When Israel began it’s genocide on Gaza and increasing it’s attacks on the West Bank, I thought that surely, feminists in the West were going to speak up on the injustices and crimes against humanity that were occuring, only to be surprised when they didn’t.
It has been over 170 days into the Palestinian genocide, and it has become abundantly clear to me that no one cares about the Palestinian people or is willing to stand up and advocate for us from the feminist community in the West.
The world has simply turned a blind eye and turned its back on the Palestinians.
Where is the uproar when Palestinian women are deprived of basic human rights such as food, water, and basic feminine hygiene products?
Since Oct. 7, Palestinian women have been unable to find feminine hygiene products during their periods, so they have resorted to using scraps from their tents as makeshift period pads. Moreover, due to a lack of medicine and painkillers, Palestinian women are having to endure their periods without any medicinal help.
On top of all that, with the lack of clean water, they are unable to clean themselves during or after their periods.
As a woman, I can’t even imagine what kind of pain my fellow Palestinian sisters are going through. Periods are already painful, and having to endure it without medicine, clean pads, or water is absolutely horrible.
This is a clear crime against women and a violation of their human rights.
Where is the uproar when Palestinian women are killed in front of their families and deprived of their children and husbands, and vice versa?
On March 3 of this year, Palestinian woman, Rania Abu Anza, had lost her infant boy-girl twins and husband to the Israeli genocidal regime. Abu Anza and her husband have been struggling to have children for a decade and even went through rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) until they were able to conceive and eventually deliver their twins on Oct. 13, 2023.
Ten years struggling only to have everything taken away from you within a single moment. The Israeli war machine knows no mercy and has no limits.
Where is the uproar when Palestinian women are dragged away by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and taken as hostages to Israeli detention centers and raped?
According to Al Jazeera, it was reported that Palestinian women in Israeli jails have been subject to strip searches, beatings, and have either been raped or threatend with rape by Israeli prison guards.
The article states, “…Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence…”
Most recently, while Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza is under attack, a Palestinian woman told Al Jazeera that women in Al Shifa, “have been subjected to rape, torture, and execution by Israeli forces,” according to a translation by @middleeasteye on Instagram.
Where is the uproar when Palestinian women are giving birth to premature babies under Israeli bombardment in refugee tents without proper medical care? Where is the uproar when Palestinian women are being starved and cannot produce milk for their babies?
Giving birth is already a difficult thing to go through; imagine doing it with zero medical help. Could you imagine doing it in an unsanitary building where hundreds, if not thousands are sheltering?
Why is the world staying silent? Palestinian women are women even if they’re not white enough to deserve the sympathy of the white, Western world.
Why does the suffering of Palestinian women not matter? Will the world only listen to their screams and cries for help if non-white men are oppressing them? Is their pain and suffering justified if white colonizers are oppressing them—I’m sorry, clearly they’re not oppressed if white men are colonizing them. My mistake, right?
The hypocrisy of Western feminism has made me believe that in order to gain the sympathy of the Western world, you must be from the Western world. No one will ever listen to you, unless of course you are a “poor Middle Eastern girl, oppressed by your community” and in which case they will fight to “liberate you” and for your right to undress as much as possible.
For these reasons, I am not a feminist. I will not force myself into a label that does not represent me or fight for me. I am a human being that will fight for all oppressed people, no matter who they are.
As a Palestinian woman, I am telling the Western world, “shame on you,” for staying silent in the genocide against my people. I will never forgive anyone for staying silent while my people are murdered in mass.
End the Genocide. Free Palestine.
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