News Center- A joint statement has been released by the Iraqi Women Network, JÎN Women Association, Kohl Journal, Kyp community, Namaa Women For Culture Development, Nassawiyat, World March of Women- Lebanon (Marche mondiale des femmes – Liban), The Sex Talk Arabic, Eastern Sudanese Women (نساء شرق السودان), NOUN Solidarity Rural Feminists, Takatoat, Feminist Consciousness Revolution, FEMALE, Aswat Nissa and SLÉTÅTE.

The statement entitled, “A Feminist Manifesto: Anti-colonialism is a feminist issue” said, “We, the undersigned feminist groups and institutions, express our solidarity with Palestinian resistance in all its forms and stand firmly against injustice and colonization.”

The statement is as follows:

‘We reject any stigmatisation or scepticism of this resistance’

 “As feminists within these groups and institutions, we, like millions of women in the region, reject any stigmatisation or scepticism of this resistance as anything other than an anticolonial liberation struggle, one that will only conclude with the liberation and restoration of the historical land of Palestine and all bodies oppressed under the military and structural despotism of Western settler colonialism in Palestine.

‘We see Palestinian resistance as an integral part of our struggle for a just world’

We view feminism as both a liberatory thought and a practice that combats injustice and oppression, primarily seeking to enforce justice and dismantle power imbalances. Palestinian resistance in all its forms represents a legitimate practice for confronting a ruthless colonial system that has abused and denied the lives of millions for decades. We commend it and see it as an integral part of our struggle for a just world.

Colonial and liberal discourses attempt to construct a single model of feminism: the feminism of the white bodies in the metropoles (Europe and North America). It is a form of feminism constricted to a so-called "human rights" framework created by colonial powers and employed in the sustenance of their interests. Liberal feminism is puzzled by any departure from this model and strives to negate and erase it. Consequently, our feminism faces disparagement and scepticism because it supports liberatory practices that challenge and threaten existing colonial and patriarchal systems at once; the armed resistance of the Palestinian people is one of those saluted practices.

Liberal/White feminism inattentions the oppressed in the Global South and acts patronisingly, through conditioned funding at times and militarised oppression at others. Liberal/white feminism claims to rescue select categories of women and individuals from their societies. It repeatedly attempts to strip us of the intersectional foundations of our intellectual selves. The collective armed struggle is an indomitable path towards the liberation of land and body from colonialism and its occupation.

‘We call on all our allies to unequivocally stand behind all forms of Palestinian resistance’

 We refuse anyone’s attempt at denying or questioning our feminism or any feminism that declares its support of a resistance linked to religious parties. We reject being pigeonholed into these simplistic dichotomies. Our feminism has taught us to understand the contradictions in which we live and to act accordingly. We decide our battles and contradictions. Our struggle against Israeli colonisation is inseparable from the freedom and security of the entire region's people. Our feminism has taught us to understand our positions, map our alliances, and amplify the voices of the marginalised without dictations or conditions.

We, the undersigned feminist institutions, journals, and groups, call on all our allies in the struggle for justice to unequivocally stand behind all forms of Palestinian resistance. Let us not succumb to the narratives of liberal and white feminists, but rather support the Palestinian people and their resistance through all available means. You can share this statement and reach out to us to add your voice to ours.”