“Zenobia Women” Organization; What is Behind its Establishment in the Areas of the “SDF” North of Syria?

In light of the continuous violations committed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the conscription that chases girls in their areas of control, it was announced in the city of Raqqa that the “Zenobia Women’s” organization was established, sponsored and attended by a number of Kurdish organizations linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The formation of the new Women’s organization in early June 2021, in areas where the “SDF” forces imposed their control by force of arms, it raised questions about the reasons behind its establishment, and the role it can play independently, especially after defining it as “a real Women’s socio-political organization”.

Mysterious Organization

The announcement of the “Zenobia Women’s” organization was made with the participation of 150 women representatives of the political and military forces in the four areas controlled by the SDF; Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij, in the presence of Berivan Khaled, delegate of the co-presidency of the Executive Council in the “Autonomous Administration”, and Shiraz Hammo, the co-presidency of the Executive Council in the Autonomous Administration of Afrin region.

The conference was also attended by Siham Daoud, Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party -one of the faces of the Kurdistan Workers' Party-, Laila Al-Abdullah, a leader in the Syrian Democratic Council, representatives of the Circassian Society in Manbij and the Turkmen Society, and female figures from the regions of Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij.

Photos of the first conference to announce the establishment of the “Zenobia Women’s” organization showed the paintings of volunteers in the Kurdish armed organizations, especially the “SDF” forces who were killed in the city of Afrin in battles against the Syrian National Army and Turkey.

As the photos showed, the presence of photos of the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been detained in Turkey since 1999, in addition to the presence of flags of a number of Kurdish parties and organizations, which are political fronts for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the most prominent of them is the “Future Syria” Party.

Media reports on June 4, 2021 stated that Kurdish representation in the Women’s conference was overwhelming, despite the adoption of the Arabic language in the conference, where they wrote the slogan “With the organized struggle of women, we will protect our revolution and make peace” in three languages: Arabic, Kurdish and Syriac.

With regard to the name, the choice of “Zenobia”, the queen of Palmyra, is considered a Syrian symbol for all shades, nationalities and ethnicities in eastern Syria, Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Turkmen and Circassians, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration wanted to present itself at the conference as, “a model for the pluralistic Syrian democratic project”, according to reports.

Observers believe that the Kurdish organizations' sponsorship of the “Zenobia Women’s” organization, raises doubts about the reasons for establishing this organization and the hidden goals behind it, the fact that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are accused of kidnapping girls in their areas of control, and forcing them to fight within their ranks.

On August 14, 2020, the opposition Syrian military expert, Abdullah Al-Alasaad, told “Al-Estiklal” that “The kidnapping of children and depriving them of teaching by Kurdish organizations is not limited to boys only, but these practices also affect girls, and they are required to go to the mountains and fight with the SDF”.

In the same context, the “Euro-Mediterranean” Human Rights Monitor strongly condemned the kidnappings carried out by the SDF and put them in conscription camps, calling on the relevant international authorities to intervene and stopping the successive violations against children in the areas controlled by the SDF.

The Geneva-based International Human Rights Monitor condemned in a statement issued on July 5, 2020, the SDF kidnapped the 11-year-old girl, Ronida Dari, from the city of Amuda, in the northern countryside of al-Hasakah, pointing out that this kidnapping is not the first, as the SDF pursues a policy of forcibly recruiting children and involving them in military operations, without paying attention to the special protection approved by law to them.

Political Goals

The speeches delivered at the Zenobia Women’s conference revealed that the goal behind this is to organize women politically in the areas controlled by the Kurdish organizations, in order to serve the orientations of the “SDF” and other formations affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party “PKK”.

The spokeswoman for the “Women’s Commission” in Deir ez-Zor was Shahrazad Al-Jassem, explained the conference announcing Women's formation as “a real social and ecological Women’s political organization (ecology), it organizes all women from all peoples and cultures in Syria”.

For her part, Maryam Ibrahim, representative of the regions (Tabqa, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor), said, “If this gathering indicates something, it is that women have become role models and pioneers in society, today, 4 years after the liberation of these areas, we can say this is the beginning of the rebirth of the free woman, after organizing herself within the project of the democratic nation, and work in all institutions and departments”.

Before that, a member of the preparatory committee for the conference, Siham Hammo, said, “The announcement of a new organization came based on the efforts of the past years, to unify the will of women and reach the different spectrums of women, empowering them at all levels, and for them to have a prominent role in leading the stage towards a political solution in Syria, realizing the hopes and aspirations of Syrian women, and bringing sustainable peace to Syria”.

Siham Hammo added, in the opening speech of the conference: “Today we are meeting from the various components of the Syrian people, to announce Zenobia Women’s organization, which came as a culmination of the legacy of the struggle and sacrifices made by women”.

For her part, the Kurdish writer Hevidar Khaled said during an article published by the newspaper “Ronahi” on June 6, 2021, the goal of the establishment of Zenobia Women’s is to unify the thought and will of women to reach through it the different spectrums of women in Syria, empowering them at all levels; thus, they would have a prominent role in leading the stage towards the political solution in Syria.

 

Seven Women

During the conference of the Women’s Organization, a vote was taken to elect seven women as administrators of the four regions “Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Manbij”, they are: Khloud Al-Essa, Nisreen Al-Hassan, Shahrazad Al-Jassem, Fatima Bahbouh, Ghada Hamid, Maryam Ibrahim, Suzdar Qasim.

After completing the election of the administrators, the final statement of the work of the conference was issued, it was stated: “The woman in north and east Syria was able to highlight her role, prove her entity and organize herself at all levels, she wrote heroic epics in the liberation and elimination of the most notorious terrorist organization”.

The statement added: “To culminate these victories, we announce today the establishment of the Zenobia Women’s Organization, to become the incubator and the main pillar for the hopes and aspirations of Syrian women, which highlights the priorities of our tasks by developing our approach and philosophy in the process of organizational building, protecting the gains of our revolutions and establishing peace in accordance with legitimate and international decisions”.

At the conclusion of its work, the conference confirmed the need for women’s participation, and to represent it in the ongoing political process under the auspices of the United Nations within the framework of UN Resolution 1325, and combating all forms of violence and discrimination against women.

What indicates that the Kurdish armed organizations are behind the establishment and management of the new women’s organization, one of its outputs was the demand to “End all occupations in Syria, especially the Turkish occupation through the United Nations and the relevant international parties”.

He also urged “To raise the pace of struggle against all systematic policies that are being hatched against women, by the conflicting parties and the Turkish occupation,” according to the statement.