Local lad combats Islamo-Fascism in Kurdistan, part 1

Jackson, Calif. resident Michael Israel was shot and killed Nov. 28, 2016 in Raqqa, Syria while fighting against ISIS as part of the  Kurdish freedom fighters YPG. The following article was first published in October 2016 by the Amador Ledger-Dispatch. Due to a change in newspaper ownership, the online article is no longer available. Therefore, it is being re-uploaded to this blog so that readers may have a chance to read it and share online.  

Michael Israel devoted the last two years of his life fighting against the Daesh in Northern Syria.

Local lad combats Islamo-Fascism in Kurdistan, part 1
By Eric Winslow

Superheroes fill our TV and movie screens these days; but who would have thought that Amador County would be home to a real live superhero, currently fighting the evils of religious perversion and despotism in the deserts of Northern Syria? Of course, being a hero, Michael Israel would be the last person to admit it. Modesty notwithstanding, Batman and Superman have got nothing on Michael Israel, a 27-year combat volunteer in the International Brigade fighting in Northern Syria with the People's Protection Unity, or YPG, an independent democratic-confederalist canton of Rojava in northern Syria. This is a uniquely egalitarian community established to protect freedom and human dignity - particularly the rights of women - in the face of the world's most dangerous threat to those democratic values. 

Some people have been calling that threat "ISIS"; President Obama prefers the term "ISIL"; most Europeans, who have felt the brunt of the group's terrorism, know it by its Arabic name, "Daesh." Others insist that the evil coven of terrorists metastasizing in large parts of Syria and Iraq should be dubbed with with an acronym simply and justifiably describing what they truly are: P.I.G.S., or a pseudo-Islamic guerrilla state, which has irrupted in the fertile crescent - the world's oldest civilization - in the wake of the Bush administration's failed invasion of Iraq.

Michael Israel's take on his own use of the pretended caliphate's title is judicious. He says, "Personally I have no preferred name for the enemy. Usually when speaking with other westerners I will use ISIS or ISIL, as it is an acronym they will understand. Here when speaking with Kurd or Arab people, I'll use Daesh. With both foreigners and people here, I may also refer to the enemy as fascists, here fascism is understood, but sometimes with people in the west it needs clarification, as some only know the term as it relates to1930s-1940s Europe."

A few remaining old-timers may recall what Israel is referring to here. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the Abraham Lincoln brigade, a special unit of the XV International Brigade made up of American volunteers for the sole purpose of helping the Spanish Republic defeat the dictator Franco, became an inspiration to people of goodwill around the world. That struggle was ignited as a response to Europe's deadliest threat of the time: German, Spanish and Italian fascism.

Michael Israel's struggle as a volunteer soldier in the new International Brigade against the pseudo-Islamic guerrilla state echos the historic sacrifices of the men of the venerable Abraham Lincoln brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Israel writes, "the Rojava struggle is the most dynamic and ground breaking revolutionary movement of our time. I am determined that it is the job of leftist allies and internationalists to rally behind this movement, to help build it up and learn from it. Things that we may have only dreamed of in theoretical writing are acted upon in Rojava, modified and adapted to their struggle and made real. Rojava is doing this all and reorganizing society despite the chaos and destruction of five years of civil war. The gains of the revolution under such austere and harsh conditions is truly remarkable."

The reason for Israel's inspiration - and the sacrificial devotion of his body, mind and soul to this most-worthy cause - will not come as a surprise to those who long for a more free and equitable world. The YPG, or People's Protection Unit, in northern Syria shines as a rare and visionary new model for a workable democratic society, based in ecological awareness, participatory democracy and a high standard for the empowerment and equality of women that is almost unknown in the Middle east apart from the three districts of Rojava - Jazira, Kobane and Efrin - which together work tirelessly to make the dream of social ecology, direct democracy and libertarian municipalism a reality. 

One of the most prominent means for empowering women is the formation of all-female combat units, or YPJ's. These brigades, composed entirely of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Yazidi and women of other faiths, put their lives on the line to defend their fragile democratic communities wedged between Turkey, to the north, and the pseudo-Islamic guerrilla state to the south. Young women donning combat fatigues, armed just as vitally with AK-47s as with their dream for the liberation of the Kurdish people, wage a courageous war against the onslaught of Islamo-Fascism in the self-styled Caliphate rising just beyond the southern hills of their homeland. 

From nothing Rojava has built up a system of communes, which have organized the creation of a strong social welfare network capable of taking care of its people and the refugees settling there. Israel is adamant in his defense of the robust social network emerging in Rojava. "Now that I am back in Rojava," said Israel, "I know all my needs will be met. Here I will never be in want of basic necessities for lack of money. I, like all others in Rojava, will never go without food and water, clothing or a place to rest my head at night. The movement takes care of people here." Though it is not a "wealthy" society by western standards, Israel speaks of the other, more important virtues and values, for which he fights. "The men and women here selflessly volunteer themselves again and again to defend the revolution and the society they are building. It is either save the most progressive model of democracy and socialism in the Middle East, or live under the darkness Daesh flags in a feudal state" said Israel.

Israel spent most of his life in Amador County. He was born in the Central Valley and spent his early years in Lodi. His family moved to the Gold Country when he was still young.  "The foothills will always be home for me." he said, "It helps me here, that much of Rojava's scenery is very similar to that of the central Sierra foothills." One photo, which Israel posted to a social media site, shows several acres of sparsely-vegetated arid land in a valley with a village eking out an existence in that severe landscape, a scene which - apart from the material dearth - would be very familiar to many rural Californians. In the caption of this picture, Israel writes, "Someday my wish will be granted and I'll join a village like this and spend my days chasing sheep across Syria's hills with my sheep chasing stick and a tea kettle."

Next week, in part 2, we will continue exploring Rojava and following Michael Israel's heroic adventures there.