from Kurdistan Solidarity Network Jin and Women Defend Rojava UK

This statement was written by the autonomous women’s* structure of the UK-based Kurdistan Solidarity Network to Maria Edgarda Marcucci. Maria – known as Eddi – is an Italian revolutionary who has been criminalised and sentenced by a regional tribunal for her participation in the YPJ Women’s Defence Units in Rojava, as well as for ongoing anti-fascist, feminist and ecological struggles in Italy.

To our comrade Eddi –

We write to you in solidarity, in love and in rage.

As women and people who have experience of womanhood, we know that we face the sharp end of capitalism, state fascism and patriarchy in our daily lives. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that we face it in the courts as well. We know that women, queer people, nonbinary people and trans people of all genders relentlessly experience the violence of poverty and invisibility, the violence enacted through prisons and the police, and the violence of denied access to healthcare and social support. We know that this is not a coincidence – that our oppression is the basis of a global system that hinges on domination and exploitation, that our lives are converted into profit and power for the few.

But we also know that our resistance is global, that we find our strength together, and that although the road is long and hard, we find joy and freedom as we walk it. This path is beautiful and bittersweet, it has been made by the footsteps of our friends Anna Campbell and Lorenzo Orsetti, as well as countless others who have fallen in the fight for freedom. You are in our thoughts and in our hearts, Eddi, as we walk this path together.

In every social movement, individuals put themselves on the line to fight for all of us, to defend our communities and stand up for what we believe in. As a revolutionary, you have done this many times over. You fought against the fascist forces of the Turkish state as they invaded and occupied the Afrin region of Rojava two years ago. Your struggle continued upon your return to Italy, where you have been subjected to severe criminalisation by the state. These are the weapons of state fascism: airstrikes and artillery on the one hand, and on the other hand the imposition of strict curfews; banning participation in meetings and public gatherings; extreme surveillance. Your path is not easy, but you are strong, and we know that you will continue to struggle.

We write to you so you know that even when the state is trying to separate you from us, you will never be alone in your struggle.

We also hold a deep ache for the world, and an insistence on life and freedom.

We also feel a restlessness for change in our bones, and the patience of our mothers in our hearts.

We also remember how to dream, and how to hold those dreams tight in our fists as we fight.

Through our resistance, our unapologetic demand for justice and our fierce hope for a new world we stand with you, Eddi.

An serkeftin – Until victory

UK Kurdistan Solidarity Network Jin and Women Defend Rojava UK