12th of March: The Spark of Revolution
The events began with an attack by Arab fans of the Al-Futowa team (Deir ez-Zor) on Kurdish fans of the Al-Jihad team, which turned into a Kurdish uprising spreading to other Kurdish cities.
Today marks the anniversary of the 12th of March uprising in 2004 at the Municipal Stadium in Qamishli, later named “Martyrs of the 12th of March Stadium”, where tense events erupted in anger after the Ba’ath regime attempted to sow discord between Arabs and Kurds. The streets witnessed angry popular protests, and clashes escalated between protesters and security forces, resulting in the martyrdom of over 50 people from various Kurdish cities, in addition to hundreds of injuries and more than 4000 detainees.
Beritan Qamishlo, a fighter in the Women’s Protection Units, says: “This attack was planned by the Ba’ath regime to sow discord between the Kurdish and Arab components and not allow them to be one hand and one people.”
Ms. Bahiya Saleh, a citizen of Qamishli and a relative of the martyr (Mohammed Abdul Razzaq Ibrahim) who was martyred by the Ba’ath regime on the 12th of March, says: “We were deeply saddened by the loss of Mohammed. We took to the streets out of frustration. Blood was shed, and the hearts of mothers and fathers were broken due to the sabotage and discord sown by the Ba’ath regime between Arabs and Kurds.”
Emphasizing that despite the regime’s attempt to sow discord among us, we are all brothers. Long live the brotherhood of peoples. Our revolution continues, and we will not hesitate or calm down no matter how much the regime spreads corruption and sabotage. We will remain united brothers with one hand.
Rojbin Jal Agha, a fighter in the Women’s Protection Units, says: “The events of the 12th of March were a conspiracy planned by the regime to sabotage between Arabs and Kurds. However, what they expected did not happen. Instead, the spark of the Rojava revolution ignited, and there were many martyrs and sacrifices, making the revolution’s foundation stronger.”
She also mentioned in her speech, “The discord that occurred in Deir ez-Zor between Arabs and Kurds, I was present at that time during the events when the regime tried to sow discord and corruption among us, but it will not reach its goal, because we will remain brothers and we will remain committed to our goal and the brotherhood of peoples and building a country in which all nationalities participate, Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, and Assyrians…”
She added, “As an Arab woman and a fighter in the Women’s Protection Units, I learned from the ideology and philosophy of the leader Abdullah Ocalan how women should be free and how they should be in life.”
YPJ Media Center
