Dear friends,
It took us a while to get this newsletter together, but we’re happy to share some news with you of a few very busy weeks here at the commune.
One reason why it took us some time is that we were working on two new websites: A redesign of the website of the commune at www.internationalistcommune.com also we made a new website to present our campaign “Make Rojava Green Again” better to the outside. You can find the result of our work at: www.makerojavagreenagain.org… plus a new Instagram page for the commune at instagram.com/RojavaCommune!
We are happy to hear any feedback, or about mistakes you might find.
In our last email we shared news of our first education here at the Helin Qerecox Academy. Since then some friends have moved on to work in society, for example working in the health structures in a refugee camp or joining the media work elsewhere.
in the last months also an autonomous women delegation organizend by the women of the commune took place – you can read about their travels from Raqqa to a camp for young women on the banks of the Euphrates here.
Some of the male friends also joined an education together with Kurdish and Arabic youth in Haseke, where we had the opportunity to visit archaeological sites across the region – you can find out about what we learned here.
Other opportunities have come up to engage and work in society – the women friends are starting a library project with Kurdish comrades, some friends are working with the youth structures in Derik to bring young people into contact with the movement through English and boxing classes.
We also joined a long march to the border of Bashur with comrades from the youth movement. You can read about this experience of political organising in the Rojavan context here.
Here at the commune, our shared study in Kurdish and the ideology of the movement continue alongside our practical works. More friends have been sharing their thoughts, contradictions and struggles on our site.
You can find there reflections on the importance of the sehids (martyrs) in our daily life in the Commune; a testimony from an anarchist insurrectionist on what drew him to the Kurdish movement; and an interview with a Palestinian internationalist discussing why he joined the Rojava revolution.
Regarding the Make Rojava Green Again campaign, we have started working every day in a nearby tree nursery/cooperative. In that way we are learning Kurdish in daily life, and at the same time learned useful knowledge for the work in our own place.
During the hot summer months we are continuing our planning – in autumn we will plant at least 2000 trees in the area of our academy, and in winter we will start preparing and planting the shoots for our own tree nursery. We have also constructed a new sun-shelter in our garden to protect our young plants.
Besides this, we have started thinking and practically experimenting with some other projects: for example, we want to build a small bio-gas machine which will enable us to turn our compost to gas and use it for cooking.
Another bigger project ahead is a water treatment system for the grey water from our kitchen and bathrooms. Especially in the summer, the water situation is critical in Rojava, and news has reached us about water shortages in the major cities of Qamislo and Heseke. A lot of water is used for irrigation in agriculture. Since we will have a huge need of water for the tree nursery we would like to use as much as greywater as possible for irrigation.
Another thing keeping us busy is our book project. We currently in the process of translating the ‘Make Rojava Green Again’ book into 14 different languages as well as preparing to publish it in different places across the globe. We will keep you up to date as the process proceeds and the book reaches publication – first of all in English.
Anyhow, the printing and layout are a significant expense for us. Though we’ve reached our initial £3000 target and are moving ahead with the English publication, we still need money to cover the costs of the Arabic and Kurdish and all other language versions of the book. Since we wanet to use any proceeds from selling the book in our projects here, we would be glad if you could support our crowd-funding campaign.
You can find more information on our new website about how to work with and support us from your home countries or by travelling here to Rojava. The contacts and networks we are building across the globe are extremely important to us, and we are always looking for new chances to share information, knowledge and opportunities with international comrades.
Friends at the the International Youth Festival in Farkha, Palestine, recently read a letter of solidarity from us at the Internationalist Commune, and later planted a tree for Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned representative of the Kurdish liberation movement.
The Cuban, Palestinian and YPJ flags flew together over the festival’s entrance. We will leave you with this picture of the new internationalism, being built up here and now in Rojava. Solidarity to comrades all over the globe.
Revolutionary Greetings
Internationalist Commune of Rojava
August 2018