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Freedom Fighter: My War Against ISIS on the Frontlines of Syria
The gripping story of one woman's war against ISIS on the frontlines of Syria.Joanna Palani made headlines across the world when her role fighting ISIS in the Syrian conflict was revealed. She is one of a handful of western women who joined the international recruits to the Kurdish forces in the region and this is the first time her extraordinary story has been told. Inspired by the Arab Spring, Joanna left behind her student life in Copenhagen and travelled to the Middle East in order to join the YPJ - the all-female brigade of the Kurdish militia in Syria. After undergoing considerable military training, including as a saboteur and sniper, Joanna served as a YPJ fighter over several years and took part in the brutal siege of Kobani. Despite her heroism, she was taken in to custody on her return to Denmark for breaking laws designed to stop its citizens from joining ISIS, making her the first person to be jailed for joining the international coalition. In this raw and unflinching memoir, Joanna not only provides an eye-witness account of this devastating war but also reveals the personal cost of the battles she has fought on and off the frontlines.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 24, 2019
This should be a fascinating book as it's not every day you get the chance to learn about what it's like to fight with the Kurdish women's army or YPJ. The problem is that Joanna Palani's story is so badly told, so confused and so tied up with her fighting her own inner demons that you've got zero chance of actually getting much insight into the war in Syria.
More than anything Palani is an unhappy woman who seems to be looking for a fight with just about everybody she comes across. Her parents, her brothers, her school, her friends, her societies and sometimes even herself. She's bloody hard work.
I got no clear sense of what she was really trying to achieve. She wanted to be a part of the YPJ but not a full part as she demanded to be allowed to go home to Denmark whenever it suited her. She wanted to be Danish but was furious when her adopted country threatened to take her passport away. She wants pretty much everything pretty much HER way. She's so angry at the world that I couldn't help thinking she needed to sort out her own 'issues' before she went off killing Daesh.
I was confused. She hates Turks ahead of all others - which is not unusual for a Kurd - but the war wasn't about the Turks. The 'enemy' seemed to keep changing on the ground but in her mind, it seemed like the enemy was everybody who ever didn't take her seriously. She wants to be a Kurdish fighter but still be allowed to go home. She wants the privileges of the 'volunteers' but not to be treated as an outsider. I have rarely read anything in which a person's loneliness and hunt for belonging is more frustrated by their own stubborn character.
Undoubtedly she's a brave woman. Undoubtedly she's a killer who has done things too horrible to put in print. But she's also a very troubled young woman - or 'female' since she doesn't like the word 'woman' because it contains 'man' and prefers 'female' without the slightest hint of irony that it also contains 'male'.
This is less a story about war and more one about a person's failure to fit in as a result of being a refugee. I had high hopes but just found it a rambling mess of a book in which everything was somebody else's fault. In many ways she's incredibly lucky to have ended up on the 'side' that seems to have come out of this conflict as the relative good guys. Is she really any less obsessed or blood thirsty than the 'volunteers' who went fight WITH ISIS instead of against them?
More than anything Palani is an unhappy woman who seems to be looking for a fight with just about everybody she comes across. Her parents, her brothers, her school, her friends, her societies and sometimes even herself. She's bloody hard work.
I got no clear sense of what she was really trying to achieve. She wanted to be a part of the YPJ but not a full part as she demanded to be allowed to go home to Denmark whenever it suited her. She wanted to be Danish but was furious when her adopted country threatened to take her passport away. She wants pretty much everything pretty much HER way. She's so angry at the world that I couldn't help thinking she needed to sort out her own 'issues' before she went off killing Daesh.
I was confused. She hates Turks ahead of all others - which is not unusual for a Kurd - but the war wasn't about the Turks. The 'enemy' seemed to keep changing on the ground but in her mind, it seemed like the enemy was everybody who ever didn't take her seriously. She wants to be a Kurdish fighter but still be allowed to go home. She wants the privileges of the 'volunteers' but not to be treated as an outsider. I have rarely read anything in which a person's loneliness and hunt for belonging is more frustrated by their own stubborn character.
Undoubtedly she's a brave woman. Undoubtedly she's a killer who has done things too horrible to put in print. But she's also a very troubled young woman - or 'female' since she doesn't like the word 'woman' because it contains 'man' and prefers 'female' without the slightest hint of irony that it also contains 'male'.
This is less a story about war and more one about a person's failure to fit in as a result of being a refugee. I had high hopes but just found it a rambling mess of a book in which everything was somebody else's fault. In many ways she's incredibly lucky to have ended up on the 'side' that seems to have come out of this conflict as the relative good guys. Is she really any less obsessed or blood thirsty than the 'volunteers' who went fight WITH ISIS instead of against them?
February 17, 2019
This book a well written and authentic account of the life of Joanna Palini, a Kurdish soldier on the frontline in the fight against Daesh (ISIS). The reading is tough at times, dealing with the gritty nature of the conflict with some very graphic content. The regional politics were an eye opener, revealing how Turkey assisted Daesh, leaving the Kurdish fighters and local populace to suffer great deprivations and losses; in essence supporting a policy of extermination rather than salvation.
Refugees are in the media, some political factions reacting negatively to these people who are desperately fleeing conflict. It was good to learn how Joanna came to Denmark as a Kurdish refugee with her family as a child. As a female she was expected to live by higher standards than her brothers and was beaten many times, the Denmark authorities didn’t give her the support that you would expect because of a fear of intervening in the actions of a different culture. However she fought back against the sexism that she encountered in her family and in Denmark generally. And this part of her nature shows throughout the book, there are times though when she tires and cannot fight any more. In a very honest account, Joanna reveals her weaknesses and naivety at times; providing a stark contrast to her bolder actions. Considering what she experienced in war, I didn’t anticipate how much she suffered under the weight of social media oppression. The keyboard warriors with no insight into her character, bringing her down through their spittle encrusted venom. Although we may be privileged in the west, this underlines an issue we need to address, the impacts of online trolling and hatred can feel as bad as physical abuse.
There are astonishing details on the training camps and how the female YPJ fighters work together and contribute as equals to the male fighters in the conflict. This challenges the view that males should be the ones pulling the trigger, as if only males can protect females, but each can contribute equally in a war zone. The way that the female fighters are taught support each other and have feminist goals is striking, if only this could be rolled out across the globe. The author describes many strong female fighters, commanders and trainers who she came across, so many vivid and impressive personalities. And yet there is sadness in the vast amount who were lost to war.
Overall this book reveals a need for nations to provide more support for refugees, bringing a smoother integration. We could learn from the feminist policies in the YPJ. But most importantly support those who are being oppressed by regimes like Daesh; hoping to prevent the mass exodus of civilians and the horrors of war.
This is a must read book, I have gained insight into a conflict that westerners have been shielded from.
Refugees are in the media, some political factions reacting negatively to these people who are desperately fleeing conflict. It was good to learn how Joanna came to Denmark as a Kurdish refugee with her family as a child. As a female she was expected to live by higher standards than her brothers and was beaten many times, the Denmark authorities didn’t give her the support that you would expect because of a fear of intervening in the actions of a different culture. However she fought back against the sexism that she encountered in her family and in Denmark generally. And this part of her nature shows throughout the book, there are times though when she tires and cannot fight any more. In a very honest account, Joanna reveals her weaknesses and naivety at times; providing a stark contrast to her bolder actions. Considering what she experienced in war, I didn’t anticipate how much she suffered under the weight of social media oppression. The keyboard warriors with no insight into her character, bringing her down through their spittle encrusted venom. Although we may be privileged in the west, this underlines an issue we need to address, the impacts of online trolling and hatred can feel as bad as physical abuse.
There are astonishing details on the training camps and how the female YPJ fighters work together and contribute as equals to the male fighters in the conflict. This challenges the view that males should be the ones pulling the trigger, as if only males can protect females, but each can contribute equally in a war zone. The way that the female fighters are taught support each other and have feminist goals is striking, if only this could be rolled out across the globe. The author describes many strong female fighters, commanders and trainers who she came across, so many vivid and impressive personalities. And yet there is sadness in the vast amount who were lost to war.
Overall this book reveals a need for nations to provide more support for refugees, bringing a smoother integration. We could learn from the feminist policies in the YPJ. But most importantly support those who are being oppressed by regimes like Daesh; hoping to prevent the mass exodus of civilians and the horrors of war.
This is a must read book, I have gained insight into a conflict that westerners have been shielded from.
September 30, 2020
War is no joke, reading this text helps one get a glimpse into that godawful and egregious scene.
I needed to settle a bit before reviewing this book. The stories that Joanna share in her own voice, about fighting on the frontlines of Syria against ISIS are poignant and jaw dropping. She loses war friends left right and centre. She is sold out and let down by fellow revolutionary fighters despite her sense of true belonging only on the frontlines. Joanna's narrations are raw and paint a vivid caricature in the reader's mind, none of the grimy and cold-blooded details are sugar-coated. This doesn't pertain only to the actual war experiences, but also her feelings, towards life and other issues raised in her biography. She acknowledges her feelings, as they are; messed up, negative, positive, incomprehensive and all, because this is her story and she chooses to own it as is. While she is just as good as her male and female counterparts on the war zone, she doesn't get the same treatment and often suffers some form of punishment for failing to fit into any of the stereotypical boxes. Being a woman is already considered a less-than in the conservative communities where the story takes place- She is a Kurdish European whose philosophy is always questioned by most of her fellow war veterans because 'Europeans are children of capitalism', she is a Muslim female who identifies as a 'woman', having lost her virginity outside of marriage which equates to trash, on the largely conservative Middle East territory, she's also a lost cause to a family whose conservative Muslim traditions she chose not to abide by, and as if all that is not enough, she's a Danish by identity and upbringing, whose country revokes her passport as she supposedly poses threat for terrorism from the Middle East! Joana suffers sexual harassment at the hands of male commanders on the war zones, betrayal by fellow combatants, emotional abuse and rejection from her family and friends, she wallows into clinical depression from trauma, she fights legal battles against the Danish government for revocation of her passport, and mourns the death of fellow cadres that fell on the warfront. The text and language is rather simple to read but the story is dense with emotions, twists, many deaths, and the intricate warzone realities. Also standing is out is the question of how gender equality is far from reality for women in the middle east, particularly. Women are treated as less than with no hope to revoke that 'inhumane' status!
I needed to settle a bit before reviewing this book. The stories that Joanna share in her own voice, about fighting on the frontlines of Syria against ISIS are poignant and jaw dropping. She loses war friends left right and centre. She is sold out and let down by fellow revolutionary fighters despite her sense of true belonging only on the frontlines. Joanna's narrations are raw and paint a vivid caricature in the reader's mind, none of the grimy and cold-blooded details are sugar-coated. This doesn't pertain only to the actual war experiences, but also her feelings, towards life and other issues raised in her biography. She acknowledges her feelings, as they are; messed up, negative, positive, incomprehensive and all, because this is her story and she chooses to own it as is. While she is just as good as her male and female counterparts on the war zone, she doesn't get the same treatment and often suffers some form of punishment for failing to fit into any of the stereotypical boxes. Being a woman is already considered a less-than in the conservative communities where the story takes place- She is a Kurdish European whose philosophy is always questioned by most of her fellow war veterans because 'Europeans are children of capitalism', she is a Muslim female who identifies as a 'woman', having lost her virginity outside of marriage which equates to trash, on the largely conservative Middle East territory, she's also a lost cause to a family whose conservative Muslim traditions she chose not to abide by, and as if all that is not enough, she's a Danish by identity and upbringing, whose country revokes her passport as she supposedly poses threat for terrorism from the Middle East! Joana suffers sexual harassment at the hands of male commanders on the war zones, betrayal by fellow combatants, emotional abuse and rejection from her family and friends, she wallows into clinical depression from trauma, she fights legal battles against the Danish government for revocation of her passport, and mourns the death of fellow cadres that fell on the warfront. The text and language is rather simple to read but the story is dense with emotions, twists, many deaths, and the intricate warzone realities. Also standing is out is the question of how gender equality is far from reality for women in the middle east, particularly. Women are treated as less than with no hope to revoke that 'inhumane' status!
January 2, 2019
This is very much a first person narrative and you may find yourself hating it because it is not a comfortable armchair read. The author is a volunteer fighter for a variety of revolutionary forces in Kurdish lands. She is a killer and a trainer of killers. It is fascinating to discover how she became one, to try to understand her thinking as well as the experiences she explains to us.
Joanna Palani is a Danish citizen having come to Europe as a young child when her family sought asylum. She has many western values and privileges but feels at home in Kurdish towns and mountains. She has a very strong belief that it is worth fighting hard for the independence of women as well as for the statehood of Kurds. She enjoys the media spotlight on occasion but has also endured severe privation camping on mountains in the winter and near to starvation when food supplies were blockaded. Her life in some countries is literally in danger from opposing forces.
It is strange to realise many of her decisions, which her family disapproved of, were made when she was a teenager. The writer is brutally honest about her feelings and motives as she grows up. She often reveals aspects which don't show her in a very good light - to European eyes.
This same honesty revels some shocking details of violence and cruelty the writer has encountered and sometimes been the victim of. This powerful story is definitely an eye-opener.
Joanna Palani is a Danish citizen having come to Europe as a young child when her family sought asylum. She has many western values and privileges but feels at home in Kurdish towns and mountains. She has a very strong belief that it is worth fighting hard for the independence of women as well as for the statehood of Kurds. She enjoys the media spotlight on occasion but has also endured severe privation camping on mountains in the winter and near to starvation when food supplies were blockaded. Her life in some countries is literally in danger from opposing forces.
It is strange to realise many of her decisions, which her family disapproved of, were made when she was a teenager. The writer is brutally honest about her feelings and motives as she grows up. She often reveals aspects which don't show her in a very good light - to European eyes.
This same honesty revels some shocking details of violence and cruelty the writer has encountered and sometimes been the victim of. This powerful story is definitely an eye-opener.
March 13, 2020
I did like this book, found it interesting. A good portion of the book captivated me. Taken at face value it is a hell of a story for a woman or man to go through. I thought there would be more fire fight or battle stories. She tells her story more from an interpersonal perspective. She had a tough up bringing and I found it curious that she channeled her energies into fighting for something she loved. Kurdistan and women's rights. The culture of her parents, Kurdish, is so abusive to the females. The punishments, beatings, and threats she grew up with, and becoming more western than eastern in her personal culture. Much of the book is consumed with her struggle with the Kurdish, Iraqi, Syrian, and Turkish cultures. The red tape and control the armies have over her. She is not a woman to tolerate that well. She came to fight and just let her fight. Tell you something else, and not just because of this book, but because of some of my other readings. There are so many different groups in the middle east, so many tribes, cultures, religions, organizations, etc., and they all seem to hate each other. She was young when she went to fight but not as young as many of the YPG and Peshmerga women fighters. Dam shame that is the life they have to live and that there will never be a Kurdistan state. I think she went into the war the way most volunteers do and came out alive they way most do. Hope she has a good life and deals with her ghosts.
August 29, 2022
"I am just one girl from the Middle East who grew up in Europe and went to join the Syrian war. There are hundreds like me, and many thousands more Muslim girls who are silently enduring much worse than I have described in these pages. It's time for those who say they find my story unbelievable to stop posting selfies and start actually engaging with the world around them." Joanna Palani
As the Islamist reign of genocidal terror swept through Iraq and Syria under the bloody flag of ISIS, the one group which stood its ground, repelled, then ultimately destroyed the self appointed deathhead caliphate, was briefly celebrated for its heroism and service to humanity. With ISIS defeated the Kurdish resistance movement that destroyed it was abandoned and forgotten just as quickly as it had been heralded. Today a resurgent ISIS receives the backing of the Turkish state that finds the group reliable in pursuing this NATO members own genocidal aims towards the Kurdish people. No one is interested any more, other wars and crises now take precedent. Those who sacrificed themselves to save the region from an even bigger genocidal bloodbath have now been abandoned and criminalised in a new "Great Powers" realpolitik. There is therefore, perhaps no better moment to read "Freedom Fighter", the memoir of one young woman on the frontline of the battle against genocide.
Joanna Palani, while born Kurdish in Kurdistan, grew up in Denmark where the family found refuge. She writes with the bluntness, straightforwardness and honesty of a young active Danish woman. Despite the family having a long history of involvement in the Kurdish freedom struggle, the family came from the more traditional, conservative and religious end of the spectrum. Liberated Danish society was not embraced happily by the family, at least not as far as extending any of that freedom to the female members. Joanna recounts a miserable childhood and adolescence of abuse and violence at the hands of her parents and brothers and a life of exclusion which was even supported by Danish civil society as part of her "culture". She states "My virginity was never mine; it belonged to my family and it was more important than my health and well-being".
Joanna goes on to chronicle her break with her abusive family and desire to become actively involved in the Kurdish resistance. Attracted by the radical progressive ideology of the YPG/YPJ she eventually found herself in the Kurdish mountains undergoing training alongside Kurds from the region. The emphasis on women's liberation is considered in detail as being the cornerstone of the thinking of Abdullah Ocalan - the leader and chief theorist of the progressive Kurdish movement. This is something which is perhaps not appreciated widely where the world just sees brave pretty women with guns devoid of any theoretical grounding. The strict conditions of life and sacrifices that women make on joining the movement are perhaps difficult from a Western perspective to comprehend. However, when you look at the miserable conditions to which women are generally subjected by the existing oppressive patriarchal society it is possible to understand the liberating alternative offered by Jineolojî (the theoretical framework of women's liberation developed by the Kurdish Women’s Movement). Joanna served on the brutal frontline against ISIS making her mark as a sniper. The experience left her no doubt that she was doing the right thing. This is perhaps best captured when a unit she is fighting with in Iraq (not actually with the YPG on this occasion) frees a group of young girls who had been brutally sexually abused by ISIS and were in "storage" pending their sale as slaves. Of this experience she writes:
"The methods of sexual torture the Daesh captives endured are too numerous to desribe and too painful to consider. It doesn't help the dignity of the survivors to go into the grisly details of what happened to each of them, but these details are known by some and, once you know, it's not an exaggeration to say that your feelings towards humanity change forever."
She details battles, the miserable desperate conditions in which the fighters struggled to survive and fight, and the hellish deaths of many of those she fought with.
Despite fighting against ISIS Joanna was pursued by the Danish State under anti-terror legislation at home in Denmark. She details her Kafkaesque experience of the Danish legal system, the sexual abuse by an agent of Danish intelligence and the two faced behaviour of the Danish State (many international volunteers who fought against Daesh/ISIS experienced similar treatment by their home countries. In my view many states are more scared of the threat to their own corrupt systems posed by progressive Kurdish politics than the corrupt evil of Daesh/IASIS which poses a threat they can live with). Joanna's black humour shows itself as she explains how she had to fill out a form for the YPJ saying who she wanted her body sending to should she be killed in action, "...I put the address of the Danish PET (Danish Security and Intelligence Service). They could have me for good if they wanted me so much". Yet, throughout this work she is clear that she sees her own life as privileged.
Anyone who wants to understand what it is like to be Kurdish, especially a Kurd in exile, should read this book. It is an excellent starting place for a wider understanding of the message progressive Kurds have for humanity in general as it teeters on the precipice of oblivion. The physical and mental toll on the author of her experience cannot be properly understood by anyone who has not been through what she has. However, there is one quote I found especially haunting, "I have a huge hole inside me where I store all my dead friends. I keep them in this dark and silent place". For me one of the strengths of this book is that it does not focus solely upon fighting ISIS, it is a record of the author's struggle with life and society, and this perhaps makes it stronger as in a sense it makes her more ordinary and connected with the reader. Nor does she hold back in her critique of the Kurdish movement, I think here she offers a valuable insider's outside perspective that can help the movement maintain a grip of the reality it needs to keep sight of. An excellent and thought provoking read.
As the Islamist reign of genocidal terror swept through Iraq and Syria under the bloody flag of ISIS, the one group which stood its ground, repelled, then ultimately destroyed the self appointed deathhead caliphate, was briefly celebrated for its heroism and service to humanity. With ISIS defeated the Kurdish resistance movement that destroyed it was abandoned and forgotten just as quickly as it had been heralded. Today a resurgent ISIS receives the backing of the Turkish state that finds the group reliable in pursuing this NATO members own genocidal aims towards the Kurdish people. No one is interested any more, other wars and crises now take precedent. Those who sacrificed themselves to save the region from an even bigger genocidal bloodbath have now been abandoned and criminalised in a new "Great Powers" realpolitik. There is therefore, perhaps no better moment to read "Freedom Fighter", the memoir of one young woman on the frontline of the battle against genocide.
Joanna Palani, while born Kurdish in Kurdistan, grew up in Denmark where the family found refuge. She writes with the bluntness, straightforwardness and honesty of a young active Danish woman. Despite the family having a long history of involvement in the Kurdish freedom struggle, the family came from the more traditional, conservative and religious end of the spectrum. Liberated Danish society was not embraced happily by the family, at least not as far as extending any of that freedom to the female members. Joanna recounts a miserable childhood and adolescence of abuse and violence at the hands of her parents and brothers and a life of exclusion which was even supported by Danish civil society as part of her "culture". She states "My virginity was never mine; it belonged to my family and it was more important than my health and well-being".
Joanna goes on to chronicle her break with her abusive family and desire to become actively involved in the Kurdish resistance. Attracted by the radical progressive ideology of the YPG/YPJ she eventually found herself in the Kurdish mountains undergoing training alongside Kurds from the region. The emphasis on women's liberation is considered in detail as being the cornerstone of the thinking of Abdullah Ocalan - the leader and chief theorist of the progressive Kurdish movement. This is something which is perhaps not appreciated widely where the world just sees brave pretty women with guns devoid of any theoretical grounding. The strict conditions of life and sacrifices that women make on joining the movement are perhaps difficult from a Western perspective to comprehend. However, when you look at the miserable conditions to which women are generally subjected by the existing oppressive patriarchal society it is possible to understand the liberating alternative offered by Jineolojî (the theoretical framework of women's liberation developed by the Kurdish Women’s Movement). Joanna served on the brutal frontline against ISIS making her mark as a sniper. The experience left her no doubt that she was doing the right thing. This is perhaps best captured when a unit she is fighting with in Iraq (not actually with the YPG on this occasion) frees a group of young girls who had been brutally sexually abused by ISIS and were in "storage" pending their sale as slaves. Of this experience she writes:
"The methods of sexual torture the Daesh captives endured are too numerous to desribe and too painful to consider. It doesn't help the dignity of the survivors to go into the grisly details of what happened to each of them, but these details are known by some and, once you know, it's not an exaggeration to say that your feelings towards humanity change forever."
She details battles, the miserable desperate conditions in which the fighters struggled to survive and fight, and the hellish deaths of many of those she fought with.
Despite fighting against ISIS Joanna was pursued by the Danish State under anti-terror legislation at home in Denmark. She details her Kafkaesque experience of the Danish legal system, the sexual abuse by an agent of Danish intelligence and the two faced behaviour of the Danish State (many international volunteers who fought against Daesh/ISIS experienced similar treatment by their home countries. In my view many states are more scared of the threat to their own corrupt systems posed by progressive Kurdish politics than the corrupt evil of Daesh/IASIS which poses a threat they can live with). Joanna's black humour shows itself as she explains how she had to fill out a form for the YPJ saying who she wanted her body sending to should she be killed in action, "...I put the address of the Danish PET (Danish Security and Intelligence Service). They could have me for good if they wanted me so much". Yet, throughout this work she is clear that she sees her own life as privileged.
Anyone who wants to understand what it is like to be Kurdish, especially a Kurd in exile, should read this book. It is an excellent starting place for a wider understanding of the message progressive Kurds have for humanity in general as it teeters on the precipice of oblivion. The physical and mental toll on the author of her experience cannot be properly understood by anyone who has not been through what she has. However, there is one quote I found especially haunting, "I have a huge hole inside me where I store all my dead friends. I keep them in this dark and silent place". For me one of the strengths of this book is that it does not focus solely upon fighting ISIS, it is a record of the author's struggle with life and society, and this perhaps makes it stronger as in a sense it makes her more ordinary and connected with the reader. Nor does she hold back in her critique of the Kurdish movement, I think here she offers a valuable insider's outside perspective that can help the movement maintain a grip of the reality it needs to keep sight of. An excellent and thought provoking read.
April 19, 2019
An interesting perspective of the fight against ISIS.
An interesting account of the fight from a female perspective and the complexities brought about my international law and the concepts that countries have of the fight against ISIS and the potential threats that combatants have on national security.
An interesting account of the fight from a female perspective and the complexities brought about my international law and the concepts that countries have of the fight against ISIS and the potential threats that combatants have on national security.
October 14, 2019
One star less than five only because of the erratic writing. In my opinion the text needed some more editing.
Nevertheless Joanna's story is exceptionally interesting, powerful and gripping. Through her book she offers us an overview not only of the situation in the Syrian war, but (maybe even more importantly) the position of women in the conflict and the Kurdish life in general.
Nevertheless Joanna's story is exceptionally interesting, powerful and gripping. Through her book she offers us an overview not only of the situation in the Syrian war, but (maybe even more importantly) the position of women in the conflict and the Kurdish life in general.
January 4, 2019
As someone who has seen reports from Syria and just wondered "WHY?" I had hoped for some kind of explanation from this book.
I got a no holds barred account of life as a fighter in the country. Joanna Palani is a Kurd whose family was given asylum in Denmark when she was a child. In some ways the account of her life as a female Kurd are almost a disturbing as the accounts of her fights.
Women are very much second class citizens with pretty much no rights and I can't begin to imagine how hard it must be to try and be accepted within the western world whilst behind closed doors most of your actions are being criticised by your own family.
You can almost imagine that it would be a relief to leave this kind of life behind but, by golly, choosing to be a fighter in Syria is extreme.
A someone who doesn't really understand the situation there, some political background would have been useful. The no compromise style of the book is pretty shocking though. When you have had so many colleagues literally killed in front of your eyes and cheated death repeatedly it's hard to imagine why you would want to carry on. You would need to be "fanatical" to carry on.
Joanna has been abused/abused her body so much it's hard to understand her willingness to continue as she did and I'm sure there's a lot more stuff beneath the surface than she reveals in this book. Equally as a woman with a price on her head it's hard to imagine what a "normal" future could look like for her.
I daresay I would have benefitted from some research into the Syrian conflict before reading this so that I could more easily understand the psyche that leads to a life lived this way. A fascinating look at the inside of this horrific war though!
I got a no holds barred account of life as a fighter in the country. Joanna Palani is a Kurd whose family was given asylum in Denmark when she was a child. In some ways the account of her life as a female Kurd are almost a disturbing as the accounts of her fights.
Women are very much second class citizens with pretty much no rights and I can't begin to imagine how hard it must be to try and be accepted within the western world whilst behind closed doors most of your actions are being criticised by your own family.
You can almost imagine that it would be a relief to leave this kind of life behind but, by golly, choosing to be a fighter in Syria is extreme.
A someone who doesn't really understand the situation there, some political background would have been useful. The no compromise style of the book is pretty shocking though. When you have had so many colleagues literally killed in front of your eyes and cheated death repeatedly it's hard to imagine why you would want to carry on. You would need to be "fanatical" to carry on.
Joanna has been abused/abused her body so much it's hard to understand her willingness to continue as she did and I'm sure there's a lot more stuff beneath the surface than she reveals in this book. Equally as a woman with a price on her head it's hard to imagine what a "normal" future could look like for her.
I daresay I would have benefitted from some research into the Syrian conflict before reading this so that I could more easily understand the psyche that leads to a life lived this way. A fascinating look at the inside of this horrific war though!
June 15, 2021
Distrubingly candid and to some degree relatable. Joanna's family seem to give her no option to just be an ordinary uni student with an ordinary career. She has to marry and become less than a person.
Instead she runs back to the Middle East (from Denmark) and joins the Kurdish militia fighting against the Islamist state (Daesh). She's a "freedom fighter" full of ideals and even feminism (this aspect of her reflections particularly interested me) but as a sniper and a bomb-maker you can't get around the fact that she is doing horrendous things as well. Her argument would be that Daesh must be resisted. I have read and sympathised with IRA and all sorts of resistance fighters but you also can't deny that wars destroy homes and families, people get drawn in until movements own and control them. Joanna in the book comes across as unusually independent- at least she can reflect on the lesser privilege of many of her comrades (especially female fighters).
Joanna in the book comes across as a good soldier, good at relationships of leadership and discipline, under fire and when starving and unwashed. She seems to find it harder to relate to people in any of the peaceful interludes in the book. I guess she has post-traumatic stress not only from the combat she has seen but the child-abuse she grew up with (which is just horrific).
Contradictory in parts, we are not sure how much to trust our narrator but nevertheless this is a book that is horrifying, but a book that makes you think. I don't agree with her conclusion that therefore all women should be armed- men need to be disarmed but more humans being armed just leads to the sort of injuries horribly depicted in the book.
It's from 2019 so awfully current.
Instead she runs back to the Middle East (from Denmark) and joins the Kurdish militia fighting against the Islamist state (Daesh). She's a "freedom fighter" full of ideals and even feminism (this aspect of her reflections particularly interested me) but as a sniper and a bomb-maker you can't get around the fact that she is doing horrendous things as well. Her argument would be that Daesh must be resisted. I have read and sympathised with IRA and all sorts of resistance fighters but you also can't deny that wars destroy homes and families, people get drawn in until movements own and control them. Joanna in the book comes across as unusually independent- at least she can reflect on the lesser privilege of many of her comrades (especially female fighters).
Joanna in the book comes across as a good soldier, good at relationships of leadership and discipline, under fire and when starving and unwashed. She seems to find it harder to relate to people in any of the peaceful interludes in the book. I guess she has post-traumatic stress not only from the combat she has seen but the child-abuse she grew up with (which is just horrific).
Contradictory in parts, we are not sure how much to trust our narrator but nevertheless this is a book that is horrifying, but a book that makes you think. I don't agree with her conclusion that therefore all women should be armed- men need to be disarmed but more humans being armed just leads to the sort of injuries horribly depicted in the book.
It's from 2019 so awfully current.
January 10, 2020
Powerful and important
Wonderfully written, emotive and tense from the off. This book is set to educate about what is really going on in the frontlines of the Syrian war and illustrates how important it is to fight for women all over. This seems to be both an eye opener to a different perspective to the one we’re fed by the media, but also a story of friendship and sacrifice.
As you progress through the book it is hard going and gruesome as the true horror and terror of war are revealed. Refugees are so often dehumanised by the media. Joanna tells of her personal struggle as a refugee on Denmark, where as a female she is treated differently to her brothers and is beaten. The Danish authorities, aware of the cultural differences don’t know how to properly intervene. Perhaps in this context it’s not surprising she goes to fight for women in Syria.
A well written book, that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in educating themselves about what happens on the fron line of a war of our times. Thanks to Joanne Palani for her frank and honest account.
Wonderfully written, emotive and tense from the off. This book is set to educate about what is really going on in the frontlines of the Syrian war and illustrates how important it is to fight for women all over. This seems to be both an eye opener to a different perspective to the one we’re fed by the media, but also a story of friendship and sacrifice.
As you progress through the book it is hard going and gruesome as the true horror and terror of war are revealed. Refugees are so often dehumanised by the media. Joanna tells of her personal struggle as a refugee on Denmark, where as a female she is treated differently to her brothers and is beaten. The Danish authorities, aware of the cultural differences don’t know how to properly intervene. Perhaps in this context it’s not surprising she goes to fight for women in Syria.
A well written book, that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in educating themselves about what happens on the fron line of a war of our times. Thanks to Joanne Palani for her frank and honest account.
December 20, 2018
Joanna Palani was a student in Copenhagen when she decided to go to join the YPJ, the all female brigade of the Kurdish militia in Syria. This memoir tells her story of the battles she has faced because of her decision.
This is reasonably well written but it being translated makes it difficult to read. It covers some horrible things that I was not aware of in my safe little world. So perhaps this should be widely distributed to raise awareness about what has happened to thousands of people whose only crime was being born in the wrong place. Also making us aware of the political mine field this opened up as fighters against ISIS were prosecuted the same as supporters.
I hope Joanna will have a good life in the future.
This is reasonably well written but it being translated makes it difficult to read. It covers some horrible things that I was not aware of in my safe little world. So perhaps this should be widely distributed to raise awareness about what has happened to thousands of people whose only crime was being born in the wrong place. Also making us aware of the political mine field this opened up as fighters against ISIS were prosecuted the same as supporters.
I hope Joanna will have a good life in the future.
August 19, 2025
she's my heroine 💋 Joanna I love you girl I couldn't even put the book until the last page ... reading every single line was so damn exciting this is a very unique experience Joanna is a beautifully Courageous girl . In this book she speaks about her living the dangerous life on frontlines for freedom of girls in kurdistan and in depth details of her early life growing up with patriarchal arab parents this is likeee highhhlyy recommend and if you love raging beautiful freedom fighter feminist books this is it ... I will re read it definitely time to time but the end kinda made me tear up cuz wtf how can her friends abandon her I feel so mad :(
December 23, 2023
A strong recommend for anyone wanting to see and understand a more militant and left-wing view on feminism and female emancipation while also fighting back against the death cults of Western Capital and fundamentalist theocracy. If you don't see the inherent bravery in the YPG and YPJ then you're not going to connect with it, if you want to learn about Kurdish culture and it's need for reform and support while also being confronted that the liberalism of the west has failed in it's goals then Joanna's story is for you.
February 21, 2022
this is a book by joanna palani.
she lives in syria during the isis.
she is fighting against the isis.
when she is 3 years old in ,her family goes and takes an asylum in denmark and her parents are very strict and dont let her talk to boys.
there are people against her and want to harm her.
she she left her life in copenhagen ,denmark and she went to fight the isis.
she is then sentenced to some time in prison for breaking the travel ban that has been placed on her.
she lives in syria during the isis.
she is fighting against the isis.
when she is 3 years old in ,her family goes and takes an asylum in denmark and her parents are very strict and dont let her talk to boys.
there are people against her and want to harm her.
she she left her life in copenhagen ,denmark and she went to fight the isis.
she is then sentenced to some time in prison for breaking the travel ban that has been placed on her.
December 8, 2024
I found this one in a skip near my home, and I'm really glad I rescued it as Palani writes well and gives valuable insight into the Kurdish plight in the region. As I write this review I can only hope that the Kurds are granted some autonomy in eastern parts of Syria, but it simply won't be something Erdogan will let happen. A memorable read that challenges the mainstream simplistic media tropes between terrorists or freedom fighters.
April 21, 2019
Fascinating personal account, even if the author comes across as a walking fuck up waiting to happen.
December 31, 2019
I really enjoyed this book as I learnt so much from it. There is so much history in this area of the world that I don't know anything about.
September 12, 2021
An interesting read.
November 21, 2021
A book I found very difficult to put down. Joanna's life is hard to even imagine.
February 19, 2023
Standing Tall
November 27, 2024
The book is a fascinating read given the context. The writer has shown tremendous courage to fight the Islamic state. But there are a few things to ponder-
1. inspite of being abjectly poor, how could she manage such frequent air travel from Denmark to the Middle East?
2. Though she indirectly comments that she killed more than 100 Daesh fighters, she has not been able to narrate a single incidence where she actually shot a terrorist. What is the reader supposed to conclude?
3. The narration is from the heart but a bit chaotic. She is a Muslim but mentions everywhere that she’s a Christian( whenever she wants to smoke and drink beer!) how convenient.
4. From the book, it seems the religion she hails from and its teachers in Middle East is pretty confused as to the status of women in their society. Whatever a woman does, blame her and the western society!
All said and done, Joanna Palani is a gutsy warrior.
1. inspite of being abjectly poor, how could she manage such frequent air travel from Denmark to the Middle East?
2. Though she indirectly comments that she killed more than 100 Daesh fighters, she has not been able to narrate a single incidence where she actually shot a terrorist. What is the reader supposed to conclude?
3. The narration is from the heart but a bit chaotic. She is a Muslim but mentions everywhere that she’s a Christian( whenever she wants to smoke and drink beer!) how convenient.
4. From the book, it seems the religion she hails from and its teachers in Middle East is pretty confused as to the status of women in their society. Whatever a woman does, blame her and the western society!
All said and done, Joanna Palani is a gutsy warrior.
January 10, 2019
Good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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