Description
Both present-day and historically, Kurds and Palestinians find themselves in a complex relationship. There are tales of identifying with each other’s liberation struggle and shared resistance, parallel to tales of betrayal and animosity. Examples of the latter are Palestinian’s continuous widespread support for Saddam Hussein and general formulations of liberation through Arab nationalism, versus Kurdish movements allying themselves with Israel, as well as receiving Israeli support for Kurdish independence.
Simultaneously, there are an increasing number of calls from each side of the community to stand in solidarity with each other's struggle. Basing them on the argument that both communities are equal victims of supremacist ideologies, violent (neo- and settler colonial) nation-states, and different forms of genocide, the argument is that both communities share similar forms of oppression. More so, that solidarity between them will strengthen their resistance. These voices invoke Darwish’ poem dedicated to Saleem Barakat, Erdogan’s collaboration with Israel behind close doors, or the participation of young Kurdish leftist in Palestinian guerrilla camps in Lebanon in the 60s as the literary, political and historical context through which to support their position.
Against this backdrop, this paper aims to argue for imagining new grounds for solidarity between Kurds and Palestinians by finding inspiration in liberation theology. Through emphasizing the hermeneutical praxis of ‘the preferential option for the oppressed’: that is to say, a floating signifier that, exactly because its meaning is not fixed, liberation theology allows for a continues change in understanding who embodies ‘the oppressed’ in each given context. The importance of such (hermeneutical) position lies therein that it allows one to grapple with conflicting political alliances and instead imagine new, principled grounds for solidarity. As such, this paper aims to contribute to the existing voices that call for solidarity, as well as provide a new theoretical foundation for imagining such solidarities. Indeed, the paper will give theoretical foundations to a call for solidarity that already exists, and thus contributes to the multiple narratives through which Palestinian resistance is formulated.
