January 2026 was marked by attacks of unprecedented intensity against what has become known worldwide as “the Rojava Revolution.” This predominantly Kurdish region in northeastern Syria had seen a revolution emerge in 2012 based on women’s liberation, environmentalism, and the coexistence of peoples within a system of direct democracy. This experiment in Democratic Confederalism[1] had expanded to certain Arab regions and had taken the name Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
For many, Rojava represents a glimmer of hope in the darkness of a collapsing capitalist system. Rojava and Chiapas are living proof that another world is possible, that there are ways to live and build society outside the patriarchal, statist, and capitalist system. The Rojava revolution has also been called the women’s revolution, because it is there that one of the most radical experiments in women’s struggle and emancipation has emerged. And it is against all of this that the forces of capitalist modernity have coordinated the largest offensive against the AANES ever waged. More than a military offensive, it is above all an attack on a way of inhabiting the world - communal and opposed to forms of patriarchal domination - where life is intimately connected to the land. By seeking to destroy one of the greatest revolutionary experiments of the 21st century, imperialist forces sought to send a message: “Those who reject the capitalist way of life will be annihilated.”
In one month, hundreds of civilians have been massacred, hundreds of thousands more have been displaced yet again, and numerous war crimes have been committed, particularly against women.[2] In Aleppo, hundreds of kidnappings, acts of torture, and instances of looting have been documented. These attacks of rare intensity were carried out by HTS,[3] some of which made no secret of their affiliation with ISIS (Daesh). Turkey’s involvement in this offensive has also been confirmed, notably through multiple kamikaze drone strikes in Aleppo, Heseké and Qamishlo. At the same time, numerous prisons under SDF[4] control where Daesh members were being held were attacked and recaptured by HTS with the complicit silence of the international coalition against Daesh. This led to mass escapes and releases.
At the same time, the resistance shown in the face of these attacks has been remarkable. From the very first attacks on Aleppo on January 6, the population mobilized en masse. In every neighborhood people organized themselves. Those who could took up arms and stood guard. Others prepared food for the fighters. From Bakur, Bashur, and Rojhilat, [5] hundreds of young Kurds mobilized, forcing their way through border checkpoints to join the resistance in Rojava. Solidarity initiatives were launched around the world. From Colombia to Papua, from Germany to Kenya, mobilizations took place everywhere. A large “caravan of the peoples"[6] brought together over a hundred young people from Europe who, overnight, set out together on the road to join Rojava. When a video was released showing a jihadist mercenary displaying the severed braid of a YPJ fighter as a war trophy, women from around the world gathered and braided their hair as if to declare to the Kurdish women fighters: “We are united, our struggle is shared; with every attack against you, the women’s revolution will grow.”
“Democratic confederalism is a social, non-state paradigm […] Democratic confederalism is based on popular participation, and it is the communities involved that control the decision-making process. The highest levels exist solely to ensure the coordination and implementation of the will of the communities that send their delegates to the general assemblies. To save time, they serve as both spokespersons and executive bodies. However, basic decision-making power is vested in the people’s institutions.” Abdullah Öcalan
Syrian Democratic Forces: a military coalition comprising various Kurdish, Arab, and Assyrian popular self-defense forces, including notably the YPG and the YPJ
In Kurdish: North, South, and East, referring to the parts of Kurdistan located within the territories of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.
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