Mizgin Adım/JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Despite the heavy state assault on the city of Cizre, the people of the town have refused to abandon their homes. As Cizre’s youngest residents protest for peace, women of the town have declared their intention to stay and resist the destruction.

For 27 days, the people of the town of Cizre in Şırnak province have resisted a total blockade and all-out attack on their homes. As houses are burned down, state forces let loose fusillades of artillery and police snipers fire on anyone who steps outside, residents are under extremely difficult conditions.

Among them are the children living under blockade, who are holding a protest in the Nur neighborhood. A young boy named Ronahi, whose name means “light” in Kurdish, holds a sign: “My name is Ronahi, I don’t want darkness.” “Where will we go to school?” reads another sign.

At the base of a wall, a group has gathered once again to chant the slogan, “long live the Cizre resistance.” Everyone here has beauty just as much as they have pain. Gulê, whose house was burned down in the attacks, emerges from the crowd and begins to speak.

“We will live here. If we’re going to die, we will die here,” Gulê says. “We won’t leave. If they’re going to kill us; let them come and kill us in our own homes.” She calls it an outrage against humanity that the people here are not even able to go into the street and collect the dead bodies. “Are the terrorists the babies in their mothers’ stomachs? Who are these terrorists they’re talking about?”

The sounds of artillery break out again; one of the rounds has struck a house where a large number of people are living. We’re close to the scene, and when we arrive we can still see nothing through the clouds of dust.

Hüsniye Bağdur emerges from the home, wounded but heading for her neighbors to see if anything has happened to them. When we enter the building, we hear a woman’s voice crying for help: “ey hewar, ey hewar!” The neighbors cooperate to evacuate the family, leaving behind a destroyed house.

After Hüsniye has recovered with the aid of her neighbors, she begins to speak.

“I was in my kitchen when a round of artillery hit the house, and our house fell down around our ears,” says Hüsniye. “If someone did the same thing to them, they’d know what this is like. What can we do? We don’t have anywhere to go, and in this rain, what will we do?

“We’re on our own land, in our own home. We’ve committed to crime except this. What do they want from us? Aren’t we their citizens?” Hüsniye, overcome by shock, can no longer speak. A small girl steps up and continues:

“We’re not their citizens; they’re cruel. I haven’t gone to school in 27 days and now I won’t go anymore. I want peace and freedom. And I want the war to end,” she says.

(gc/cm)