鈥楾he Daughters of Kobani鈥�: A chronicle of the women who fought ISIS
An American soldier who had served with U.S. Army Rangers in Afghanistan, calling from a brutal war zone, launched Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on her latest book, 鈥淭he Daughters of Kobani.鈥�
鈥淪he said, 鈥榊ou have to get here. You have to come see what鈥檚 happening.鈥欌��
Women in Syria were fighting on the front line against the Islamic State (ISIS), serving as snipers, tacticians, and battlefield commanders. Through the Syrian Kurdish Women鈥檚 Protection Units, or YPJ, they were leading both men and women into battle. Some guys didn鈥檛 love the idea 鈥� at first. But they came around.聽Most strikingly, says Ms. Lemmon, 鈥渨as that these women truly had the respect of the men they were commanding.鈥澛�
Why We Wrote This
The Kurdish women who battled ISIS had a vision far beyond victory. By demonstrating their innate abilities, they lay the foundation for opportunity and equality for generations to come.
The women were fighting for their lives against ISIS, true, but also for their own equality: The YPJ was created in 2013 with a goal not simply of destroying a brutal terrorist organization, but of building a democratic and egalitarian society 鈥� and of defending the women of their region whenever they faced persecution.
Ms. Lemmon spoke with Monitor correspondent Anna Mulrine Grobe.
Q: Talk a bit about what these women鈥檚 lives were like before joining the YPJ.
There鈥檚 Rojda, whose uncle dressed up like a ghost to try to scare her away from playing soccer in her grandmother鈥檚 village, which he considered shameful for girls. She ended up commanding 4,000 soldiers 鈥� Arab and Kurdish, men and women 鈥� as the commander of the western front line in Raqqa [the capital of ISIS鈥檚 self-described caliphate in Syria].
Znarin is another amazing example, a decidedly naive entrant into militia life. She grew up in a conservative family 鈥� she鈥檇 never before heard the phrase 鈥渨omen鈥檚 rights鈥� 鈥� but she wanted to go to university and dreamed of being a doctor. When she was 17, her father told her that he didn鈥檛 mind her getting an education, but his older brother did. He said, 鈥淵our uncle says that鈥檚 not for the women in our family.鈥� A couple of years later, she fell in love, but her father comes to her again and says, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry, your uncle has already picked out someone for you.鈥� She refused.
She thought, 鈥淚f I can鈥檛 marry the person I love, I鈥檓 never going to marry鈥� 鈥� which is a huge act of defiance in a traditional society. For her, it was all about choice and dignity.
She goes from being part of a political movement focused on women鈥檚 equality to playing this role in the liberation of her hometown from ISIS, and having girls come up to her and see her as a role model. It鈥檚 a universal story for so many women 鈥� of turning a no into a yes, and rewriting the rules of a life that you didn鈥檛 play a part in writing.
Q: Their political inspiration is Abdullah 脰calan, who has been in a Turkish jail since 1999 for fomenting a Kurdish separatist movement. How is he an inspiration to the female fighters, and how is women鈥檚 equality central to his teachings? Also, how does a Vermont socialist come to play a role in all this?聽
Here is this man, 脰calan, who, for the Syrian Kurds, lives in the public imagination somewhere between Nelson Mandela and George Washington. He came from a poor family of farmers with seven children, including a beloved sister who was married off for some money and several sacks of wheat.
It was central to his teachings that Kurdish society couldn鈥檛 be free until women were free. So women鈥檚 equality wasn鈥檛 on the periphery, as happens so often in politics. In this case, the notion that women should have full and equal rights was at the core of his ideology聽
So you have a Kurdish liberation movement leader 鈥� 脰calan聽鈥� who, sitting in prison, reads a former communist turned anarchist turned social ecologist living in Vermont 鈥� Murray Bookchin, [who advocated for equality between men and women]. These ideas converge with women at the center in a sliver of land in Syria recognized by no one outside its borders 鈥� but catapulted onto the global stage by the United States 鈥� because they offer the world鈥檚 best hope of stopping ISIS.聽
Q: For them it really was an existential battle. If they didn鈥檛 win, their lives 鈥� literally and metaphorically 鈥� would be taken from them. In the midst of battle, they hear ISIS fighters saying over the radio, 鈥淲omen, surrender,鈥� and another telling a female commander, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to behead you, Azeema.鈥� In spite of their fear, you write that you鈥檇 never seen women more comfortable with power and less apologetic about running things.聽
I have thought a lot about the why behind this. They tested themselves, day in and day out, against one of the most brutal fighting forces the world has ever seen. They couldn鈥檛 separate the political piece from the fighting; without the military victories, the political experiment could not take hold. They believed 鈥� as one fighter put it 鈥� that 鈥渋f we can lead in battle, we can govern in peace and no one can question that.鈥� To win means living in a world where you [don鈥檛] have to survive under the horrors of ISIS and their political structure. And it would also mean showing girls and women around the world what women can do.聽
Q: And the YPJ soldiers were closely watched on the world stage. The wives and partners of U.S. special operations teams on the ground in Syria followed their battles on social media, right?
So many people spoke with me about this, because they were so deeply moved by the courage and the heart of these women, including the U.S. special operations forces. One of them said, 鈥淎t the beginning, I wasn鈥檛 sure what it would be like working with them. But their warrior ethos is the same 鈥� we kind of want our daughters to be like them.鈥�
It was new for the special operations teams that their families would be following their work in real time and rooting for them. Some of their partners went on social media to learn more about Rojda and the others, and started following them on Twitter and Facebook.
Their families were very much like the American public, watching this David versus Goliath story play out 鈥� except that David was a woman.聽
Q: How did this change the way the men in the region 鈥� and within their own families 鈥� saw women?
It鈥檚 much harder to say women aren鈥檛 equal, or women don鈥檛 merit equal rights, when you鈥檙e watching them put their lives on the line every single day for you. And that camaraderie, respect, and courage on the battlefield is what enabled more of this notion of equality to take hold.
To watch your family members protect your people from the existential threat of the Islamic State, it really makes you question all the limits that have been placed on women鈥檚 lives, because you can see for yourself how much they鈥檙e capable of.
In the case of Znarin鈥檚 uncle [who had forbidden her from attending university], and Rojda鈥檚 uncle [who once dressed up like a ghost to keep her from playing soccer], the fact that they now ask their nieces for advice about family and real estate matters 鈥� and that they call them friends 鈥� says everything.聽
Q: You grapple with some questions in your book, like 鈥淒oes it take violence to stop violence against women? Will real equality be possible only when women take up arms?鈥� What conclusions did you come to about this?
I want readers to contend with these questions. I don鈥檛 want to give the answers, because I really hope that they鈥檒l embrace the complexity.
