يقف منتدى المنظمات الأهلية الفلسطينية لمناهضة العنف ضد المرأة وعموم النسويات والمؤسسات العربية والحقوقية، ونحن على أبواب الثامن من آذار لنصرخ بأعلى صوتنا "أوقفوا العدوان والجرائم بحق نساء وأطفال غزة فوراً... أوقفوا جرائم الإبادة وحرب التجويع والتهجير القسري". فجراء هذا العدوان استشهد/ت 31000 شهيد/ة، أكثر من 70% منهم من النساء والأطفال، فهناك امرأتان تستشهد كل ساعة[1]، إضافة لعدد كبير من المفقودات تحت الأنقاض، وهناك نساء ما زالت أخبارهن غير معلومة، حيث اقتادهن جيش الاحتلال لأماكن مجهولة.

من يعيد لنا العادي من الفواجع، نحن النسويات الفلسطينيات؟

لقد كان لنا حراكنا في كل ثامن من آذار، وكان لنا قائمة تطول من الحقوق التي نطلبها وأخرى ننتزعها، ولكن اليوم ونساء غزة تباد، نقف على امتداد الوطن والأوطان، غاضبات ثائرات وفي حداد طويل... ومطلبنا الآن وقف الإبادة الجماعية عن قطاع غزة، ووقف الإبادة الإنجابية عن نسائها،ونعلنه يومًا للمرأة الفلسطينية، لجوعها في طوابير مساعدات لا تكفي، لذعرها تحت سماء محملة براجمات الموت، لجسدها المنهك في خيام النزوح ومراكز الإيواء، لجسدها المغتصب في الأسر، لجسدها العاري على الحواجز، لحيضها الذي لا يجد ما يحتويه من أدوات الرعاية الصحية، لحملها عالي الخطورة في ظل المجاعة والنزوح والقصف، لرحمها الذي قد يستأصل لأبسط العوارض الطبية، لخصوصيتها المنتهكة في زحام النزوح والخيام، لأمومتها في ظل احتمالات الموت، لفلسطينيتها التي صلبت الإنسانية عند أعتابها، في ظل صمت عربي مطبق، ودعم أمريكي لا محدود، وتواطؤ العديد من الدول الأوروبية.

ورغم كل ذلك، نقدر كل أشكال الدعم والتضامن على المستوى العربي والدولي للقضية الفلسطينية، والذي يحترم كرامة شعبنا، فاتساع أشكال التضامن يؤكد على عدالة القضية، وننتظر المزيد من الحراكات والوقفات المساندة لحقنا بالمطالبة بإنهاء الإبادة فوراً بحق أهلنا في قطاع غزة والضفة الغربية والقدس، والمضي قدما نحو الحرية وتقرير المصير، وإقامة الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة كاملة السيادة.

واليوم نجدد ونؤكد نحن الفلسطينيات والنسويات العربيات، ومن خلال فعاليات الثامن من آذار، وفي كل يوم على ما يلي:

- الضغط على دولة الاحتلال لوقف عدوانها فورا ومحاسبة هذا الكيان على جرائمه المخالفة للقانون الدولي، واتفاقية جنيف الرابعة، وكافة الشرائع الدولية للوصول لنزع الشرعية عن هذا الكيان المحتل.

- فتح معبر رفح وكافة المعابر لإدخال المساعدات وإخراج الجرحى للعلاج.

- وقف الممر البري الذي يربط دولة الاحتلال مع بعض الدول العربية ويمدها بالمواد.

عاشت النساء الفلسطينيات مقاومات صامدات في مواجهة العدوان الصهيوني

لنصرخ بصوت نساء غزة

أوقفوا الإبادة....أوقفوا العدوان فوراً

This is an urgent and repeated appeal to the world to immediately intervene, in light of the recent stories of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian women by Israeli occupation forces during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Palestinian women are being displaced, tortured, killed and forcibly disappeared, while the world sits idle. Silence and inaction in the wake of these horrifying crimes amount to complicity.

Over the past few days, more horrifying testimonies and stories have emerged from Gaza of sadistic acts by Israeli soldiers, including torture, rape, and mass field executions at hospitals where civilians are seeking shelter, medical treatment and refuge.

Palestinian civil society and UN experts have sounded the alarm multiple times and reported cases of rape and sexual violence before and during this genocide. These reports continue to be deliberately and inexcusably ignored, including by prominent and otherwise vocal feminist organizations and figures.

The deafening silence of “Western” feminists and mainstream media in particular is deliberate and inexcusable, as opposed to their earlier outrage over Israeli allegations and misinformation, used to justify this genocide.

Many Palestinian women and girls who are survivors of rape and sexual violence are hesitant to come forward, due to the social stigma in a conservative society and the belief that Israel will not be held accountable for such crimes.

Israel is committing the most horrific war crimes, and weaponizing rape and sexual violence against Palestinians as part of its genocide in Gaza and assault on the Palestinian people as a whole, throughout all of Palestine. This is the result of decades of impunity, preferential treatment and lack of international accountability by the international community. Words are not enough to describe or stop this horror; action is needed.

We conclude this SOS appeal by reminding our sisters and allies around the world that our rights, our dignity, and our humanity are indivisible. Forsaking Palestinian victims now for political convenience would be an unforgivable betrayal to decades of sacrifice and feminist struggle.

We call for:

• The international community must employ all available tools of international accountability, including political and economic sanctions, to bring an immediate and lasting ceasefire and provision of unconditional humanitarian aid.

• States must immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel and honor their moral and legal obligations, including those pronounced in the Genocide Convention.

• States need to investigate and prosecute Israeli soldiers with dual citizenship implicated in these atrocities.

• The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict must honor her mandate and launch an immediate investigation into the ongoing atrocities.

• Feminists around the world must sound the alarm globally on the unspeakable human rights violations taking place in Gaza, namely the sexual abuse and rape of Palestinian women and girls.

• Journalists and media outlets must do their due diligence in reporting on these stories through fair and unbiased coverage.

Signatories:

1. American Federation of Ramallah Palestine
2. Association of women’s Action
3. AWMR Italia - Donne della Regione Mediterranea
4. Bisan Center for Research and Development
5. Community Development and Media Center
6. Cultura è libertà una campagna per la Palestina
7. Enjaz Foundation for development
8. Filastiniyat
9. Human Rights and Democracy Media Center SHAMS
10. Institute of Women's Studies
11. Not to forget women society
12. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
13. Palestinian Women's Action committee
14. Rete Femminista Marche Molto+di194
15. Rural Women Development Society
16. Sinal do Vale
17. Singola
18. Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice
19. The center for defense of liberties and civil rights “Hurryyat”
20. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy - MIFTAH
21. The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development-PWWSD
22. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
23. Union of Palestinian Women Committees
24. Wattan media network
25. Women Media and Development
26. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
27. رابطة المرأة العراقية
28. شبكة المستقبل الديمقراطية العراقية

In a recent statement, nearly five months into the Israeli genocide in Gaza, several UN experts confirmed the various reports and testimonies that have been coming from Palestinian women and human rights organizations for months now. In Gaza, women have been kidnapped and forcibly disappeared and placed in dire conditions in undisclosed locations. In the occupied West Bank, released prisoners testified on the horrific realities inside Israeli prisons and the widespread torture and ill-treatment where sexual violence is used as a weapon employed against both women and men. The targeting of women and girls with such atrocious crimes is targeting the most vulnerable, in an attempt to break and degrade the society as a whole.

The inaction and failure of the international community to stop Israeli crimes, namely the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and other heinous crimes all across Palestine for decades now has emboldened Israel to act with impunity. This allows Israel to continue committing horrific crimes against Palestinian women and girls, namely rape and other forms of sexual violence and torture.

The silence of “Western” feminists has also been appalling, given their earlier outrage about unsubstantiated Israeli allegations which were used to justify and commit the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

First and foremost, we demand an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional provision of humanitarian aid. In order to put an end to such heinous crimes and impunity, we reiterate the need for an independent international investigation into all crimes, especially sexual violence, followed by international accountability for the perpetrators.

Palestinian civil society organizations urgently call on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von Der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the European Union’s (EU) leadership to demand Israel to comply with its obligations under international law, to stop its deliberate targeted attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including with white phosphorus, to end all forms of collective punishment, to lift the 16-year-long illegal closure and blockade on Gaza, and to rescind the evacuation orders to over one million Palestinians. As a bare minimum, the EU must pressure Israel to facilitate the free passage of humanitarian consignments into Gaza for the immediate delivery of basic supplies necessary for the survival of the population, including food, water and medicine. The EU’s double standards and support of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people must end now.

On 7 October 2023, Israel launched a full-fledged military offensive on the Gaza Strip, aimed at erasing and reducing the territory to rubble. Under international humanitarian law, “the only legitimate object which States should endeavor to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy”. In pursuing this aim, “the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited”.

The resounding silence of the EU leadership on Israeli atrocities committed in Gaza and their blind support for Israel signals that the EU is green-lighting, enabling and encouraging Israel’s military actions, which already may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and incitement to commit genocide.

During a meeting of the Israeli government held on Saturday, 7th of October 2023, May Golan, Israel’s Minister for the Advancement of the Status of Women, announced that: “All of Gaza’s infrastructures must be destroyed to its foundation and their electricity cut off immediately. The war is not against Hamas but against the state of Gaza.” Later that evening, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu declared: “I say to the residents of Gaza: get out of there now, because we will act everywhere and with all the strength.”

These statements unequivocally underlie the intention—turned into action—to carpet bomb Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, treating the entirety of the territory as one single military objective in breach of sacrosanct principles of international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians, including one million children, are trapped in Gaza, with no shelter, no food, no water, no electricity, and crippled infrastructure which may collapse at any moment.

And yet, despite blatant evidence of Israel’s intention to perpetrate serious international crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the response of the EU and the majority of its Member States has been one-sided—to the point of complicity in Israel’s international crimes. An unremitting international blind eye has been turned to the 2,215 Palestinians, including at least 724 children and 458 women, killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, and to another 8,714 wounded with various injuries, including at least 2,450 children and 1,536 women. Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out. Dozens of bodies are still under the rubble and Israel has turned Gaza from an open-air prison into an open-air morgue.

President von der Leyen shared images of the Berlaymont building, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, lit up with the colors of the Israeli flag, while announcing her support for the right of Israel to defend itself- “today and in the days to come” and that “[t]he European Union stands with Israel”. At the time of writing, President von der Leyen has not written a single statement calling on Israel to comply with its international legal obligations or denouncing the blatant international crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. Similar unilateral support was shown by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola and by several EU Member States.

On 9 October 2023, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Defense, stated: "We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly”. This statement, which includes genocidal language dehumanizing the Palestinian people as “human animals”, should put the international community on notice of Israel’s incitement to commit acts of genocide, and trigger a strong EU response in terms of its international law duty to prevent.

On 19 October 2022, while addressing the European Parliament, von der Leyen said: “Russia’s attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes. Targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure, with the clear aim of cutting off men, women, children of water, electricity and heating with winter coming—these are acts of pure terror. And we have to call it as such”. No similar declarations were made with respect to Israel’s cutting off electricity, food, water, fuel, and medicine to Gaza. This stark disparity underscores the European leadership’s shameful double standards, which seemingly regards Palestinian lives as second-class, entrenching the apartheid reality.

On 13 October 2023—the same day Israel demanded over one million civilians in northern Gaza evacuate their homes towards areas south of Wadi Gaza—Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola met with the Israeli leadership. As thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, in what is the largest forced displacement since the 1948 Nakba, the EU leadership were photographed shaking hands with Israeli President, Isaac Herzog.

We recall that earlier this year, Ursula von der Leyen celebrated Israel’s independence day using racist tropes, denying the Palestinian Nakba, the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians which paved the foundation for the State of Israel. Yet again, as a present-day Nakba unfolds before our eyes, President von der Leyen is not just ignoring it, but facilitating it through her statements and presence in the region.

For decades, our organizations have called on the EU to impose sanctions against Israel, pursuant to the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, for its for its accumulating crime against Palestinians, including wilful killing, arbitrary mass arrests, administrative detentions without due process, property appropriation, destruction, forcible transfer, settler transfer in, collective punishment, persecution, and apartheid amongst others. All our calls remain unheeded. Yet, less than 48 hours after the beginning of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza, EU Commissioner Varhelyi unilaterally and arbitrarily announced that the European Commission intended to cut its aid to the Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This statement was later retracted by HRVP Borrell. However, other EU Member States have individually decided to cut, review, or suspend aid—including Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Austria.

We demand that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von Der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, fully denounce Israel’s indiscriminate military reprisals against Palestinian civilians and civilian objects in Gaza, and intervene to protect the Palestinian people against Israel’s incitement to genocide.

European leaders must firmly pressure Israel, the Occupying Power, to respect its obligations under international law, including ensuring the vital supply of water, gas, fuel, electricity and basic supplies to Palestinians in Gaza, and to cease any attack on civilians and civilian facilities. European leaders also have a duty to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and collective punishment against civilians, including by publicly and unconditionally supporting the current investigation carried out by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

For violence to end, European leaders must address and eradicate the root causes of the ongoing violence, namely, Israel’s seven-decade long settler-colonial enterprise and oppression of the Palestinian people. The Israeli military must fully, unconditionally, and immediately withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territory, as mandated under numerous UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions. The EU must intervene to ensure that Israel dismantles its discriminatory apartheid regime, including by rescinding all discriminatory laws and facilitating the right of return and to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

Signatories:

• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
• The Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD)
• The BDS (Boycotts, Divestment, Sanction) movement
• Bisan Center for Research and Development
• The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy - MIFTAH
• Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man
• Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
• Health Work Committees (HWC)
• Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
• Defense for Children International – Palestine
• The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
• The Jerusalem Human Rights Consortium:
• The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC)
• The Land Research Centre (LRC)
• The Society of Saint Yves
• The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)