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Joanna Palani is a 25-year-old politics student from Copenhagen, Denmark, but she was born in an Iraqi refugee camp during the Gulf War. She first fired a gun at the age of nine, and, though she’s been happy in Denmark, she always felt a responsibility toward others suffering the way that she did.
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
That’s why, in 2014, she dropped out of college and left for Syria, explaining that she was inspired to “fight for women’s rights, for democracy – for the European values I learned as a Danish girl.”
And fight she did, battling the Assad regime in the wake of the Arab Spring, then later taking up arms against ISIS in Kobane alongside the Kurdish People’s Protection Unites. Joanna was also among forces who liberated a group of Yazidi girls who were imprisoned as sex slaves in her native Iraq.
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
Of that mission, she says:
“When we were preparing to liberate houses of ISIS sex slaves, we had this saying – one fighter goes to rescue but many fighters will come back out.”
She might sound like a warrior princess/hero to you, but the Danish government takes a different view of the situation. After learning that one of their citizens had killed upwards of 100 ISIS militants and earned a $1 million bounty on her head, they banned her from further travel in the region. After learning that she returned to Qatar in spite of the ban, they locked her up for 3 weeks and confiscated her passport.
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
Despite voicing disappointment that those she risked her life for are intent on taking away her freedom, Joanna states firmly that she felt as if she had no choice. There were people back home who needed her help, and even though it ended up costing her freedom and safety in Denmark, she doesn’t regret her actions.
Photo Credit: Asger Ladefoged
She eventually returned to Denmark, where things got – somehow – even tougher for her. She’s been ostracized by her social circle, and kept from accessing banking and housing – two obviously critical elements of rebuilding her life. She’s written a memoir, which tells her story in her own words – a fascinating read, no doubt!
