Members of Bristol Antifascists joined a 300 strong demonstration in London on 27th January as part of the international days of action under the banner of “Rise up for Rojava”. Despite the driving rain and bitter cold the demo was fired up, loud and defiant as it was led by Kurdish youth and women. Inspired by the bravery and determination of the Kurdish hunger strikers (one of whom was on day 82!) and the ongoing resistance to the Turkish state, ISIS and the forces of fascism and capitalism in Rojava, we added our voices to the worldwide solidarity with the Rojava revolution. We heard how the previous day hundreds of protesters entered a Turkish military base in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, setting fire to the facilities and vehicles and sacking the base after Turkish airstrikes killed civilians.
The demo started with a rally at the BBC, loudly and clearly condemning the corporation for it’s silence and complicity with the war on the Kurdish people. Shouts of “Wake up London, wake up UK!”, “Stop supporting terrorism, stop arming Turkey!” and “One solution, revolution!” amongst others went up all the way to Trafalgar Square, accompanied by Kurdish resistance music, speakers and plenty of flares. When the cops started massing numbers to snatch some Kurdish youth displaying their flags, word quickly went around to form a protective circle around them to prevent any arrests. The police thought better of it and backed down. Solidarity is our best defence and this was a very clear example of how we share the same enemies, from ISIS and genocidal states such as Turkey and the UK, to capitalism and it’s uniformed protectors. For international solidarity and antifascist resistance.
For more info and to get involved:
https://twitter.com/KurdishStudents
https://www.facebook.com/BristolKurdishSolidarity/
Here is the original callout for the international days of action. The call for action and solidarity still stands:
# RiseUp4Rojava – Call for global days of action on 27 and 28 January 2019
