Observing International Day of Solidarity with Kobani

Press Release:

Rally in LA

Rally in LA

Rally in Los Angeles: International Solidarity Day with Kobani

We members of the Kurdish American Education Society, Human Rights Advocacy Group, and Kurdish Community in Los Angeles join[ed] hundreds of thousands of people, United Nations agencies and prominent intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in  observing the International Day of Solidarity with the defenders of the besieged city of Kobani. From Los Angeles and Washington to London and Kurdistan, we come together to support the heroic defenders of Kobani .

The legendary city has indeed become the emblem of unprecedented resistance against one of the darkest and tyrannical forces in human history. The city has been the constant target of  ISIS offensives for six weeks  . Although the defenders of the city are both outnumbered and outgunned, women and men old and young have stood steadfast against the ferocious terrorism of ISIS . They are incessantly being bombarded with heavy artillery; many parts of the city have been demolished and destroyed as evidenced by the rising plumes of smoke which darken the horizon of the city. Over 200000 people from Kobani and surrounding villages have been displaced and live in deplorable conditions in various camps in Turkey. The US coalition led strikes have not been enough to effectively halt the Islamic state’s advances.  Turkey in showing its ideological affinity with and support for ISIS, continues to block the flow of help and volunteers to the city.  Under mounting international pressure the Turkish government is now hypocritically allowing a limited number of Peshmergas into the area as it continues to threaten the fragile peace process.

We urge all international organizations, governments, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki -Moon to recognize November 1 as the International Day of Solidarity with Kurdish people in Syria for peace and freedom. The world cannot afford to witness the fall of Kobani to ISIS and its processions of mediatized macabre massacres. Kobani needs the collective efforts and actions of progressive individuals, organizations, human rights and civil society organizations, the UN , to save itself. The defenders of the city need our support before the city suffers a tragic end as poignantly conveyed in a letter of a young woman Narin, to her mother  “…Dear mon, I am sure that you will visit this house in which I have spent the last moments of my life as my scent will remain here for a long time. The house is located opposite the gate of Kobane on the eastern side of the town, parts of which are [have been] destroyed by shells. It has a green metal door with holes on the walls on each side. My name is written in red on one of the three windows to the side of the house facing east. Now I am standing behind that window counting the last seconds of my life.”

Kurdish American Education Society

Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group

 

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