A Feminist Peace Initiative Statement on Peace and Justice for Palestine
May 25, 2021
Posted in: Press Releases
The Feminist Peace Initiative, led by Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, MADRE, and Women Cross DMZ, stands in international solidarity with the people of Palestine. We condemn the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, and the U.S. government’s funding of these human rights abuses.
As a coalition calling for a new U.S. foreign policy built on intersectional feminist principles, our organizations call for an immediate end to the occupation and settler-colonial violence, which killed and injured hundreds of people, including many children, destroyed media and residential buildings, displacing tens of thousands in Palestine in this last assault. We demand that the Palestinian people be able to live in peace, free from violence and persecution.
We embrace that Palestine is a feminist issue because of the fact that women are “disproportionately impacted by the structural violence of Israeli apartheid,” which imposes separate and unequal legal systems for Palestinians and Jews. Palestinian mothers must protect and nurture their children, up against the brutality of state violence that endangers their lives. Under occupation, women are denied access to healthcare and basic services due to Israeli military roadblocks and restrictions, even forced to give birth at checkpoints far from hospitals. As families struggle to survive under an Israeli blockade that deprives Gaza of essentials like medical equipment and clean water, women shoulder the responsibility to sustain and provide care. Our feminist values demand that we center the voices of those most impacted by these attacks, who are building the movement for Palestinian rights and freedoms.
Furthermore, we see linkages between the militarized policing of communities in the U.S. and Palestine, and how the same tactics of social control and repression are used predominantly in communities of color. We recognize that the U.S’ military-first approach to security at home and abroad is rooted in patriarchal notions of control and domination, and that this approach robs communities of healthcare, housing, education, and other investments in true human security.
We support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and see connections between that struggle and organizing against white supremacy and settler-colonial forces here at home. To truly create the peaceful, just world we all deserve requires ending militarism and wars and prioritizing cooperation and collective care.
We call on the Biden administration and Members of Congress to:
- Stop selling weapons and providing unconditional military aid to Israel, enabling its violent attack on Palestinians. This week, even as Israeli airstrikes continued to rain down on Gaza, the Biden administration approved another $735 million arms sale to Israel. We support efforts to block this arms sale, introduced by progressive Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, Rashida Tlaib and Senator Bernie Sanders.
- Support efforts such as legislation introduced by Congresswoman Betty McCollum, which would prohibit Israel from using U.S. funding for rights violations including the military detention of Palestinian children and demolition of Palestinian homes.
- Speak out to condemn Israel’s brutal attacks on the Palestinian people, highlight the specific impacts of this violence on women, children and families, and call for an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid.
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