Having covered the internal system of the People's Protection Units (YPG), we turn now to an old document on the internal system of the Woman's Protection Units (YPJ). This document, like the one on the internal system of the YPG, predates the formation of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In my own collections of documents I have the version of the internal system of the YPJ that postdates the SDF. I hope to publish it with translation at a later point.

It should be noted that the YPJ is considered an autonomous part of the YPG and not an entirely separate institution. The YPJ is supposed to constitute at least 40% of the YPG based on the quota guidelines in the documents of the internal systems.

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Readers of this blog know that I like to post and translate historical documents on this blog related to Syria and the current conflict in the country. Previously I posted and translated an old document on the internal system of the 'communes' in Rojava (Syrian/'western' Kurdistan). The document, which detailed the internal system of the most basic unit of political organisation and governance in Rojava, was issued in 2014 by TEV-DEM. TEV-DEM is 'The Democratic Society Movement,' the political coalition dominated by the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party that is also known by the abbreviation of the PYD.

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[Last revision: 4 December 2020]

For the prior parts in this series, see:

Book One
Book Two

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Recently someone sent me an essay written by the jihadist thinker Adnan Hadid back in February 2020 and published by Mu'assasat al-Bayan lil-Ilam al-Islami (which supports al-Qa'ida), discussing lessons that should be applied from the previous nine years of experience to the current state of the Syrian jihad. The essay is supposed to be the first part in a series. I found this essay by Hadid interesting and decided to translate it in full.

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It has become common knowledge that the Islamic State is operating in an 'insurgent phase' in Iraq and Syria following its loss of formal control of territory. To try to gain some sense of this insurgent activity, various methods of research are pursued, such as gathering monthly data on operations claimed by the Islamic State and then mapping out those claims, conducting interviews with locals, and so on.

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