“In the Footsteps of Freedom”: 18 mothers tell their stories from Rojava

The Jazira Council of Martyrs’ Families held a book-signing ceremony on Saturday, September 19, for “In the Footsteps of Freedom (Mothers of Rojava),” a book highlighting the sacrifices of mothers and their struggles in confronting challenges.

The idea for the book emerged a year ago at the initiative of the Council of Martyrs’ Families, with the aim of highlighting the struggle of mothers of the revolution and mothers of martyrs and documenting their contributions throughout the course of the revolution, preserving their efforts in historical memory.

As part of the preparation of the book, the Council of Martyrs’ Families formed an eight-member preparatory committee in cooperation with the book’s author, Jwan Omar, a Kurdish language and literature instructor at Rojava University. The first volume was completed in two editions, one in Kurdish and the other in Arabic.

The preparation of the book went through three main stages. It began with documenting firsthand testimonies by recording the mothers’ accounts, followed by drafting and writing the material. The final stage involved academic editing and reviewing the texts before the book was printed in its final form.

“In the Footsteps of Freedom (Mothers of Rojava)” chronicles the mothers’ work and struggle since the beginning of the revolution, their response to the liberation movement, and their role in raising their daughters and sons according to the movement’s ideas. It also reviews their activities from the 1970s through 2026.

The book also addresses resistance and the suffering of mothers under the practices of the former Baathist regime, as well as the deliberate marginalization of Rojava’s cities in terms of services and social and administrative development.

Another chapter documents the lives of 18 women, most of them mothers of martyrs, mothers of activists and women who took part in the struggle. Work on subsequent volumes will continue to comprehensively document the efforts of the remaining mothers.

The book took 11 months to complete.

Every Home Holds a Different Story

Jwan Omar, the author of the book, said the Council of Martyrs’ Families proposed preparing a book documenting the stories of mothers who played a key role in spreading the ideas of the Kurdish liberation movement, contributing to consolidating the concepts of the revolution and organizing society during the Rojava Revolution. He explained that work on the book began last November.

Omar highlighted the importance of the book, noting that it documents the mothers’ experiences in their own words, making it a reference for future generations and a research resource for students.

He added that every home they visited held a different story, but the pain was shared. The names of martyrs, prisons, exile, raids and long periods of waiting appeared in most of the accounts. Yet each story was told from a different perspective, shaped by the emotions and personal experiences of each mother.

Concluding his remarks, Jwan Omar expressed hope that the book would reach readers and remain a document preserving part of history for future generations.

For her part, Armanj Mohammad, an administrator at the Council of Martyrs’ Families, said the council held a signing ceremony for “In the Footsteps of Freedom,” a book that had been in preparation for a long time. She explained that the book documents the journey of mothers who struggled for decades throughout the revolution, with dozens of them losing their lives along the way.

Armanj concluded by saying that documenting their lives aims to keep the mothers’ efforts alive in collective memory and convey their stories and experiences to future generations.

ANHA