Throughout my childhood, we read and watched a lot about genocide, specifically the genocide of the Kurds. In school and at home, we were taught the old and common saying: “no friends but the mountains”. As children, it sounded strange and almost funny to hear something like this, but as we grew up, the heavy reality of its meaning settled in. For centuries, the dream of a Free Kurdistan has never left our hearts. Even after the mass murders and torture of our men, women and children, it remained our deepest desire. All we hoped and hope for, is acceptance and freedom.
While diplomatic ties and political promises often betrayed us, our homes and mountains never did. These historical cycles only deepened our hunger for safety and dignity. In many parts of the world, whenever a Kurd speaks up or wishes for a Free Kurdistan, we are told to stay quiet just to “keep the peace.” This phrase is still used today by many leaders and politicians around the world.
Yet resilience is the strongest trait of my people, we inherit our survival just as we inherit our recurring traumas. The future I desire, the future we need in order for human civilization to truly thrive is not merely built on technological advancements and wealth. It is built on the fundamental right to exist. It is a life free from occupation, psychological and physical trauma and corruption, stretching from Kurdistan to Palestine to Afghanistan.
Human Rights are Not Privileges
The world I desire is one where human rights and international laws aren’t just written down on paper, but actually listened to and respected. It is a world where women, men and children no longer have to beg for basic human rights. The right to live in freedom must be supreme, but so is the right to a roof overhead, an education for all genders, a safe meal and a peaceful night’s sleep. Children should not wake up to the sound of drones overhead, wondering if their home or school will still be standing tomorrow. A student’s biggest worry in the morning should be whether they’ll pass their math exam, not whether they will survive the afternoon. Hospitals are meant to heal the sick, not serve as military targets or shield illegal weapons. Instead of pouring billions into producing mass weapons of destruction and extinction, why isn’t the world addressing the root causes of why these conflicts exist in the first place?
Every piece of breaking news shouldn’t have to serve as a cruel reminder of how “privileged” some of us are for having food, shelter and safety. Basic necessities are not a privilege, they are a fundamental right. No leader who has never lived through the terror of war should ever have the power to start one. The victims of wars are always civilians, mostly children. Traumas happen so rapidly in conflict zones that people are never even given the time or space to heal. True diplomacy must come before aggression, and unjustified aggression should be universally condemned, without any exceptions.
Breaking the Cycle Through Truth and Solidarity
A world where true freedom exists is only possible when we stop listening to closed-minded leaders. For generations, whenever a devastating historical tragedy occurred, survivors were told to simply forget the past and to move on. But real healing never comes from erasure. It comes from remembering, knowing the truth, and educating yourself for the rest of your life. We must learn historical reality from our own research and not listen to the narrative oppressors want us to believe. The truth is our ultimate shield against propaganda. We do not break the cycle of violence by burying our scars, we break it by wearing them as a constant reminder of what we must never allow to happen again. For centuries, global leaders have prioritized personal interests and geopolitics over basic humanity, so diplomacy took place behind closed doors. Today our generation breaks those boundaries. Through a single screen we can connect across thousands of miles through shared human experience. We see ourselves in the men, women, and children fighting for their lives in conflict zones. That is why our generation craves a future free from occupation so deeply, because through shared empathy, we inspire one another to stand on the right side of history.
Our screens have transformed from just tools of communication into global stages for accountability. Where older generations were forced to rely on censored media or closed-door diplomacy, we now share unfiltered stories directly from the ground. This constant stream of real human connection ensures that no suffering remains invisible and no injustice goes unanswered. In the past, civilians could easily remain isolated from distant destruction. Today we witness the reality in real time. The world I desire is a world of genuine peace. Yet peace is not just the absence of falling bombs, it is a civilization where every human right is universally honored. In a truly peaceful world, a child never has to fear a drone piece falling on them from the sky, a girl can pursue any education she desires regardless of her gender, and every family can fall asleep knowing their home will not be a pile of rubble by morning.
Healing the Generations to Come
We must confront the physical and psychological toll that war and destruction have on civilians, and this reality belongs in our classrooms. Every historical genocide must be explicitly taught in school textbooks, ensuring that erasure is no longer an option. The older generations must speak out as much as they can, passing down the unedited truth before it fades. Most importantly, accessible therapy must be provided for children scarred by conflict, because untreated trauma carries into tomorrow, silently influencing how they love, survive, and parent in the future. We must never stop speaking out against violence, because silence is the ultimate ally of the oppressor.
Love as the Ultimate Resistance
The future we dream of is not an impossible dream, it is a basic necessity. It is a world where no child inherits the fear of occupation, whether in Kurdistan, Palestine, Sudan, or any land where people are denied their freedom and right to live. Real change requires us to break free from the closed-minded cycles of the past. We must build a culture where human dignity is respected, where every culture is honored, and where we choose to see the best in people before assuming the worst. Culture, language, and art are not just traditions to celebrate, they are living forms of resistance. When an occupying force attempts to erase a community, preserving our music, our stories, and our heritage becomes a quiet resistance. True peace means creating a world where every culture can flourish without fear of extinction. This shift starts in our classrooms, where schoolbooks must promote peace and unity rather than division. We carry our history not to hold onto hatred, but to remind ourselves of what we are fighting to protect and what we were able to survive.
In the end, no system of oppression can stand against human connection, because as people all around the world say, “the only thing more powerful than hate is love”.
