WATCH: Hanukkah a celebration of self-determination similar to Kurdish struggle

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (Kurdistan24) – Members of the Jewish community in Washington, DC gathered to celebrate the Jewish festival of lights called Hanukkah.

Laurie Mylroie, a Kurdistan24 correspondent in the US capital, interviewed those involved in the event as well as community members joining in the celebration.

Asked about his thoughts on the festival, one member explained Hanukkah represented the Jewish people’s struggle against the Greeks several hundred years ago.

“They tried to make us stop being Jews,” he told Kurdistan24. “They tried to assimilate us into other cultures, forcefully.”

“The Kurds understand exactly what that means…just like you want to be who you are, we wanted to be who we were,” he continued.

The celebration of Hanukkah lasts for eight days and is symbolized by eight unique candles—a menorah—and each night of Hanukkah a new candle is lit.

“Hanukkah is about miracles,” another member at the event told Kurdistan24.

The Jewish holiday marks a battle for religious freedom and self-determination much like the current Kurdish struggle.

Editing by Ava Homa

(Laurie Mylroie from Washington, DC contributed to this report)