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10/24 Kumi Now Online Gathering Week 43: Women in Conflict

Tuesday, October 24, 11:00 AM EDT

With the situation in Gaza growing more dire everyday, Kumi Now is asking everyone to focus on activism for Palestine. Please join us in taking this action, below. And please see the links at the end of this newsletter for donating medical aid to Gaza.

Kumi Action

This week, we want to ask medical unions in our countries to support the medical teams in Palestine and Gaza. Below are some talking points you can use in your emails, letters, and phone calls. And following the talking points is contact info for medical unions in the UK, Ireland, U.S., and Canada. However, please feel free to contact medical unions in your own country as well.

Talking points:

  • Medical facilities, as well as the medical staff and patients, are protected under international humanitarian law.

  • Call for Israel to end the restriction of essential medical supplies from entering Gaza: free passage of such items are protected under the Geneva Convention.

  • Highlight the crisis of electricity, water and food and that medical staff are having to perform life-saving surgeries by flashlight.

  • Medical unions, as represenatives of doctors, must stand for the protection of civilians and patients in accordance to the Hippocratic Oath.

  • A resounding call for descalation must be made in order to avoid further Israeli airstrikes. Highlight the threats that have been made against other hospitals all over Gaza such as Al Quds Hospital.

  • The British Medical Association has condemned the bombing

Contact info:

Consider sharing your letters and this action to social media. Use the hashtags #KumiNow #Gaza CeaseFireNOW

Next Online Gathering - October 24: Week 43 - Women in Conflict 

This Week's Entry - Kumi Week #43: Women in Conflict

On October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. It acknowledged the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction.

Resolution 1325 was the first resolution from the Security Council that required parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women's rights, support their participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, and protect women and girls from wartime sexual violence. It was also the first United Nations Security Council resolution to specifically mention the impact of conflict on women.

There is a twisted irony at the intersection of war and gender: war is almost always declared and fought by men. But it is women and children that suffer much of the violence. The end of war is no different: men negotiate treaties, while the voices, needs, and expertise of women are ignored. In reality, however, women, and by extension children, bear unbelievable levels of violence and harm, especially in refugee camps, military occupations, and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

You can read more about the impact of Resolution 1325 here, and read the full text here. And join us for our next Kumi Now Online Gathering as we look at the effects of conflict on women in Palestine: 

Understanding Women in Conflict. Just the facts... 

  • 33% of Palestinian women in refugee camps have directly experienced physical assault by Israeli Occupation Forces.

  • 9% have been exposed to threats of being attacked by policing dogs during Israeli night raids on their homes.

  • ​​37% have been detained or interrogated.

  • 38% of them or members of their households have experienced verbal abuse during Israeli army raids, at checkpoints or while visiting religious places.

  • Many have been forced to work in substandard conditions after the family breadwinner has been arrested or killed.

  • Nearly a quarter live in shelters or with extended family.

  • 22% live in unhealthy conditions.

  • Over 20% have been exposed to beatings or tear gas at checkpoints while they were pregnant.

  • 5% of women or their children have been forced to drop out of school due to the occupation.

  • 64% have been unable to visit religious or recreational sites due to restrictions on their movement.

These facts are taken from the MIFTAH data in “Palestinian Women: The Disproportionate Impact of Israeli Occupation” from MIFTAH, PWWSD, WCLAC, TAM, and Karama.

Join us on Tuesday for our next gathering:

To register: Week 43: Women in Conflict Online Gathering 2023 – KUMI NOW

Background info: Week 43: Women in Conflict – KUMI NOW

See the full Kumi Now email for additional info, actions and resources Kumi Now - Week 43: Women in Conflict 2023 (sendibm1.com)

Earlier Event: October 24
10/24 Red Lines and Shifting Rules of Engagement: The Prospects of a Hezbollah-Israel War (MEI)
Later Event: October 24
10/24 “Colonialism and its Legacies in the Middle East" with Professors Fawaz and Leake (hybrid)