Once they are done killing as many of the jihadis as they can, the Kurds might think about thanking the Islamic State (IS) terrorists. IS in a few months did more for pan-Kurdish unity than a thousand summits, ten thousand meetings and a hundred years of state oppression. Average Kurds cried with joy upon seeing peshmerga, comrades and guerrillas from all the different Kurdish political parties join forces against the IS onslaught. Never before has such unity across different parts of Kurdistan been so evident.

The extremely barbaric, bloodthirsty terror tactics of the IS jihadis helped unify their Kurdish opponents. When the struggle became so clearly existential – when the very existence of the Kurdish Yezidis or the Kurds in general, living free as Kurds – appeared under threat, all the other old intra-Kurdish political disagreements seem trivial. Although the jihadis posted videos of themselves beheading captives and conducting mass executions in order to terrorize their opponents, the effect on the Kurds was only to strengthen their resolve to come together and fight off these beasts.

Thanks to the IS, we now watch peshmerga of the Kurdistan Regional Government traveling through Turkey to reinforce fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Rojava. At the same time, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas fight side by side in Iraqi Kurdistan against a common foe. Fighters from Iranian Kurdish parties have also offered their aid. Just a few months ago, who would have thought this possible or even imagined it?

No less impressive has been the world’s growing support of the Kurds. A people that once had no friends but the mountains now receives backing, supplies and even weapons from dozens of countries worldwide. As newscasts from Japan to Canada show the heroic struggle of the Kurds against a force that routed the Iraqi Army, international sympathy and awareness of the Kurds reaches new heights. The best public relations campaign in the world, the highest paid lobbyists, the savviest advertising campaigns could not have earned the Kurds more sympathy from across the globe. Once again, this is thanks to the IS jihadis.

It apparently took the likes of the IS to finally convince the United States, Europe and other countries to support the Kurds more directly. Weapons, money and supplies given to the Iraqi Army, the Syrian “moderate” opposition and others seemed to keep showing up in the hands of the IS. With no one else to turn to but their own troops, who are loathe to return to another Middle Eastern quagmire, the United States and many of its allies finally started to shed their phobia of Kurdish independence. Although they still oppose the emergence of one or more Kurdish states, policymakers in Western capitals have finally begun questioning their old approach towards the Kurds and their past priorities.

It will be up to the Kurds themselves to make their moment of unity endure longer, of course. It would be beyond shameful for Kurdish political leaders to quickly return to old games of betraying each other and their national interests once the immediate threat from IS subsides. While they need not agree with each other on everything, Kurdish parties would be well advised to remember and respect red lines in their behavior towards one another.
The Kurds must also be careful to continue cultivating the good will they earned from the world. They must remain ready to either work with true, respectful allies in Baghdad, Ankara and elsewhere or, if these can not be found, seize the moment to assert their fundamental rights for the long term. As in many places, in the Middle East rights are not given but taken. Many pitfalls remain, and the struggle against both IS and others who do not wish the Kurds well will likely last for some time to come.

In the meantime, Kurds from every part of Kurdistan can thank IS and “Caliph” Baghdadi for the nice silver linings in the clouds he sent their way. Whereas other states often managed to divide the Kurds against each other, this new “Islamic” State did the opposite.