‘The Daughters of Kobani’: A chronicle of the women who fought ISIS
An American soldier who had served with U.S. Army Rangers in Afghanistan, calling from a brutal war zone, launched Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on her latest book, “The Daughters of Kobani.”
“She said, ‘You have to get here. You have to come see what’s happening.’”
Women in Syria were fighting on the front line against the Islamic State (ISIS), serving as snipers, tacticians, and battlefield commanders. Through the Syrian Kurdish Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ, they were leading both men and women into battle. Some guys didn’t love the idea – at first. But they came around. Most strikingly, says Ms. Lemmon, “was that these women truly had the respect of the men they were commanding.”
The women were fighting for their lives against ISIS, true, but also for
