Rape calls The feminist network INCITE! Women and Trans People of Color Against Violence has always understood that state violence is both racialized and gendered. Zionism is a prime example of that; it is a racist ideology grounded in the privileging of one ethno-religious group over all others. When a state views a population — its dispossessed, disenfranchised and occupied indigenous population — as a ”demographic threat,” that view is fundamentally both racist and gendered. Racist population control relies specifically on violence against women. So it is not surprising that Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli military intelligence officer turned academic, would matter-of-factly suggest this week that “raping the wives and mothers of Palestinian combatants” would deter attacks by Hamas militants. Similarly, Israeli lawmaker Ayelet Shaked did not attempt to present the murder of Palestinian children and their mothers as unfortunate, disproportionate “collateral damage” — she openly called for it by asserting that Palestinian women must be killed too, because they give birth to “little snakes.” This comment reflects an Israeli infrastructure designed to sustain high rates of miscarriages by blocking basic resources such as water and medical supplies, forcing women in labor to wait at military checkpoints on their way to a hospital, and generally creating inhumane and unlivable conditions for Palestinians. This latest murderous attack on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has not only taken the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, but it has also increased miscarriages, pre-term labor and stillbirths. Ethiopian-Israeli women, most of them Jewish, have also been subject to mandatory contraceptive injections without their consent. Ending Zionism is a feminist and a reproductive justice issue. EI
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 13:05:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015