OPINION. When a Syrian soldier proudly displays the cut braids of a Kurdish girl, it is not just an expression of brutal humiliation – it is confirmation that the world looks away. Now European leaders must act, writes Reband Raza who has been living in Sweden for 25 years.
The opinions expressed in this articles are those by the author
While regimes attack the Kurds and the violence escalates with each passing day, Europe chooses silence, despite the fact that it was the Kurds who once stood alone against ISIS and defended global security. This silence will judge all those responsible.
Once again, it turns out that only the mountains stand with the Kurds. For several days, we have witnessed the brutality of Syrian regime forces against the Kurds in Rojava, northeastern Syria. These actions exceed all limits of human decency; city after city is attacked by the regime’s raw apparatus of violence in an effort to subjugate the Kurds. The graves of Kurdish peshmerga – those who fought against the Islamic State’s (ISIS) brutal attacks on humanity – are desecrated. Girls and women are subjected to violence and killed; girls and women are humiliated by having their braids cut off, civilians are exposed to daily violence, men and women are captured and humiliated in front of cameras for the world to see, and families are forced to flee, living in fear and insecurity. The perpetrators sing about their bloody and ruthless acts and are celebrated for it on social media.
Europe, cannot have forgotten how the Kurdish peshmerga forces were the only ones who stood and defended the entire world against ISIS. While Europe continued to live its safe everyday life, Kurdish women and men sacrificed their lives by fighting one of the most brutal terrorist organizations of our time. Without the courageous defense of the Kurdish forces, we would never have been protected from the darkness that threatened to engulf us all. Europe has repeatedly witnessed the need for Kurdish support, and it has a moral obligation and responsibility to stand up for them when it truly matters.
Moreover, for several years the Kurds have had control over the major prisons holding ISIS terrorists and the ISIS camp Al Hol, without the Western world fulfilling its responsibility to bring the prisoners to justice for their terrorist acts. With the Kurds being expelled from the areas they previously controlled, and with the prisons and camp left unguarded, many of the world’s most dangerous terrorists have, according to various media reports, been able to go free without the Syrian regime taking responsibility and imprisoning them again.
Today, thousands of Kurds continue to go to work to serve our country Sweden. We live in – out of gratitude to the country that took us in when we needed it, and out of love for the country we call our home. We live with the sight of regimes attacking our Kurdish sisters and brothers, with the intent to annihilate our people and erase our presence.
Will ISIS come back?
At the same time, we are tormented by the deafening silence of the European governments. We can read short news notes here and there, shorter than a TikTok post – it is not enough to stand up for human rights. Not even President Trump’s words of support for the Kurds offer any comfort or trust. This silence will stain the history books that our children will one day read – and who will then bear the shame and explain why politicians and world leaders did nothing and looked away? Future generations may hold the current government accountable for turning a blind eye to the brutality that children, women, men, and the elderly are exposed to, right in front of their eyes.
Europe may once again face threats from ISIS terrorists – and once again it will be the Kurds who stand there, sacrificing their lives to fight and protect the world from them. Then, all the gratitude expressed will mean nothing.
It is time for you, the governments, politicians and world leader, to show that slogans about defending human rights are not just empty words. Act now, before the eyes of the world witness your passivity and betrayal.
What still gives hope in this difficult time is that all Kurds and Kurdish leaders, in all regions, stand united to defend the freedom and independence of the Kurds, under the motto: “We have always been Kurds, we will always be Kurds.”
But unity and solidarity are needed to face terrorists and ruthless regimes with strength – and to prove that the Kurds have more friends than the mountains and no longer stand alone!
Reband Raza
Teacher, born in Iraqi Kurdistan, living in Sweden since 25 years.
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