Opinion – Queer Experiences of Atrocity Crimes and the Fight for LGBTI+ Rights

Dean Cooper-Cunningham
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Aug 25 2024 •

Andy Soloman/Shutterstock

On Saturday 11 May 2024, the Danish newspaper Politiken published an editorial stating that “the fight for LGBT+ rights and the fight for a free Palestine have nothing to do with each other” (Kampen for lgbt+-rettigheder og kampen for et frit Palæstina og fred I Gaza har intent at gore med hinanden). This assertion came in the context of widespread criticism of Copenhagen Pride and the withdrawal of several major sponsors because of its position on the Israel-Gaza conflict. Much of this centred on a question about whether Pride was becoming too political or involved in something entirely unrelated to queer politics.





Criticism towards Copenhagen Pride started earlier in the year when alternative queer organisations around Copenhagen — Nørrebro Pride and the Queers Against Occupation & Genocide group — called on Copenhagen Pride to assess its partnerships with organisations that had links, primarily financial, to Israel. Both Nørrebro Pride and the Queers Against Occupation & Genocide criticised Copenhagen Pride for not taking a clear position on Israeli atrocities committed against Gazans and for not standing against genocide more explicitly. After a statement about standing “in solidarity with the Palestinian people” (i solidaritet med det palæstinensiske folk), Copenhagen Pride was publicly criticised by politicians and commentators, some of which were published in the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, who viewed Copenhagen Pride as effectively siding with Hamas and supporting homophobic policies and social values across the Middle East.

Since then, Copenhagen Pride has been repeatedly forced to defend its criticism of the Israeli state’s actions. In response to criticism, a spokesperson stated that “when bombs are falling, they also kill LGBTI+ people” (når bomber falder, dræber de også LGBTI+-personer). Since then, several additional clarifying statements have been made, but now several key sponsors have withdrawn support and the political leader and spokesperson for the organisation has resigned. Put bluntly, Copenhagen Pride took a political position against what the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor has called atrocity crimes (crimes against humanity and war crimes in this case), received widespread backlash, and then attempted to backtrack on its position when the commercial viability of Pride became an issue.

I can see how some people and some organisations can reach the conclusion that LGBTI+ issues do not have anything to do with atrocity crimes or what the Israeli state is doing in Gaza. And I agree with the argument that a free Palestine and peace in Gaza are not about LGBTI+ issues specifically. However, LGBTI+ people have a long relationship with experiencing violence because of who they are, because of their identities. Genocide and the other atrocity crimes — defined in international law as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing — all revolve around identity and the targeting of a specific population because of their identity. Throughout history, violence against LGBTI+ people — which is driven by victims’ identities and has at times been about the literal extermination of queer people — has frequently been a precursor to escalating levels of violence and atrocities against other identity groups. From the atrocities committed by the Nazis to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia to the genocide in Darfur, the imposition of “moral” codes that attack sexual and gender identities and freedoms has often come before widespread state-led physical violence and atrocity crimes.

We also know that during conflict, sexual and gender minorities face a higher risk of war crimes and related issues such as forced displacement, migration, and social cleansing. This is incredibly well documented in regards to the Colombian Civil War. These historical cases are some of many examples of how anti-queer violence has been part of state-led campaigns widely understood to be atrocities. Despite LGBTI+ issues, rights, protections, and security having a long-standing connection with state-led atrocity crimes, this is relatively unacknowledged across society and in international frameworks for preventing atrocities. Politiken’s editorial is not therefore unique in its ignorance of the connection between LGBTI+ issues and mass atrocity. Illustratively, the persecution of Jewish people during the Holocaust is rightly well known, but the persecution of queer people, particularly gay men, has not been widely included in documentation or analysis after the end of World War Two. While the scale of persecution differed, the specific targeting of queer people during the Holocaust was a key part of the German campaign to ‘purify’ Europe. Indeed, it is possible to classify the persecution of gay men during the Holocaust as genocide since the intention was to destroy an entire group.



Genocide and the three other atrocity crimes hide in people’s biases. As I and my co-authors show in two recent reports, human rights violations and the creation of out-groups — be they based on religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender, able-bodiedness, or the like — create conditions that enable mass atrocities and wider trajectories of violence. These biases amplify the violence directed at minorities during conflicts. This means that there is a connection between LGBTI+ issues, homophobic discrimination or violence, and atrocities such as genocide. Not only can homophobia become an enabling factor of state persecution when mobilised by political elites to establish an out-group to be targeted for society’s ills, but LGBTI+ people face unique and increased risks of persecution during conflicts. Violence against sexual and gender minorities can therefore often be a canary in the coal mine for aggressive authoritarianism and atrocity crimes. There is ample evidence, as outlined by the former United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, that their persecution precedes or is part of wider violence.

Globally, LGBTI+ rights are facing a backlash as part of a wide-ranging and intense culture war against queer identities and existence. As conversations about ‘woke’ politics and its apparent detriment to traditional ways of life become incredibly popular. We are seeing a creeping (re)normalisation of homophobic discourse in mainstream politics. Pair this with the history of atrocities and we see a worrying picture. If we look at a contemporary example where out-groups have been created and are being used to legitimise violent geopolitical projects, Russia has for more than a decade adopted a foreign policy promoting and defending “traditional values”. It has positioned itself as the bastion of “traditional family values” in contrast to Europe, which it labels “Gayropa” in its foreign policy discourse. Russian foreign policy now includes a sexualised and gendered component in which Russia constitutes itself as the saviour of “Gayropa,” a sexually decadent space of moral decay. In 2017, the Russian republic of Chechnya also embarked on a “Gay Purge” where gay men and lesbian women were hunted down, tortured, and murdered. All of these actions can be classified as crimes against humanity and potentially genocidal in intent.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there were credible intelligence reports of lists that include LGBTQI+ individuals, activists, organisations, and allies to be targeted upon successful takeover. Testament to the extent of the role homophobia plays in Russian foreign policy, the Ukrainian NGO Nash Svit has documented Russian violations against queer people in Ukraine and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church blamed the war on the spread of “Western” pro-LGBTQI+ politics to Ukraine. LGBTI+ people have not only been targeted domestically within Russia but during Russia’s offensive against Ukraine where documentation of atrocities has been widespread.

Let me say it again: genocide hides in people’s biases. Human rights violations and the creation of out-groups enable mass atrocities and wider trajectories of violence. The persecution of LGBTI+ people has consistently been followed by oppressive politics and violence, even towards those who supported the scapegoating of queer people in the first instance. Policies developed to support “traditional family values” may first target queer collectives, as is the case within Russia, but as we know from history they can very quickly turn to other agendas targeting, for example, specific ethnic and national groups. Indeed, part of Putin’s discursive justification for waging the war in Ukraine has been to prevent it from becoming more like “Gayropa”. We must be vigilant not just of the way states like Russia use anti-queer discourse to legitimise violence, but of the way queer people are targeted in “the West” and how this may make future violence possible. As mentioned above, the idea of traditional family values has become incredibly politically vogue in recent years and is used by far-right political actors across Europe now.



The UK Conservative Party is waging what former Home Secretary Suella Braverman calls a war on woke and so-called gender ideology. Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni talks about a so-called LGBTI+ lobby and defending the traditional family, and her government has banned registering same-sex parenthood. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán has consistently emphasised traditional family values and implemented a ban on LGBTI+ “propaganda” that is not dissimilar to Russia’s. Projects like Russia’s have created conditions that enable European states to pass legislation targeting queer people as dangerous pariahs, and threats to order and the fabric of society. These moves are what the UN would identify as indicators of risk for conditions for atrocity crimes.

Keeping in mind histories of queer experience of atrocity crimes, it is fundamentally inaccurate to say that the fight for LGBTI+ rights, atrocity crimes, and anti-atrocity campaigning are not linked. It ignores the history of persecution that queer people have experienced during campaigns involving atrocity crimes and ignores the history of anti-war campaigning by gay liberationists in throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. What we call Pride today is widely held to have emerged from the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969 when queer people had enough of being persecuted by the police and scapegoated by politicians as social pariahs. Pride emerged out of a resistance to violence, discrimination, and the desired elimination of queer people as a group. In this sense, it isn’t surprising, nor is it such a huge leap to see why Copenhagen Pride — and Nørrebro Pride, the Queers Against Occupation & Genocide group, and other LGBTI+ organisations around the world — have weighed in on Israel’s campaign in Gaza and taken a stand against discriminatory violence in its most potent form: genocide.

Not only that, a new report from Protection Approaches highlights some of the anti-queer patterns of violence (both structural and physical) and risk indicators that will flash amber or red signalling a potential for wider mass violence. Some of these could already be seen in Israel prior to its offensive in Gaza. To carry on with the earlier metaphor: the canary was already in flight, the conditions for escalating violence were already in place, and Hamas’ October 7th attacks were enough to enable a discursive legitimation of unbound violence and the commission of international crimes by a far right government enduring multiple crises.

What most see as the most deplorable atrocity crime — genocide — when we boil it down to its most basic component, is about discriminatory violence that seeks to destroy a cohesive group in whole or in part. Queer people, because of our close connection with identity-based violence, atrocities, and our continued scapegoating on the path towards future atrocities, cannot stand idly by as genocide is committed with relative impunity. Opposing genocide is not antisemitic. It is a stance against all forms of mass and discriminatory violence. Opposition to mass violence includes the kind that antisemitism legitimised during WWII and continues to make an ever-possible threat today.

It is vitally important to ask how Middle Eastern states and nations, which includes both Israel and Palestine, treat LGBTI+ people, that we continue to ask what the punishment for deviating from so-called ‘normal’ sexuality (i.e., heterosexuality) is, and that we continue to hold all states accountable for their policies about and treatment of LGBTI+ people. Equally, however, all states and international institutions must be cognisant of how certain states and their supporters mobilise their supposed “queer friendliness” in order to distract from their violent acts of atrocity. We must refuse to lend support to mass violence and atrocities that are, in part though not entirely, legitimised by a discourse of ‘protecting queer populations’ or any other minority group. Violence or atrocities committed partly in the name of defending queer people and other minorities, as has been implied in the commentary about Copenhagen Pride, is still violent and criminal under international law.


The suggestion by some of Copenhagen Pride’s former sponsors that pride was becoming too ‘politicised’ and venturing outside its restrictive “diversity and inclusion” (diversitet og inclusion) remit, ignores that there is in fact a quite clear link between LGBTI+ issues, particularly homophobia, and the prevention of – or resistance to – mass atrocities. To adopt an anti-genocide politics is to adopt a politics against discriminatory violence. LGBTI+ people, having historically been targets of such violence, must continue to stand against all forms of atrocities.

Further Reading on E-International RelationsTechnologies of Truth and the LGBTI+ Asylum Reality
Opinion – How Polish Women Fight Their Right-Wing Government
Queer(y)ing Brexit: Sexuality and the Shifting Nature of Remainer and Leaver Worldviews
Introducing Queer Theory in International Relations
Japanese ‘LGBT Boom’ Discourse and its Discontents
Opinion – It’s Time to Redefine Gender Mainstreaming

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Dean Cooper-Cunningham is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. His research intersects feminist and queer theory, critical security studies, and visual politics. His most recent work has focused on the international politics of sex, how powerful actors in global politics strategically adopt pro- or anti-queer agendas in domestic and foreign policy, and the way that actors use the visual and the body as modes of resistance to state violence. He is co-author of a project on ‘Queering Atrocity Prevention’ and the author of several articles on the subject of sexuality, gender, security, and visual and bodily forms of activism.

Tim Walz has rare knowledge of China

Mark O'NeillAugust 25, 2024 

If Tim Walz becomes Vice President of the United States during the election in November, he will bring more knowledge of China than any previous American leader since the PRC was founded in 1949.

From the summer of 1989, he taught American history, culture and English for a year to students at the elite Foshan Number 1 High School in Guangdong. “China was coming, and that’s the reason I went,” he explained in a later interview.

On June 4, 1994, in western Nebraska, he married fellow teacher Gwen Whipple, and the two took 60 students on a field trip to China. It became their honeymoon. In total, he has visited the country 30 times, including school exchange trips and visits as a member of Congress, after he entered in 2007.

In Foshan, he taught four classes a day with about 65 students in each class. As one of the first American professors there, he was given a monthly salary of US$80 – double that of a local teacher – and the luxury of an air conditioner for the searing heat of the summer.

He loved the students and they loved him. “No matter how long I live, I will never be treated that well again,” he said in 1990. The students called him “Fields of China” because he was so kind to them. For Christmas, they cut down a pine tree, decorated it and brought it to his room.
In 1990, he visited Tibet and spent several days living with monks.

After his return to Nebraska in 1990, he told the local newspaper: “going to China was one of the best things I have ever done. The Chinese people have been mistreated and cheated by their government for years. If they had proper leadership, there are no limits on what they could accomplish. They are such kind, generous, capable people.”

It was to show the Chinese to his students in a small, Mid-West town that he organized field trips for them to China during the 1990s and until 2003. They met Tai Qi masters, practiced the use of chopsticks and calligraphy and did sight-seeing.

In 1993, he took them to his school in Foshan, where a former student was guide for the visitors. One of his American students, Kyle Lierk, said that, when they left, he wept. “Tim was able to build the trip around humanity,” he said.

The trips included visits to Beijing and Tiananmen Square, where Walz explained the events of June 4 and the brutal rule of Chairman Mao.

After he entered the U.S. Congress in 2007, his interest in China continued. He engaged with activists from China and Hong Kong and co-sponsored resolutions on human rights, including demanding the release of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and Huang Qi. He co-signed the Hong Kong Rights and Democracy Act in 2017.

In 2016, he opposed Beijing’s military expansion in the South China Sea and said it was a reason for the U.S. not to reduce military spending.

In 2015, he took part in a rare American delegation to Tibet led by Nancy Pelosi, then House Minority leader. The next year he met the Dalai Lama; he later described the meeting as “life-changing”. There is a famous photograph of the meeting, with Walz wearing a white scarf of welcome around his neck.

In 2016, Walz said that it was important to have “constructive dialogue with Beijing to ensure the preservation of traditional Tibetan culture and Tibet’s fragile ecology … We must maintain co-operation with China. We need to stand firm on what they are doing in the South China Sea, but there are many areas of co-operation that we can work on.”

The consensus among the Washington elite and China scholars is that, as Vice-President, Walz would be a great asset to policy making in China and East Asia. Kamala Harris has never visited China.
The current policy, shared by both parties, is strongly anti-China, in diplomacy, trade, economics and the military. The U.S. is working very hard to prevent China overtaking it in high-technology sectors. The atmosphere resembles to some extent the anti-Soviet era of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. It has persuaded many Chinese scientists and scholars working in the U.S. to return home, for fear of being targeted.

Walz is able to regard China with more detail and more nuance, to separate the people from the government and to add humanity to policy.

His accession to power would surely benefit both countries.

Mark O'Neill
A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.

 

Archeologists unearth ruins of ancient Uyghur city in Mongolia

The discovery comes at a time when China is trying to recast Uyghur history as its own.

By Jilil Kashgary for RFA Uyghur
2024.08.25

Turkish and Mongolian archeologists excavate the ruins of Togu Balik in northern Mongolia in 2024.

 Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency

The discovery of the ruins of a long-lost city in northern Mongolia believed to be built by Uyghurs roughly 1,400 years ago enhances knowledge of Uyghur civilization amid the Chinese government’s efforts to rewrite the Muslim group’s history to fit into its own narrative, historians and other experts said.

“This discovery fills a historical gap,” Saban Dogan, the project’s lead archaeologist from Izmir Katip Calabi University in Izmir, Turkey, told Radio Free Asia. “Second, it advances the understanding of [Uyghur] Turkic urban and residential life by another hundred years.”

Turkish and Mongolian archaeologists discovered remnants of the lost city of Togu Balik in June and July during excavations in the Tuul River Valley, known as the Tugla River valley in Uyghur historical documents, according to Turkiye Today, which first reported the findings.  

Dogun suggested that Togu Balik was constructed between 630 and 680 CE, making it one of the earliest cities built by Uyghurs. 

Today, the Uyghurs are concentrated in the Chinese far-western region of Xinjiang, which they prefer to call East Turkistan, where some 11 million live under Chinese rule and are subjected to a genocide, according to the United States and the parliaments of some Western nations.

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Togu Balik, built by the Toquz Oghuz — a confederation of Turkic Tiele tribes known as the “nine clans” in Inner Asia during the early Middle Ages — was a key city of the Uyghur Khaganate, or empire, under the Orkhon Uyghur nobility.

That empire existed between 740 CE and 840 CE, following the Uyghurs’ destruction of the Second Turkic Khaganate, an empire  in Central and Eastern Asia  founded by a clan of the Goturks, another Turkic people, which lasted from 682–744 CE.

The Uyghur Khaganate controlled a vast area of the Euro-Asian steppes, stretching from Lake Baikal in the north to the Great Wall of China in the south, and from Manchuria in the east to the Tian Shan mountain range and Lake Balkhash in the west.

China’s narrative

The discovery of the ruins comes at a time when Uyghur history and archaeology have become sensitive political topics as Chinese historians attempt to reshape Uyghur identity within the notion of the “Chinese nation,” experts said. 

These historians claim that Uyghurs have been part of the Chinese nation since ancient times and are not Turkic. Some argue that the Uyghurs migrated to what is now Xinjiang in the 9th century CE and that the Han Chinese were the original inhabitants of the area, contrary to historical facts. 

Turkish and Mongolian archeologists excavate the ruins of Togu Balik in northern Mongolia in 2024. (Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency)

The discovery of Togu Balik intensifies the debate over Uyghur history, archaeology and the origins of the Uyghurs, the experts said.

But Chinese historical documents also indicate that Uyghurs lived in a vast region from the north of the Tuul River in Mongolia to Tian Shan in present-day Xinjiang, said Alimjan Inayet, a professor of Uyghur folklore at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey.

“Uyghurs have inhabited the East Turkistan geography since time immemorial,” he told RFA.

“These historic documents show that Uyghurs didn’t come to East Turkestan in the 840s CE like current Chinese historians allege, but are the most ancient tribes that lived on this vast land,” Inayet said. “There is no historical basis for China to claim that Uyghurs came to this land only after the 840s.” 

Kahar Barat, a Uyghur-American historian known for his work on Buddhism and Islam in Xinjiang, agreed, saying Uyghurs at that time migrated from one side of the empire to the other, and did not invade others’ land.

Highly civilized people

Uyghurs were the first among nomadic Turkic tribes in Eurasia who had established cities and settled in them, giving up their nomadic lifestyles, Inayet said.  

“Togu Balik, also known as the East City, proves that the Uyghurs were a highly civilized people who established this earliest city,” he added.

Dogan declined to comment at length on the political controversy involving China’s efforts to co-opt Uyghur history, but said that the long history of the Uyghurs is very clear and cannot be obscured by the political agendas of China or other countries.

Historical sources mention Togu Balik, but its exact location was unclear until now, he said. 

Turkish and Mongolian archeologists excavate the ruins of Togu Balik in northern Mongolia in 2024. (Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency)

“In our discussions with Mongolian archaeologists, we hypothesized that the excavated site might be Togu Balik,” Dogun said. “The artifacts found in the ruins of a building in the area confirmed this hypothesis.”

The discovery of Togu Balik fills a historical gap in the urban life of the Uyghur and Turkic peoples, he added.

“Togu Balik can be considered the oldest Uyghur city known so far,” he said.

The city is historically recognized as the place where the Uyghur Toquz Oghuz inhabited and fought against a Turkish invasion in 715 CE. 

Togu Balik is mentioned in the inscriptions of the Second Turkic Khaganate as well as in the historical documents of the Tang Dynasty, said Barat.

“Togu Balik is one of the earliest capitals of Uyghurs,” he told RFA.

Khitan Empire

It was once believed that Togu Balik was related to the Khitan Empire, a proto-Mongol nomadic people who ruled the northern part of China from the 10th to the early 12th century, and is also known as the Liao Dynasty. 

Turkish and Mongolian archeologists excavate the ruins of Togu Balik in northern Mongolia in 2024. (Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism/Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency)

But because archaeologists have now found Uyghur ceramic tiles beneath walls at the Togu Balik site, Dogan suggested that the city was later used by the Khitans after the Uyghurs left.

“Until now, it was considered that these ruins belonged to the Khitans, but archaeologists have discovered ceramics related to the Uyghurs, specifically related to the Toquz Uyghur tribes,” he said.  

Though many Uyghur-related cities in today’s Mongolia were founded during the Uyghur Khaganate, Togu Balik represented an earlier era, Barat said. 

After the collapse of the khaganate in 840 CE, the Uyghurs migrated southward and westward, including to what is today the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China, which was part of their empire and ancient homeland. 

The Turkish Office of Coordination and Cooperation, a government department under Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, provided support for the archaeological excavation in the Tuul River valley.

The 30-person excavation team included researchers from Izmir Katip Celebi University and from the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

The archaeologists hope that further excavations at Togu Balik will shed additional light on ancient Turkic lifestyles, including religious beliefs, urban culture and burial practices. 

A comprehensive archaeological report on the excavation will be published in October, Dogun said.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Africa's historic use of seashells as currency: From trade to symbolism

'By 18th century, one slave could be bought for approximately 100,000 seashells,' says antiquities expert

Ahmet Emin Donmez |25.08.2024 - 



YAOUNDE, Cameroon

In many parts of the world, including Africa, seashells served as a widely accepted form of currency for centuries, especially as the barter system proved insufficient for more complex economies.

Seashells, first believed to have been used as a medium of exchange in Africa during the 13th century, was used as currency until the late 19th century.

Praised for their durability, difficulty to counterfeit, and ease of transport, seashells became a reliable method of transaction across the continent. Beyond their economic role, they have remained a symbol of power and prestige in various African cultures.

Even before seashells were used as money, they were valued as decorative items, jewelry, and precious stones. Their commercial worth was determined by factors such as their shine, patterns, size, age, and quality.

Much like the US dollar today, seashells facilitated trade among tribes, communities, and royal courts across Africa.

In modern times, the legacy of seashell currency persists, notably in Ghana, where the national currency is called the “cedi,” meaning “seashell” in the local language. Images of seashells are also featured on some banknotes in Africa, commemorating their historical significance.

A slave sold for 100,000 seashells

Cameroonian antiquities expert Aboubakar Njiemoun explained to Anadolu that after the era of bartering, seashells became the primary currency for most African communities. As trade and interactions between societies grew, the barter system became inadequate, leading to the emergence of “cauri” shells as money.

“With bartering, you could only exchange goods directly. If you had palm oil and needed salt, you had to wait until someone with salt wanted your palm oil. This was a significant barrier to trade,” Njiemoun explained.

“Africans then started using cauri seashells as their first form of money,” he added.

Njiemoun detailed how seashells were grouped and strung together for transactions. Common units used in African trade included 40 shells on a string, 2,000 on a rope, and 20,000 in a bag. By the 18th century, one slave could be bought for approximately 100,000 seashells.

As European missionaries arrived, African societies gradually transitioned to using copper coins, yet seashells continued to hold cultural significance.

While seashells have lost their monetary value, they still hold mystical and symbolic significance in African societies.

Swedes voice support for Palestine in front of Israeli Embassy in Stockholm

'Netanyahu is making the same terrible decisions that Germany and Hitler made against their own people 70 years ago,' Palestinian supporter tells Anadolu

Melike Pala and Atila Altuntas |25.08.2024 - TRT/AA

Hundreds marched to Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in support of Palestinian people on Gaza


STOCKHOLM

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on Sunday to show their support for Palestinians who have been subjected to a massive Israeli military assault on Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed the grim figure of 40,400 since October of last year.

People gathered in Odenplan to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza and marched to the Israeli Embassy.

The demonstrators, who demanded an immediate end to Israel's attacks on Gaza, carried banners reading "Free Palestine, Free Gaza," "Stop the genocide," and "Boycott Israel.”

Uno Horm, one of the activists who was at the protest, described the Swedish government's continued support for Israel as a "tragic."

"The genocide in Gaza is the worst thing that has happened since World War II and the Nazi genocide," Horm told Anadolu.

Criticizing the Swedish media for failing to report on what was going on in Gaza, he said the Swedish people support Palestine despite the media and government's indifference to the situation in the besieged enclave.

Another protester Maya Veliz Wastberg called what is going on in Gaza "genocide," saying she cannot understand why the world is silent on the Israeli war.

“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is making the same terrible decisions that Germany and (Adolf) Hitler made against their own people 70 years ago,” she added.

Titti Wastberg, who also participated in anti-Israel boycott protests in 1983, said, "At the time, I was accused of being antisemitic. I am deeply saddened because the situation has gotten worse over the past 40 years.

"I'm feeling sad and angry," she said.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,400 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,400 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar

Protest against occupation and betrayal at the Kurdish Culture and Peace Festival in Canada

The 22nd Kurdish Culture and Peace Festival was organised in Toronto, Canada. Occupation attacks and betrayal were also protested at the festival.


ANF
TORONTO
Monday, 19 August 2024

The 22nd edition of the traditional Kurdish Culture and Peace Festival was held in Earlscourt Park in Toronto, Canada, where the participants marked the 40th anniversary of the 15 August Initiative, when the PKK fired the first bullet at the Turkish army in North Kurdistan in 1984.

The festival started with the performance of Koroya Zarokan/Koma Mezrabotan. Then the co-chairs of the Canadian Kurdish Community (CKC) Elif Genç and Kadri Ertuğrul took the floor for the opening speeches of the event. The co-chairs said that they will continue to make their best efforts to prevent suicide cases that have recently come to the agenda and asked all those who feel that they need spiritual and psychological support to contact them immediately.

The festival continued with the performance of the folklore group Mayn Zard from Rojhilat and the songs of the artist Hezil.

Speaking here, Ahmed Karamus, Co-Chair of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), said: “Colonialist states do not want us to have a status. They do not want us to protect our language, culture, past and history. They mobilise all their means to destroy the resisting Kurd. In the face of these attacks, this cause will continue until the end even if there is only one person left fighting for the freedom of Kurdistan. In order for us to contribute to this honourable struggle, we need to support the freedom fighters and carry their struggle forward wherever we are in the world.”

Karamus continued: “I would like to appeal to the KDP from Canada. The basic responsibility of every patriot is to protect the existence, status and achievements of the Kurds. That is why you must end your partnership with the occupying Turkish state, because partnership with this enemy means a blow to all Kurdish gains and the search for unity.

We must achieve national unity in the four parts of Kurdistan, protect our language, culture, history and honour, and move towards becoming the first power in the Middle East.

We also appeal to the Canadian and American governments. Stop supporting the dictatorial Turkish regime and stop imposing a terrorist list. No one has the right to equate the sons and daughters of a people who saved the world from ISIS and their struggle with terrorism.”

Canada's Conservative Party MP Ziad Aboultaif sent a congratulatory message in support of the festival, which hosted dozens of cultural/catering/entertainment stands. The performances of Kurdish musicians Mesut Med, Shahriyar, Merwan Tan, Gelawêj and Azat Aslan, who came from different countries and continents to add colour to the festival, attracted a lot of attention. The festival ended with the songs accompanied by the people dancing until midnight.

Panel in Egypt calls for freedom for Abdullah Öcalan

A panel organised by Egyptian intellectuals, politicians and jurists called for freedom for Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.


ANF
CAIRO
Sunday, 25 August 2024

The Arab Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan organised a panel discussion in Cairo, Egypt yesterday (24 August) as part of the ongoing international campaign ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish question’.

A panel titled ‘Abdullah Öcalan: From Kidnapping to Intellectual Creation, a will in the face of arrest’ was attended by journalist Majdi Deqaq, Vice President of the Arab Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Dr. Muxtar El Xebashi, Prof. Mihemed Rifat Imam, Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council member Demhur Bemser, a scholar of contemporary history and international relations, Ehmed Bahadin Shaaban, Secretary General of the Egyptian Socialist Party, Raide Zebhani, a scholar of international law, as well as many intellectuals, academics and lawyers.

The panel was chaired by İlhami El Milêcî, spokesperson of the Arab Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

In the panel, the struggle and free ideas of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan were discussed. The participants also evaluated the absolute isolation he has been subject to for years and stated that the isolation is contrary to international laws and standards. The participants emphasised that the trial of Abdullah Öcalan is political and far from international law and drew attention to the silence of international powers against the system in İmralı. The participants called for active steps to be taken for the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.

The panel ended with the following concluding remarks:

“Due to our belief in a just and legitimate struggle, we draw attention to the following points at the end of the panel:

1-Abdullah Öcalan should be rewarded as an example of struggle and resistance. We are proud of Abdullah Öcalan. He is the symbol of the struggle for the rights of the Kurdish people and solution to the problems of the Middle East. His struggle and resistance against tyranny and despotism show the power of human will against obstacles.

2- Human rights must be respected. We strongly condemn the harsh measures against Abdullah Öcalan, the absolute isolation and the inhumane conditions in İmralı Prison. We call for an end to discrimination. Lawyers and family members should be allowed to meet Abdullah Öcalan. We call on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and put pressure on the Turkish government to release Abdullah Öcalan.

3-Call for a fair trial. The trial of Abdullah Öcalan was not fair and impartial. Moreover, it was a political trial and far from the rule of law. Humanitarian standards and international treaties were violated during the trial. We call for Abdullah Öcalan to be tried by an independent court in accordance with international human rights standards until his release.

4- International support must be given to the Kurdish people. In order for the Kurdish people to gain their political, cultural and social rights, international support must be developed. We condemn all attacks by the Turkish government against the Kurds. We call on the international community to sentence the Turkish government if it continues to violate human rights.

5- The ideological and humanitarian struggle must be continued. We call for continued spread of the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan. Abdullah Öcalan calls for the creation of a democratic world, justice and a free environment. He also calls for dialogue between all ethnicities and religions for a common life. Abdullah Öcalan's works are an intellectual and human heritage that must be taught to future generations.

6-International human rights committees need to be established. We call for the establishment of international legal committees that will take Abdullah Öcalan's case to the international arena and follow his case until justice is served.

7- We appeal to international organisations. We call for an independent investigation into the violations of Abdullah Öcalan's rights and for a formal complaint to Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights, human rights and international organisations to work for his release.

We are proud of the struggle of the intellectual Abdullah Öcalan. His struggle will live in the hearts of all freedom fighters in the world. His struggle is for all humanity, for freedom and for justice.”

Mustafa Karasu: Isolation of Abdullah Öcalan is unlawful and arbitrary

New long and in-depth interview with Mustafa Karasu, member of the KCK Executive Council.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Thursday, 22 August 2024

In this interview, Mustafa Karasu, member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the isolation of the Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, and the importance of the 15 August 1984 breakthrough, when the PKK fired its first bullet.

The total isolation of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan continues, while at the same time, protests against it are also growing. How do you assess this current situation and the latest developments?

Before evaluating the isolation of Rêber Apo, I congratulate Rêber Apo on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of 15 August, the national Resurrection Day. Likewise, I congratulate all our freedom fighters and our people.

An intense isolation is being imposed on Rêber Apo. Just last week, comrade Besê evaluated it in more detail. So I just wanted to point out some specific points. In order to justify the continuation of the isolation, special war propaganda is being conducted. So they keep making up lies to fool people and change the agenda. Just the other day, they said that they would like to give Rêber Apo his right to hold meetings, but that it is our movement that would prevent this. This situation has not been going on for a day, a week, or a month; it has been going on for years.

Why don’t they let him meet with his family or lawyers for years? They are making baseless propaganda, creating lies and deception, but of course no one will believe this. The whole world knows how sensitive we are about Rêber Apo. In fact, there is no other movement in the world that is so protective of its leader. Even though Rêber Apo has been in captivity for 26 years and, since then, has been isolated, our movement, our leadership, and our people are protecting Rêber Apo with all our means. We are waging a struggle in line with Rêber Apo’s ideology and policy. The rumors that there are problems between him, our movement, and our people or that our movement does not want to meet with Rêber Apo are completely false and black propaganda.

Rêber Apo is in total isolation, and an intense struggle against this is taking place. In fact, the responsibility of the struggle for his physical freedom now goes far beyond the movement and the Kurdish people. It has become a responsibility that people around the world are taking on. The fact that 69 Nobel Prize-winning intellectuals have signed a petition for the freedom of Rêber Apo and sent letters to international organizations and the Turkish government has clearly demonstrated that the physical freedom of Rêber Apo has become the demand of all humanity. This isolation is unlawful and arbitrary; it has no legal basis.

They openly admit that they are afraid that if they were to allow his meetings, Rêber Apo would start talking, which would have a great impact on society and politics. The genocidal policies of the Turkish state would be exposed and harmed. This is the essential reason why they prevent any meetings. They express this themselves in different ways. According to what we have recently learned, a delegation of the Turkish state openly confessed during their meetings in Europe that Rêber Apo was expressing his thoughts and giving a message to the people, and that is why they are not letting him meet with the outside world. To deny a prisoner, a political prisoner, or rather a hostage, any contact is completely arbitrary and has no justification. Everything they cite as alleged justifications is lies and false constructs. The struggle against this situation continues and will continue. Certainly, we, our people, and humanity will not give up the struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and will develop it.

The Turkish state and its policies have been exposed, and because they have been exposed, they are resorting to all methods of special warfare. The fact that the Turkish state is resorting to special warfare propaganda and making black propaganda, claiming, for example, that our movement does not want to meet with Rêber Apo, shows how stuck it is. It cannot give a reasonable justification for why it has not allowed the lawyers or the family to come to Imrali for years. This reflects the reality of the Turkish state. It is a state that is based on special warfare. Its policy against the Kurds does not conform to any law, politics, or morality.

The essence of its fight against the Kurds is a war of perception and lies, a war to deceive and distort societies. Nothing the Turkish state says regarding the Kurdish question should be believed. Society, politicians, and the world should not fall for their lies. Lying, distortion, not showing the truth, and deceiving the world and society are the basic characteristics of this state. What kind of fascist power the Turkish state is is clearly understood from the isolation and psychological warfare against Rêber Apo. Many intellectuals and writers around the world are demanding his release. Their embrace and solidarity need to be seen as part of the global struggle for freedom and democracy.

Rêber Apo’s thoughts and paradigm are of high significance not only for the Kurdish people, the peoples of the Middle East, or Turkey, but for all of humanity. At a time when capitalist modernity is corrupting society and the world, Rêber Apo’s paradigm is a prescription for the salvation of humanity. In this respect, the people see his struggle for freedom as their own struggle for freedom. That is also the reason why solidarity with him is growing exponentially.

15 August 1984, marks the 40th anniversary of an essential breakthrough in your movement. It was a day of resurrection that is being celebrated today in Kurdistan and in many parts of the world. The significance of the day is often assessed, and attempts are made to classify it correctly, but what I would like to ask specifically is what particular consequence 15 August had on the prisons. You were in the infamous prison of Amed (Diyarbakir) during that period. How was the 15 August breakthrough reflected in prison?

Before coming to my answer to your question, I would like to commemorate comrade Agit, the commander of the 15 August breakthrough, with gratitude and respect. Comrade Agit was the commander who initiated and gave the spirit of this struggle. I also commemorate with gratitude and respect comrade Erdal, comrade Huseyin Mahir, comrade Zeki Shengali and comrade Atakan Mahir, who were also martyred in the month of August. Also, I want to commemorate with gratitude and respect comrade Alan Malazgirt and comrade Berwar Dersim, whose martyrdom was recently announced by the People’s Defense Center (HPG). Hundreds and thousands of our friends were martyred in the month of August; I commemorate them all with respect. All of them were following in the footsteps of comrade Agit. They fought in the most difficult conditions and overcame the greatest difficulties in order to make the breakthrough of August 15 a success.

When the breakthrough of 15 August took place, we were in prison. At that time, the pressure in prison had eased thanks to the January 1984 resistance within the prison. During that time, a family came to visit us. They told us that the friends had come to the Botan region and that they were making preparations in order to start guerrilla warfare. This news was sent to boost our morale. At first, I didn’t tell anyone this information, since I could not confirm whether it was just a rumor or already a fact. I didn’t tell anyone for a few months. Then I only told one friend about it. When the breakthrough finally took place on 15 August 1984, the friends around me immediately became curious; there were discussions about who had made this move and who knew about it.

Previously, during the death fast in 1982, we knew that our friends were making preparations and planning armed action because of information brought through the families. We heard that our movement was making preparations and wanted to regroup and fight. Our contact with the outside was very limited, and we received partial information about forming a guerrilla towards the end of 1983. We also received a part of a book called “The Kurdistan Problem and the Way of Solution.” This book was brought by a friend who was exiled from Xarpet (tr. Elazig) to Amed. We tried to evaluate this information and these books, but we just reached limited results. The impact was all the greater when we heard of the 15 August breakthrough. This move relieved a great burden on the friends. They realized that the tortures were not in vain and that the suffering they had endured for standing up for this cause became meaningful on 15 August.

The enormous impact of 15 August on the prisons eliminated the corrosive effects of the previous pressures. Until then, there had been resistance, but it had worn out because of the great pressure. On 15 August, everything changed. Already after 14 July, there was a significant change, and the struggle and belief were reinforced. A new period had begun in the prisons, both in terms of organization and resistance, but 15 August took this to a whole new level, and everyone gained new morale. It made the friends realize the importance and value of their resistance and suffering. This was a very crucial development.

On 15 August, the role of the prisons changed. The prison resistance served as a bridge in the period between 1980 and 1984, when there was just very limited struggle on the outside. After the military coup in 1980, our party retreated. In this process, the prison resistance filled this gap and formed a bridge of resistance through 14 July and the death fast. 15 August had an important impact on the formation of this resistance. In addition, one of the most important effects of August 15th in prison was the failure of the state’s prison policies.

The Turkish State aimed to intimidate and surrender those imprisoned, and then execute the leaders of this resistance. But when 15 August took place, even before, when they could not liquidate the movement, but instead it became a peoples struggle, the situation radically changed. The guerrillas entered the country in 1983, and the Turkish state launched operations against the Medya Defense Areas, such as Operation Sun and the operations in the Behdinan region. Because they could not crush the movement, and essentially because Rêber Apo made a great effort to recover the movement, the Turkish state started to carry out executions everywhere. They executed civilian and judicial prisoners. At this time, it was our movement that carried out the most armed actions against fascists, gangs, spies, and those who oppressed the people in Turkey.

Before the military coup of 12 September 1980, for the first time in the mountains of Kurdistan after 1938, bigger weapons were used. At that time, in groups of ten, big weapons were used, not just pistols. These weapons were used for self-defense while they moved in the mountains. There were some clashes; gendarmes and soldiers were killed, and our movement carried out many actions against the torturing police officers. Before 12 September, we were the movement that fought the most against the fascist groups, torturing policemen and colonialist Turkish soldiers. But while other organizations were executed, they could not execute us.

The reason for this is that our organization backfired. If executions had been carried out after the 15 August breakthrough, we would have answered them. Instead of weakening the struggle, executions would have angered the people and strengthened the struggle. For this reason, although executions were carried out in all organizations, they did not execute us. We were struggling, and the 15 August breakthrough was realized. It prevented executions and reduced the pressure in prison. Generally speaking, it prevented the neutralization of our movement. Therefore, the effects of 15 August in the prison provided great morale, and the old repression did not return. The mood of the friends who had been repressed and tortured really changed; even our gait changed.

‘We Are Hope, We Are Peace’ campaign explains content of Family Law in Northern and Eastern Syria

The ‘We Are Hope, We Are Peace’ campaign carried out in Northern and Eastern Syria aims to explain the content of the Family Law as well as end violence against women and raise awareness among men.


NÛJIYAN ADAR
QAMISHLO
Monday, 26 August 2024

The ‘We Are Hope, We Are Peace’ campaign launched on 1 July by the Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence against Women, which operates in Northern and Eastern Syria, continues at full speed. This campaign, which will be completed by the end of August, aims to introduce the Family Law.

The Family Law, by securing civil rights and banning polygamy and child marriages, introduces strict sanctions regarding domestic violence and takes measures to protect women and children. It also aims to ensure that family relations are conducted fairly by making regulations on issues such as divorce and marriage.

The Family Law consists of a total of 41 articles under 6 headings: marriage, divorce, the effects of divorce, the livelihood of relatives, crimes related to kinship and families.

Delal Osman, a member of the Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence against Women, spoke to ANF about the aim and progress of the campaign.

Focusing on raising awareness of men

Delal Osman said: "We started such a campaign to respond to the increase in violence against women. We realized that the campaign would be important because the male-dominated mentality deals with women in line with reactionary traditions and customs, oppresses women and takes away their rights. In line with this initiative, we are focusing on raising the awareness of men rather than women. We are holding discussions with men and deeply addressing the foundation of a democratic family."

Osman added: "Violence against women has not ended. We are aware of the intense tendencies towards women, and in line with the weight of this, we want to prevent the killings and violence against women that take place under the name of ‘honor’. In fact, women also needed to be made aware of the legal dimension. They needed to know that there were laws that defended women’s rights and that it was time to express the reflections of violence against their bodies and minds."

Encouraging a democratic family model

Delal Osman said that the campaign was carried out in line with the introduction of the Family Law and that visits were made to villages, towns and districts in the region. "These visits take place in the form of home visits, meetings, seminars and panels. We also distribute brochures and provide information about every article of the Family Law. The aim of the initiative is to explain the rights provided by the law to women who are not aware of the Family Law and to encourage a democratic family model. The interest of society in the initiative is positive, and the discussions are intense. Many people have heard of the Family Law but were not familiar with its content. We also observed problems related to traditional family structures and violence."