The Civil Diplomacy Center NE Syria, in collaboration with Kongra Star Women’s Movement and Jineoloji Center organized a webinar on the "Rojava Revolution, an alternative world being built in NE Syria".

The webinar was part of the activities of the World Social Forum 2024.

The moderator, Nourshan Hussein, and speakers Perwin Youssef, a PYD member, and Zozan Sima, a member of the Jineoloji Academy, explained their views on the development of the revolution in North and East Syria.

Within the session, it became clear that only a true revolution of mentality can lead to a society that defends and organizes itself. Although the revolution itself mainly started with the uprising in the Middle East in 2011-2012, the preparations were made long before. They date back to the installation of the Kurdish freedom movement and the uprising of a female self-defense force 40 years ago.

Until 2012, they had to work secretly, but when the war in Syria started, the people took the opportunity to resist openly. For today, the speakers stressed, that organized women are at the forefront of the approach to building democracy and making themselves independent from the state. With this approach, every woman should represent the movement/organization on her back. Although there is a quota of even representation (50/50), Zozan Sima from Jineoloji stressed that this does not make sense if it is not filled with ideology and communal thought. This revolution shows, that it is not about single people advancing and taking political roles, but building up everything from the bottom of the communes. Those are the backbones that organize daily life and needs on economic and ideological levels.

The social contract of the region, which was first installed in 2014, brings together the variety of experiences and needs of a multicultural and multi-ethnical region. It was developed through a major effort of discussions and education in all regions of NE Syria. After a long period of occupation and a state of annihilating the rights of the people, the people now for the first time learn to govern and defend themselves by all means necessary.

The inspiration for this came out of the ideas and writings of the philosopher Abdullah Öcalan, who gave concrete ideas on how to build institutions and structures led by the people.