The Kurdish Revolution in Peril - The Beginning of a New Civil War ---- This Monday, January 19, I learned very early in the morning that the Syrian Democratic Forces were withdrawing from the fight against the Syrian government. In fact, everything had been orchestrated for months: HTS Syria regained control of the Kurdish quarter of Aleppo in early January; with the help of jihadist militias, it launched a coordinated attack on Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor starting on January 5-6; confident of victory, it recognized Kurdish citizenship on January 16; on January 18, France agreed with the Syrian government that no separatist movement should exist. ---- Today, Rojava has fallen. Jihadism has taken control of the territories that, since 2012, had been trying to achieve autonomy and build a confederal, democratic, and social alternative. Rojava is a glitch in the system, a fleeting victory.
Since 2020, Rojava has been a subject of study and inspiration for me. I displayed its symbol, its star and sun, in demonstrations, representing the coexistence of cultural identities within a self-governed, yet circumscribed, system, thus recalling our anarchist symbolism of order without power.
Like many other experiments, Rojava exhibits flaws and limitations, particularly regarding the role of religion in its society, its relationship with the UN, and its excessively present military presence in local politics. But we can only commend the effort made to attempt a form of socialism without a centralized and authoritarian state. We can applaud the establishment of a decentralized organization that prioritizes rehabilitation, not incarceration; and empowers women, not silencing them. The social reconstruction of a territory devastated by years of terror perpetrated by jihad and the Islamic State; the communalization of agricultural land and its transformation into cooperatives; attention to management positions and their potential for dismissal; the establishment of consensus; a social contract for an egalitarian, parity-based society that respects minority rights, serving as a constitution...
This is not the end, but the beginning of a new civil war in Syria. The Kurds will once again suffer Islamic terror, but this time supported by international governments. Yet, the Kurds served the world's nations in the fight against the Islamic State. Unfortunately, the territory contains 50% of Syria's oil reserves. And international trade agreements take precedence over the lives and autonomy of the territories. Once again, it is a victory for nationalists, warmongers, religious groups, and identity politics.
It is more important than ever to turn to anarchist structures, to organize, to abandon careerism, to take concrete action, and to grow the Anarchist Federation. Our ideas are not utopian; they are practical, realistic, and achievable. It is sad, but soon, a world war may well break out, and we will have to seriously commit to social and anarchist resistance.
Rojava has shown that it is possible to do a great deal with very little. It is time to do the same, and to demand autonomy, confederalism, intelligent coordination among anarchists, and to create the insurrectionary alternative.
Crabi - Lyon Common Liaison - Anarchist Federation
https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=8803
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