The situation in Gaza demands urgent attention and action, as the escalation of Israeli hostilities and the mounting attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and within Israel continue to grow in gravity and magnitude. It’s time for a WILPF Week of Action: let’s mobilise globally to call for an immediate ceasefire and an embargo on the transfer and provision of military equipment, including arms, to the state of Israel. The international community must take action NOW to end its complicity and meet its obligations to prevent genocide and war crimes.
Because our feminism is intersectional, recognising that people experience different types of oppression that often intersect and reinforce one another, because our feminism values the enjoyment of freedom, human rights, and justice for all without discrimination, we are mobilising as a movement to call for immediate action to end the ongoing war crimes and genocide in Gaza. It’s crucial now to centre Palestine in all our current engagements.
As WILPF, we denounce all attacks against civilians. We also believe that permanent peace is built on the foundations of freedom, justice, nonviolence, human rights, and equality and that colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and militarized security have denied the possibilities for peace. And while we need a durable and fair peace that addresses the root causes of violence and oppression, the absolute necessity now is to prevent further atrocities and loss of life.
Objective: To secure an immediate ceasefire and the enforcing of a two-way arms embargo on the state of Israel, by mobilising feminist activists everywhere to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and challenging the narrative to educate people around us about the root causes of the violence.
9 to 15 November – WILPF Week of Action: WILPF will continue and amplify its advocacy this week to highlight Palestine as a feminist, anti-militarist issue and to advocate for an immediate ceasefire.
12 November – WILPF’s Day of Action: On this day, we join hands with other feminist groups in a powerful demonstration of solidarity with Palestine. We will use this day to remind the world that Palestine is a feminist issue, to raise awareness, mobilise communities, and actively support the people of Gaza.
Media Outreach (or engagement):
Fact-Checking:
Tools and resources to challenge the narrative:
1. Lobbying Campaign:
2. Sample Letters: Adapt the following WILPF template and Ceasefire Today sample letters and scripts to call for an immediate ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel. These letters can be directed at:
Your government officials (including parliamentarians, heads of government, etc…)
3. Public Awareness:
Some references on international obligations and references on the arms trade:
4. Alliances:
Community Workshops:
Public Actions and Demonstrations:
Government offices/ministries/parliament: Organise peaceful protests or sit-ins at relevant governmental bodies.
Embassy-Focused Protests: Organise peaceful protests or sit-ins in front of Israeli, American, British, French, Canadian, Swiss, Dutch and other embassies that are complicit in Israel’s war crimes in your context.
Arms Companies-Focused Protests: Organise peaceful protests or sit-ins in front of the companies that supply Israel with arms. Find here a list of these companies (mainly in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, and other European countries).
Find here some resources from ICNC on nonviolent resistance and tactics:
Local Partnerships:
#FreePalestine #CeasefireNOW #EndGenocide #GazaUnderAttack #Gaza #EndApartheid #EndOccupation #StopGenocidelnGaza
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.
More about Hanne Peterson coming soon.
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Diana María Salcedo López holds a degree in Political Science from the National University of Colombia, a Master’s degree in Women’s, Gender and Citizenship Studies from the University of Barcelona, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights, the Rule of Law and Democratisation from the University of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid. A feminist and anti-militarist, she has a solid track record spanning two decades working as a consultant for non-governmental organisations, international cooperation agencies, the United Nations and state bodies in Colombia.
Her work has focused on safeguarding women’s rights, incorporating a gender and intersectional perspective into public policy, strengthening the social fabric amongst women who are victims of the armed conflict, and consolidating local peace-building processes.
She currently serves as director of the Colombian section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (LIMPAL Colombia), where she leads initiatives on issues such as feminist approaches to the energy transition, the protection of women human rights defenders, the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and advocacy in international forums. She also represents the organisation on the Special Women’s Body for Monitoring the Peace Agreement and on the Intersectoral Commission on Security Guarantees for Women Human Rights Defenders and Women Leaders in Colombia.
Desirée Sterner currently serves as President of the Swedish Section (IKFF), a role she has held since 2023. Her engagement with WILPF began at the grassroots level through the local branch in Lund/Malmö during her university years. Desirée brings a deep substantive understanding of WILPF’s core issues, rooted in academic training in gender, peace and security (LSE), war studies (Swedish Defence University), peace and conflict studies, and human rights (Lund University), combined with several years of practical advocacy, movement-building and organisational leadership work in Swedish civil society.
Sylvie Ndongmo, is a Cameroonian peacebuilder, feminist leader, civil society actor and Women, Peace and Security expert with over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding, mediation, and gender equality advocacy. She serves as International President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and Executive Secretary of Women Peace Initiatives. She coordinates the Women and Youth Early Warning Monitoring Room in Cameroon and was recently appointed to the African Union Advisory Panel on Democratic Elections and Governance in Africa. Her work focuses on advancing women’s leadership, conflict prevention, and sustainable peace through feminist, inclusive, and intergenerational approaches.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
