Joining the global call for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestine-Israel conflict
We are heartbroken by the violence, devastation, and loss of life in Gaza and Israel. We express our solidarity with those affected—directly or indirectly—by the conflict. We unite our voices with all who are calling on humanity to break the perpetual grip of war and violence around the world.
We stand with the voices of feminists—including in Palestine and Israel—in calling for an immediate ceasefire, for the return of hostages by Hamas, for urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and for long term reparations towards sustainable peace and an end to intergenerational cycles of violence.
As an alliance working to transform patriarchal masculinities, we refuse to accept a geopolitical system that defaults to militarism, violence and war. War is not inevitable. It is part of a patriarchal logic that valorises aggression, occupation, and domination. These dominant, militaristic norms are supported by exploitative economies of war and a powerful military industrial complex.
We stand with the women, peace and security agenda and feminist systems change agenda calling for an urgent need to address the root causes of violence, militarism, and conflict around the world today, including in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and many more places around the world. The historical colonial roots of these conflicts are all interconnected, and none should be forgotten. We stand in solidarity with cross-movement efforts for a sustainable, human rights based approach to ending current and future wars and inequalities, and to promote feminist peace
We share the words of Maria Al Abdeh, Executive Director of Women Now For Development (WND) in Syria, speaking recently at the Feminist Foreign Policy Conference in the Netherlands:
“The old, heavily militarized, masculine solutions to conflict and violence have led us to nowhere. They have benefitted no one except the arms trade and arms industry. It is really time to think through a feminist lens. As women, we have understood for a long time that violence is a continuum and we need to analyze violence through this lens. We need to get to the root causes of violence to be able to solve it. And to understand and to agree that occupation is violence. If we really want to adopt a feminist foreign policy we need to stand and support civilians. We cannot accept the killing and massacre of children. We cannot abstain from voting for a resolution for peace.”
So far, the leadership of the international community has been utterly insufficient, particularly by those in positions of power and influence that can alter these dynamics. Political acceptance of violent armed responses to conflict must be seen for what they are: gross failures of leadership, failure to live up to international commitments to peace, and a tragic failure by leaders and institutions to care for the wellbeing and safety of the people they lead and serve. With thousands of lives lost in Palestine/Gaza and Israel—and in all wars everywhere—we call upon all governments to take bold actions and to make stronger commitments to resolve the crisis.
We call out powerful militarized states including the US, UK, and many members of the EU for their complicity—and abject failure to condemn—the killing and violence taking place right now in Gaza. We point out that meaningful feminist foreign and domestic policy should not hesitate to condemn atrocities, regardless of geopolitical alliances.
The United Nations Security Council has demonstrated that it is not currently equipped to support peace, with those few member states with permanent seats on the Security Council that support the use of indiscriminate force overruling the voices of the democratic majority of the global multilateral community.
Individual leaders, nation states, institutions, and corporations involved in and responsible for intentional and extreme violence and atrocities must be held accountable. As an alliance working with men and boys for gender, social, and climate justice, we call for men in positions of power and influence—in governments, in military institutions, in the arms industry, and in the financial industries that support them—to be accountable for their perpetration of occupation, war and violence.
A future of feminist peace is possible. It requires equipping ourselves, our societies and our political systems with intentionally peaceful tools, processes, and systems to resolve geopolitical conflicts. A meaningful commitment to human rights, dialogue, compromise and cooperation, while recognizing and assuming responsibility for injustices around us, is the only way forward.
We urge all men and boys to choose peace and stand with feminist demands in calling for an end to violence and militarism. We must work together to create a more just and equitable world for all, where everyone can live free from trauma and violence.
We link to statements below from feminist and other key allies.