Feminist Leaders Call to #StopTheMassacre in Palestine

This week in Gaza thousands were killed by airstrikes from Israel’s military, and electricity and Internet were cut, health facilities and refugee camps were targeted, and further ground combat increased the number of the dead. Meanwhile, violence against Palestinians is growing in the West Bank, and millions have mobilized in massive international protests against the genocide of the Palestinian people. Today, we are reaching out in mourning, in solidarity, and to mobilize for crisis funding that will help respond to the vast needs created by this emergency.

We are hearing from feminist movement leaders in Palestine that they want the world to speak up and join them in asking for protection from genocide and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza. These leaders call for an end to the military occupation of Palestine, and the recognition of their right to self-determination: “Because the occupation is the main reason for everything that is happening, and neither Palestine nor the region will enjoy security or peace without ending the occupation,” as Rural Women’s Development Society in Ramallah let us know. We loudly join their call.

Global Fund for Women has a 30+ year history of partnering with women in crises and specifically in Israel and Palestine in support of their intersectional struggles for dignity and justice. Since our founding in 1987, Global Fund for Women has directed over $6 million dollars to women’s rights organizations in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel. We have funded 130 organizations in Israel and Palestine, most often led by Palestinian women, that are working for peace and security, for an end to all violence against women, girls, and gender non-conforming people, and against the military occupation of Palestine.

In our network, we have lost colleagues and community members in Gaza as well as in Israel. We mourn them, and all of the thousands of other lives lost in Palestine and Israel. We condemn Hamas’s attacks on civilians on October 7 and call for a return of the hostages, and we condemn state leaders in Israel who have led a violent escalation and total blockade of critical humanitarian aid in Gaza, leading to thousands of additional civilian deaths. There must be an immediate ceasefire and an end to the genocide, collective punishment, and forcible transfer of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

This is a time when feminist movements and allies everywhere need to work collectively for crisis response, and demand for an end to genocide, accountability for all war crimes, healing, and long-term justice building.