SİLVA IBRAHİM

Hesekê – On Saturday, September 20, in the city of Hesekê in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, participants in the conference titled “Women’s Alliance: The Basis for Justice and Democratic Unity in a Decentralized Syria” emphasized the necessity of unifying the voice of Syrian women.

The conference was organized by Kongra Star and the Zenobia Women’s Gathering on a Syria-wide level. Six hundred women from different parts of the region participated. Due to security conditions, the invitees from the Syrian coast and Sweida could not attend in person but participated via Zoom.

“The conference was held at a time when Syrian women are going through an extremely sensitive period. Sectarian and exclusionary rhetoric targeting Syria’s social diversity, as well as intense attacks on women and their roles in different fields, have marked this stage. The Autonomous Administration, however, since its establishment in 2014 and the revolution launched on July 12, 2012 based on the paradigm of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, has made it a principle to oppose this mentality.”

“The voice of women”

“During the sessions, our agency spoke with Sabah Shabo, representative of the Syriac Women’s Union in the Women’s Council Coordination. Shabo described the conference as ‘the voice of women’ and pointed to the ongoing crisis in Syria. She said, ‘With the fall of the Baath regime, we had hoped that women’s rights would advance, but the marginalization and exclusion of women continued.’”

Shabo stressed the need to transfer the experience of women in North and East Syria to all of Syria:

“We, as women of North and East Syria under the Autonomous Administration, have achieved many gains. Women wrote history by drafting the social contract and highlighted their role in many fields.”

Shabo also reminded Syrian women not to delay in achieving their freedom and to unite. Saying, “Syria is going through a difficult labor pain,” she added that the demands raised at the conference focused on building the country on the principles of justice, democracy, and political decentralization in response to the exclusion of different communities.

“Highlighting the need for women, especially after the incidents in the Syrian coast and Sweida, the church attacks, and the targeting of Christians, to unite more strongly, Shabo said: ‘The violations leave no doubt that the interim government is Islamist and extremist in nature.’”

“Shabo emphasized that women are the symbol of justice, stating: ‘Syria must be rebuilt from a humanitarian and women’s perspective. Women are partners of men and have the right to participate in building the homeland. However, serious violations are taking place against women; they are kidnapped, oppressed, sold in markets, and killed openly. Therefore, we Syrian women must unite as one body, establish the women’s alliance that is the slogan of the conference, and cling more strongly to our duty to build justice and democracy in Syria.’”

“Shabo also referred to the speech delivered by the Syriac Union at the conference, saying: ‘The speech highlighted the principle of social justice that the Syrian people have lost at this stage. When women’s rights and dignity are violated, there can be no social justice. Therefore, we demand the guarantee of historical, social, linguistic, and other rights. We must not only demand our rights as women, but also the rights of all oppressed peoples—foremost among them, women.’”

Women’s Solidarity

“Ilham Mutli, the representative of the Syriac Women’s Union in Syria, noted the strong solidarity between women in North and East Syria, the Syrian coast, and the Druze community, saying: ‘What we aim to achieve with our revolution in the region is to build a social mindset that respects women and recognizes their leading role.’”

Mutli emphasized that the women of North and East Syria represented the people of the region and Syrian society through conferences, forums, and diplomatic tours abroad, which played an important role in strengthening the unity of peoples.

We Will Build Syria with a New Vision for Ourselves and for Society

Abir Suleiman, an activist from the Alawite community, described the conference as “a meeting of beauty, because women carry the spirit of motherhood, youth, creation, and production.”

Suleiman pointed out that all women participating in the conference were equal, saying:

“We are all Syrians. We carry the same values as the women of North and East Syria, as well as those in the central, western, southern, and coastal regions. We are united in one view: Women must assume their true role in building the new Syria. Because it is women who nurture, raise, and plant aesthetic values in both the land and in people.”

Suleiman also praised the speeches delivered by the women’s institutions at the conference, emphasizing that they were “a sensitive indicator of our determination to unite under one flag.” She continued: “Despite all these hardships, we have the will. Together we will overcome this stage, and on the basis of hope and love, we will build Syria with a new vision for ourselves and for society.”