They turned their pain into a struggle for freedom

 

Media Hawar

 

ŞENGAL - Yazidi women, who have suffered greatly due to the decree, no longer talk about victimisation and pain, but call for increasing the struggle for freedom. 

 

Edict, massacre, genocide. The Yazidi community defines the massacres they have experienced throughout history with these names. Each edict, the last of which took place on 3 August 2014, opened a deep wound in the hearts of Yazidi women. After the most recent edict, the wounds opened for 10 years are being healed with the construction of a new life. Yazidi women are now conscious of avenging the deaths of thousands of Yazidi women by developing their freedom struggle and organisation. 

 

As we share the memories, stories and lives of Êzidî women after the edict in 2014, we see in each life and story that despite the pain they have suffered, they have grown stronger year by year, that they focus not on victimisation but on growing the struggle for freedom, and that they call on all women to join this struggle.

 

One of these women is Şemê Remo. Şemê is a source of inspiration and confidence for many Yazidi women with her stance and faith. Şemê, who is currently taking part in the coordination of Tevgera Azadiya Jinên Êzidî (Êzidî Women's Freedom Movement-TAJÊ), tells us about her experiences, sometimes with tears in her eyes and sometimes with laughter.

 

We leave the floor to Şemê without any interruption.

 

"One day and one night we walked on this road and reached the place where our friends were. They were guerrillas. They consisted of male and female friends. They came to meet us. They asked us, 'Do you have weapons or not? I told them I would not give them to them. Those who came to us said, 'Give your weapons to them, they are friends and they will protect us.  They are YPG and guerrilla, they came to fight against DAIS. They will take our revenge'. I believed them and then gave them 9-10 bullets. Again they told us, 'Don't walk at night, stay wherever you reach'. Because there were ISIS members around. They told us that if you walk at night you might be ambushed by DAIS.

 

We were 10-12 families. After a while we stayed in a place where there was water, there was a water engine. The engine was working with human hands and we drank water here. We filled the jerry cans with water and started walking again until we reached the border. 

 

The border between Iraq and Syria... My daughter was 12 days old at the time. When I looked at her for a while, I thought she was dead. Whoever was going back and forth was shouting and saying what happened. We were telling them that the child was dead. At one point, we saw a woman friend wearing military clothes coming towards us. She was a guerrilla and asked me what happened. She took the child from my hand, splashed some water on his face and put her hand in his mouth. She saw that the child was breathing. We shouted once more, and this time we were all happy. They told us that vehicles would come and pick us up.

 

Mothers gave their milk to our children.

 

Mothers coming from Syria gave the milk of their own children to our children. Many children were saved thanks to the milk of those mothers. What we saw on this road was difficulty and hardship. Hunger, thirst, barefoot... I tied the shoes on my feet and walked like that, my feet were swollen. 

 

We stayed in Newroz Camp for 8 years. After 8 years we returned to Sinjar. All our needs were met in the camp. Our situation was good. But we returned to our own land, our own place, our own homeland. If we are here today, it is thanks to President Apo's students. Thanks to the YBŞ, YJŞ and our public order, we have reached today thanks to the thought and philosophy of President Apo. They have made our lives better.

 

We will not let them enter Shengal again

 

Before we joined the work, we were like eagles with our eyes closed at home. The People's Assembly was established at the Newroz Camp. I was a member of this council, and I have been involved in the work since that day. Difficulty, hardship, hunger, thirst, mothers who lost their children on the roads... We promised that we would take part in the work until the end. We will not allow the bloodsuckers who caused the sale of Shengal to enter Shengal again. We will not allow them to enter our lands once again. We will also hold those who caused the sale of Shengal and the edict to account.

 

We owe President Apo

 

We will make ourselves available wherever there are defenders of human rights. We will definitely ensure that the autonomy of Shengal is recognised. We will not give up our cause. It should be known that we owe President Apo and we want his freedom.

 

Until the guerrillas in the mountains came, our situation was not good and we were struggling. Dozens of guerrillas were martyred here to open the road. We commemorate those people who were martyred for freedom. The guerrilla saved the Yazidis, that is, saved them from death. Mothers from Syria came to the border from the bottom of their hearts and welcomed us. Yazidis should never forget these."