What Happened to the Women’s Movement? Unpacking the Silence Surrounding October 7
Published 03/08/2024
What Happened to the Women’s Movement? Unpacking the Silence Surrounding October 7
On March 8th, Independent Women’s Forum and AHA Foundation, along with Independent Women’s Voice, the Muslim American Leadership Alliance, and CLARITy Coalition sent a letter to the White House Gender Policy Council demanding action for the women and girls brutalized on October 7 in Israel. For International Women’s Day, we wanted to have a conversation about the silence surrounding these horrific attacks as well as the ongoing physical, sexual, and emotional abuse inflicted against those who remain in captivity.
It’s been five months since the October 7 massacre. We need to recognize the women’s rights movement as a whole has failed these women and girls. Instead of these attacks being a springboard for women’s rights groups to firmly take a stand against rape as a weapon of war, and demand the return of hostages, many have abdicated their responsibilities and abandoned their principles. We have now seen what appears to be one set of rules for women in general and another set of rules for Jewish women, prompting the hashtag that emerged following October 7: “Me too unless you’re a Jew”. Many organizations and individuals that were very vocal in the Me Too movement have stayed silent following one of the largest and most barbaric instances of gender-based violence in modern history.
We want to explore how this failure happened; where the lack of condemnation and action stemmed from, what it means for the movement against gender-based violence and how we can move forward with all women and girls in mind.
Michele Hanash is an experienced attorney and women’s and children’s rights advocate. As the Director of Policy and Women’s Programs, Michele leads the foundation’s advocacy efforts and women’s rights programs. Michele is passionate about ending gender-based violence
Andrea (Andi) Bottner serves as the Vice President of External Relations at Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), where she leads strategic partnerships and communications efforts. With extensive experience in public policy advocacy and government affairs, Andrea is dedicated to advancing IWF’s mission of promoting economic opportunity and individual liberty for women. Her leadership fosters collaboration and amplifies IWF’s impact in shaping policy debates on critical issues facing women today.
Many of us who were horrified by the sexual violence of October 7 have wondered why many women’s groups have been silent and why it took some groups so long to issue lukewarm responses. Why do you think that is?
Michele: I think antisemitism is alive and well. Now antisemites have carte blanche to say whatever they want as long as it’s couched as anti-Zionism. Critical theory and DEI are unfortunately vehicles for this bigotry and these philosophies have spread within many institutions and movements. We can see this with Me Too International. Their “Social and Political Framework” lists their “core politics and values” as a commitment “to uprooting capitalism, colonialism, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, ableism, fatphobia, homophobia, transphobia, and patriarchal violence.” When critical theory falsely paints Jews as “white colonialist oppressors,” despite their indigeneity in Israel and multiracial make-up, at best Jews are excluded from protection, and at worst, they are intentionally framed as the enemy. It’s not surprising that Me Too International waited over a month to post vaguely about October 7 on Instagram, and to “urge an immediate ceasefire in all conflict zones and release of humanitarian aid to the citizens of Gaza.” No mention of Israelis, no mention of the brutal sexual violence or ongoing violence against hostages and deplorably no demand for the release of hostages.
The UN has long displayed an anti-Israel bias. It’s sad and shocking, though not surprising therefore, that UN women took nearly two months to issue a really underwhelming statement about October 7. Just days ago, UN Women posted to Instagram that the “war on Gaza is a war on women,” using their platform to twist the war on Hamas, a terrorist organization that brutalizes women, as a war on women, in order to push an anti-Israel agenda. But UN Women made no such statement about the systematic raping, mutilating and hostage taking of Israeli women and girls?! When your narrative is based on Israelis as the oppressor, the cognitive dissonance is too great to acknowledge the atrocities perpetrated against them. Doing so would call into question so much of the anti-Israel propaganda they have spread and based their platform upon. The constant dehumanization of Israelis makes it easier to convince oneself that Israelis somehow deserve to be raped and mutilated, and in this case only, rape is justified as “political resistance”.
“It’s sad and shocking, though not surprising therefore, that UN women took nearly two months to issue a really underwhelming statement about October 7.”
I think the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, masquerading somehow as a nonviolent grassroots humanitarian endeavor, despite its leaders’ reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, also works to dehumanize Israelis, especially on college campuses. I think the BDS movement has appropriated other movements, including the women’s movement. Take for example the Women’s March, which former co-president Linda Sarsour and others co-opted as a platform to promote BDS.
We also see UN organizations like UNRWA receiving billions of dollars by perpetuating this conflict. For some organizations, maybe the financial incentive to spread antisemitism is too great.
Andi: I think you are absolutely right, Michele, that the anti-semitic bias is alive and well at the United Nations. I think we have witnessed such shocking silence from outside so-called “women’s rights” organizations, because they have decided to put an extremely progressive, political agenda ahead of their mission to advocate for women’s rights as human rights. Politics and the cost of playing in the political arena have won the day for these such organizations. It is shameful and beyond hypocritical. There is also inadequate criticism about the bias and the silence. Those of us who see this bias need to be demanding more. Women deserve more and leaders who stand with us and on the side of true women’s rights need to be applauded. Conversely, those cowardly leaders who do not, have to be driven from power. Vote them out. Raise your voice against their hateful remarks. Counter their arguments with the truth. Act and use your voice.
Why have individuals been silent?
Michele: I think a lot of the same issues that apply to the organizations also apply to individuals. Some people may be well-intentioned but ignorant. Many are uneducated about the history of the conflict, and erroneously view the Middle East through an American or Western European lens regarding race and colonialism. Some people may be afraid to oppose the “fashionable” view and others may be afraid of the pro-Hamas crowd. I have no other explanation for why, for example, Michelle Obama hasn’t demanded we “bring back our girls” when it comes to the hostages and American citizens being held by Hamas.
Andi: Again, the hypocrisy is stunning from individuals who have long claimed they are advocates for women and families. Michelle Obama’s silence after October 7th is in stark contrast with her actions taken in 2014 when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls. Where are the hashtags and the public remarks for the women who were brutalized in Israel on October 7th? They don’t exist. They should.
“Again, the hypocrisy is stunning from individuals who have long claimed they are advocates for women and families.”
Secretary Blinken gave strong public remarks after October 7th calling out the brutality. However, since that time, we hear a lot of cease fire talk from this Administration and not enough discussion about the depravity that occurred.
What does it mean for the legitimacy of the women’s rights movement to exclude Jews and Israelis?
Michele: It’s an epic failure for the movement. Groups that were silent have betrayed the movement. They have put other interests above women’s rights. They are complicit in the atrocities in my opinion.
Andi: These silent and hypocritical, political people have put politics above basic human rights. Rape cannot be used as a weapon of war against any woman, regardless of her color, creed, geographic location, ethnicity, political persuasion, etc. The women’s rights movement must stand for all women as women, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. The women’s rights movement needs to be bigger than this.
“These silent and hypocritical, political people have put politics above basic human rights. Rape cannot be used as a weapon of war against any woman, regardless of her color, creed, geographic location, ethnicity, political persuasion, etc.”
Where do we go from here?
Michele: I think there needs to be a reckoning. I think truth and accountability are the way forward. And we need to bring the hostages home, now!
Andi: I couldn’t agree more with the need for accountability. Just this week, the United Nations released a report confirming there was sexual violence perpetrated against women in Israel on October 7th and after. We are not surprised, we knew this. The question is what is the United Nations going to do to influence repercussions against the terrorist organization Hamas? What is the United Nations going to do against the no longer credible UNRWA? The United States has withdrawn funding and others have followed suit, more needs to happen though to purge the UN of these terrorist sympathizers. Women need to keep speaking out about the hypocrisy and call for others to be held accountable. We must not stay silent and we must hold fast to the conviction that rape cannot be used as a weapon and that women’s rights are human rights.