The General Command of Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) released a statement paying tribute to internationalist revolutionary Elefteria Hambi (Eva Maria Steiger), whose death was announced by the HPG yesterday. According to the HPG statement on Wednesday, Elefteria Hambi fell a martyr in an attack carried out by the invading Turkish army with warplanes in the Sêdarê area of Garê on 25 November 2019.

 

The YPJ statement on Thursday said the following:

“The women’s revolution of Rojava echoed throughout the whole world and became a source of hope for all women whose hearts are beating for freedom. Even though the system of capitalist modernity claims to be the most desirable one, women throughout history are always searching for truth.

The internationalist revolutionary Elefteria Hambi from Germany dedicated her life to the struggle against a system which annihilates women. Before she joined the ranks of the YPJ, she was engaged in anti-capitalist struggles and was part of different anarchist groups. The sparks of our struggle spread from our lands and throughout the world inspired our comrade Elefteria to choose a new place to live and fight. The Rojava Revolution showed her that her ideas of a free life were not distant utopias, and that the ideas she dreamt of were being put into practice in Rojava.

Our comrade Elefteria had a courageous, loyal and committed character. Having her in our ranks marks the universal character of the YPJ. In the struggle for worldwide freedom, she chose Kurdistan as her place to fight.

She truly believed that if women’s rights were violated anywhere, freedom would never be achieved in this world. With the aim of achieving freedom and a true selfless spirit, she committed every moment of her life to women’s liberation and a liberated society.

Until the end of her life, she was bound to the principles of freedom and sought to reflect the principles of a democratic, ecological society in her own personality, with women’s liberation at its center.

That she chose to live according to this paradigm was visible in every step of her life. Comrade Elefteria joined the last battle against the Islamic State. She chose to fight against the darkest of all forces with the consciousness that this would be in the name of freedom and dignity for all peoples. Comrades like Elefterya have guided our struggle against ISIS to this day. As comrades of Elefteria, we make a promise to continue her path and always protect our land from attacks.

After the fight against ISIS, Comrade Elefteria went to the free mountains of Kurdistan and dedicated her life to the peoples’ freedom. She walked on the paths of the mountains as if she had longed for thousands of years to find her way to freedom. She never saw herself as foreign or different from her comrades.

What drew her to the free mountains of Kurdistan was the philosophy of Reber Apo. She was committed to the cause and walked on the path of freedom until she joined the caravan of martyrs in 2019.

The struggle of Elefteria eliminated the borders that the hegemonic powers put down to separate peoples. We are proud of our comradeship with the internationalist and revolutionary Elefteria and we promise to her, and all our martyrs, that we will achieve victory in our struggle.

As YPJ we express our deepest condolences to her friends and family and all the peoples of the world who believe in freedom.

As YPJ we always have the liberation of all women as our foundation. Comrades like Elefteria will be a guiding source for us in creating the system of Democratic Confederalism.”