After the Fall Podcast"A delegation from the leadership of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) arrived on Wednesday in Damascus to meet with officials from the Syrian transitional government." Very curious what will come out of this.
Today is last day to sign this petition from Kongra Star, a women's org in NE Syria. it is regarding the events of January 2026.
"We emphasize the necessity of forming an independent and impartial international commission of inquiry to investigate the extrajudicial killings and document all violations committed, as an essential and indispensable step towards establishing the foundations of transitional justice and holding perpetrators accountable, thus ensuring that impunity is not tolerated and putting an end to the arbitrary practices of the forces affiliated with the transitional government."
https://kongra-star.org/eng/2026/03/12/statement-launching-a-petition-campaign/
“Freedom for the missing and imprisoned people” - Kongra Star
Statement Launching a Petition Campaign – Demanding the Release of Prisoners and the Forcibly Disappeared In the name of Kongra Star, and in coordination with women’s organizations, civil society organizations, political parties, unions, and families of prisoners and the missing, we raise our voices today to global public opinion and international institutions concerned with the …
Demo Ticker Berlin💥Announcement! Sunday 08.03.2026💥
🕊🌿 Against war, for the women's revolution✊🏾🔥
Sunday, 08.03.2026 | 3 p.m. | S+U Gesundbrunnen, 13355 Berlin
Arrival: U8, S1, S2, S25, S26, S41, S42, RB10, RB21, RB27, RB54, RB60, RE1, RE2, RE3, RE5, RE8, RE66, Bus 247 Gesundbrunnen
📣 Call to action: https://asanb.noblogs.org/?p=15926 - @youngstruggle_berlin
‼️No men allowed‼️
🗺 Expected route:
● Forecourt of Gesundbrunnen Centre
● Badstraße
● Exerzierstraße
● Schulstraße
● Leopoldplatz
● Müllerstraße
● Fennstraße
● Reinickendorfer Straße
● Gerichtstraße
● Gartenstraße
● Scheringstraße
● Scheringstraße 2/Rheinmetall (ZK)
● Hussitenstraße
● Humboldthain S-Bahn station
Against war, for the women's revolution – come out for Women's Day of Struggle!
While Germany continues to diligently support the genocide in Gaza and the war against Rojava with weapons and money, the state is cutting back on social services and violence protection assistance in every possible way.
The façade of a country that supposedly puts the protection of women and LGBTI+ people at the forefront is crumbling more and more!
Some herbalists in Canada are doing a fundraiser for WJAS! They are one of the organizations that I met in NE Syria last year. They support women in NE Syria through funding health clinics, providing job training, and, important in this context, providing needed materials for displaced people like tents and blankets. While the ceasefire has meant some people who fled Aleppo, Tabqa, or Raqqa can return, many people still cannot. And there are still all the people displaced from Afrin.
More information on the fundraising campaign is here: https://imginn.com/p/DVQ_JeTFeuN/
And if you're already wondering where to donate, it is here: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/R2AD2HTSR64P6
Updates from The Amargi about the situation in northern Syria. https://www.theamargi.com/posts/critical-phase-for-sdf-damascus-agreement-as-afrin-returns-start
Highlights:
re: the Women's Revolution: "Local sources report that research institutions centred on women’s studies, developed by Kurdish women and forming a key part of the DAANES curriculum, are advocating for the recognition of Kurdish gender studies – an initiative directly at odds with the ideology of the Islamist-led transitional government."
Re: possibilities for dusplaced Kurds to return to Afrin: "For many Kurds, the true measure of the agreement’s success rests in Afrin, a city with an overwhelmingly Kurdish population that has been under the control of Turkish-backed factions since 2018, when a Turkish military offensive drove out the vast majority of its Kurdish residents. In Aleppo, which also has a significant Kurdish population, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafizeh face their own distinct set of security and administrative challenges.
On February 17, civil society institutions and DAANES began preparations for the return of approximately 500 displaced families from Afrin, in coordination with international bodies. Sunday’s joint security delegation visit to Afrin, followed by Monday’s assessment of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafizeh, represents the most concrete steps yet toward making those returns a reality.
But the road ahead remains steep. Turkish-backed factions have held onto control of Afrin, while the agreement’s clause on displaced persons, covering Afrin, Tel Abyad (Girê Spî) and Serekaniye, has yet to be meaningfully implemented at scale."
and finally, re: roadblocks to the implementation of the Jan 29 agreement"
"The durability of the agreement depends on factors beyond the control of either the SDF or Damascus, chief among them the stance of the Turkish-backed armed factions, whose continued presence in Afrin and around Kobani directly undermines the agreement’s core commitments. For thousands of displaced Kurdish families sheltering across northeastern Syria, the coming weeks will determine whether these delegations and committees translate into the long-awaited right to return home."
Critical Phase for SDF-Damascus Agreement as Afrin Returns Start
QAMISHLI, Syria – Nearly a month after a landmark agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria’s transitional government (STG), implementation has accelerated, but significant obstacles remain, with the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced Kurds hanging in the balance. According to local media, a joint security delegation conducted a two-day sweeping tour […]
💥Announcement! Wednesday 11.02.2026💥
🔥✊🏾Lecture: What is the women's revolution?✊🏾🔥
Wednesday, 11.02.2026 | 6 p.m. | Cittipunkt e.V., Brüsseler Straße 36 A, 13353 Berlin
Arrival: Bus 50, 106, 221 Tram M13 Seestraße/Amrumer Straße | U9 Amrumer Straße
📣 Call: https://asanb.noblogs.org/?p=15464 - @zora_berlin_
Since the beginning of January, democratic self-government in Rojava and with it the women's revolution have been under attack by the HTS under the new Syrian president al Jolani, a former Al-Qaeda member, and the Turkish state.
The women's revolution must be defended at all costs, as the achievements of Kurdish women are unprecedented. In Rojava, they fight in their own military units such as the YPJ, which was founded in 2013 and played a key role in the armed struggle against IS and the liberation of Kobanê.
They organise themselves in their own women's courts and women's shelters and are significantly involved in decision-making at every political level.
First article I have seen that quotes someone from the Zenobia Assembly, an Arab women's organization that was affiliated with Kongra Star in NE Syria. Zenobia Assembly was most active in Tabqa, Raqqa, and Deir Ezzor. You can hear them talk about their organization here: https://afterthefallpod.libsyn.com/episode-two-a-contested-city
I had heard from contacts on the ground that women from the Zenobia Assembly, which was affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, had to flee the area when Transitional Government troops moved in. But this is the first article I have seen quoting someone on the ground.
https://www.theamargi.com/posts/no-more-womens-rights-in-raqqa
After the Fall: Dispatches from the Women's Revolution in North-East Syria: Episode Two: A Contested City
The second episode brings us to Raqqa where we talk to Arab women organizing since the fall of ISIS to build up new women’s collectives and projects. We also attend a press conference with representatives of the women’s committee of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (DAANES), the main governing body in the region. They tell us about the kind of work being done to bring together the different populations living in the area. Notes: Syrian Democratic Council’s statement on the Interim Government’s Draft Constitutional Declaration from March 14, 2025: Syrian Women’s Council on the constitution: US Troops withdrawal from Syria as of June 2025: Amnesty International’s report on the situation in the prisons and camps in NE Syria: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/syria-mass-death-torture-and-other-violations-against-people-detained-in-aftermath-of-islamic-state-defeat-new-report/ Citation for claim that “one of the groups affiliated with the SDF’s Manbij Military Council changed allegiances after the fall of Assad and started supporting a Turkish backed militia that was affiliated with HTS”: Article on the threat that HTS will try to attack SDF around Raqqa/Deir Ezzor: More reading on the Zenobia Women’s Assembly: and I make a brief mention of different tendencies within the Kurdish movement in this episode. If you’re curious to learn more, there is a lot of Kurdish history in this book: Cambridge History of the Kurds. Ed. Hamit Bozarslan, Cengiz Gunes, Veli Yadirgi. Cambridge University Press, 2021 Episode credits: Voice credits: Karla Stephen, Gabrielle Mulholland, Heidi, Kelly Montford, Cristine, Andrea Hume, Anais Maranda Music credits: Theme music is from Koma Şehîd Hêva Ya Şehba available online at and interlude and outro music is from Shahriyar Jamshidi https://shahriyarjamshidi.bandcamp.com/album/my-sunset-land-rojava
Always terrifying to be the interviewee and not the interviewer. Have not re-listened. All mistakes are my own. This was recorded on Monday January 19. https://live-like-the-world-is-dying.pinecast.co/episode/7e63f555/rojava-after-the-fall-with-virginia
Rojava After the Fall with Virginia
# Episode Notes This week on Live Like the World is Dying, we have a new episode with Virginia from the After the Fall podcast who talks about life in Rojava after the fall of Assad. We also talk about what's been going on more since this episode was recorded as Rojava was preparing to defend
Really good op/ed: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/22/revolutionary-women-rojava-grave-danger-syria
"The question of how people can build a counterweight to growing authoritarianism has never been more urgent. Women and men in north-east Syria have been putting their energy into trying to answer that question for years. And now it’s up to all of us who admired that energy to think about how we can show solidarity. That can involve using our voices to pressure our government to support the rights of women and minorities in the region, and to rein in the Damascus government’s repressive ambitions. It can involve engaging with the ideas and practices of direct democracy that characterise the region’s governance at its best. And it can also involve trying to build a more collective and confident feminism in our own societies."
What's at stake here: https://syriauntold.com/2026/01/15/what-do-women-fear-in-the-10-march-agreement/
Article was written before the military advance in the Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo, but still gives a clear sense of what women in the north and east are fighting for. Interviews women in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa. I was told that women from the Zenobia Assembly who I talked to for 'After the Fall' have fled Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor or been forced underground. I don't know if that's also true for the women interviewed in this article.
