Nationalism can often be in response to a threat whether internal or external. For much of Kurdish history, we have faced internal threats - in the form of civil wars, and external threats from neighbouring governments that took every step possible from committing genocide to war crimes in order to stop our demand for a Kurdish state. This led to thousands of Kurds being exiled and displaced. The diaspora Kurdish community is huge, and among young people there is growing Kurdish nationalism, which is largely due to the rekindling of Kurdish identity. In the past couple of decades, Kurdish people were forced to feel ashamed of their customs and etiquettes, but recently, things have changed tremendously with the advancement of social networking and stronger leadership in Kurdish communities.
Kurdish youth in diaspora are more assertive of their identity, but unfortunately from my personal experiences, they tend to be devoid of understanding the current situation of Kurds globally. We are the world's largest nation without a state, and continue to suffer in Turkey, Iran and in other neighboring countries but seem to have consistently failed to separate emotional pleas from the logical steps that we should be taking.
There is a huge political separation between Kurds in diaspora, from those who are loyal to the current Kurdish regional government in South Kurdistan to those who are supportive of the opposition, and other political organisations. This separation is healthy, but it has led to smaller organizations forming and organizing different events for similar causes with little unity, which is seriously harming the advancement of a united Kurdish front, and hindering the rise of pan-Kurdish nationalism in diaspora.
The potential for improvement has always been there, this could be done through putting our differences aside, learning that unity in face of threats from neighboring countries are far more important in Kurdistan, as well as in diaspora than achieving short-term cheap goals. If Kurdish organizations in diaspora became less opportunistic and more involved in the long term development of Kurdish identity, and culture as opposed to their own interests we would have a visibly stronger face but unfortunately we are continuously strained by bickering from different politically motivated organisation that seek to highlight Kurdish rights, but only as far as their political agenda allows them.
Kurdish nationalism is most visible during February and March, which marks the uprising in Southern Kurdistan against Saddam Hussein, and more importantly in March we celebrate the start of a new Kurdish year, and commemorate the brutal and unforgiving genocide of Kurdish people in Halabja, which was sanctioned by the former Iraqi government. It is during these two months where we see greater unity on all sides, than throughout the year.
Kurds in diaspora must learn to unite because the stronger they are, the better reflected it will be in their conferences, and social gatherings. The lack of unity is reflected among the youth, who have a strong sense of Kurdish identity but fragile image of Kurdish history and politics because of the confusing, and often-conflicting accounts of Kurdish history perpetuated by different organizations. Despite these minor problems, the diaspora communities have been forthcoming in promoting the advancement of Kurdish communities both in diaspora and in Kurdistan, and exemplify promising efforts to revolutionize socio-political paradigm of Kurdistan.