Support a Free, Independent Kurdish State

The Fellowship  |  November 14, 2017

This past September the Kurdish people voted for their own autonomous state in Iraq. Israel, in support of another democracy in the Middle East region, was one of the first to support the Kurds, and urges the United States to do the same. Rabbi Eckstein voices this need for U.S.-Israel solidarity in a statement supporting Kurdish independence:

In the Middle East, a region rife with conflict and instability, the Kurdish people – along with Israel – represent one of the few forces for democracy.

The Kurds and the Jewish people are natural allies, with ties that go back for centuries. And like the Jews and the Jewish state, the Kurds know what it is like to be embattled, to fight for freedom while surrounded by forces that seek their destruction. They are also fierce warriors in the battle against ISIS terrorists.

Earlier this fall, the Kurdish people voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming their own sovereign state in northern Iraq. Israel wholeheartedly supported the vote – and it is time for the U.S. to follow suit.

Support for Kurdish independence is in everyone’s best interest – and, more than just a good strategic decision, it is simply the right thing to do. I urge all of our supporters – indeed, all freedom-loving Americans – to tell their elected officials to support the Kurdish movement for an independent, sovereign state.