“I convey my greetings to all those who believe in co-existence and who look forward to my call.” -Rêber APO
On the 27th of February in Istanbul the delegation that reached the prison island of Imrali read the historic declaration of Rêber Apo, in this way giving not only to the peoples of Kurdistan, but to all the women and resistant societies of the world, the manifesto for Peace and Democratic Society. From Rojava to Bakur, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the squares and streets to share this meaningful day together, showing the indissoluble union between the people of Kurdistan and Rêber Apo, which has continued uninterrupted for more than 50 years. These are days we will never forget, each of them is marked by profound change and constant transformation.
The Party of Free Women of Kurdistan (PAJK) also received a letter from Rêber Apo, in which he is greeting all the women and the youth of the world, emphasizing from the beginning of the letter that the key to success is in our hands, in the hands of the women. Serokatî clearly outlined and expressed once again his perspectives for our future, paving the way for the next steps that we must take for the achievements of freedom and truth.
The several centuries of war and destruction that for too long have characterized the history of humanity and of every living being are coming to an end. All the women, the societies and the lands in which we are living are facing a big time of chaos, but we will find a way out through commitment, dedication and love for the struggle, that as young women will put in practice in order to create with our hands and our minds a new future. Feminicide, rape and violence against women have reached unacceptable daily rates and especially now, in the middle of the Third World War, our self defense must be even stronger especially towards the psychological and special warfare that the sexist and statalist mentality act especially upon us, women and youth. When the level of physical war is less intense then the attacks of the special and ideological warfare are used in the front line. This is a tactic of the system that we must be aware of. For this reason it is very important for us young women to not fall in the trap of thinking that the system stops its violence when less visible. Through ideological warfare the system weakens the society so that the physical war becomes less visible, but still we are living in a dimension of warfare and for this it is important for us young women to not let go our self defense. But how can we recognize and defend ourselves from ideological warfare? We should firstly bring the question of freeing ourselves on the top of our interests. If we will not feel enough the necessity of freeing ourselves as a consequence of this also our will for struggling will lack. We must rebuild our will of being free women and refuse, in our mentality and in our actions, the condition of slavery, exploitation and subordination in which the sexist system places us.
Rêber Apo said this already thirty years ago. The woman must focus her work on the Women’s Liberation, on building the Women’s Revolution. The answer to the question of freedom lies on this clear principle. We cannot continue to remain indifferent to the housewification of our mothers, our sisters and comrades that, because of the millennial patriarchal system, are chained to works and lives that enslave them, making their essence far from their own nature. Rêber Apo in the letter describes “the democratic communalist process as the contemporary expression of mother-woman sociality”, claiming that the resocialization of the role of the mother-woman is central and necessary for the transformation of the democratic family and society. Unless we dismantle the rape culture imposed upon the matriarchal society, the full truth in philosophy, science, ethics, aesthetics and religion cannot be achieved and these categories will continue to be used by the system as a tool against us.
This five thousands years old system has to be brought to an end. With the tools of the Revolution and the Women’s Freedom Ideology of Rêber Apo, we are breaking the chains of the oppression day by day: from Abya Yala to the Middle East and from Asia to Africa, we are connecting our struggles in order to achieve freedom. Women must no longer be sexualized or live according to the sight of the man, we must live according to our deepest desires and clean them from the contamination of the system. How can we regain our will and achieve our goals? We have to start from our emotions. Serokatî approaches emotions with profound respect. We must define, educate and learn from them in the same way as Rêber Apo does. In this way, we can deepen our politics and continue to develop the self-defense of our thought and our rights. The more we can keep our feelings, emotions and instincts alive, the healthier and stronger our minds will be. From here, we rebuild our aesthetic, without the dictates of the fashion industry and the digital media that only cause division, competition and lack of confidence among young women. Our aesthetic represents the opposite: strength, unity and proudness of being part of this Revolution and being the vanguard, we are the ones who hold the tools to rewrite the history. A militant personality, a militant woman, takes on herself all these responsibilities knowing that despite the difficulties a solution will be created together. The needs of this historical time call for a spirit of sacrifice, struggle and courage in the name of our people and our land, with whom we have always resisted together, through moments of joy and pain. Our priorities must be organize and understanding the society in order to build up peace and a free and Democratic Nation. The statalist system without society cannot survive a day, but a free and democratic society can flourish again once the oppressive system will be defeated.
Now, the 8th of March is forthcoming and this year great tasks and responsibility are in front of us. We firstly want to commemorate the tragic Triangle Fabric Fire that happened on the 25th of March 1911. On this day, 123 women and young women lost their lives while working in the fabric. The doors of the fabric were previously been blocked to prevent the workers from taking more breaks during the work and because of this they could not find a way out from the fire. In memory of this tragedy every year millions of women go out on the street on the 8th of March, to rise up their voices and struggle for a life in dignity. With the call of Rêber Apo this year we want to give even a stronger meaning to this day. The way has been opened for us to create a new possibility for the struggle and it is now our turn to give a strong answer. It is not the time to be afraid, neither the time to doubt or to stop. With the example of the great resistance of Pakhsan Azizi and Warishe Moradi in the Evin’s prisons in Iran. With the example of Şehîd Sema, that on the 21st of March in 1980 set her body on fire to protest against the sexist oppression and create a bridge between the 8th of March and Newroz, a bridge between the liberation of the Woman and of the Land. And with the example of Alina Sanchez, Şehîd Legerîn Ciya, that from Argentina went all the way to Kurdistan to join the Revolution and build up part of the health system in Rojava, that still today is saving thousands of lives. These women and many others are our references for the continuation of the struggle of today and of our future. This year we will rise their voices again with proudness and strength. It is our time to take all the courage, the creativity, the dynamism, the love and the determination that as youth and women we have and bring the struggle for the freedom and the coexistence of peoples on a new level.
The success or unsuccess of the attacks of the system depend on the strength that we, as democratic forces, dedicate in our self organization and self defense. Training, education, building autonomous structures, work and an independent thinking, are all tactics of our liberation strategy. We must never think that this is enough, but we always have to push ourselves forward for the struggle. The spirit of Internationalism and Apoism, through the organization of women from every corner of the world, is giving solutions and answers to the problems of the society and nature. Is the capitalist and sexist system that for 26 years has physically imprisoned Rêber Apo in the walls of Imrali, walls that this year will finally be thrown down. Being militants of Rêber Apo means believing in our creative capacities and constantly being able to change and transform ourself according to the required necessities. In this historical time the most creative personalities will be the one that will succeed. We must believe that we are up to the task that Rêber Apo shared with us and we must give all our efforts in the struggle and in the defense of the Women’s Freedom, the Democratic Society and our Land. Even deeper our focus has to be on the Woman’s Liberation and on the building of strong, organized and free personalities.
We salute with respect once again all our Martyrs and women who continue to resist, never losing hope and believing in the strength of the Revolution.
8’ê Adarê Pîroz be!