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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY
In the shadow of the ayatollahs
30 July 2026
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16 Av 5786
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Issue No.1482
Jewish News meets Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq targeted by the Iranian regime
Iranian Kurdish peshmerga fighter Sarezh Halgourd
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@JewishNewsUK
by David Patrikarikos in Iraqi Kurdistan Her long dark hair was swept back into a tight ponytail. Her eyes were defiant yet oddly demure. Sarezh Halgourd spoke clearly, if somewhat shyly, casting her eyes down as she answered my questions. After a minute or so, we were advised to move to a better spot, out of the roiling heat. She stood up, and with barely a grunt, swung the almost four foot-long PKM machine gun onto her shoulder. Its belt of 7.62×54mmR bullets gleamed golden in the sun. If the sight seemed incongruous, Sarezh didn’t notice. She wanted to speak; and she wasn’t alone. It was mid-June, near the base of a mountain on the outskirts of Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan. The female Iranian Peshmerga fighters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, Parti Azadi Kurdistan (PAK), were feeling betrayed. Continued on page 4