Book excerpt: ‘The Daughters of Kobani’ Gayle Tzemach Lemmon The Daughters of Kobani. (Penguin Random House)
In 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women’s rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard of: Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swaths of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States. In the process, these women would spread their own political vision, determined to make women’s equality a reality by fighting house by house, street by street, city by city the men who bought and sold women.
Recent Developments
The Saudi-led coalition has continued to wage its campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, resulting in heavy civilian casualties. In June 2018, the coalition launched a major offensive to retake the coastal region of Hodeida, further worsening the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations, which appointed a new special envoy for Yemen in 2018, has attempted to broker a cease-fire.
The Houthis have responded to Saudi airstrikes with missile attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure and territory, including oil tankers and facilities and international airports. Further complicating the civil war, secessionist groups in Yemen’s south, supported by the United Arab Emirates, have clashed with the UN-recognized government forces based in Aden.
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Sputnik International
Hillary Clinton
The book, based on hundreds of hours of interviews and years of on-the-ground reporting, is about the all-female Kurdish militia who successfully took on ISIS in the northern Syrian town of Kobani.
The women played a central role in neutralising the group, earning the respect, and military support, of the US Special Operations Forces, as well as changing women s lives in their small corner of the Middle East – and beyond.
The Daughters of Kobani is an extraordinary account of brave, defiant women fighting for justice and equality, says the former first lady. We created HiddenLight to celebrate heroes – sung and unsung alike – whose courage is too often overlooked, and we could not be more thrilled to bring this inspiring story to viewers around the world.