So, for obvious reasons, there are protests about all this again.
Around the world.
Which includes Turkey, of course.
And, of course, in Rojava.
Since the shelling of that school yard the other day by Turkish backed militias, the kids have been out in force as well.
Which makes sense. They have a legit grievance, I would think.
It seems like lots of people have serious grievances, even when they’re not being blown up on playgrounds.
We’ve seen the protests pick up before, especially on International Day to End Violence against Women when women’s protested all over the world.
Well, I mean, they still are.
But, like, that day especially. And, as per above, now.
I think they use the lulls in the conflict—lulls that I’ve come to realize are really about the destruction of the economy and social fabric and an opportunity to continue with the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds—as a chance to get the message out on the less sexy aspects of the war.
Like the massive humanitarian crisis the conflict has caused.
Lord knows the popular media, outside of a few stories, isn’t covering it like they could or should.
Of course, the problems of the current conflict must be considered as occurring on top of the existing humanitarian crisis from years of war with ISIS.
Here’s a picture of a camp for people displaced by the war in Jordan.
Syrian refugee camps (Wikipedia)
Syrian refugee camps and shelters are temporary settlements built to receive internally displaced people and refugees of the Syrian Civil War. Of the estimated 7 million persons displaced within Syria, only a small minority live in camps or collective shelters. Similarly, of the 6 million refugees, only about 10 percent live in refugee camps, with the vast majority living in both urban and rural areas of neighboring countries.[1][2] Beside Syrians, they include Iraqis, Palestinians, Kurds, Yazidis, individuals from Somalia, and a minority of those who fled the Yemeni and Sudanese civil wars.[3][4]
There were 1.6 million school-aged refugee children (aged 5–17 years) among the 5 million refugees registered in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt by the end of 2016. 1.1 million of those children have had access to either formal education (900,000) or non-formal education (150,000), including over 6,600 Palestine refugee children from Syria.[5] Humanitarian aid during the Syrian Civil War focuses on basic needs, health care, education and providing jobs. Most of the burden remains on the host countries, which face a stressed economy and export disruption, with the additional population, mostly outside of camps, causing significant pressure on public and private (e.g. housing) infrastructure.[2]
And this is stuff they are still dealing with by the way
Maybe it’s time to recall the kind of camps the SDF in Rojava are guarding for the benefit of, like, the rest of the frikken world.
FOX News: Inside the ISIS prison camp ‘little caliphate’ breeding the next generation of jihadis
In a barren prison camp in northern Syria – tens of thousands of ISIS members are running what feels like a mini caliphate – abiding by the rules of the extremist terror group, and abiding by a brutal system of Islamic justice, which goes largely unchecked, and keeps the ISIS ideology alive.
Held captive by the Kurdish SDF, they are angry, desperate to escape and, the guards say, a ticking time bomb.
These people, mainly women and children, were mostly caught after the fall of the caliphate – fleeing from the final bastion in the town of Baghouz. The camp commander tells us they are the most fervent, the ones who were there till the end, and who still believe that the terror empire will rise again.
There are 71,000 people inside the Al Hawl camp including around 10,000 foreigners. English, French, Belgium, Russian, Chinese and more – their countries have refused to take them back, saying they are dangerous and would carry out attacks – the camp commander agrees, saying they’re beyond reform.
One of the controversial issues is what to do with the children of ISIS. They attend religious schools inside the camp so are being brainwashed, but others argue they are innocent. Some are orphans who have returned home, including one American, but others have nowhere to go. They will stay here and likely become radicalized, turning into the next generation of jihadis.
I was really hoping this video from FOX News would embed.
Anyone interested in any of this should really, really watch that video.
So Rojava is doing their best to guard the ISIS camps despite being engaged in total warfare.
And they’re still even doing the best they can by their captives.
I try not to editorialize too much beyond when the news pisses me off.
But I also try to call it like I see it, and I reckon they deserve to get going the Day of Action they want.
Rojava to Rock 