Navigating the perils of Kurdish solidarity with Palestine amid global indifference

Writing from the Kurdish perspective on the ongoing war on Gaza is like walking a tightrope, surrounded by a dangerous minefield – almost like a form of suicide. This is especially true given that the circumstances of the Kurds often mirror those of the Palestinians in many cases. The media's alignment with civilian Palestinians is a moral imperative, just as it should be for any people, including the Kurds in Syria, who also endure mistreatment, whether by their own leaders or those who control the region. Nonetheless, there's no absolution for regimes that squander the blood of their own people. But this desire to stand with civilians acts as a potent reminder, as the world hardly extends the same courtesy to the Kurds and see them in the same way, particularly since certain political elites and Palestinian militant factions, often backed by nations and groups, inherently regard the Kurds with hostility.

Speaking and deliberating about the causes of the attack must be accompanied by the acknowledgment that those countries have their own people, and justice cannot be eroded by the passage of time or forgotten, and this is also correct and justified.

However, the distinction here is when a Kurdish individual writes to inquire about the outcomes and future of these unpredictable wars and conflicts. More often than not, it leads their owner – stemming from the narrative of the "Kurdish secretly operating with Israel" – to the accusation of treason and defamation, often without much thought. The human mind has the right to question the strategic planning behind commencing such a battle and attack: So, what's next?

Those who propagate such biased views leap over what the Arab regimes do towards their own people, their neglect of the Palestinian cause, or the opportunistic stance of certain countries engaging in normalization with Israel. They seem to operate on the firm premise that any opinion diverging from the established framework is inherently hostile. It's as if they are experts in vilifying the Kurds based on a single narrative, and nothing more.

They seem to operate on the firm premise that any opinion diverging from the established framework is inherently hostile. It's as if they are experts in vilifying the Kurds based on a single narrative, and nothing more.

By the way, what will those countries that have already normalized relations or are seeking normalization do in response regarding the attacks? They will stand with the civilians, demand the entry of medical and humanitarian aid, and perhaps call for an "emergency" meeting, that's it. Therefore, a non-emotional writing about the "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation compels the Kurdish writer to explore the vast realm of vocabulary and terminologies, hoping to successfully convey their idea, which is always standing by the civilians and the people's right in their homeland, based on the principle that positions should be indivisible.

There is a resemblance between the reality of the Kurdish and Palestinian situations. The West, its leaders and its socio-political elites act as if the matter has been predetermined regarding the identity of the indigenous populations, effectively ignoring the existence of Palestinian civilians, as if they are not there, as is the case with the Kurdish presence in the region, but without genuine support or backing. Those lands historically belong to the Palestinians, and a union of nations, Western and Arab states have joined their hands together to thwart the dreams of their people, just like the Kurds, who are killed based on identity only for dreaming of living in their homeland, alongside their peers from other nations.

Western media does not speak about the innocent women, children, and civilians who fell victim to Israeli airstrikes in response to the "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation. They remain mere civilians. To be fair, the Palestinian factions also arrested civilians, killed some of them, and captured others. This is the same media that does not influence global public opinion regarding what the Kurds in Syria experience in terms of the loss of their identity, or the economic blockade imposed on Iraqi Kurdistan.

Defending the rights of civilians is a moral and humanitarian duty for all of us. However, Kurds defending themselves is an accusation, and their duty is to support the Palestinian cause without delving into other details, which is arbitrary in itself. As individuals engaged in public interest and affairs, we have the right to a clear answer: Why doesn't the other defend the Kurds to the same extent they demand Kurds to defend them?

This war brought back memories of many decades past, and it created a personal conviction that Arab regimes suppress different nationalities such as Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen, Circassians, Berbers, Tuaregs, Amazigh, etc., and oppress their people, and have put them at odds with the Arab entity, so that it can remain comfortable in power. As a result, we as peoples have become distant from each other, with the absence of a state that could bring us together.

In contrast to the scale of Western official and popular sympathy and alignment with Israel without any concern for the issues of other peoples and the slain civilians, who are deemed mere marginal details in the context of the "greater cause" – i.e. safeguarding Israel's interests – these regimes do not dare confront the West's duplicity. This approach is highly provocative and built upon the reality of these regimes cooperating with the West against civilians as long as their existence is not at risk. What's even more provocative is the stance of the "elites" who persist in their limited view, of the necessity of keeping the Kurds as hostages to the imagination of these regimes and not demanding their historical rights.

As individuals engaged in public interest and affairs, we have the right to a clear answer: Why doesn't the other defend the Kurds to the same extent they demand Kurds to defend them?

The Kurds and the Palestinians continue to suffer from global and Arab neglect in terms of active interest and sustainable solutions for their just causes. It can be said with ease that the issue of the Kurdish and Palestinian peoples is the final test for assessing the level of sensitivity, principles, values, and ethics that cannot be fragmented. Arabs who stand in solidarity with Palestine politically and culturally oppose Kurdish rights. Kurds who insist on the right to self-determination rights and oppose others who stand in solidarity with civilians in Gaza and Palestine, even if only on a humanitarian and ethical level, represent the source of hypocrisy, insincerity, and lies.

For both of these people, civilians pay the price of the follies of politicians and their rash actions, or the practices of teenagers who have pushed the bodies of the innocent into useless furnaces.

Social media and the internet are teeming with hundreds of analyses and interpretations about the war on Gaza. But if a Kurdish writer were to ask: Why did Hamas pursue this attack, knowing the frightening imbalance of power between the two sides? Knowing that a civilian is still a civilian, whether they are Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Arab, or a Kurd. How would the reactions be against him?

* The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Raseef22