Solidarity Statement with Palestine

Sangat, a feminist network representing women from different countries in South Asia, stands against the genocide that is happening in Gaza. To this day, thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by the aggression carried out by Israeli Occupation Forces.

We acknowledge and share the pain and horror of the families, victims, and hostages of the October 7 violence by Hamas.  This action by Palestinian resistance has to be seen in light of the atrocities the citizens of brutally occupied Gaza have been subjugated to in all these years. It has been nothing but an open prison with severe restrictions on food, water, livelihood, and mobility. Palestinians in Gaza have been treated as less than humans, totally violating their human rights. 

We are alarmed by the support of various heads of state for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his declared strategy for eradicating and annihilating the Palestinian people through an immoral war. 

We are particularly concerned about the genocidal pitched statements from Netanyahu and his lawmakers and the extremely racist and dehumanized language describing the Palestinian people and the ongoing wanton military assault on the people of Gaza.  

Palestinians as a people have endured decades of Israeli settler colonial violence.  The Israeli state’s blockade and siege of Gaza over sixteen years has instituted a system of apartheid, forcing millions to live as refugees in many other countries. The current targeting and bombing of Palestinian civilians, their homes, schools, and hospitals is the culmination of the Zionist strategy to throw Palestinian people out of their own homeland. We stand against the loss of civilian lives in any conflict, and our sympathies are with the families who are grieving on both sides.  We understand the deep shock and trauma of the families, the sentiment to avenge the deaths of their family members and an attack on their community; however, such an onslaught of human suffering and war is not justified. It is unacceptable to engineer another mass exodus of the Palestinian people being driven out of their own land once again.  

We call for an end to the offensive of the Government of Israel on innocent men, women, and children. We demand an immediate end to what is a humanitarian catastrophe and reiterate that intentional starvation of the civilian population is a crime against humanity, which is being committed against the people of Gaza with total impunity. A humanitarian corridor must be opened immediately, and electricity and water must be reinstated. 

We urgently demand that the leaders of nations supporting Israel think carefully about what is unfolding as a genocide. There can be no excuse ever for violence with this intent. Support for it is clearly indicative of a brutal colonial mindset. Revenge is not justice. This siege and assault must stop urgently, and discussions must be initiated for a just solution. We call for the institution of proper mechanisms for accountability and justice to end this culture of immunity and impunity for violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Sangat believes that the feminist struggle for social justice, equality, human rights, and peace includes a people’s right to self-determination, and we join our Palestinian sisters, brothers, and allies across the world in condemning the ongoing genocidal war against the Palestinian people and call for an immediate ceasefire by the Israeli Government.