The Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions posted the statement below on March 7, 2025.
Humanity marks March 8 every year as International Women’s Day, foregrounding the contributions, struggles and sacrifices of women, especially working women, at all levels of society.
Graphic: Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions. Photo websource: newunions.wordpress.com, March 7
As Palestinian women, we are not only half of society. Our contributions to society and our struggle are fundamental. Our loyalty to the cause and our steadfastness, based on our deep-rooted sense of belonging to our land and people, shall not be ignored.
March 8 comes to us this year in one of the most difficult moments for our people, especially in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel’s brutal policies of occupation, apartheid and now genocide have brought tremendous hardship to the Palestinian people. Over 76 years of settler colonialism, Israel has continued to systematically kill and displace our people; to destroy everything that exists, from mosques, churches, hospitals to schools and universities; to burn everything, our homes and our land.
Our women in Palestine are resisting the violence of the occupation in the face of horrendous crimes. In the Gaza Strip, 44% of the 61,709 Palestinians killed by Israel’s genocide are women. Over a million Palestinian girls and women are displaced in Gaza, forced to sleep in cold tents or in the open air. Israel has again cut all entry of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid, continuing to use starvation as a weapon in its genocide. Every hour another Palestinian is being killed while the U.S.-Israel axis is attempting to derail the ceasefire agreement and ethnically cleanse the entire Gaza Strip.
Despite the recent prisoner exchange, during which many Palestinian women have been freed, 21 women are still behind bars. More than 4,711 women and children are still missing. Thousands of women are injured and still responsible for supporting their families. Many more lost their right to education, treatment, food, movement and a decent life.
The genocide in Gaza is extending to the West Bank, as Israel’s project of colonial erasure and destruction targets our entire people. In the occupied West Bank, Israel destroys entire villages, communities and refugee camps, kills our people, expels others from their homes, turning them into military barracks, and abuses residents and families. In the West Bank, 37,400 Palestinians have been displaced only during the last months.
A history of struggle
Despite all, Palestinian women have made history — a history still largely untold, yet full of achievements at political and social levels of struggle. We have always remained loyal to our principles, even in the most challenging times. Our ultimate goal remains to achieve freedom, independence and the right to self-determination for ourselves and our people.
We love life despite the bitterness of apartheid, the abuse of occupation and the difficult living conditions that affect all Palestinians, whether inside our homeland or in the diaspora. We don’t give up hope and are determined to ensure that our future will blossom beautifully in a free Palestine, where our refugees return, and we can rebuild together what Israeli crimes have destroyed.
Today, as Palestinian women we remind ourselves and the world of our crucial role in the struggle. We are the mother, the martyr, the wounded and the fighter. We are the prisoner, the worker and the one who embraces her wounds despite all the tragedies and sorrows. We are patient, steadfast and determined in the struggle until victory, because we love justice and reject defeat or surrender.
On International Women’s Day, we salute Palestinian women wherever they are. We greet women, especially working women, as they lead their own struggles across the world. We know we are united in our common pursuit against oppression, exploitation and exclusion. Only together can we overcome patriarchy, racism, colonialism and capitalism to free us all. Only together can we overcome Israel’s colonial apartheid system, genocide and occupation to free Palestine and show the world that justice is not only possible but necessary and urgent, in Palestine and everywhere.
This is why Palestine is a feminist struggle. This is why Palestine is a working class struggle.
A call for solidarity
We call on all official and civil institutions and political parties to support the demands of Palestinian women so that we can achieve the full menu of our rights and live a life of dignity, freedom and independence.
We call on women’s, feminist and transfeminist organizations, trade unions and working-class movements across the globe to stand in active solidarity and put effective pressure on their institutions, governments and corporations to end their complicity with Israeli crimes. We urge you to:
- Escalate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns wherever you are.
- Challenge any attempts to use colonial feminist propaganda and pink-washing efforts to silence our voices and delegitimize our struggle, and instead give voice and listen to us and our people.
- Ensure workers that your union is organizing and won’t be forced to aid or assist in Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against our people. No one should be forced or pushed into transporting goods, producing goods or services or having their own pension funds invested in ways that make them knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly complicit with Israeli crimes.
Long live March 8!
Long live Palestinian women, their loyalty to the cause, deep-rooted sense of belonging to our land and people, steadfastness and struggle for freedom and justice.
For us, to exist is to resist.