This is the first part of an interview with Rêber Apo and women comrades at his academy in Syria on 8th of March 1998. On this legendary day the Women’s Freedom Ideology was declared. In this way the Apoist women took a historical step towards freedom. A concrete perspective for the ideology, organization and struggle of all the women of the world was created.
Tag: Abdullah Öcalan
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FROM THE DECLARATION OF RÊBER APO TO THE 8TH OF MARCH
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE YOUNG INTERNATIONALIST WOMEN COMMUNE OF ROJAVA –
“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.
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Rêber Apo: The role and mission of Young Women in the Democratic Nation
This is a a shortened version of an evaluation of Rêber Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) about the role and mission of Young Women in the Democratic Nation, in all the different parts of live.
Capitalism is actively hostile to young women. Thus, it tries to numb the young woman, to make her incapable of acting and to make her invisible as a part of society. Capitalism forces young women into a dream world, one where they can get and achieve anything, to live out relationships freely and to dress as they wish. They are crushed and suppressed in dreams of marriage. The phase in which the woman is most productive and her urge for freedom is greatest is her youth. The young woman wastes all her energy in this phase in fleeing from the man’s tight grip and taking precautions against his traps. The traps of the man and the strict understanding of honor cause the young woman to spend the most beautiful time of her life far from the idea of a free woman, and instead living in fear. The mission that the exploiting capitalist system imposes on the young woman is to have no mission. This means that the young woman has great revolutionary potential, and because of that there is an attempt to suppress this potential. The problem is not the honor for which thousands of women have been murdered, nor the weakness, uselessness, ignorance or fragility that are attributed to her.
It is precisely in the midst of these fascist attacks that our historical consciousness will urge us to develop a solution through a concrete analysis of concrete conditions. The solution of Democratic Modernity enables the young woman to fulfill her mission as a vanguard of the revolution. In order to achieve this, she must form the social, moral and political system that matches with her own values over time. According to this, the young woman must define her identity, her goal, her principles from what she rejects and what she accepts, and raise the flag of revolution to realize our social revolution. Democratic Nation means that the moral political society builds its own will through self-governance. At the core of the young woman’s identity is a resistant and militant spirit. She has a lively, empathetic identity and is open to new things. She wants to take revenge on the existing order of life and thus liberate herself. In the establishment of the Democratic Society, it is the young woman who brings about a personality change in herself and participates in the struggle, thus guaranteeing that the man and the society will be changed more quickly in a revolutionary way.
Change through education
To ensure this change, she must insist on organizing education within the Democratic Nation. For education, she is the pioneer. Therefore, she must create alternatives in every sphere of life through which she no longer needs the educational institutions of the system and can lead her own educational and consciousness-raising work. Education does not happen only between four walls, under a roof or in a school. The young woman can transform any place, be it a house, workplace, street or anything else, into a place of education and gain and share consciousness in these places with free platforms for discussion. Therefore the first and most important task of young women is to destroy the existing educational system.
Organized action
In order for the young woman to defend the values of women and the values of society, she must take becoming guerilla and self-defense as her only goal. For this, she must be able to react and organize against any attacks she encounters in all areas of life (such as harassment, rape, violence, psychological pressure). The reigning system very often attacks the young women with different methods, visible as well as hidden. Especially the media and social media are important tools here. Therefore, the young women must question everythingin the existing system and show their reflexes in an organized way. In addition, she should be able to defend herself at school, on the street, at work, i.e. in each of her life situations. She must participate in life according to her mission as a vanguard, and put this mission into action.
It is up to the young woman to shatter the perception created by capitalism about her and her people and thereby find new political ways and methods and fulfill her mission in politics. She must use her own creativity and revolutionary nature in politics. Her political struggle should be based on the needs of the people. She should also develop joint actions and organizational work in the anti-fascist struggle with peoples, youth organizations and young women around the world who are resisting as she is. For this, diplomatic works must be brought forward.
Diseases of the system
In order to overcome the diseases of the capitalist system in people’s feelings, bodies and mentalities, a holistic, alternative health system must be created. The reason why many diseases today have no cure is because the diseases are produced and spread by the capitalist system itself. The capitalist system does not actually want to find a solution to the diseases, so it builds a mentally ill individual, and prevents a healthy society. In building an alternative health system, the individual with all the emotions, thoughts and character must be seen as a whole. Moreover, contrary to the perceptions created in society, it must be explained that any problem can be overcome with the the will of people. This, and the destruction of the pathological social order, is one of the inescapable tasks of the young woman. Social values and our moral strength are the greatest medicine against the mental illnesses of capitalism.
Stars of resistance
There are women, like Sema and Viyan, who turned their bodies into bombs against the colonialists, who crossed the borders of militancy in revolutionary struggles against those who wanted to endanger the ideological line of the revolution. There are women, like Berîtan, who are the vanguard of revolutionary resistance, fighting against the feudal, patriarchal collaborators and against surrendering. There are women like Axîn, Faraşîn, Jiyan, Serhildan, Hebûn, Zeryan, Zelal, Yildiz, as well as thousands of other young women whose names cannot be listed, who resisted against the occupying forces in the self-government resistances to their last drop of blood based on the ideology of women’s liberation. They all became symbols of resistance against the statist, patriarchal mentality within history. Today, the flag of these young women is passed from hand to hand. The young women must understand well that the revolution of women will lead to the success of the social revolution, and that they should make it their only goal in life to be a vanguard for the mentality of the Democratic Nation and the construction of the system of Democratic Confederalism with the Women’s Revolution.
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The most beautiful thing on earth: Living with Rêber Apo
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Şehîd Gulbahar Gulhat was a young women from Elih, North-Kurdistan, who joined the ranks of the Guerilla in 1991 when she was 13 years old. After five years living in the mountains of Kurdistan she went to the Academy of Rêber Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) in Damaskus, Syria. After seeing education at the Academy she returned to the mountains, and fought with great passion and courage until her martyrdom in 2007 in the mountains of Gabar. In this text she talks about her experience with Rêber Apo, and the impact that he made on her.
“In this moment, when I am sharing my memory with Rêber Apo (Abdullah Öcalan), different feelings are developing in my heart and mind. Maybe I am not able to speak about every moment, but as far as I can, I will share these moments that I have lived in the most natural way.
It was 1996 when I went to the Academy of Rêber Apo. I was amazed when I saw Rêber Apo for the first time. Because the hegemonic system had always created a picture of a violent leader in our minds, I too had dreamed Rêber Apo very different. So how a leader is in the power system, I also dreamed Rêber Apo to be like this. This is why when I saw Rêber Apo for the first time, I was very surprised. Indeed, Rêber Apo was very humble. When Rêber Apo welcomed us I saw the difference between Rêber Apo and the despotic leaders I had imagined for years. When Rêber Apo said; “Friends, let’s get up and go eat some food.” Then I said to myself “Am I dreaming?”. From Rêber Apo’s eyes sparkled such a love that it brought me into a special excitement and enthusiasm. When Rêber Apo held the meetings and discussions for comrades who will go to the mountains, you saw in his eyes how much it affected him. When Rêber Apo used to ask questions to each one of us, he saw how emotional and overwhelmed we got, and on that basis he shared his analysis and thoughts about us. At that time I was thinking a lot and I said to myself; “How does Rêber Apo understand our views and emotions so fast?”. I was very impressed by Rêber Apo’s approaches, humbleness and awakeness. When Rêber Apo analysed the first day of education, his method to understand personalities really caught my interest. At that time I had inner conflicts. Some comrades who came to the mountains having spent time with Rêber Apo, used the name of Rêber Apo for their own interests. They had a life and an approach that was not fitting that of a cadre. But I see now that Rêber Apo’s approaches towards cadres are not like this. At that time I told myself, what naive people we are, we do believe everyone. At that moment Rêber Apo asked me: “Comrade what do you think?”. I shared the conflicts in my mind with Rêber Apo. Rêber Apo told me: “Indeed bravo, in such a short amount of time, you saw these realities, very good.”
When I played football with Rêber Apo I realized that one must be very self-controlled and disciplined. because when we played football, for Rêber Apo, it was not a game, but a war. In this way, he analysed and tested our personalities, to see how active, initiative and careful we were. He was also criticizing our style of giving orders. I also noticed through that game, how small mistakes are not something easy. Rêber Apo always told us: “Believe in yourself in everything you do”.
When we played foodball Rêber Apo suddenly shouted and said: “Comrade, be careful, you were close to stepping on an ant. Take that ant away from here”. I was so surprised at that moment, I asked myself how Rêber Apo saw that ant. I noticed Rêber Apo’s higher awareness towards the surrounding and the life. This awareness of animals meant that I got really angry against our approaches towards animals.
Of course, there were many things that caught my attention and influenced me in Rêber Apo’s personality. For example, Rêber Apo’s style of education was very different. In Rêber Apo’s way of life, even a very small approach was a subject of education. He deeply instilled in people the need to educate themselves. As a result, people naturally saw the need to educate themselves.
I was very young then, so I was very feudal and closed. In order to overcome this feudalism, Rêber Apo educated me in very different ways. At times, he used different methods to change me. For example, one day Rêber Apo was playing football, and I brought him a bottle of water. Rêber Apo, in the midst of so many comrades, opened the bottle of water and poured it on my head. I was so angry that I couldn’t say a word and I turned red. I was very affected and my pride was very broken. After this moment, Rêber Apo called me and discussed with me. He said to me, “Don’t get me wrong, I am criticizing you this heavily and pushing you for your development “. You are young, brave, beautiful and hardworking. However, some of your characteristics are getting in the way. This is especially the case with conservatism. Feudalism was necessary for you until a certain point, because you lacked knowledge, you protected yourself with these approaches. But from now on, this is no longer necessary. I gave you knowledge, you developed, and now I am giving you a mission. You are open to developing, and I won’t let this characteristic suffocate you. You are the most beautiful women in the world. I educate, beautify, and liberate you. Even if you will give up, I will never give up. Because I have devoted all my time to women’s freedom. But most of you don’t know that.”
Rêber Apo always called me “Gênco” , that is, the young. When Rêber Apo called me the young Gulbahar, I was very happy.
When I went new to Rêber Apo, I could not read and write. Rêber Apo told me, “I will teach you to read and write”. When Rêber Apo saw that I had learned to write a bit, he gave me a text and said, “Work on it, you will read it out loud to us in the morning”. I worked on it, but I said to myself that Rêber Apo would forget it because he had a lot of work to do. When we went to education the next day, Rêber Apo called me and asked me to read. I read that text at least ten times. I was so excited and I sweated a lot. Rêber Apo commented to me, ‘When someone learns something new, if he or she is not sweating for it, they don’t know its value. You sweated for this text, and I hope you won’t stop learning. From that day on, learning to read and write became my greatest ambition. I was deeply affected by this incident. Because I saw that there is nothing you cannot learn in the life of PKK, if you only have a will and an effort.
One day we went to the football ground again. After the two teams were made, we started playing. Every time a comrade was going to Rêber Apo’s legs to take the ball. And every time I was also taking the ball back from him. Rêber Apo saw that I got really angry with this comrade. This is why he came to me and said; “People can provoke you very easily and you are fighting with pride. True, people should not accept to lose or to be unorganized, but not as you being blind. I do not accept this blindness. I am surprised, how you have not been martyred in the war until now. These words from Rêber Apo took my morale and I could no longer play. So Rêber Apo told me; “Go shoot the ball.” I went and I shot a goal. Rêber Apo told me; “It’s very good to believe in yourself. You should organize and practise this feature. For a woman these are pleasant qualities. “
I was very impacted. I said to myself how did Rêber Apo make me reflect so much, with a football. After that I started a deep reflection. When I was supposed to go to the the mountains, Rêber Apo told me; “Nothing can influence you because you are very headstrong. But you need to make war against your feudal characteristics, your exaggerated pride and your blindness. If you do not struggle with them, they will bring you into many difficulties. Don’t fall Martyr so fast. I can never accept, comrades who see so much education here and go to the mountains and fall Martyr fast. When I hear the news of a martyrdom, it hurts me a lot. Every time a part of my soul goes. Don’t be egoistic and also think of me. I educate you to live and create life.” As the hour of saying goodbye approached, I cried a lot. I hugged Rêber Apo and tears ran out of my eyes. Rêber Apo told me; “What happened? It seems like you think that we will be separated from each other”. For around five minutes I laid my head on the shoulder of Rêber Apo, Rêber Apo just laughed and talked. But until we left the tears didn’t stop coming out of my eyes.
Truly, there are many things you can say. But the ones that I can say for now are these. Indeed my heart burns. Now, I think about how much I was worthy of the reality of Rêber Apo. I didn’t participate in the way that he expected me to.. For this I now give effort to complete and finish the things I did by half.
When I came to the mountains, I was confronted with all the positive and negative evaluations that Rêber Apo gave me. So, I gave a very strong struggle so that I could overcome my shortcomings. Now my greatest hope is to see Rêber Apo once again and embrace him with my heart.”