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Women who fight to be free

In this conversation, taking place on International Women’s Day (March 8), wNew York Times bestseller Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, discussed her newest book Daughters of Kobani. The book delves into the story of a group of Kurdish women who battled ISIS on the frontlines from 2014 to 2017. It is about the strength and adversity that women overcome, the respect they gain, and the power that they find in standing up to the Islamic State.

Speakers:

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Author, Journalist, and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

Beverly Kirk: Fellow and Director for Outreach, International Security Program, CSIS

Nina Easton: Non-resident Senior Associate

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon wrote her newest book to share the untold and under-reported stories of a group of women bearing arms in Syria. Prior to the publication of Daughters of Kobani, the Syrian border town was relatively unknown to many outside of Syria and Turkey. Tzemach Lemmon describes in detail the uniqueness of this part of Kurdistan, where women are treated as equal and actively engaged in community matters at all levels. She shared small vignettes from the book, including courageous stories of women, but describes these experiences as “the universal quest for human dignity, that has nothing to do with any geography or any ethnic group, or any one gender.”

The Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ) follow the teachings of Abdullah Öcalan, a Kurdish political activist and founder of the PKK currently imprisoned in Turkey. He described women as a pillar in society and has long been a strong advocate of women’s rights: “The Kurds cannot be free until women are free.” This was one of the foundations for the YPJ’s confidence in their capabilities and their role in combat, a field that is overwhelmingly male dominated. However, because of their political affiliation with the “terrorist”-designated PKK, the YPJ was in a precarious situation during the debates in Washington DC concerned with the fight against ISIS. The State Department was at times reluctant to cooperate with the YPJ .

Tzemach Lemmon’s mission to inspire women, share their stories, and encourage women to share  stories on their own account. She notes the extraordinary bravery of the women in the YPJ, but also grounds them as real people, who experience life and loss like others. The book, Daughters of Kobani, has already been picked up to be transformed into a television series, which will be an opportunity to engage with people who experienced life under the Islamic State.