Can you elaborate further on the situation in Kurdistan?
Why are entertainment figures jump on a chance to talk about a Free Palestine but not a Free Kurdistan?
Submitted 2 days ago by Patnou@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
MousePotatoDoesStuff@piefed.social 2 days ago
YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub 2 days ago
Every state in the region tries to stamp out Kurdish identity. Turkey is notorious about this. Iran is currently droning Kurds in Iraq. Syria just fucked over the AANES which had a thriving multicultural system with Kurds as a foundational part.
Basically, Kurds do a lot of dying for the region, especially in their valiant fight against ISIS but everyone still treats them like shit.
Ugurcan@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Oof.
I’m really sorry to correct you on a point: Turkiye is not ‘notorious’ about this anymore. Over the past year, Erdogan + TR nationalists struck a huge deal with Öcalan, imprisoned Kurdish separatist founder. PKK and Türkiye are besties now. Even so, TR ultrafascists pushing for his full release & granting official status. So there’s a chance they’re not oprressed as much as Palestinians now.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 days ago
Turkey is notorious about this. Iran is currently droning Kurds in Iraq. Syria just fucked over the AANES which had a thriving multicultural system with Kurds as a foundational part.
Not sure about Turkey, but what does Iran droning Kurds in Iraq look like? And Syria absorbing the AANES doesn't seem like doing much to Kurdish identity per se?
robomuffin79@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Maybe because western governments, the media and corporations aren’t funding any wide genocide of Kurds?
blunderworld@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
Less media coverage and public awareness I suppose. I’ll admit I don’t know anything about what’s going on in Kurdistan, but I see news about Palestine almost every day.
it_depends_man@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Historic stuff.
Palestine was a country, or a region/territory administrated by the British. The formation of Israel was a bit of a historic coincidence, the empire was beaten by WW2 and scoping down and giving independence because the colonial stuff couldn’t be maintained any longer.
The situation with the europen jews was problematic, because even though Nazi Germany was defeated, the prejudices against jews weren’t removed by snapping your fingers and the question of where the millions of victims should go and live was open. Putting them into Palestine and creating Israel was a convenient alignment of both the political opportunity and the public opinion of people who wanted the jews gone and the jews who wanted to leave and live in Israel instead.
You may notice that the one group that wasn’t asked in this situation was the population of Palestine.
That’s sort of the short version of how Israel came to be.
The situation with the Kurds is completely different. They have no real external political support. The countries where “Kurdistan” would be “belongs” to intact, functioning sovereign nations, who all between each other agree to the current borders. And who all can field the military and governmental power to enforce that claim, both externally, but also internally. Because of how international territorial disputes are resolved, this is a “solved problem” diplomatically and internationally.
Kurds who are pro Kurdistan and… well, armed, are treated as rebels against the government. And other governments also don’t like rebels in their countries, so the question of how legitimate the claim is, doesn’t even get debated on that level.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 days ago
Your paragraph about the formation of Israel is mostly popular myth. Most of the Jews who were there for the founding of Israel were already there by WWII (mostly but not entirely from Eastern Europe), and from there the really big infusion was from the Middle East. A lot of holocaust I survivors did go to Israel, but they weren't "put" there and it remained illegal under the British mandate. Zionist colonization of Palestine starts in the late 19th century and really gets going after Britain wins WWI; WWII was important insofar as it exhausted the British Empire and paved the way for decolonization, but it didn't result in a massive infusion of new people. Now there was some collaboration between Zionists and European anti-Semites along the lines you mentioned, but most of that started in the interwar period (interwar Poland being the big example, having armes and trained Jewish militias specifically so it could put its Jews in Palestine).
ajikeshi@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The countries where “Kurdistan” would be “belongs” to intact, functioning sovereign nations, who all between each other agree to the current borders.
most of those countries were also french or british colonial territories
Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 2 days ago
Partly at least, publicity.
Due to the way it came to be and its allegiances, Israel is generally treated as part of the "Western world", and is thus much more in the European and American spotlight.
Thus its absolute oppression and genocide of Palestinian people has a lot more Western eyes on it than the plight of the Kurds.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 days ago
What’s a Kurdistan?
Seriously, that is the problem. Many people simply don’t know what is happening a few hundred kilometers away if the news does not shove it down their throat.
Kyrias@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
Fewer Kurdish refugees being vocal, I’m guessing.
menas@lemmy.wtf 2 days ago
No, their is a very active diaspora. They are making event every month in front of place of power to make them heard. However, a move to help kurdish people is consider as a threat by the Turkish State
Kyrias@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
Not that active in Canada.
remon@ani.social 2 days ago
When I lived in the city there was a Kurdish protest march almost once a months. Not a very big one, but there are persistence.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 days ago
I mean, only one of these is currently being subjected to genocide, and Western celebrities will be more focused on injustices their own countries are helping.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The same reason you don’t know where Moldova is. It’s a small area with a ethnicty you’ve never heard of.
Palestine is is something you hear about on the evening news like every other week, so everyone knows what it is.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 days ago
It's been a consist zone of conflict for the western powers and in the middle east for over 2000 years.
Uh... no? For the most part pre-20th century Palestine was a backwater nobody really cared about (the Crusades being the big exception).
the_q@piefed.social 2 days ago
Celebrities act in their own self interest. Looking good for fans turns their $1m donation to a cause into $10m in sales. They’re capitalists and people are idiots.
Buffalox@lemmy.world 2 days ago
AFAIK the Kurds have been infamous for their tendency to stab each other in the back. It’s almost like the Kurds themselves don’t want to be part of a country called Kurdistan.
That however does not justify the oppression of Kurds, and that’s the part that is mostly protested against.
Also the Kurds don’t have it nowhere near as bad as the Palestinians.
Hirohito@fedinsfw.app 2 days ago
Maybe the same reason you didn’t mention any of the current humanitarian crises happening in Sudan, Myanmar, The DRC, Yemen, and Xinjiang China?
gastroglizzy@piefed.social 2 days ago
Don’t forget Taiwan, Tibet, Somalia, Ecuador. Madagascar, Tanzania, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and The Philippines.
adespoton@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
I’d add India and Ethiopia off the top of my head….
emigu@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Or the occupied parts of Ukraine.
Patnou@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I would have but ran out of space. Plus I am pro kurdish.
dustyData@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Exactly. People always have a bias or interest. Even if, globally speaking, I or you care for the humanity of all people and the victims of all conflicts. Time, space and resources in general are limited. So our bias, attention span, education, etc. Create a background filter for what we dedicate our time and attention.
This is why the “of course” clause in leftist rethoric always have to apply. Free Palestine, of course has to necessarily mean a care for all human suffering across the globe. It is implied by default. It is just this three seconds are dedicated to this issue in particular.
When people have objections they usually include them. Like terfs who can’t shut up about how much they hate trans people even when, on the surface, they seem to be using feminist rethoric. Antisemitic assholes will always include a qualifier to insult Jewish people. And even reject other areas of pro-palestinian discourse. Because they want to focus on the hate, the positive message is being coopted. Just like feminist messages are coopted to hate on trans women. It becomes obvious that the point is to promote hate, not to support people being oppressed.