What’s Wen got to do with Palestine?
At Wen we strive for a feminist vision of social and environmental justice. For us this means making a non-violent, non-discriminatory world, a reality.
Our intersectional eco-feminist values are at the heart of what we do. It is in this light that we campaign against the atrocities taking place in Gaza by Israeli forces and stand in solidarity with Palestine. We condemn the attacks and the taking of hostages by armed groups in Gaza on 7 October and advocate for the immediate release of all hostages.
Why is solidarity with Palestine integral to Wen’s vision and mission?
Our vision: A world where women, communities and the planet thrive because values of equity, collaboration and care underpin our society
At the centre of our vision and mission is gender, social, racial and environmental justice. A world in which people and land can be destroyed based on settler colonialist violence, which aims to displace, maim, kill and make life unbearable for Palestinian/ indigenous people, is a world bereft of gender, racial, social and environmental justice. Palestine is experiencing a plausible genocide, and has been facing ongoing settler colonial violence since 1948, with racial, gender, social and environmental injustice endemic. Wen stands in solidarity with Palestinian people because we are motivated by justice.
Our mission: Wen exists to actively build a world where women, communities and the planet thrive – collaborating to create viable alternatives to oppressive systems, which end the exploitation of women and the natural world
Wen’s staff, volunteers, supporters and social media followers are inspired by the mobilisation, collective action and campaigning for Palestinian people, including women and gender nonconforming people, to fight against the plausible genocidal actions of Israel. Our solidarity with Palestine takes the form of collective action and supporting ongoing campaigns. Wen’s mobilisation of women to take action on solidarity with Palestine comes as much from those who interact with Wen as participants in groups, in community gardens, in workshops, in our partnerships, as it does from our staff team. Wen collectively works towards a healthy planet free from oppressive systems.
Gaza is an intersectional feminist climate justice issue
The conflict in Gaza is an intersectional feminist climate justice issue for many reasons including:
(1) Women and children are disproportionately impacted making up 70% of the death toll.
(2) Homes and communities are being destroyed leaving a toxic environmental legacy with poisoned soil, water and air for decades with particular gender impacts.
(3) Reproductive justice is being systematically eradicated: the right to bodily autonomy, the right to have children, the right not to have children and the right to parent in safe and sustainable communities.
A lack of access to period products, proper sanitation facilities, privacy and clean water is impacting the health of women, girls and those who menstruate in Gaza, leading to use of unsuitable scraps of fabric and other items instead of period products. This can lead to infections and other health impacts compounded by the stress of trying to deal with period pain. The UN estimates 700,000 women and girls have menstrual cycles in Gaza.
As the Palestinian Feminist Collective have asserted, ‘Palestinian liberation is a critical feminist issue. We must remember that Israeli apartheid has left 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women without access to basic healthcare. It has denied children in Gaza access to water, food, and electricity. It has authorised Israeli forces to use white phosphorus on civilians. To stand against Palestinians is to stand against reproductive and environmental justice.’ (Umaimah Adan, on Palestine and Transnational Feminist Solidarity)
(4) Starvation is being used as a weapon of war with gendered impacts as women bear the brunt of responsibility for providing food for families.
(5) Militarisation and petrochemical masculinities – environmental and gender impacts.
Wen shares Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom’s (WILPF) perspective on women, peace and security and militarisation and believes it is relevant to the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Militarism, patriarchal racial capitalism and environmental destruction are inextricably linked. They are both the cause and the driver of the climate and biodiversity crisis. Militarisation is helping to fuel this and other crises including the conflict in Gaza.
Military budgets take money away from low-carbon investments. This has gendered impacts with money diverted away from public services and the caring economy including healthcare, childcare, adult social care and education. Investment in these sectors has a significant positive impact on gender, racial and social equality as outlined in our Feminist Green New Deal report.
Military bases, conflict and war zones leave behind a toxic environmental legacy with poisoned soil, water and for decades with particular gendered and racial impacts. This will undoubtedly be the case in Gaza/Palestine.
The Pentagon is the single largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels in the world, with the US the main exporter of arms to the Israeli government.
Around the world we’re seeing militarised state violence against communities resisting corporate-led environmental destruction with women often on the frontlines as environmental defenders.
Joining in solidarity
We need women’s and feminist organisations involved in the peace process.
“Gendered perspectives and women’s voices – particularly from feminist civil society – are vital for shaping peace agreements that respond to the roots of conflict and violence and are equipped to build peaceful societies” – Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
The International Court of Justice has ruled this siege of Gaza as ‘at risk of genocide’. It is rooted in the powers of settler colonialism and dispossession of land, key environmental and gender justice issues. We believe that it’s imperative to join in solidarity to end this injustice and abuse of human rights and environmental destruction which the UK government is supporting through its export of arms to the Israeli government.
‘As feminists, our daily efforts are rooted in the pursuit of justice and the fundamental right to life for all people. This is needed now more than ever.’ (Palestinian Feminist Collective)
Wen’s Free Palestine Resource Hub
