Many feel helpless when they read about or hear about the thousands of people that ISIS is beheading, the thousands of women that they are forcing into slavery, and the genocidal manner in which they have been ethnically cleansing minorities in Syria and Iraq.
Don't feel helpless. Instead, help the progressive Syrian forces in their battle against ISIS by putting pressure on your political representatives to assist the incredibly brave female and male Syrian Kurdish fighters who have been defending Kobane against a veritable horde of ISIS fighters for an entire month now. The Kurds and their secular Arab allies are not asking for foreign ground troops, they are instead asking for supplies, food, and defensive weapons to hold off the tanks and armored vehicles that ISIS captured from Iraqi and Syrian army bases and the self-made armored dump trucks that ISIS is using as massive VBIED suicide bomber vehicles. These people want to be the ground troops that beat ISIS. They have more than proven their mettle by holding out - against all odds - against a massive military assault against an opponent who routed huge numbers of troops of the Iraqi Army, pushed back the Iraqi Peshmerga, and has been greedily snatching up territory from Syrian rebel groups . The world would be foolish not to accept their offer and leave them hanging high and dry.
There is a "We The People" petition to support the Syrian Kurds on the White House website that is rapidly gaining steam. It takes only a few moments of your time to encourage the Obama Administration to get them some help:
http://wh.gov/...
You can also go a step further and utilize the petition2congress website to have emails or letters sent to the President, your Senators, and your congressmen/women urging help for the Syrian Kurds. It also takes up merely a few moments of your time, as they have a written petition up which you can edit to suit your voice:
http://www.petition2congress.com/...
For some quality reading material on the situation in Kobane and Syrian Kurdistan, follow me below the fold.
gjohnsit wrote a diary about the Kurdish Women of the YPJ who are fending off the ISIS assault:
WED OCT 08, 2014 AT 10:21 PM PDT
Kurdish Women are beating ISIS
by gjohnsit
http://www.dailykos.com/...
David Graeber turned a comment he had made here on DailyKos, comparing the situation in Kobane/Kurdish Syria today to the situation in Spain in 1936, into an article for the Guardian, which he republished here as a diary:
WED OCT 08, 2014 AT 02:13 PM PDT
Spain 1936; Rojava 2014; the unreported revolution
by david graeber
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Human Rights Watch has a video up that details the plight of the Iraqi Yazidi who didn't manage to flee to Sinjar Mountain on time to escape ISIS(not for the faint of heart):
And, last but not least, an interview with Meysa Ebdo, one of the many female commanders of the Syrian Kurdish forces who are resisting ISIS while armed mostly merely with light weapons. I feel it is highly appropriate to have the words of this brave woman be the conclusion to this diary:
-Do you consider the airstrikes against ISIS in Kobanê by the coalition forces to be enough?
We can say that the coalition forces were late in deciding to strike ISIS. They took these decisions very late. They were not very active strikes with results. However over the last two days we can say that the airstrikes by coalitions forces have affected the gang’s attacks. The fighting is now inside the city and thus coordination with us needs to increase. If the coalition forces really want to finish ISIS and are sincere on this subject almost all of ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria are around Kobanê. Then they should continuously and more effectively attack ISIS gangs around Kobanê and in places close to Kobanê in complete coordination with us. If ISIS is broken in Kobanê they will be finished everywhere. We can say that the strikes over the past two days have been positive. The coalition also needs to give us support with weapons and ammunition. Because we have been surrounded on all sides and we have no heavy weapons. We have not allowed ISIS to pass until now using our kalashnikovs. Let no one get the wrong idea, even under existing circumstances we will fight with ISIS for years but the coalition needs to support us with weapons.
“The Kobanê Resistance Is the Resistance Of Women”
-What would you like to say in conclusion?
I would like to touch upon the resistance of women that is taking place in Kobanê. A great resistance is taking place in Kobanê. We can say that the Kobanê resistance is in particular a women’s resistance. We can see most recently in the person of Arin Mirkan the sacrificial leadership that women have shown in the Kobanê resistance. This resistance also shows us to what extent there has emerged a free Kurdish woman. The resistance will grow because of Arin Mirkan and the leadership of women and these sacrificial attacks will continue. I want to say this to the people of Kurdistan and to all of humanity. This resistance is a resistance of all peoples and deep down the resistance of humanity against the dirty, inhumane gang of ISIS. Kobanê is the resistance of humanity. We want all of humanity to support this resistance. We are honoring the memory of our martyrs who have been killed in the serhildans in the North, and we offer our condolences to their families and their people.
https://rojavareport.wordpress.com/...