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| Militant/Eric Simpson |
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Dozens protest in San Francisco Nov. 1 in support of besieged Kurdish forces fighting against heavily armed Islamic State units in the northern Syrian town of Kobani. That day tens of thousands of Kurds and their supporters took to the streets in hundreds of cities in more than 30 countries, from Turkey to Japan, Afghanistan to the United Kingdom. More than 2,000 rallied in London with banners reading “Kobani is not alone,” a popular slogan worldwide.
Hundreds demonstrated in Glasgow, Scotland, demanding Ankara open its borders to allow movement of arms, medical supplies and food to Kobani and for unconditional asylum for the 1.8 million Kurdish refugees in Turkey. Hundreds marched in cities across Canada. In Vancouver, as at other protests, participants held placards or wore T-shirts pointing to the role of women combatants among Kurdish troops defending Kobani. Dozens demonstrated in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston and other U.S. cities. Protest organizers are calling a “Unite for Kurdistan” national rally in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., for Nov. 29 at noon. |
| — JOHN STUDER |