The Academy of Social Science is organizing a two-day conference in the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). It is a response to the 73 waves of killings that the Yazidi community has suffered throughout its history.
The conference, entitled “The Response to 73 Genocides” and “The Call for a Democratic Society is the Beginning of a Renaissance for the Yazidis”, continues on its second day with discussions on women’s culture, ecological society, and jineology.
A presentation titled “Enlightening Women’s Truth as the Essence and Construction of Society through Jineology” was delivered by Besê Avesta, a member of the Shengal Jineology Committee. The presentation emphasized that the renaissance of the Yazidi society is only possible through the freedom of Yazidi women.
The presentation pointed out that Mesopotamia was the first haven where life was shaped around women, stating, “This is also the place where women first attained goddesshood, and the place where they were first cast down from goddesshood. This is also the place where society was first developed with the sanctity of the mother goddess, and the place where it was first cast down by the male-dominated mindset.”
The presentation emphasized that while the Middle East was the first center of goddess culture on the one hand, it was also the place where the denial and massacre of women began on the other. Referring to Abdullah Öcalan’s observation “the dagger in the back of society”, the presentation expressed the role of jineology in solving this fundamental problem as follows: “As long as the dagger in the back of society remains, it is impossible to walk in the right direction. Without a correct analysis of the issue of women’s freedom, freedom of society is also impossible. Jineology aims to find a solution to the problem of the dagger in society’s back. This is the greatest claim of women’s science. As Leader Öcalan said, the problem of the dagger in society’s back is solved in this way.”
Zozan Sîma, a member of the Jineology Academy, participated in the conference online. Zozan Sîma drew attention to the relationship between democratic society culture and women-centered life culture, saying: “Yazidi women and society must discuss their history, destiny, ideas, and faiths on their own land and make their own decisions; this is the greatest response to genocides. This conference is important and sacred not only for Yazidi women and society, but for all women and societies in the Middle East. The culture of the Yazidi society is very ancient and is not only the root of the Kurds or communal-based societies; it is also the root of a women-centered way of life, and this culture has been preserved to this day.”
Öcalan describes this ongoing process as the renaissance of the Yazidi community. Renaissance is basically the construction of new things starting from one’s own roots, in line with the new era. In his views on socialist and democratic societies, Leader Öcalan emphasizes that we must understand ancient civilizations well and build new democratic societies on top of them. When we speak of a new society, this society must not sever its ties with its roots. Society can rebuild its own culture by rejecting elements imposed on it by those in power. On this basis, it can establish its own organization based on women’s freedom.
We conducted research on the ancient Yazidi culture together with Martyr Nagîhan Akarsel (Zîlan). In our studies on the roots of Yazidi women, we traced the origins of a democratic and communal society. The most striking finding of our research was that elements such as defense, economy, labor, and self-administration are present in Yazidi society. However, due to genocides and male-dominated attacks, the Yazidi community has been distanced from this path. The task before us now is to further develop these discussions in terms of struggle, organization, defense, and ideology. This is what Yazidi women and society need most.”