickly and early — for example, a
technical problem or a social one. Some jobs can be done in five minutes,
but if you send it to the state, it gets caught in a bureaucracy. So we can
solve issues quickly. The second way is political," Salih said.

"If we speak about true democracy, decisions can't be made from the top and
go to the bottom, they have to be made at the bottom and then go up in
degrees.The co-presidents are one male and one female ... Female
representation is guaranteed on all the peoples councils. No gender is
allowed more than 60 percent representation. In addition, there are parallel
women-only structures," he explained.

"Women's councils exist in parallel at all levels, the commune, the
district, the city, and the canton. The women's councils don't decide on
general issues — that's what the people's councils are for. They discuss
issues that are specifically about women ... They have veto power on issues
concerning women."

The emphasis on women's liberation is reflected in the high visibility of
female fighters in Rojava's revolutionary armed groups.

Salih argued that the Rojava revolution is a "revolution of women,"
explaining that they are involved in all areas of life. "We believe that a
revolution that does not open the way for women's liberation is not a
revolution. There have been revolutions in Libya and Egypt and Tunisia ...
but the same status for women has persisted."

Because of the war, devastation and isolation that Rojava is subjected to,
its economy is largely geared toward survival. However, its
socialist-oriented emphasis is on providing universal housing, nutrition,
healthcare, childcare and education — none of which were provided by the
Syrian government during peacetime.

The revolution in Rojava is explicitly a multi-ethnic revolution. In its
preamble, the constitution of the Rojava autonomous cantons describes
Rojava's cantons as "a confederation of Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Arameans,
Turkmen, Armenians and Chechens".

It continues: "In building a society free from authoritarianism, militarism,
centralism and the intervention of religious authority in public affairs,
the Charter recognises Syria's territorial integrity and aspires to maintain
domestic and international peace."

The emphasis in Rojava is on building structures that are multi-ethnic, as
opposed to simply Kurdish. Everything from street signs, to media, to
education are provided in the relevant language of the community involved.

Like gender, ethnic participation on the communal and other councils is
enabled by quotas. There are also parallel bodies for ethnic minorities.

Due to such policies, the revolution quickly won support from non-Kurdish
minorities. This is reflected in non-Kurdish participation in the
revolution's structures and organisations, as well as alliances made with
non-Kurdish political and armed groups.

The Rojavan revolution faces constant threats from many sides - and has to
navigate complex, competing forces seeking to push their interests in the
region. But for all it has achieved against the odds, the Rojavan revolution
deserves our solidarity - the world needs Rojava.

 

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