When we are taught about the women who fought for their country and were victims of rape, subject to rape, loss and killing, we describe them as warriors and victims. We sympathise with their pain and condemn the one who caused them such harm. Feminists identify that gender does play a role in war; they assert that man's war is not a woman's war and the torture inflicted upon them is unjustifiable and undeserved. Yet, the atrocities that have taken place against the Palestinians for the last 2 months, technically last 75 years, is a matter to stay silent about. The appalling lack of response from feminists in the West is disheartening and clearly displays their duplicity; that women's rights and feminist laws are reserved for the West and the rest of the world must suffer in silence.
As I continue thinking about it, I realise that every single human in Gaza has lost someone, if not everyone. Not only has Israel taken away their families, their homes, their lives, but now for those who are living, they are doing their best to snatch away their dignity too. It seems that until every bloodline, every man, woman, and child are not dead, Israel will not stop their atrocities. While every single person is suffering in their own way, the collective punishment of women must not go unnoticed. Currently 50,000 women are pregnant (WHO, November 3, 2023), with not even one receiving the proper attention and care they need to deliver their children safely. For anyone living in the West, pregnant women are given constant checkups during the pregnancy time and after giving birth. But in Gaza, women are lucky if they even have the opportunity to give birth before getting bombed upon them. Some even consider themselves unlucky to not be killed, with the excruciating pain of bringing a child out without any anaesthesia or professional healthcare makes death look less painful. The atrocity has reached such a point where women have begun to get hysterectomies (TRT World, November 16, 2023), to avoid the possibility of getting pregnant again due to the lack of medical equipment.
With the food, water and gas cut off, basic human necessities have been stripped from them by Israel. They claim that food was let in through the Rafah border but that was only 20 trucks (Al Jazeera October 21, 2023), compared to the 500 that enter Gaza on a daily basis. Women have started to take pills to stop their menstruation as well as the zero access to sanitary products and the impossibility of cleaning themselves. Yet, except few, the world famous Western and the secular Asian feminists are shamelessly silent and refuse to acknowledge the ongoing torture as a genocide. Rather, it has been labelled as a "conflict". On one side, women hold their dead children, apologising for not being able to give them their basic needs, refusing to let them go and on another side, women sit comfortably in their lavish, protected homes and make mocking TikToks of the Palestinians' sufferance.
The audacity to label it a "conflict" as if both sides have equal resources to fight each other when one is dying and the other is thriving is utterly abhorrent. Whole families have been massacred; 825 families have (Amwa al Ghadad, November 1, 2023) been wiped of the civil registry and this was a statistic from few weeks ago, the death toll has risen to more than 15,200 (AP News, December 2, 2023). These women can no longer give birth or reproduce to the severity and dangerous environment created by the Israelis and funded by America, France, and the UK. Yet, the excuse of every Western pro-Israeli argumentator is that "they are bombing Hamas". Does Hamas also include the pregnant women or the innocent children?
Feminism is centred around women having social, political, and economic equality, it is to give women the rights they have been deprived of and ensure their suffering is minimised. Yet, the Palestinian women do not seem to be included in this. Time and time again, the silence from the Western feminists has been deafening when women of ethnic minorities in the West and the rest of the world are subject to injustice, hatred, and violence due to the lies the West themselves have created. It seems that in this case, it is no different. Women who are working in Israeli occupied areas are being stripped from their job (Al Jazeera, October 28, 2023), simply because they show the slightest support for their families and hope for an end to the apartheid. A pregnant woman taking her children to school was horrifyingly stabbed to death (MEMO, November 30, 2023) while her two young children watched the brutality helplessly. These atrocities did not make it the front headlines and we must ask why?
Are Palestinian women not deserving enough to be free from war, or are they less because they are Muslims? What is it that sparks outrage when Israeli women were taken hostage but keeps the same people completely silent when Palestinian women are assaulted in Israeli prisons, wrongly taken into custody for speaking against apartheid and wishing freedom? They are also female activists, fighting for the liberation of their country and demanding their right to access basic human rights, yet they are considered criminals. On the other hand, there are European women who enlist in the IDF (and I say European to emphasise that they are not indigenous to the land – they are colonisers and nothing less) and are applauded for killing innocent Palestinian children. Where do we draw the line of differentiation? The fact that Palestinians wear Hijab and are Muslim and the IDF soldiers wear army gear and have weapons? It seems that, like every other moment in History, in a few decades' time, we will look back and reminisce how land was taken from the indigenous people and say "never again" and the whole process will happen again.
The moral compass of certain celebrities is another thing that must be studied. Jamie Lee Curtis, Oscar winning actress, posted a picture of Palestinian children, claiming it was Israeli children then when she realised it was the former, she deleted it (Unilad, October 9, 2023). Are the thousands of Palestinian children not worthy enough to be spoken up for? Are they not innocent enough to be fought for and given a voice too? Why is it that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed child is given the sympathy of the whole world, but people's backs are turned on a Muslim child? Multiple celebrities have voiced their support for Israel while those who chose to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinians, such as Melissa Barrera (BBC, November 23, 2023) have been fired from their job. The performative activism for one party is simply outrageous and the forced silence is abominable. For nations who flaunt their laws of free speech and human rights laws, it is baffling how quick people are silenced.
Since October 7th, Palestinians have been dehumanised, only a string of ever-increasing numbers and statistics. It must be remembered that every Palestinian has a story and every martyr had dreams, goals, and worries, just like us. Besan Halesa, a 19-year-old girl who was training to become a doctor, Reem, a 3-year-old, the soul of her grandfather's soul, and thousands and thousands more. They were the bright future of their nation but were brutally martyred by Israeli bombs. We still have warriors standing today, risking their lives, accepting their death but still reporting Gaza's situation to us and revealing the inhumanity they are going through. Their names are Bisan, Hind, Maha, Plestia, Motaz, Saleh, Hamza and so many more. Despite showing the brutality, those who have stayed silent have betrayed them.