Today, activists from the Sumud Flotilla called for an action day against attacks on Palestinian women. We welcome this initiative and wish all comrades carrying out actions on this issue today much success.
The precarious situation in Gaza, as well as the daily harassment, arrests, and attacks in the West Bank, needs no further elaboration.
However, it is important to specifically address the situation of women in the history of the Palestinian people and the genocide in Gaza.
Media and politics often claim that Palestinian women lack rights within their families or are oppressed by an “Islamic society,” while the reality shows that the Israeli military and the war force women into degrading conditions.
Due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, women who lack access to menstrual products and wear the same clothing for weeks develop vaginal infections. Childbirth occurs without medical supervision, often in the open, due to the absence of hospitals. According to the UN, 150,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women no longer have access to vital medical care.
The Israeli military specifically targets women, dehumanizing them. For example, a report describes: “After completing their two years of military service, Israeli men printed T-shirts with a target aimed at a pregnant Palestinian munaqqaba (a woman wearing a niqab) with the caption “1 shot, 2 deaths,” implying that the Israeli soldier could kill both the woman and her unborn child. “
In Israeli prisons, women face harassment and sexual abuse. Khitam Saafin, president of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, reported being mistreated, stripped, and photographed during her imprisonment.
But what does resistance look like?
From the outside and through media, it is often portrayed that women in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are progressive compared to an allegedly all-male Palestinian resistance. However, the stories of many Palestinian women prove otherwise. Several women have shaped the history of Palestinian resistance, such as Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, Leila Khaled, Ahed Tamimi, Dalal Moghrabi, and Shirin Abu Akleh—to name just a few.
Cooperation among organized women in the region
The collective work of organized women across the Middle East, opposing occupation, foreign interventions, and the misogynistic policies of local governments, holds the potential for significant impact, as seen in the Rojava Revolution. This has resulted in women’s militias, women’s courts, women’s representation, and autonomous organization in all areas of society.
To extend these achievements across the region, a women’s conference was held in Lebanon in 2023, addressing foreign—particularly Western—interventions in Arab countries and their impact on women, Kurdish women and the division of their land, and women in Iran and East Kurdistan.
We are also pleased to hear in this context that Kongra Star (the coalition of women’s organizations in North and East Syria) has spoken out for the safety of women in Gaza and welcomed the Sumud Flotilla.
Peoples Bridge, 14th September 2025
