About the Book
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.
Based on years of on-the-ground reporting, The Daughters of Kobani is the unforgettable story of the women of the Kurdish militia that improbably became part of the world's best hope for stopping ISIS in Syria. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, bestselling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon introduces us to the women fighting on the front lines, determined to not only extinguish the terror of ISIS but also prove that women could lead in war and must enjoy equal rights come the peace. In helping to cement the territorial defeat of ISIS, whose savagery toward women astounded the world, these women played a central role in neutralizing the threat the group posed worldwide. In the process they earned the respect--and significant military support--of U.S. Special Operations Forces.
Rigorously reported and powerfully told, The Daughters of Kobanishines a light on a group of women intent on not only defeating the Islamic State on the battlefield but also changing women's lives in their corner of the Middle East and beyond.
288 pages (hardcover)
Published on February 16, 2021
Buy the book
This book was sent by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have recently become extremely frustrated by a whole lot of people having a lot of very loud opinions about stuff they don’t know anything about, and so I’ve decided to make a concentrated effort to not be like that. When an issue arises that a lot of people are yelling about, rather than shouting along with them, I go to my local library and find some books about the issue/region/people and read them. Then, I form my opinions.
Due to recent events, the Middle East has been (I think it always kind of is) a hot-button topic. I started out reading a bunch of books about Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda, but one thing leads to another and that particular rabbit hole lead to the book Black Flags, which is about Isis, which lead here, to The Daughters of Kobani.
The Daughters of Kobani is a sweeping journalistic endeavor focusing on a few brave Kurdish women in war-stricken Syria in a town called Kobani, which was near the Turkish border but fell within Isis control. In 2014, women in this town in northeastern Syria waged a war against their occupiers, fighting alongside Kurdish men.
When one considers the patriarchal society under Isis control, one realizes just how brave and determined these women must have been to stand and fight. Cornered, surrounded by misery and war on all sides, and being regarded basically sub-human under Isis, they still stood and fought. Without training, without a lot of equipment, at extreme risk to themselves, alongside men who often saw them more as a joke than a threat, they fought. If you want a story about people facing down long, impossible odds, I really don't think you can do better than reading about the Kurdish women who fought against Isis.
The book is set against a backdrop that is so dramatic, it almost doesn’t seem real. On the one hand, you have Isis, this sweeping fundamentalist group that was so radical even Al Qaeda wanted nothing to do with them. On the other hand, you have the dictator of Syria himself killing his own people, tearing his own nation apart in an effort to retain control. Civil war on the left and a fundamentalist militia on the right. The people of Kobani were stuck in a terrible situation, with no relief and no way out.
When Isis swept into Kobani, many people fled. Anyone who could, basically did. Soon, however, it became impossible and those who didn’t leave as soon as they saw trouble brewing were stuck. Isis had snipers on the rooftops, IEDs in the streets. People who were caught trying to flee were captured. Some were used as human shields against US strikes. Some details of Isis slavery are woven throughout this book, including stories of slave markets, women in cages, brides being bought and sold, sex slaves, as well as public executions and the like. The people in Isis-occupied territory faced situations I cannot even begin to imagine.
The women in this book ended up doing what they could, how they could. They were outnumbered and underequipped, but despite that, those who could, fought, not only against Isis, but eventually ended up gaining massive toeholds in the women's rights movement as well. Many of them functioned as snipers. Many of them subverted authority where and how they could when they were capable of doing so. The bravery that must have been involved in these actions is staggering, especially considering the situations encroaching from all sides. Despite the odds, however, these women ended up forming the YPJ, or the Kurdish Women’s Protection Unit, and ultimately ended up being one of the deciding factors that turned the tide of Isis, being instrumental in driving them out of Syria and breaking their control over several important cities in the region.
The Daughters of Kobani is a short book, clocking in at just under 300 pages, and perhaps this is both its greatest strength and it’s downfall. On the one hand, the length of the book makes it easy to get through. It's not overly long, so it doesn't walk that line between interest and emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, I felt like there was too much packed into these pages. The author was both trying to tell the stories of the fighters and trying to give a detailed history of the region and conflict as well. This made me feel, at times, like too much attention was being put on one thing and not enough on the other. Occasionally, I was so desperate to get back to the stories of the women, I skimmed information.
One thing I will say, is that "Kurdish" is a term that gets thrown around a lot on the news when I hear stories regarding this region, and yet I never quite understood what it meant. A nationality? A cultural group? Something else? Due to the fact that these women are Kurdish, I feel like this book informed me quite a bit about what being Kurdish actually means and how it fits into the tapestry of conflict in the region, something I truly appreciate and plan on reading more about so I can better understand.
The Daughters of Kobani is a powerful journalistic work telling the stories of the women who became a defining force in a very painful, brutal, bloody conflict. This is a book about good vs. evil, only instead of being on the silver screen, some made up action movie, this is real life. These are real living, breathing people who acted despite all their fear, and anger, and the extremely high risk to themselves. Most of these women lost absolutely everything, things I can’t even imagine losing, and still they fought.
Is the book perfect? No, but this is a story that needs to be told. The Daughters of Kobani is a sweeping narrative about the power of women. Ultimately, it’s a story about heroes.
Comments
Post a Comment