Israel : End Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, and secure the unconditional release of all FFC volunteers

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC), its members and allies in feminist and social justice movements worldwide, condemn the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for ramming and intercepting the Madleen, and detaining the humanitarians on board. We see this as a continued escalation of the genocide, as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid and force the starvation of the people of Gaza. We understand the blockade not as an isolated violation, but as part of a premeditated act of genocide, occupation, and patriarchal state violence.

The brave women and all human rights defenders on board of the UK-flagged humanitarian ship ‘Madleen’, have acted on behalf of the international community and all people of conscience worldwide; where powerful governments failed to act and continue to enable the genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The attack on the Madleen is de-facto a threat to the international community to stay silently complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) did not sail alone—it sailed in the wake of a long and courageous legacy of humanitarian missions that sought to break the siege on Gaza. The Madleen’s route went from international waters to Palestinian waters, and Israel has no jurisdiction over their route.

We recognise the IOF’s interception of the Madleen and detention of its crew in international waters as only the latest attack on humanitarians and activists, which precede the launch of the Freedom Flotilla in 2010, when Israel killed and injured humanitarians in an attack on international waters. Each of Israel’s attacks on humanitarians are egregious and unwarranted violations of international humanitarian law.

If any government deigns to consider itself a champion of human rights, they too must make every effort to open unrestricted humanitarian corridors. There is growing support to end the use of the UN Security Council veto in mass atrocity situations: governments must take action to stop the continuation of US vetos to ceasefire resolutions, halt all weapon exports to Israel, break the humanitarian barricade in Gaza and uphold their obligations under the Genocide Convention.

We stand with all those resisting the genocide and the dehumanisation and destruction of Palestinian life. The Israeli genocide in Gaza and its brutal violence in the West Bank are not isolated events: they are a terrifying indication of a new world order of complete impunity and destruction of all international frameworks, of the right to life itself. We uphold International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, not as distant legal frameworks, but as tools for collective survival.

We further emphasise that we, the WHRD-IC and the signatories, stand with the Palestinian people and call for an end to this genocide. Our freedom is incomplete until Palestinians are free. Breaking the blockade and ending the genocide is at the core of our feminist struggle for life and liberation. The full, safe, and unrestricted flow of aid demands accountability, defies occupation and breaks the machinery of genocide.

Our demands:

• We call on everyone to keep fighting and pushing for:

  • An immediate end to the genocide, including by applying political, economic and cultural pressure on Israel,

  • The immediate and unconditional release of the remaining 8 detained FFC activists and the release of the 10,400 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, and a halt to all attacks on civilian missions seeking to deliver aid and challenge the illegal blockade.

  • Continue protesting, lobbying and pressuring states to uphold the international agreements and conventions they have signed. Without this accountability, the impunity will continue fueling daily massacres and utter destruction.
    

• We call on all governments, particularly the signatories of UN Human Rights Charters and the Genocide Convention to:

  • Take immediate action to hold the Israeli war criminals accountable, including the enactment of standing arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the government and military personnel at all ranks.

  • Pressure Israel for the release of the activists, halt all weapon exports to the State of Israel, and publicly support humanitarian efforts toward Gaza and demand an end to the ongoing genocide.

  • Initiate, support, sponsor, and protect humanitarian ships seeking to break the siege and bring life-saving needs to the Gazan population.

  • Honor your commitment to Human Rights and hold the Israeli State accountable for all its war crimes.
    

• We call on the Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the remaining 8 detained FFC activists and to release the 10,400 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, to end the blockade of Gaza and comply with international humanitarian law by allowing safe, direct, and unrestricted access to aid, including guaranteed freedom of operation for UNRWA and other aid, development and humanitarian agencies, along with the immediate closure of the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) that serves as a displacement tool and death trap under the guise of humanitarian aid.
  
  

• We call on the United Nations and relevant human rights bodies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Procedure mandate-holders, to continue to monitor the situation closely and take immediate and concrete steps to ensure accountability for violations of international law and obstruction of aid.
  
  

• We call on feminist, women’s rights and human rights movements globally to uplift the Palestinian struggle, amplify the voices and resistance of Palestinian communities, and expose the violence of occupation, genocide and siege.

Real allies are loud allies: amplify, lobby, push and take action in any way possible.

We invite readers and signatories to continue pressuring all relevant governments to ensure the unconditional release of all hostages on the Madleen Crew as requested by the FFC. You are also invited to send this statement to the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council and the 15 members of the UN Security Council.

We also invite you to amplify, support and keep an eye on The Caravane Al-Soumoud that has begun its journey by land, and that must be allowed to pass by Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and onward to Gaza.

To endorse this statement, click here.

• Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC)

• Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice

• The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)

• Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

• Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights

• Women’s International Peace Centre

• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

• Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Defense of Women's Rights (CLADEM)

• Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)

• Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD)

• Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)