Rojava, War, Imperialism, and Defense: An interview with Gönül Düzer

An interview with Gönül Düzer about standing up for Rojava in the face of Turkish invasion

YPG/YPJ logo from the cover of "A Small Key Opens A Large Door" book
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For this special podcast episode I spoke with Gönül Düzer, who is a labor activist, math teacher, and a board member of the Kurdish Cultural Center in Chicago. Gönül was willing to take the time to speak on the current Turkish invasion of Northeast Syria, some history that would be useful to keep in mind when considering current events in this region, the complex tensions of being an anti imperialist and calling for US support, and about the Global Day of Action on this Saturday October 12th against this current invasion into NE Syria which has been brought about by actions by the US and many many more topics.. She also talks about Rojava, the role that this region plays in the area, and some ideas about how to get involved against the current invasion.

The audio quality for this podcast special is a bit low, so I recommend listening in a quiet place with headphones if you can manage that.

We will be airing a version of this episode on Sunday, the day after the Global Day of Action, so you won’t hear from us that day via this platform, but we will be back in your podcast feed next Sunday with more content.

A content warning for this episode, Gönül describes some brutal actions on the part of Daesh or ISIS, including rape and sexual assault. The descriptions are not graphic but may be difficult to engage with.

You can go to the Rojava Information Center at rojavainformationcenter.com, @RojavaIC on Twitter, for on the ground updates about this situation.

You can also visit the link for a way to support the Rojava Medical Emergency Fund. Since the majority of medical NGOs have pulled out of the region, it has become necessary to pull together whatever medical needs fighters may have from a rapidly diminishing resource pool. This fund is for on the ground medical supplies and secure communication equipment for those people defending NE Syria.

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For a radio version of this episode, airing on 10/13/2019, you can visit our Collection on archive.org. This episode contains more music, including a song written in support of Tekoşîna Anarşîst (Anarchist Struggle), an anarchist group fighting in Rojava, plus some audio submitted by a listener of a pro Rojava, anti-imperialist rally held in Chicago on the Global Day of Action on 10/12.

Please help spread this information! One thing that people in Syria are asking for is informational, educational efforts on the part of allies abroad.

Biji Rojava!

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Music for this episode:

Bella Ciao – Kurdish version by Chia Madani

Kendal Maniš-Marşi – Rojava (Destane Kobane)