Don’t know who this author is? Never read or saw his work previously. However, it was so refreshing to read someone else speak of the EXACT same problems/issues with the endless promotion of the Kurdish militias as some sort of mythological warriors with extraordinary prowess and virtue- It’s a bullshit meme, I’ve grown long tired of !Middle East Eye:
"When it comes to the various Kurdish nationalist and separatist movements, the position of the majority of Western mainstream media outlets and politicians appears to be hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Most people will be acutely and thoroughly aware of what the media peddles as “fact” about any number of crimes of displacement, dispossession and outright murder of Kurds by Arab regimes in Syria and Iraq, Turkey and, rarely, Iran. The picture that is oft painted is one of Arab and Turkish fascist barbarians bearing down on a defenceless, innocent people and trying their utmost to wipe them off the face of the earth. In a way, this narrative mirrors the Israeli tale of how a bastion of innocence is in danger of being defiled by hordes of savage Arabs. However, as with most things we hear and see in the mainstream media, these stories have a somewhat tenuous relationship with reality at best.
Sadly, too many are choosing to partake in that tenuous relationship with reality.
In a nation-state obsessed era embodied first by the League of Nations and its successor United Nations that (selectively) advocates national self-determination, this narrative doubtless has its appeal. The Kurds are seen as another kind of “Other” to the Arabs, who are frequently painted as being a backward, misogynistic people whereas the Kurds emancipate their womenfolk and stand, like a kind of “noble savage”, against the base Arabised barbarians of the Islamic State (IS). This picture is almost always placed alongside the aforementioned crimes committed by governments under whom the Kurds live. In light of all these crimes and calamities inflicted upon the Kurds, and their “last stand” struggle against IS, what can possible be wrong with the Kurdish people banding together as one, carving out their own territory, and ruling themselves?
Selectively advocates for "national self-determination" Recall my statement that if this was not a goal of NATO, there would never be a Kurdistan.
As an Iraqi of mixed Arab, Kurd and Turkmen descent, this ethno-nationalist rhetoric has always baffled me. After all, if these ethnic divides were real and not part of very contemporary, very imagined communities forged from the exportation of nationalism from Europe to the Middle East, I would not exist to write this article today. However, what baffles me more is how Arab and Turkish crimes against Kurds are placed front and centre, without any context whatsoever of the previous coexistence and how these crimes were encouraged by the post-World War I order established by the West. Moreover, when Kurds themselves commit acts of terrorism, ethnic cleansing and sexual violence against members of other ethnic groups, they are conveniently glossed over or even justified as some kind of retaliation against the brutality of dictatorships and now IS.
When the Kurds commit barbaric acts of terrorism, ethnic cleansing and sexual assault- their crimes aren't glossed over here.
Does the terrorism of IS justify terrorism against Turks, Arabs and others? Does sexual violence against ethnic Kurdish Yazidis justify the abduction and sexual abuse of Arab women? Does the ethnic cleansing of previous governments and regimes justify the ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Turkmens from their ancestral homes and villages? Of course not, but it would be difficult to find a narrative that sharply focused being presented in most Western media sources. By reporting irresponsibly, and likely even in collusion with Western governments with designs and agendas on the Middle East (whether this collusion is witting or unwitting is another matter entirely), these media agencies and pundits are encouraging the perception that IS and brutal regimes in the Middle East are somehow analogous to the local Arab and Turk populations.
NATO media always loved to play up the rape of women, except when it's done by the Kurdish militias- Then it's inconvenient
This is not to make light of the crimes that racist, mostly Western-backed regimes have committed against the Kurds. The Turkish Republic has a long history of discrimination against their Kurdish ethnic minority, from banning them from using their own language to setting loose ultra nationalist Turkish gangs such as the “Grey Wolves” who did not just kill violent terrorists, but terrorised Kurds who had nothing to do with separatist terrorists. In Syria, the Assad regime also has a track record of banning the various Kurdish languages from being used (another ignored fact is the lack of homogeneity amongst Kurds themselves), economically isolated them, and generally made life difficult for them. In Iraq, indiscriminate force was again used to silence separatists and those supporting them, which did nothing to stem extreme Kurdish nationalism but enhanced it. That said, one of Iraq’s first dictators was General Bakr Sidqi, a Kurd who seized power in 1936, and who had earlier massacred thousands of Assyrian civilians. The fact that he was both Kurdish and a mass murderer is not commonly mentioned in the West.
But, the mass murdering ways of the Kurds, the FACTS, have been mentioned here. The fact that the Kurds can't even agree on who is a Kurd has been mentioned here. I've taken my lumps for covering the truth. The history. The reality. While others spin the lies.
In the modern day, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Syria that have now been sidelined by the media due to the concurrent war against IS have enabled Kurdish separatists to make great strides( NOT A COINCIDENCE) In Iraq, as soon as the fighting against former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s forces began, the Kurdish Peshmerga scrambled to swallow up land they claim is theirs by force under the guise of protecting it from IS. They forcibly annexed Kirkuk into the Kurdish-controlled region that Masoud Barzani has constantly claimed he will carve from Iraq whilst, ironically, still claiming to be “Iraqi”. When IS began attacking the Peshmerga and Yazidis, thereby drawing the United States into the conflict, the Peshmerga and Yazidi militias were praised as heroes whilst they ethnically cleansed villages such as Makhmur and Buhanaya of its Arab population and raped their women, and did not even spare the Turkmens.The leftist terrorists of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and its sister PYD and YPG organisations in Syria actually cut deals with the Assad regime who had brutalised the Kurds for decades rather than ally with the moderate rebels. Assad’s forces withdrew from Kurdish populated regions in exchange for Kurdish non-involvement with the Free Syrian Army and other multi-ethnic Syrian rebel groups. When IS bounded onto the scene and started attacking Ayn al-Arab (Kobane), Western news was replete with stories of the courage of Kurdish forces, yet seemingly ignored or skimmed over their atrocities against Arabs and Turkmens living in northern Syria.It seems that most analysts are obsessed with bashing regional governments rather than accurately reporting on the crimes of both sides, or indeed their reconciliatory actions. Although the Turkish government initiated a peace process with the Kurds that has now led to the PKK-aligned HDP to cross the 10% parliamentary threshold, the media demonises the Turks and allows the Kurdish separatists to continue to play the victim card. The renewed conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK is now framed as a political dispute, rather than the peace process failing due to the refusal of PKK terrorists to disarm. The problem is not isolated only to the media, as I have yet to hear a single senior Western politician condemn Kurdish acts of ethnic cleansing, rape and wanton destruction.
Most 'analysts' in the msm, and the so called alternative are happy to bash Turkey- ignoring the reality of the situation- As this writer is pointing out. The Turkish government initiated a peace process- maybe it wasn't perfect, but they initiated it- And the PKK repays them by killing Turkish citizens- I know the msm loves to promote lies, but, to read and hear the so called alternative media spewing the same trash is reprehensible! I haven't read or heard a single western politician condemning these acts of Kurdish terrorism either- why? Isn't there a war on terror?
Using previous atrocities and now IS as an excuse to justify or ignore Kurdish terrorism is merely adding fuel to an already raging fire and encourages distrust toward Western intentions. It also sends the frightening message that it is fine for a group to engage in terrorist activities, as long as it does not conflict with Western interests and is not related to Islamism in any way. In other words, ethno-nationalism is good, even if it is involved in terror, whilst Islamism is bad, even if it is moderate and peaceful like the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and we all know what happened to them"
That's right! It's fine to engage in terrorism as long as it is hunky dory with Western interests for destabilizing a territory. Redrawing borders. Aiding the war machine.I expect that shit from the msm, but, promoting the NATO destabilization agenda should not be part and parcel of the so called "alternative media". The alternative media is supposed to be alternative. Let me remind the alternative media of the definition of "alternative" offering or expressing a choice : different from the usual or conventional: existing or functioning outside the established cultural, social, or economic system Promoting NATO media is not alternative- It's establishmentBelow is an example of the so called "alternative media" in action:This is nothing but a promotional piece, for the Kurdish militias, from VICE.Spot the numerous fallacies in the piece. The inconsistencies. The problems. Be sure not to miss the white Toyota- Transportation of KurdIShISI can point these anomolies out to you, but, I would like the readers here with eyes to see to discover the numerous shortcomings for themselves. And isn't it interesting that VICE goes where NATO/Israeli affilliated destabilizers go? Always embedding themselves with the same bunch of NATO backed mercs and terrorists? Recall VICE promoting the 'invasion' of Crimea? VICE and Right Sector? VICE with the Israeli backed AQ at Golan? And finally VICE with the Kurds? Notice a theme running through the motley crews VICE hooks up with?