Over the past 7 months, the Israeli military has committed some of the most depraved and heinous violence in modern history. We are bearing witness to countless war crimes, including the consistent targeting of civilians and international aid workers, deliberately engineered famine and the murder of 34,000 Palestinian civilians, including 14,000 children. Never before in human history have such horrors been so widely broadcast for the world to see and yet, it continues? Virtually every time I open my phone, I am greeted with a new video or photo of the pure barbarity committed against innocent civilians. This can be said especially for Israel’s latest bombing of refugee camps on Sunday the 26th May, which took the lives of 40 Gazans including children, many of whom were BURNT ALIVE in their tents. Videos surfaced on Sunday of a screaming father holding the lifeless, decapitated body of his child, surrounded by the screams and cries of other parents whose children had been mercilessly slaughtered.
As we speak out about this humanitarian crisis, it is our duty as feminists to advocate for the women and girls who are particularly suffering. Of those trapped in Rafah, it is estimated that there are 700,000 women and girls with little to no access to menstrual hygiene products or sanitary water. Women and girls are literally scavenging for menstrual hygiene supplies, with many resorting to using tent scraps. Further, according to the United Nations Population Fund, there are an estimated 155,000 pregnant or breastfeeding mothers trapped in Gaza with restricted or no access to healthcare, food and water.
The nightmare continues as it is estimated that two mothers are killed every HOUR, according to UN Women, with 70% of all casualties being women and children. Pregnant women are forced to give birth or endure C-sections in unsanitary conditions with no anaesthesia, with around 180 women giving birth everyday (UNPFA, 2024). Feminism advocates for all women, especially those most vulnerable, so if you call yourself a feminist, then you must turn your attention to Gaza and speak up for the women and girls suffering those most.
While this is indeed an urgent feminist issue, it is above all a humanitarian crisis that deserves the whole world's attention. Apathy is the number one threat to change, so we must speak up. While it can feel incredibly hopeless watching the violence unfold with the support of complacent Western governments, there are still ways to help. Operation Olive Branch is an initiative to help families raise funds to escape Gaza. The campaign also has the option to buy E-Sim cards for those stuck in Gaza to help them stay connected to the outside world, while electricity and means of communication are consistently being withheld from Gazans. You can also write to your MP urging them to call for a ceasefire in Parliament. Please, keep people talking about Gaza.
I will also link a GoFundMe campaign for a friend who is stuck in Gaza and is fundraising to help him and his family escape. Mohammed was an aspiring architect who was studying at university before the violence broke out.
I haven’t updated this blog for a while but it feels crucial now more than ever to talk about Palestinian liberation. Don’t stop talking about Gaza. Never forgive and never forget the violence that has been condoned by the West.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Mohammed's GoFundMe - https://gofund.me/011faa33
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