A Glimmer of Hope: The extraordinary story of a revolution within the Syrian civil war

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Members of the Rojava police force (Asayish) in the city of Kobanî in northern Syria. (Wikimedia Commons) 

For the past few years, most people would have come across news stories of how Kurdish fighters in Syria, especially women, have been crucial in battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Very few, however, would be aware that in the north and eastern parts of Syria these same Kurdish fighters are part of a revolution as progressive, profound and potentially as far-reaching as any in history. 

In the north and eastern parts of Syria, an attempt to create an alternative system to hierarchical states, capitalism and patriarchy is underway and should it fully succeed it holds the potential to inspire the struggle for a better, more egalitarian Middle East, Africa, South Africa and indeed world. As in any revolution it has had its successes and shortcomings, but it is already an experiment worth reflecting on as it shows a far different world could be built to the extremely unequal and increasingly right-wing and authoritarian one that exists today. 

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ILRIG Statement in support of the Rojava Revolution and a call to end the isolation of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan

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Very few South Africans are aware that currently in the north and eastern parts of Syria (Rojava) a revolution as progressive, profound and potentially as far reaching as any in history is taking place. There, an alternative system to the state, capitalism and patriarchy is being built and it holds the potential to inspire the struggle for a better, more egalitarian Middle East and indeed world.

Since 2012, when the Syrian state in the area collapsed, people in Rojava – Kurds, Turks and Arabs – have established a federation of communes and councils, based on direct democracy, to run society without a hierarchical and patriarchal state. In the process a genuine democratic form of people’s power has been created, in which women play a key role. On the economic front, they have been attempting to replace capitalism with a communal economy. At the heart of this experiment are worker self-managed co-operatives that produce not for profits, but to meet people’s needs. These co-operatives are in fact accountable to everyone in Rojava through the federated communes and councils.

Read more: ILRIG Statement in support of the Rojava Revolution and a call to end the isolation of jailed...

A WORKERS’ PARTY AND ELECTIONS OR CLASS STRUGGLE? THE QUESTION OF STATE POWER AND THE ANARCHISTS’ ANSWER

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The question of state government elections and running a Workers or Socialist political party continues to be raised in the working class movement and the Left globally. As we may know, there was excitement about the rise of Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party in Britain, left political parties in certain parts of Europe and Latin America and, more recently, certain shifts to more centrist positions in the United States amongst a section of the Democratic Party calling themselves “Democratic Socialists”. In South Africa, many workers and some activists seem cautiously optimistic by NUMSA’s[1] formation of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party that will seek to participate in the 2019 general elections. 

Read more: A WORKERS’ PARTY AND ELECTIONS OR CLASS STRUGGLE? THE QUESTION OF STATE POWER AND THE ANARCHISTS’...

BRICS- counter summit

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