Declaration of Support for Palestine after One Year of Genocide
The World March of Women stands in unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people, particularly the women and children, who have been enduring an ongoing genocidal assault under Israeli occupation. The brutal military operations, relentless bombings, and forced displacements over the past year are part of a calculated extermination campaign, targeting the civilian population in Gaza, Jenin, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
In Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces have carried out an unprecedented bombardment since October 7, 2023, killing over more than 40,000 people, 60% of them women and children. This devastation is not collateral damage—it is intentional, targeting homes, schools, hospitals, and places of refuge. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, exacerbated by a 17-year-long blockade, has cut off Palestinians from basic necessities like food, water, medicine, and electricity. These are war crimes, and they are happening with the tacit approval of the international community.
Palestinian women, especially in areas like Jenin, face the compounded suffering of forced displacement, loss of homes, and systemic denial of access to essential services like healthcare, education, and protection. The Israeli military’s siege has destroyed 80% of Jenin’s infrastructure, leaving hundreds of families without shelter and creating conditions of collective punishment.
The situation in Lebanon is equally dire, with Israeli airstrikes causing the destruction of entire villages, killing 414 people and displacing 160,000. For over 60 years, Lebanon has faced the trauma of occupation and violent assaults, with women and children always on the front lines of suffering.
The World March of Women condemns these crimes as part of Israel’s larger, decades-long project of colonial occupation and ethnic cleansing. The international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable has emboldened this genocidal regime, allowing it to operate with impunity.
We declare that the Palestinian cause is not only a national liberation struggle, but also a feminist cause. The current violence disproportionately affects women and girls, depriving them of their rights to life, dignity and freedom. The conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation – forced displacement, sexual violence, deprivation of basic services, and arbitrary detention of women in Israeli jails – represent a direct attack on their bodies and lives.
We also stand with the Palestinian people of the West Bank and Syria, where Israeli settlers, supported by their government, continue to carry out violent attacks with impunity, uprooting farmers and killing civilians. This aggression extends to Lebanon and Syria, perpetuating a regional crisis that is rooted in imperialism, colonialism, and racism.
We denounce the historical and ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation, which since 1948 have violently disrupted the peaceful coexistence of diverse peoples in the region. The deliberate use of food, water, and medical supplies as weapons of war, coupled with environmental destruction and chemical warfare, are clear indicators of a genocidal policy aimed at the total destruction of Palestinian life.
In the face of such atrocities, we reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to resist, to struggle for their liberation, and to reclaim their land. We call on the global feminist and anti-colonial movements, as well as human rights organizations, to support Palestine actively and visibly, raising their voices against these crimes and holding their governments accountable for their complicity.
We demand that the United Nations and all international bodies enforce human rights protections for the Palestinian people and ensure that Israel is held accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity. The path to peace and justice begins with ending the occupation and liberating Palestine.
We continue to march for the rights to our bodies, our lands, and our territories!
The World March of Women
October 2024