Brief report from Sarah Parker, thanks Sarah for permission to use
Sarah Parker, thanks Sarah for permission to useI thought people might like a short report of today's demonstration for Kobane and against ISIS.
Don’t let Kobane fall!
On Sunday 28 September 1000 or so people marched from Angel Edmonton through Haringey to the Kurdish community centre off Green Lanes to protest against the siege of Kobane, and the silence of the international community over the blatant military support of the Turkish state for the ISIS fighters who are besieging the Kurdish town of Kobane in Northern Syria. Most of the people on the march were Kurdish from Turkey; there were also contingents from the Turkish left. Stephanie and Sarah took the Haringey Left Unity banner. The march went down Fore Street and Tottenham High Road and Philip Lane, West Green Road to Green Lanes. Slogans in Kurdish, Turkish and English included:
- Unite against ISIS!
- Long live the Kobane resistance!
- Long live YPG[1] <#_ftn1> !
- Who beheaded American journalists? ISIS.
- Who has been killing Kurdish and Assyrian women and children? ISIS
Speakers called for an end to the silence over Turkey’s role in supporting ISIS. People in the streets gave a friendly reception to the march, and many took pictures.
If people want to offer solidarity, they can do a variety of things:
- Keep informed, follow events in the Middle East, including via Kurdish news agencies Firat News and Hawar News
- Make sure people they know are aware of the siege of Kobane and that they understand that the people of Kobane have the right to defend themselves against ISIS
- Post news on social media about the defence of Kobane and the Kurdish protests all over Europe
- Get organisations to agree positions of solidarity with the defence of Kobane
- Ask David Lammy or Lynn Featherstone what they is doing to get the British government to restrain Turkey, a NATO member, from giving military assistance to ISIS
- Like the Kurdish Unity Facebook page and get notices of events
- Support Heyva Sor (Kurdish Red Crescent equivalent) – see their Facebook page
[1] <#_ftnref1> (the People’s Protection Units who are defending Kobane, where there are several hudred thousand people including refugees, and who in August rescued thousands of Yezidis from the ISIS assault on Shengal in northern Iraq).
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