[D66] Rojava revolution 2020 (map)

Thu Jul 30 13:47:41 CEST 2020

    Amy Austin Holmes <https://merip.org/paupress/profile/23082> “Arabs
    Across Syria Join the Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces,” /Middle
    East Report Online/, July 28, 2020.

    Arabs Across Syria Join the Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces

        A Profile of Arab Recruits from Aleppo, Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor,
        Homs, Ras al-Ayn and Raqqa

Amy Austin Holmes <https://merip.org/paupress/profile/23082> 07.28.2020
[Forthcoming in MER issue 295 “Kurdistan, One and Many”]

*I*n 2012, as the so-called Arab Spring protests in Damascus and 
elsewhere in Syria descended into a brutal civil war, President Bashar 
al-Asad withdrew his forces from northern Syria to turn their guns on 
rebels in the south. Into the vacuum stepped the Democratic Union Party 
(Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat, or PYD) and their armed wing, the People’s 
Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, or YPG)—which set up a 
rudimentary Autonomous Administration in three cantons: Afrin, Kobane 
and Jazira. Surrounded by enemies, the three cantons that declared 
self-rule were not even connected to each other. As non-contiguous 
regions abutting the Turkish border, it was difficult and at times 
impossible to travel from one to the other or share vital resources. 
Their chances of survival were slim.

Then in 2014 militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) 
surged across both the Turkish and Iraqi borders into Syria, declared 
Raqqa as the capital of their Caliphate and proceeded to establish a 
government that, among other egregious practices, sanctioned slave 
markets where Yezidi women and children were traded. In 2016, 2018 and 
2019, Turkish 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/turkish-intervention-in-syria-heightens-authoritarianism-in-turkey-and-fragmentation-in-syria/> 
military incursions into Syria—with help from what is now known as the 
Syrian National Army—aimed to dislodge the YPG from areas near the 
border, resulting in mass displacement of civilians including Kurds, 
Yezidis, Arabs and Assyrian-Syriac Christians.[1] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_edn1>

Led by Kurds, the YPG evolved over time into the Syrian Democratic 
Forces (SDF): a multi-ethnic, multi-religious force in which all the 
indigenous peoples of the region are represented. Arabs, Assyrians, 
Armenians, Yezidis, Circassians and Turkmen have fought alongside Kurds 
to defend their homeland. By 2019, when the SDF had liberated all of 
Syrian territory from ISIS control, there were some 100,000 fighters 
(including SDF and Internal Security Forces) under the leadership of SDF 
commander-in-chief Mazlum Abdi, a Syrian Kurd and former Kurdistan 
Workers’ Party (PKK) cadre.[2] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_edn2> 
The majority of his rank-and-file fighters, however, were Arabs. While 
conscription can account for some of this growth, it does not tell the 
whole story. Until today, the rules on mandatory conscription have never 
been implemented in several Arab-majority regions; in previous years 
there was even less enforcement. Furthermore, conscription is limited to 
one year and only applies to men. How was a sister militia of the PKK—an 
organization founded in Turkey that historically fought for an 
independent Kurdistan—able to successfully recruit and retain tens of 
thousands of Syrian Arabs for multiple years? What sort of political 
project did they create and endorse that retained the loyalty of an 
ethnically diverse coalition?

My field survey 
<https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/sdfs-arab-majority-rank-turkey-the-biggest-threat-to-ne-syria-survey-data-americas> 
of over 300 SDF members reveals that there are three main reasons for 
the SDF’s success in recruiting and retaining Arabs: First, the SDF 
offered material incentives such as salaries and training 
opportunities.[3] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_edn3> 
Second, the existence of a common threat—first ISIS and now 
Turkey—solidified bonds between Kurds and Arabs and also prompted many 
to enlist. Third, the survey shows that many Arab members of the SDF 
support at least some, if not all, of the basic political principles 
upon which the SDF and the Autonomous Administration of North and East 
Syria (AANES) are based.

[...]

/[Amy Austin Holmes is a fellow at the Wilson Center and former 
associate professor at the American University in Cairo and visiting 
scholar at Harvard University.]/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

      *Endnotes*

[1] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref1> 
“Displacement and Despair: The Turkish Invasion of Northeast Syria,” 
<https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2019/11/12/displacement-and-despair-the-turkish-invasion-of-northeast-syria>Refugees 
International, November 13, 2019.

[2] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref2> 
“Operation Inherent Resolve,” Lead Inspector General Report to the US 
Congress, April 1, 2019–June 30, 2019, p. 29-30.

[3] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref3> 
Amy Austin Holmes, “SDF’s Arab Majority Rank Turkey as the Number One 
Threat to NE Syria: Survey Data on America’s Partner Forces 
<https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/sdfs-arab-majority-rank-turkey-the-biggest-threat-to-ne-syria-survey-data-americas>,” 
The Wilson Center, October 2019.

[4] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref4> 
Harriet Allsopp and Wladimir van Wilgenburg, /The Kurds of Northern 
Syria: Governance, Diversity, and Conflicts/ (Bloomsbury: 2019), p. 71.

[5] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref5> 
The announcement was made on Twitter on July 10, 2017: “Announcing the 
first battalion of Arab women: Martyr Brigade Amara.” 
https://twitter.com/cihan_shekh/status/884470244969992192?s=20

[6] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref6> 
Patrick Haenni and Arthur Quesnay, “Surviving the Aftermath of the 
Islamic State: The Syrian Kurdish Movement’s Resilience Strategy 
<http://middleeastdirections.eu/new-publication-wpcs-surviving-the-aftermath-of-islamic-state-the-syrian-kurdish-movements-resilience-strategy-patrick-haenni-and-arthur-quesnay/>,” 
European University Institute, Research Project Report, February 17, 2020.

[7] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref7> 
Written Testimony of Charles R. Lister, Senior Fellow and Director of 
Countering Extremism and Terrorism, Middle East Institute to the United 
States House Committee on Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa 
Sub-Committee, February 6, 2018, p. 5.

[8] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref8> 
Interviews at a gathering of the Tribal Reconciliation Center near Tabqa 
in March 2019. I made a short video with one of the speakers, available 
here: https://twitter.com/AmyAustinHolmes/status/1102320294818205696?s=20

[9] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref9> 
Interview with the head of a large Arab tribe in eastern Syria, July 2019.

[10] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref10> 
The word Rojava is derived from the word “roj” which means “sun” in 
Kurmanci. Rojava means Western Kurdistan, or the land where the sun 
sets. Kurds refer to the other three parts of Kurdistan as Rojhelat, or 
Eastern Kurdistan (in Iran), Bakur or Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), 
and /Başûr/ or Southern Kurdistan (in Iraq).

[11] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref11> 
Renée In der Maur and Jonas Staal in dialogue with Dilar Dirik, eds, 
“Stateless Democracy with the Kurdish Women’s Movement 
<https://www.bakonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/NWA-Reader-5.pdf>,” 
New World Academy Reader #5 (BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, 2015).

[12] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref12> 
On June 29, 2019 General Mazloum signed a United Nations action plan to 
end the use of minors in the SDF. Anna Varfolomeeva, “SDF Signs UN Plan 
to End Use of Children in Syrian Conflict 
<https://www.thedefensepost.com/2019/07/02/syria-sdf-child-soldiers-un-action-plan/>,” 
/The Defense Post/, July 2, 2019.

[13] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref13> 
Hassan Hassan, “What ISIS Did to my Village,” /The Atlantic/, April 27, 
2019.

[14] 
<https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/?fbclid=IwAR2D07BOKEBEJ2XmyTPXvvs76B-rkUn1Nb8drdAXE3xHc5InqmZF1iLSHxo#_ednref14> 
Fabrice Balanche, “The Fragile Status Quo in Northeast Syria,” The 
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, July 1, 2020.

On 30-07-2020 11:04, R.O. wrote:
>
> syria map
>
>
> https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/2020/01/12/revolution-in-rojava-2020/
>
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