The people of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria
Or Rojava
have built a society based on the teachings
of Abdullah Öcalan.
The society is one of
Democratic Confederalism,
a grassroots democracy
rejecting the imposition of the state.
Coalitions between the local Assyrian,
Arab and Kurdish populations
have created a small society run on the principles of
a communal economy, harmony with the environment,
and self-governance.
Since defeating ISIS in the region,
Rojava has existed as an island of stability
of social peace
in a very hostile and dangerous environment.
However,
in December 2018 President Trump
unexpectedly announced the immediate withdrawal
of US troops from Northern Syria
after a phone call with President Erdogan,
Turkey immediately began preparations
for the invasion of Rojava.
Despite the US subsequently
qualifying the speed and timescale
of the withdrawal,
he area remains hugely vulnerable to attack by Turkey.
Should that occur,
there is no doubt we will see a repeat of
the war crimes and ethnic cleansing that took place in Afrin
in January 2018.
In October 2019 Trump effectively
gave the green light to Erdogan
to continue and expand his invasion of Rojava.
The Turkish state calls this offensive
"Operation Peace Spring".
This has resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe
as hundreds of thousands of civilians
flee the region.
Turkey has used banned white phosphorus bombs
on civilians, causing horrific burns,
its Jihadist mercenaries have
summarily executed countless civilians
including the Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf
and now in this chaos,
we face the resurgence of ISIS.
The ideas of Abdullah Öcalan have taken concrete form
in Rojava in the ‘Social
Contract’
which enshrines gender equality,
freedom of religion and the right to join trade unions
among its core tenants.
This community democracy is built around
neighbourhood communes or committees.
From health to education
and defence, these communes ensure that
every aspect of society is democratically
controlled by the community itself.
The Rojava revolution is also a struggle for
an ecological society.
Destruction of the environment has been used as a weapon
against the Kurds
from widespread deforestation by Syrian regimes
to the destruction of
water sources by ISIS
and the Turkish states restriction on the flow of rivers
– keeping Rojava at permanent risk of drought.
In Rojava vital work is taking place
to reduce overreliance on wheat,
pesticides and water-intensive crops
and a more diverse harvest is planted each year.
They are also establishing tree planting
to restore fertility and stability to the land
for generations to come.
Rojava is a beacon of light in the Middle East
Religious and ethnic minorities are valued,
protected and represented
in the decision making bodies.
Women’s rights and equality stand at the very heart
of the system that has been established
A system of co-chairs in all committees
ensuring gender parity is built into the highest levels
of decision making.
Each council has a minimum quota of
40% representation of each gender with
the remainder of places determined according to votes.
Committees also have a built-in
representation of Christian and Arab communities
There is no ‘state army’ but the People’s and the Women’s
protection units
of the YPG and YPJ.
The people of Rojava stress that they are not a ‘Kurdish’ region
but a region with a different approach
an approach that stresses gender equality,
inclusiveness,
tolerance,
equality for ethnic
and religious minorities
and democratic participation for all.
Thank you for watching this video we hope you found it useful.
There are many more available on topics important to our campaign,
and you can find those in the playlist 'In brief'
If you prefer longer-form content we also produce podcasts
Which are available on all the podcast platforms of choice
And they're also available as a playlist on this channel.
If you want to find out more about any of the topics we've covered here today, please go to
our website which is www.freedomforocalan.org
Where you can learn
more about our campaign and importantly if you support our goals
you can affiliate as either an individual
or as a representative of an organisation such as
a trade union branch or committee.
We're also on Twitter where you can find us @OcalanFree
We hope you found this video informative  and useful
and we'll see you next time. Thank you.
