<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font size="4">Friends,</font><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4">Here's a very thoughtful response from Ken Montenegro, one of the authors of "We thought it was fiction", on <span style="font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Şervîn Nûdem's comments:</span></span></font></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><font size="4"><br></font></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">Hello friends,</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">All I can say is that what those of us in the US experience in the US is but a simulacrum of what the settler colonial war machine does in "foreign" lands. I can also say that what the brave folks fighting for self-determination in Rojava/Kurdistan/Syria/Turkey are directly experiencing, like what folks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Chechnya have experienced: meta-data (like a phone signal) can kill.<br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">This is once again why abolition matters: we can't accept these weapons and an abolitionist framework encourages us not to get distracted because these tools will "keep us safe" per the perpetrators of mass murder; we know that we keep us safe and free. The brave folks of Rojava teach us that lesson in the similar way that other temporarily subjugated and targeted folks have in the past.<br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">As the technology of death accelerates, I think our analysis must as well...without the prevarication and "two-sides" that some folks propose.<br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">Warm regards from Colombia,</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">Ken<br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="4">Ken Montenegro :: Technologist, Lawyer, Factotum :: <a href="https://flowcrypt.com/me/kmontenegro" target="_blank">https://flowcrypt.com/me/kmontenegro</a></font></div><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4">Here's the link to Ken and colleagues' article:</font></div><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4"><a href="https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/we-thought-it-was-fiction/" target="_blank">https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/we-thought-it-was-fiction/</a><br></font></div><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4">And, here's the link to the article <span style="font-variant:inherit;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Şervîn Nûdem wrote earlier in April on the transformation taking place in Rojava:</span></font></div><div><span style="font-variant:inherit;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><font size="4"><br></font></span></div><div><span style="font-style:italic;font-variant:inherit;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:georgia,serif;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-style:normal"><font size="4"><a href="https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/dismantling-power-by-building-democratic-autonomy/" target="_blank">https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/dismantling-power-by-building-democratic-autonomy/</a></font></span><br></span></div></div></div></div></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><em style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><br></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><em style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><br></em></span></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 11:47 PM Pallav Das <<a href="mailto:dpallav@gmail.com" target="_blank">dpallav@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif">Friends,</font><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif">I wanted to share a special message from our colleague and comrade, <span style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><em style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Şervîn Nûdem</em></span><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68)"> of the Jineolojî Academy in Rojava (West-Kurdistan) in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, apprising us of the current political situation in Rojava, and how an article on the Radical Ecological Democracy website resonated with her. The article </span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><em style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Şervîn is</em></span><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68)"> referencing in the note below is:</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><a href="https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/we-thought-it-was-fiction/" target="_blank">https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/we-thought-it-was-fiction/</a><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif">In solidarity,</font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif">Pallav Das</font></div><div><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:"Open Sans",serif;font-size:16px"><br></span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><font size="4">Here's </font><em style="font-variant:inherit;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:large;box-sizing:border-box;border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Şervîn's note;</em></font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><br></font></b></div><div><b><font size="4" face="georgia, serif">"As you are asking about the present situation here in Rojava: I don't know how much you are able to follow the news from this region, but Turkey's occupation war with increasing aggression and attacks is continuing. In addition to the military attacks on regions in South Kurdistan which involve repeated use of chemical weapons against HPG guerilla units, also war crimes against the people in Rojava are continuing. More or less daily, community leaders and activists are targeted by Turkish drone attacks in different regions of North Syria and in Shengal. Here we see clearly the horrific results of, "Techno Fascism as a part of Settler Colonialism" as it has been called in the RED-article. I don`t know if Pegasus malware has been involved in these cases, but we witnessed that more than a dozen brave women and men who played an important role in liberating these soils from the IS-fascists, have been executed during the last days due to missile attacks on their cars  - especially in Kobanê. We are confronted with a murderous special warfare on all levels, while the international public watches silently. Furthermore Erdogan seems to prepare for another large scale military invasion against the region of Democratic Autonomy in the coming days. As more and more people are discontent with his fascist regime and the economic crisis in Turkey, he tries again to mobilise with nationalist-fundamentalist slogans for another neo-ottoman occupation campaign. Against this everywhere in Rojava the people are full of rage and anger. Together, we are determined to defend our lives, our dignity, the land and the hope of all people living here. Today is Nov, 1st - the World Kobanê Resistance Day. This day has shown us that peoples' international solidarity can gain victory against the fascist mercenary troops of imperialist powers."</font></b><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:"Open Sans",serif;font-size:16px"><br></span></div><br><div><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:"Open Sans",serif;font-size:16px"><br></span></div></div>
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