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title: 'Rojava: Peoples in Arms'
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> We really understood from the beginning what R{e^}ber Apo [Abdullah Ocalan] was telling us when he said <q>our work is to dig a well with a needle</q>. It is a really long-term process. In Islam, there is the significant meaning of the Well of Zamzam [close to where the Kaaba is, the holiest pplace in Islam]. And in Islam, it is said, when you give a lot of efforts, and when you dig a well with a needle, the most beautiful thing you can have is the Zamzam water; we dug for all those years, and all we saw, after all this effort, is the blood of our children. Before the war, many people in Rojava would ask <q>why are your children going to the mountains to join the Apoist movement? Why are you giving them to Turkey? What has it got to do with our problems here in Rojava?</q> In 2014, all these people had their answer when hundreds, if not thousands of our children returned from the mountains and from Bakur, crossed the border to defend Koban{e^}. Many of them did not have time to drink a cup of water in Koban{e^} before they fell, defending the city and defending our population. The people of Koban{e^} who were sceptical about the fact that our children went to the mountains got their answer.
> Ay{sh}e Efendi, Co-Chair of the PYD in Koban{e^} (p 6)

> It is enough! I hope you will not take it as a threat, and misunderstand when I am saying: <q>If you don't let our Kurdish children live in peace, we will not let the children of the world live in peace.</q> We continue to rise up around the world. Of course, we are saying this in a respectful, peaceful way, and so far all our actions have been with peaceful intentions, and we will continue this way. We continue to rise up and we will not stop our struggle. We have the right and we will continue to defend ourselves.
> ibid (p 10)

> *Do you think people not being willing to commit to a dight has something to do with comfort and that a certain clarity means giving up comfort?*
> I do think that it is a factor. But it's only one aspect. I think the main reason is fear. Just plain feear. Fearing the uncertain, fearing the future, fearing consequences like death or prison. But friends and family also play a part. And, of course, also comfort, be it a relationship, or a warm apartment, or the co-workers with whom you can have a beer with[sic] after finishing work. That doesn't exist here. And the revolution will not be all done in three years. The revolution is a task for life and a decision for life and that makes a lot of people back away. I have lived through this myself and it is the hardest fight to be fought. And it has consequenes, which will make you ache from tim eto time. In difficult times, when you feel really sh\*tty, you will of course sometimes think of Mum and Dad and your buddies at home. But if we leave behind our family, and our personal belongings in order to dedicate our whole life to the revolution, to freedom, then our actions will have an impact on society. The people see that I have left many things behind. They are thinking: <q>He has so many options. He could do anything he wants. But he is here and chose to fight.</q> That's giving hope to the people. That's what in a way defines a vanguard. That you with setting an example show that it is possible to achieve a free life, and having so much hope and trust in history that it will come true one day. And that attracts other people.
> Member of YPG International (p 149)
