Kurds -- Syria -- ʻAyn al ʻArab -- History. |
Women soldiers -- Syria -- ʻAyn al ʻArab. |
Special operations (Military science) -- Syria. |
Insurgency -- Syria. |
ʻAyn al ʻArab (Syria) -- History, Military -- 21st century. |
Syria -- History -- Civil War, 2011- -- Women. |
Kurdish Women's Protection Units (Organization) |
IS (Organization) |
Women's Protection Units (Organization) |
YPJ (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin) |
Ḥd̲āywāt̲ā d̲a-Sut̲ārā d̲a-Nešē (Organization) |
Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat al-Marʼa (Organization) |
Yekîneyên Parastina Jin (Organization) |
ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) |
ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) |
Daech |
Daeş |
Daesh |
Daʻiş |
Dāʻish |
Daisy |
Dâʼisy al-ʻIrāq wa-asy-Syâm |
Daulah Islamiyah Iraq dan Syam |
Dawlah al-Islāmīyah |
Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fi al-'Irāq wa-al-Shām |
ES |
Estado Islâmico |
Estado Islâmico do Iraque |
Estado Islâmico do Iraque e da Síria |
Estado Islâmico do Iraque e Síria |
IGIL |
IŞİD |
Islamic State |
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham |
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria |
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
Islamskoe gosudarstvo Iraka i Levanta |
ИГИЛ |
Исламское государство Ирака и Леванта |
داعش |
دولة الإسلامية |
دولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام |
דאעש |
État islamique |
Women as soldiers |
Women in the military |
Unconventional warfare |
Insurgent attacks |
Rebellions |
ʻArab Bīnār (Syria) |
ʻArab Būnār (Syria) |
Arab Peunar (Syria) |
Aïn el Aarab (Syria) |
Aarab Peunâr (Syria) |
Arab-Pʻunar (Syria) |
Arap-Pʻunar (Syria) |
Ein-al-Arab (Syria) |
Kobanê (Syria) |
Kobanî (Syria) |
Kubanê (Syria) |
Kubanî (Syria) |
Available:
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Summary
Summary
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The extraordinary story of the women who took on the Islamic State and won
" The Daughters of Kobani is an unforgettable and nearly mythic tale of women's power and courage. The young women profiled in this book fought a fearsome war against brutal men in impossible circumstances--and proved in the process what girls and women can accomplish when given the chance to lead. Brilliantly researched and respectfully reported, this book is a lesson in heroism, sacrifice, and the real meaning of sisterhood. I am so grateful that this story has been told." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love
"Absolutely fascinating and brilliantly written, The Daughters of Kobani is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand both the nobility and the brutality of war. This is one of the most compelling stories in modern warfare." --Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Make Your Bed
In 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women's rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard of: Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swaths of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States. In the process, these women would spread their own political vision, determined to make women's equality a reality by fighting--house by house, street by street, city by city--the men who bought and sold women.
Based on years of on-the-ground reporting, The Daughters of Kobani is the unforgettable story of the women of the Kurdish militia that improbably became part of the world's best hope for stopping ISIS in Syria. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, bestselling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon introduces us to the women fighting on the front lines, determined to not only extinguish the terror of ISIS but also prove that women could lead in war and must enjoy equal rights come the peace. In helping to cement the territorial defeat of ISIS, whose savagery toward women astounded the world, these women played a central role in neutralizing the threat the group posed worldwide. In the process they earned the respect--and significant military support--of U.S. Special Operations Forces.
Rigorously reported and powerfully told, The Daughters of Kobani shines a light on a group of women intent on not only defeating the Islamic State on the battlefield but also changing women's lives in their corner of the Middle East and beyond.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
National security analyst Lemmon (Ashley's War) delivers a fascinating portrait of Kurdish female fighters and their role in the Syrian civil war and the fight against the Islamic State. Beginning in 2012, Lemmon explains, ISIS took advantage of a rebellion against the Assad regime to seize control of vast swaths of territory in Syria. The country's Kurdish ethnic minority, concentrated along the northeastern borders with Turkey and Iraq and long oppressed by the Syrian government, formed People's Protection Units to advance the cause of self-rule and defend Kurdish villages from ISIS and other extremists. In 2013, a few hundred women formed a "separate and equal" satellite of the People's Protection Units, stipulating that in their new organization "women could and would lead men in battle, but women would not be led by men." They soon gained a reputation as fierce and effective fighters, which Lemmon demonstrates in a riveting account of how four women took part in the battle for the city of Kobani. Aided by U.S. intelligence and occasional air strikes, these and other members of the Women's Protection Units helped to retake the city from ISIS. Lemmon briskly sketches the biographies of individual fighters and commanders, and unravels the complex history of the region with skill. This deeply reported account enthralls and informs. Agent: Elyse Cheney, Elyse Cheney Literary (Feb.)
Kirkus Review
A group portrait of a band of trailblazing female soldiers who helped to take back territory that the Islamic State group had claimed in Syria. Lemmon, an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, follows a group of Kurdish women who made a remarkable decision during the Syrian civil war: They would lead men in battle, creating "an all-female command structure." They were members of the "plucky ragtag militia" known as the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, or YPJ, adherents of the Marxist-Leninist--inspired teachings of the imprisoned Turkish Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who believed that the "Kurds couldn't be free if women weren't." Skepticism of the women's efforts diminished after the battle of Kobani, when all-female units--toting AK-47s and serving as snipers, battlefield commanders, and more--helped to deal IS its first loss, a turning point in the war. The YPJ later fought at Manbij, Raqqa, and elsewhere, gaining an acceptance by male soldiers that astonished a U.S. Army member: "The men have no issue with them at all. It's almost bizarre." Lemmon adroitly sets the women's battlefield exploits against the backdrop of shifting regional alliances and U.S. policies, evenhandedly showing Barack Obama's slowness to respond to the IS threat--"In January 2014, Obama characterized ISIS as 'junior varsity' "--as well as the risks of the Trump administration's decision to pull out of Kobani and stand back when NATO ally Turkey attacked Kurdish-led northern Syria in 2019. The author focuses on the YPJ women in their fighting roles, which makes for a steady pace but at times limited characterizations. As a group, however, these soldiers display a wholly admirable bravery and commitment to women's equality even when it cost them--as it sometimes did--their lives. A well-told story of contemporary female warriors and the complex geopolitical realities behind their battles. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In her new book, journalist Lemmon (Ashley's War) again focuses on the contributions of women in wartime, highlighting the all-female Kurdish militia units who partnered with U.S. armed forces against ISIS in Syria. Indeed, it was a soldier she'd previously worked with while researching Ashley's War who urged her to take a deeper look at the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ). From 2017 to 2020, the author made multiple trips to Syria to interview YPJ members, who served as snipers and frontline commanders, fighting alongside men, all the while demanding that women be considered equal. After following the women through the victory of retaking the ISIS capital of Raqqa, the book ends on a darker note, with the announcement by Donald Trump that the U.S. would pull out of Syria, leaving the country alone to handle an invasion by NATO ally Turkey. Only days later, Turkey launched an offensive aimed at an ethnic cleansing of Syrian Kurds. VERDICT Handling difficult topics with adroit respect and care, Lemmon offers a story that's eminently relatable and speaks to the ongoing fight for women's rights the world over. This is a story that needed to be told and needs to be heard. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in current events and women's history.--Crystal Goldman, Univ. of California, San Diego Lib.