Over 50 Rhode Island Kurds rallied outside the State House Wednesday to draw attention to the terrible situation in the Kurdish city of Kobani, in Northern Syria. Kobani has been under siege from ISIS forces since September 15th, and could fall at any time. If the city defenses fall, rape, torture, slavery and death await the men, women and children at the hands of ISIS forces.
The rally was organized by the New England Kurdish Association (NEKA) and featured members of Amnesty International, Group 49, Providence. According to the organizers, the People’s Protection Force (YPG for its Kurdish acronym) are “outgunned and outnumbered.” There are reports of Kurds running out of ammunition and saving the last bullet for themselves to avoid capture by ISIS.
NEKA is calling on the Obama administration to bomb ISIS positions around Kobani and to supply Kurdish fighters facing ISIS with better weaponry.
30,000 Yazidi Kurds face imminent starvation as they huddle on Shangal Mountain in Northern Iraq. The Yazidi refugees are escaping ISIS, an Islamist, terrorist army that has pledged to destroy them because of their religious differences. The New England Kurdish Association (NEKA) held a rally on Tuesday to highlight the plight of the Yazidis. The Yazidi people, whose culture and religion is twice as old as Christianity, face extinction, yet the United States is reluctant to get sucked back into Iraq, so soon after pulling out our troops.
President Barzani of Kurdistan is not asking for troops, telling the Associated press, “We are not asking our friends to send their sons on our behalf.” What Barzani wants is weapons. Weapons that will provide his people a fighting chance against ISIS.
