NI 526 - July, 2020

The Kurds - betrayed again

A note from the editor

The Kurds and Covid-19

Usually there’s no discussion about it. The Big Story, the main theme of the magazine, is what goes on the cover.

But, in the midst of the current global pandemic, it seemed strange not to give greater prominence to our coverage of Covid-19.

Should that not be the cover story? The special report on the plight of the Kurds and their ongoing quest for freedom could still feature large inside the magazine.

But, as one colleague pointed out, isn’t that what always happens to the Kurds? Always bumped down the agenda, or off it entirely, by some other, greater concern?

It’s true too of many other issues today. So, while in this edition we are certainly giving the global pandemic special attention, including a thoughtful Long Read by Richard Swift and reports from Africa, Latin America and Asia, we are also featuring stories that are not being heard over the din of the crisis. It’s a delicate balance – and we may not have got it right, but trust that you will let us know if so. And, of course, the Kurds too are profoundly affected by the reality and politics of coronavirus, but without the comparative privileges and safety nets of nation-state structure and status.

Elsewhere in this edition, we interview South Sudanese artist James Aguer Garang about how he has turned his own personal trauma of war into art therapy classes across East Africa and chart the sad fall from grace of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Get out! Young Kurds confront a Turkish military vehicle on patrol in northern Syria after Turkey’s invasion.

Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty

NI 526 - July, 2020

The Kurds - betrayed again

A note from the editor

The Kurds and Covid-19

The big story

Under the cover of Covid-19, Turkey is hammering the Kurds. Again. Should the world care? Vanessa Baird offers several good reasons why it should.

The Big Story

Links for campaigning and more reading on Kurdistan.

There are scores of different Kurdish political factions, parties and movements, some of which connect with each other, others that are radically and bitterly opposed. Here, in simple form, are the key players.

The Kurds – the fourth-biggest ethnic group in the Middle East – are described as ‘the largest nation without a state’. (Where accurate statistics are lacking, we have gone with ‘reasonable’ estimates.)

Turkey wants to undo the revolution in North and East Syria. But the women of Rojava are resisting, writes Dilar Dirik.

Lorraine Mallinder gets inside the proto-petro-state of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Key events in recent Kurdish history.

Longing for a return to Turkish Kurdistan’s shattered city centre.

No mercy for Iran’s mountain smugglers.

Abdullah Öcalan’s journey to democratic confederalism.

Western volunteers on why they fight for Rojava.

Hazel Healy re-connects with communities in Sierra Leone.

Husna Rizvi rounds up some of the lesser-known pandemic stories from around the world.

A clamour to return to the status quo after Covid-19 would be bad news for people and the planet, argues Richard Swift. We may never get a better chance for a new normal.

Opinion

Leonardo Sakamoto on how the rich are responding to the pandemic.

Nilanjana Bhowmick on the deadly neglect of rural heartlands.

Nanjala Nyabola grapples with the challenge of misinformation and disinformation.

Currents

LGBTQI+ people have been scapegoated and put at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Richard Swift introduces us to the head of the World Health Organization.

The fight to free Nigeria’s prisoners, report by Nosmot Gbadamosi.

Women unite through drumming

Report on the exploitation of the Amazon by Beatriz Miranda.

Report on the HS2 high-speed rail line by Fran Lambrick.

The World Bank's 'pandemic bonds' haven't delivered, reports Liam Taylor.

Sweet city; FGM outlawed; Ireland for Choctaw.

Regulars

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

Ways of belonging. Having travelled to the land of her birth as the coronavirus pandemic began to gather pace, Yewande Omotoso feels the tug of home.

Separation anxiety.

Lil Miquela and the rise of the virtual celebrity.

Am I next? #BlackLivesMatter

Cartoon by Emanuele Del Rosso (Italy).

22 of the richest men...

The photos, facts and politics of Guatemala

Carol Isaacs conjures up her own lost heritage – that of the Jewish community in Iraq.

Could the UN Sustainable Development Goals deliver on their promises? Gary Rynhart and Jan Vandemoortele beg to differ.

Fresh hell by Kate Evans.

Iranian photographer Jalal Sepehr poses a Persian carpet dilemma.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s spectacular fall from human rights icon to genocide denier.

Indian public-health researcher and scientist Sarojini Nadimpally speaks to Amy Hall about the inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leadership, by Marc Roberts.

Aruna Chandrasekhar on how climate activism has kept going in a time of isolation.

Conspiracy... or logic, science and reason, by P J Polyp.

Ethical and political dilemmas abound these days. Seems like we’re all in need of a New Internationalist perspective. Enter stage: Agony Uncle.

Drug patents were scrapped? Husna Rizvi makes a vital suggestion.

Crossword Puzzle, Association Words and Wordsearch

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Solved; Artemisia;Becoming Kim Jong-un; A Silent Fury