Jin, Jiyan, Azadî – Perspectives on the Revolution in Rojhilat and Iran

NEWS CENTER – A series of events organized by the “Initiative of Mutual Studies of Rojava and Bremen”, the “Rosa-Luxemburg-Initiative”(the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Bremen), the Jineolojie-Academy and the Rojava University. They shared an statement:

“On March 04th an 05th a series of events will take place including various perspectives on the topic of the revolution in Iran and Rojhilat. For some time this was the topic in the news, however it seems to already have gone under in the daily flood of news again. We want to change that! Because we can learn a lot ABOUT and FROM the revolution.

Do you also have the feeling that you have not really understood how the uprisings have happened or what the historical motivations behind them are? Or would you like to know more about the origin of the now ubiquitous slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Women, Life, Freedom) and what the philosophy behind it is? Or do you simply ask yourself the question “how to support?” – Many topics, that aren’t discussed in the short articles and and reports in newspapers and television, we would like to try to give more space in direct exchange with each other and would be very happy if as many of you as possible would join us!

We, the Initiative of Mutual Studies of Rojava and Bremen (IMS), are a group of students in Bremen and Rojava, who have been meeting regularly for 2 years over Zoom, we exchange ideas on various topics and jointly organize a variety of educational events. The starting point was a joint university seminar and a bi-weekly series of events last summer, which dealt with perspectives on everyday life and revolution in Bremen/Germany and Rojava (https://blogs.uni-bremen.de/symposium2022ims/). In our now monthly meetings we discuss various topics, e.g. at the last one we talked about different concepts of democracy, together with students in Berlin.

And this weekend we will discuss the revolution in Iran and Rojhilat. Thereby different perspectives will be given a voice. On March the 4th at 12pm CET we will talk about the role of students in the revolution. We will be looking back on the revolution 1979 but also looking on the revolutionary events these days -i ncluding video-messages by students in Rojhilat. We also come together to discuss what international solidarity could look like between students in different parts of the world to support the ones in Rojhilat and Iran. On March the 5th starting at 8am CET there will be presentations about the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” its heritage and philosophy, assessments of its influence on the rebellions in Rojhilat and Iran, as well as presentations by academics and journalists an activists on the perspectives of the different nations inside Iran.

The entire event will take place online via Zoom and, thanks to simultaneous translation, it will be possible to follow the event in English, Kurmanji and Persian. The whole event is supported by the Alumni Association of the University of Bremen, the University of Rojava, the AStA Hochschule Bremen and AStA University of Bremen, the Institute for Ethnology and Cultural Studies of the University of Bremen and the Jineoljî-Academy in Rojava.

The complete program can be found as PDF in the attachment and on our website. The workshop on the role of students on March 4 is primarily directed to students, the program on Sunday is open to all. Below you will also find our contact details as well as Twitter and Instagram channels.

When and Where?

– 3/4 at 12pm (noon) CET -> (https://uni-bremen.zoom.us/j/61307143057?pwd=NW9vRlNYamU2NnpvdFRyR25BZ3dEQT09)

– 3/5 at 8am CET -> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84249954473?pwd=aG13OUVZMVVTVVp2VnlDeGk3Zk9Mdz09″