Against gender violence: feminists support Gaza ceasefire

“We are shocked and moved by the violence that has been unfolding in Palestine/Israel since October 7.

“We reject the dehumanisation of Palestinians. The murderous bombardments and forced displacements suffered by the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip for over a month now have tragic consequences: today, more than 11,000 people have been killed by the Israeli army.

“According to the UN, women and children make up the majority of victims. More than 1.5 million Gazans have been forced to take the road to exile, while the Gaza Strip has been sealed off. No water, no fuel, no food, no medicine. And the bombs continue to rain down.

“On October 7, too, the violence was dehumanizing and gendered: kibbutz dwellers and rave participants alike were raped, humiliated and killed…

“As in all wars, women are singular victims. In Gaza today, 50,000 women are pregnant, according to UN Women. More than 10% of them are less than a month away from giving birth. Hospitals are targeted by Israeli army bombardments, and stocks of painkillers and anaesthetics have long since run out. Incubators for premature babies shut down for lack of energy, causing the death of newborn babies.

“Deprived of water and the most basic hygiene products, Gazan women who can swallow Norethisterone tablets to stop their menstrual bleeding, at the risk of suffering serious side effects. Women identify their children who died in the bombardments from scattered remains, recognizing a piece of clothing or the shape of a toe.

“We stand in feminist and internationalist solidarity with this colonial violence which, as international experts have been saying since mid-October, is likely to turn out to be genocidal, and we reject any form of instrumentalization within the framework of this solidarity: we fight anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism head-on.

“We denounce the double standards applied to an occupied people – the Palestinian people – and an occupying state, a double standard that also applies to feminism: as if the lives and suffering of Palestinian women had no value, no density, no complexity.

“We denounce all war crimes and war rapes, whoever the perpetrators: those of October 7, as well as those in Israeli jails, which for many years have reserved special treatment for Palestinian political prisoners raped by the Israeli army and intelligence services.

“The urgent need today is to demand an immediate ceasefire. We must also free all the hostages. It also means reaffirming that our feminism goes hand in hand with our anti-colonial and anti-racist commitments. That’s why, on November 25, we’ll be demonstrating against gender-based violence in Gaza, as we do everywhere.

“None of us is free until we are all free. Palestine is no exception.

“The siege of Gaza must end. The colonial occupation of Palestine must end.”

Signatories are:

Verveine Angeli (trade unionist) ;

Annick Coupé (trade unionist and alterglobalist) ;

Annie Ernaux (writer) ;

Jules Falquet (philosopher) ;

Fanny Gallot (historian) ;

Murielle Guilbert (Solidaires co-delegate general) ;

Aurore Koechlin (sociologist) ;

Mathilde Larrère (historian) ;

Myriame Lebkiri, CGT Confederal Secretary in charge of feminist issues;

Sarah Legrain (La France Insoumise MP) ;

Arya Meroni (feminist and anti-capitalist activist) ;

Alice Pelletier (NPA) ;

Aurélie Trouvé (La France Insoumise MP) ;

Suzy Rojtman (feminist activist) ;

Youlie Yamamoto (ATTAC spokesperson) ;

Sophie Zafari (FSU trade unionist).