In Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main, women took to the streets on Saturday to demonstrate on March 8th, the feminist day of struggle. The Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E) put its activities on March 8 this year under the motto “resist, organize, live freely!”.
Düsseldorf
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An alliance demonstration took place in Düsseldorf, in which the Kurdish women’s association YJK-E ((Yekîtiya Jinên Kurd ên li Elmanya), Feministische Aktion Düsseldorf, Feministische Aktion Mönchengladbach, Femtopie Duisburg, Riseup Düsseldorf and trade union representatives took part. The demonstration began on the Johannes- Rau Square and ended with dancing in the market square.
Stuttgart
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In Stuttgart, a rally on the Schlossplatz protested against inequality of opportunity, exploitation and feminicide. A particular focus was on the situation of women in the Turkish-occupied region of Afrin in northern Syria and in the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal in northern Iraq. Speakers explained that women can effectively resist patriarchal oppression if they organize and fight together. At one stall, postcards were written to women held as political prisoners in Turkey. There was also plenty of dancing and calls to take part in an alliance demonstration on March 8 in Stuttgart.
Frankfurt
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Hundreds of women took to the streets in Frankfurt. The demonstration led from the main station to the Roßmarkt. Contributions were made by YJK-E, Neue Frau, Sozialistische Frauenbund (SKB), Zora, Alevi women and ADKH, among others. In its speech, the “Women Defend Rojava” initiative focused primarily on the war in Ukraine:
“Today, on the Saturday before International Women’s Day, our day with a long tradition of fighting, we stand here faced with renewed war in Europe. A war of white old men, prepared in the logic of patriarchal and capitalist claims to power in a verbal exchange of blows and implemented against the interests of all nationalistic-ideologically non-blinded people. In the news we see – once again – men who are ordered to go to war or who arm themselves and go to war voluntarily to defend their country and their families. We see women and children being forced to flee to the supposed safety of the West, uprooted, in poverty and dependent.
However, our Kurdish friends do not see any disturbing news in the media, as they have long been living under blatant state persecution in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and a war in north-east Syria. There they fought successfully for many years against the murderous and woman-enslaving Islamic State. The women’s revolution has triumphed in the field of self-government and is in the process of building a new free social system. The massive violence of the patriarchal ideology has not disappeared there either, it still has an impact on society today. The women’s struggle for liberation remains on the agenda there as well. Turkey has taken on the role of the aggressor in north-eastern Syria, formerly covertly, but now openly supporting IS and its goals. Permanent open and covert attacks, targeted drone attacks on infrastructure and political figures, occupation, bombing, that is also NATO. And we also see that the borders are not open to those fleeing from the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world.
We as Women Defend Rojava Frankfurt have been working in the campaign against feminicide for over a year. Together with f-streik, we renamed the Liebfrauenberg in the middle of the city to ‘Ni una menos’ square, taking up the slogan of the friends from Mexico and South America who stood up against the murder of women and flintas: not one less! We always meet on the last Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. on Ni una menos square with a rally, information, slogans, music and discussions. We have chosen priorities such as solidarity with Afghan women and flintas and with political prisoners in Turkey and other countries where sexual violence and torture, isolation and detention are practiced.
We were impressed by the encounter with the Zapatistas in the summer. They reported on their experiences, the long years of organisation, the clashes with the patriarchal and macho structures and finally the struggle for the liberated areas with high losses. There are no more murders of women/flintas in the areas they control. But these areas are also being attacked by paramilitary organizations.
We invite everyone to participate in our activities, enrich them and together expand our scope of action. The experiences in the last year were diverse: passers-by come up to us, are curious, report on experiences of violence, their own and those around them, others look the other way, cling to the person accompanying them. The subject is worrying. The campaign works against the helpless silence and shows the connections with the patriarchal social structures, which ultimately affect everyone.
But today we say: No to war – everywhere! Down with the guns!
We see NATO as a Western military alliance that wages wars worldwide in order to assert its own interests, such as access to resources and sales markets, in addition to a claim to global rulership. The Russian government also relies on global influence through war and authoritarian oppression internally and externally. Contrary to the “Two plus Four” treaty, NATO has constantly expanded its military sphere of influence to the east. Russia uses force to control the states in its sphere of influence, such as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Syria. Ukraine is the currently escalating arena of these interests.
We demand an immediate stop to attacks in Ukraine! No arms deliveries! No rearmament of the Bundeswehr! No rearmament of Frontex! Worldwide demilitarization! We demand consistent peace processes for democratic and social solutions.”
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