{"id":5178,"date":"2024-07-23T16:30:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T14:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/?p=5178"},"modified":"2024-07-23T17:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T15:43:55","slug":"celebrating-rojava-on-the-streets-of-vienna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/celebrating-rojava-on-the-streets-of-vienna\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Rojava on the Streets of Vienna"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 12th<\/sup> anniversary of the Rojava Revolution<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Kurds and their supporters held the 2nd<\/sup> annual Rojava Street Festival in Vienna. For two days, Kurds and their friends took to the streets of Austria\u2019s capital city.<\/p>\n

The first day of the festival was held outside the Kurdish Democratic Society Center of Vienna, stretching over two blocks. The streets thumped with the sound of Kurdish artists singing traditional songs and the melodies of traditional Kurdish instruments such as the tambur. The smells of kebab and traditional Kurdish dishes wafted through the air, drifting around those near the festival\u2019s stage performing Kurdish dances.<\/p>\n

The two city blocks were lined with tents decorated with various flags, including those of the Association of Students from Kurdistan, the Defend Kurdistan solidarity network<\/a><\/span>, the Democratic Alevi Federation, the Kurdish Red Sun, the Kurdish Women\u2019s Movement in Europe, the Kurdistan Islamic Society, and Women Defend Rojava<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Each stand hosted arrays of colorful handicrafts for sale, special traditional foods, and booklets and brochures offering information on organizations and the Rojava Revolution. At the far end of the festival, young and old alike enjoyed games such as chess, backgammon, and ping-pong.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a special day for us. We see it as a joyous day, like the start of something big. For free women, it\u2019s an historic day, as they put up a great resistance in Rojava. This great resistance was led by women, and it led to their awakening. It transformed the ignorant into the knowledgeable, and they knew themselves, their lives, and their identities,\u201d Yildiz Elih, who was exiled from North Kurdistan two years ago, told KCS.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kurdish grandmothers in traditional dress, who attended the festival in Vienna (Photo by Ali Ali).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elih, who worked at the women\u2019s booths at the festival, likened the joy of the festival to a commemoration of those who gave their lives for Rojava.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are celebrating. We are remembering our martyrs and celebrating their lives, and also in our celebration is a promise. We are promising that we will always move forward and never backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we are doing here today is in the style of Rojava. We have food, but Rojava-style food. We have music and dances that celebrate Rojava. Yes, we are from Bakur, but I think today everyone here sees themselves as part of Rojava.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe worked together with our internationalist friends to organize this festival. This was important for us to work together, as there are many internationalists and members of the diaspora who were martyred in Rojava,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hussein, a pir <\/em>or elder in the Kurdish Alevi community, spoke to KCS at the booth of the Democratic Alevi Federation at the festival. The Federation sold cups of a\u015fure \u00e7orbas\u0131<\/em>, or Ashura soup, a sweet porridge that Alevis eat to break their fast during the holy month of Muharram.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought this Ashura soup in order to sweeten both the tongues and hearts of our people here,\u201d Hussein told KCS. Hussein, a native of Dersim, was exiled from his country after 30 years of political work for the Kurdish movement. Hussein continued:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cToday, we are standing with the oppressed. There is injustice, oppression, and people are killed in our country. Our conscience and our hearts are with those oppressed people, and we condemn this injustice. For Rojava, we can say that in every place, in every country, we stand with the oppressed. The people of Rojava are exposed to the barbarity of the Turkish state. They are our people, and we don\u2019t want them to be killed. They are innocent and just want to live their lives, and for this, we stand with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Images of martyrs, both military and civilian who have been killed in Rojava, also known as Western Kurdistan. (Photo by Ali Ali).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Officials from the Syrian Democratic Council \u2013 Rojava\u2019s primary political coalition made up of political parties, civil society organizations, and activists in northeast Syria \u2013 attended the festival, as well as members of the popular People\u2019s Democratic Party (PYD).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis day is the anniversary of the Rojava Revolution, and we celebrate it every year. This day is a historic day, it\u2019s a day of rebirth, and it\u2019s a new day for all the peoples of Syria, including Arabs and Syriacs. It commemorates the sacrifice of thousands of wounded fighters and martyrs,\u201d Dr. Sebri, the director of the Syrian Democratic Council office in Vienna, told KCS.<\/p>\n

Sebri expressed his joy at seeing the different attendees at the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow here we have Austrians, Germans, Alevis, revolutionaries from the leftist Turkish parties \u2013 people from all walks of life. When we see this in Europe, and in Vienna, it\u2019s something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youth from Northern Kurdistan made up a significant number of those at the festival, including 25-year-old Sureyla, a native of Dersim and member of the Association of Students from Kurdistan. The association, made up of Kurdish students in Germany and Austria, set up a stand at the festival to spread information on the Rojava Revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been 12 years of the women\u2019s revolution in Rojava. I say women because women were at the front of the whole revolution and started it, and we celebrate the fight there that started 12 years ago but is still going,\u201d Sureyla told KCS.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the festival. We made it last year as well. I think this year it\u2019s also a very big success like last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sureyla explained the critical role of Kurdish solidarity and the importance of the Rojava Revolution to all four parts of Kurdistan<\/a><\/span>, remarking:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf you look at the four parts of Kurdistan, there is oppression everywhere: in Bakur from the Turkish state, in Rojhilat from the Iranian regime, and in Bashur now as well with the start of the occupation of South Kurdistan. It\u2019s important to celebrate and show all Kurdish people that there is still hope, and that if a revolution could be started in Rojava, there is still a fight to fight. People shouldn\u2019t give up just because the going is tough in other parts of Kurdistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Internationalist support at the festival is also important to the Kurdish movement, Sureyla said, referencing one tent at the festival which had dozens of pictures of those who died defending Rojava.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have pictures of different martyrs. There were Kurdish martyrs but also internationalists \u2026 and internationalists are not only German and European people. Iranian people, Iraqi people, and Turkish people are all internationalists. They came to fight, and they died for the movement. Not for us, but for the movement, and because of their hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf European people come to celebrate with us, it makes me happy because they see that in Rojava different ethnicities and religions are working together to build a place where everyone is valued and everyone has the right to exist and live freely. I think, especially for Kurdish people who have been oppressed their whole lives, it\u2019s important. And that not only Kurdish people understand the Kurdish struggle, but that international people also understand the Kurdish struggle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ibrahim performs in front of a Jin, Jiyan, Azad\u00ee<\/em><\/a><\/span> (Women, Life, Freedom) banner. The festival featured Kurdish songs from all four regions of Kurdistan. (Photo by Ali Ali)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ibrahim, a Kurdish singer from Mus, told KCS that \u201cthis is a special day. The Rojava Revolution isn\u2019t just meaningful for Rojava, but for the whole Middle East and the whole world. It was a huge victory. We must stand by these victories, and on days like these, we celebrate them even more than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ibrahim performed several Kurdish musical numbers at the festival to a crowd of onlookers and attendees who performed Kurdish dances.<\/p>\n

Among the many internationalists from Austria and Germany in attendance was Lisa, a German who works with the European-wide Defend Kurdistan solidarity network. The network, according to their website, was created after a peace delegation visit to South Kurdistan in 2021. Lisa helped organize the stage program, which included short speeches as well as Kurdish and Austrian musicians, and oversaw the sale of booklets and brochures in German and English that inform attendees about the ideology of the Kurdish freedom movement.<\/p>\n

Lisa told KCS that internationalist support for Rojava is important because \u201cevery human has a struggle in themselves. And I think most societies also struggle, because I don\u2019t think the system that we live in today is according to our beliefs. I think it got lost somewhere along the way and it\u2019s mostly about money in the pockets of a few. I do think that\u2019s not the normal way humanity should go. If you\u2019re Kurdish or not, you can relate to people who are fighting oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movement that grew out of the Kurdish resistance to Turkish fascism, I think, has a lot of perspectives and contributes to thinking about solutions, like how to struggle to actually get somewhere. But alas, they are not supported by the people in power. The movement has been under repression since its existence. It\u2019s also silenced a lot. You don\u2019t find a lot of it in the news, though I think it\u2019s newsworthy, because there are things happening that all the news talks about: climate change, femicides, and so on. That\u2019s why I think we should share some of the time that we have to get informed and use some of the platforms that we have to share knowledge about it,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 12th anniversary of the Rojava Revolution, Kurds and their supporters held the 2nd annual Rojava Street Festival in Vienna. For two days, Kurds and their friends took to the streets of Austria\u2019s capital city. The first day of the festival was held outside the Kurdish Democratic Society Center of Vienna, stretching over two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":256,"featured_media":5181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,61],"tags":[873,284,43,872,870,90,871,174],"ppma_author":[497,498],"class_list":["post-5178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-culture","category-slider","tag-alevi-kurds","tag-kurdish-diaspora","tag-kurdistan","tag-kurds-in-austria","tag-kurds-in-vienna","tag-rojava-revolution","tag-rojava-street-festival","tag-western-kurdistan"],"authors":[{"term_id":497,"user_id":256,"is_guest":0,"slug":"lucas-chapman","display_name":"Lucas Chapman","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Lucas-Chapman-1-1.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Lucas-Chapman-1-1.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":498,"user_id":257,"is_guest":0,"slug":"ali-ali","display_name":"Ali Ali","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ali-Ali-2.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ali-Ali-2.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/256"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5178"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5204,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5178\/revisions\/5204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5178"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}