December 4, 2018 – Bridge Agents

Interview with the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) in North Kurdistan

December 4, 2018 Bridge Agents

Kurdistan (OpenDemocracy) – After the Syrian Kurds’ fight for Kobane (a Kurdish city in northern Syria/Rojava) against ISIS in 2014-5, many across the world were suddenly made aware of the Kurdish women’s movement. What has not reached us, however, is a much wider context that enabled the Kurdish women-fighters to confidently take up arms to defend themselves and their people. The unprecedented accomplishments of the Kurdish women predated Kobane and the war in Syria. They are rooted in the evolution of Turkey’s Kurdish liberation movement, as it is represented by the Kurdistan…

China: Release Workers, Student Activists

December 4, 2018 Bridge Agents

(HRW) – The Chinese government should immediately release workers and students arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared during a nationwide crackdown since mid-2018, Human Rights Watch said today. Those held include factory workers, labor activists, college students, trade union officials, and a lawyer. “It’s ironic that a self-proclaimed socialist government is cracking down on young Marxists,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The persecution of student labor activists only exposes the absurdity of the Chinese government’s claim to champion workers’ rights.” In July, police in Guangdong province detained…