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As UN Confirms Genocide, War Profiteers Sanction Palestinian Activists 

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that Israel’s war on Gaza constitutes genocide. Meanwhile, Western states profiting from the war are sanctioning activists and organisations that support Palestine. WILPF stands with the Palestinian people, and with those working to end genocide and uphold international law.

A group of protesters hold signs, including a large one reading “We the People Will Not Be Silent About Slaughter.” Another sign says “Hands Off Rafah!” The protest appears to be outside with trees and buildings visible.
Image credit: Ray Acheson
  • 3 min
Ray Acheson
18 September 2025

On 16 September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded “that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” The Commission of Inquiry holds Israeli leaders responsible, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog. 

The Commission urged Israel and all states to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it. To that end, the report calls on Israel to end the genocide and comply with relevant International Court of Justice orders, among other actions. It also recommends that all states end arms transfers and other material support to Israel, and impose sanctions against Israel and against individuals or corporations that are involved in or are facilitating the genocide. 

WILPF welcomes this report and the Commission’s findings. This is the latest in a long list of reports and investigations that have concluded Israel is committing genocide of Palestinians. WILPF also welcomes the actions taken by some states to end their support for the genocide by imposing arms embargoes, sanctions, and cultural boycotts of Israel. 

However, WILPF is deeply concerned with the increasing attacks against individuals and organisations who are working to end the genocide. Civil society groups and activists are being labelled as “terrorists” in the United States and United Kingdom, and the US government has also imposed sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesa Albanese. It has also extended these sanctions to organisations that have provided support for the ICC’s efforts to hold Israel accountable. 

Singing onto a joint letter organised by the International Service for Human Rights, WILPF stands in solidarity with Palestinian organisations and human rights defenders worldwide working to uphold international law in the face of Israel’s genocide and colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people. With the other signatories, “We condemn unlawful threats, restrictions, reprisals and sanctions against individuals, organisations and mechanisms engaged in investigating and promoting accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.” 

WILPF also stands in solidarity with Francesca Alabanese. The Director of WILPF’s disarmament programme, Reaching Critical Will, has signed a joint letter coordinated by Shadow World Investigations in support of her report “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” which exposes the corporations complicit in the genocide. 

All states must immediately uphold international law and work actively to end this genocide. States should join the Bogotá commitments adopted by the Hague Group and others in July 2025. They must immediately end all arms transfers to Israel and the provision of other material support, and work to hold Israel accountable for its crimes. And states must end their persecution of Palestinian civil society groups, solidarity activists, UN officials, and others working to end the genocide. 

WILPF also urges people everywhere to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement’s call for a week of mass disruption from 18–21 September. This is the deadline that the UN General Assembly has given to Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestine, and its failure to comply must be condemned globally.  

As the BDS Movement says, “Never again is truly now. Together, we can and must disrupt all complicity in Israel’s ‘final solution’ for the Indigenous people of Palestine.” 

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Ray Acheson

Ray Acheson is Director of Reaching Critical Will, WILPF’s disarmament programme. They are author of Abolishing State Violence: A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages and Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy. They organise for abolition, disarmament, and demilitarisation in their work with various coalitions and provide intersectional feminist analysis and advocacy at international disarmament forums.

Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

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Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.