I See Freedom Inside The YPJ: An Interview With A YPJ Fighter

An a new interview for JINHA carried by Özgür Gündem, journalist Ebîr Ehmed speaks with 24-year old Lîlav Xabûr, an Arab fighting with the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) in Rojava. In the interview Lîlav explains her reasons for joining the YPJ and the influence which her experiences and training have had in her life.

Lîlav began by saying that because she was a woman she had not be able to go to school. However Lîlav added that “with the Rojava revolution the fate of women has changed. Now in Rojava it is women who are leading the society.”

Lîlav explains how she was affected by what she saw happening within the YPJ and explained her reasons for joining thus: “I was living in the village of Ashra near Hesekê (Arabic: Al-Hasakah). After the gangs attacked our village I made the decision to join the YPJ. When the ISIS gangs attacked our village they killed children and young people, rapped women, and even murdered a friend of mine in front of my eyes. They have burned and destroyed everything. They have carried out immoral and inhumane attacks and this has affected me a lot. I didn’t want to just be an observer. For this reason I took the decision to struggle against the gangs and I joined the YPJ.”

Women Must Organize

Lîlav emphasized that the YPG and the YPJ did not discriminate among peoples or ethnicities, adding: “At first my family was against my joining but I also changed their opinions with my own stance. I have found my freedom inside the YPJ. I have see that women can do anything through their own will power. The science of women has developed owing to the philosophy and thinking if leader Abdullah Öcalan. Today I am calling on all young women to join the ranks of the YPJ and I am saying that all women needed to be included in efforts at organizing.”