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Original poster

In wanting Mumsnet to help Judi Dench and Joanna Lumley

880 replies

GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 18:55

Last week, Israel banned 37 international aid organisations from operating in the strip, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF). MSF delivers one in three of Gaza’s babies, and experts warn that immediate action must be taken to prevent a catastrophe.

It has prompted more than 100 leading members of the arts, including Dames Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Joanna Lumley, Sienna Miller, Suranne Jones and singer Paloma Faith, to sign a letter urging popular online platform Mumsnet to join them in demanding urgent government action ensuring maternity care is accessible in Gaza.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-israel-baby-birth-judi-dench-letter-b2896981.html

International aid groups grapple with what Israel's ban will mean for their work in Gaza

Israel has revoked the licenses of more than three dozen humanitarian organizations, and now those groups are grappling with how that will affect aid operations in Gaza

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/israel-united-nations-norwegian-refugee-council-palestinians-doctors-without-borders-b2894091.html

OP posts:
Thread gallery
19
StrongestWoman · 08/01/2026 19:36

I can't wrap my head around this.

So a bunch of old luvvies wants to help mothers in Gaza, and to do this they decide to write a letter, not to Keir Starmer, not to Netanyahu, not to Trump, not to the UN but to Mumsnet??? Why?

What is their expectation of Mumsnet? Have they asked Tesco? Or any other random company?

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:33

The celebrities?
Absolutely
They surely have enough egg on their faces after el Fattah

LVhandbagsatdawn · 08/01/2026 19:30

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:30

I feel sorry for the whole tribe, years of applause have addled their little brains, so they think that their opinions are important

Yeah, all those women should just shut up right?

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:30

I feel sorry for the whole tribe, years of applause have addled their little brains, so they think that their opinions are important

Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:30

GreggWallace · 08/01/2026 19:28

i bloody hate Joanna Lumley

I bloody hate Gregg Wallace 😉
the tv one

OP posts:
Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:29

Nyeaccident · 08/01/2026 19:24

Are they going to ask netmums to do the same too?

Hopefully is it still running?

OP posts:
GreggWallace · 08/01/2026 19:28

i bloody hate Joanna Lumley

Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:28

48percenttoday · 08/01/2026 19:20

The organisations had their licenses revoked for refusing to hand over the names of their workers within Gaza. Aid agencies in that area have a real issue with Hamas infiltration and I know this because I used to work in Aid and I’ve seen it.

It’s not an unreasonable demand but the NGOs refused. 23 other aid agencies have complied and will continue to work in the area. There will also continue to be heavy support from the UN and the international community. The 37 aid agencies could have prevented this.

Edited

A lot of very well respected NGOs have been banned, they said they had security concerns for their staff due to the number already killed in Gaza.
also were not willing to agree not to testify against Israel in the ICC /ICJ which is something that was being demanded but that discussion has been done.
This is about helping pregnant women surely something we can all support

OP posts:
LVhandbagsatdawn · 08/01/2026 19:28

Nyeaccident · 08/01/2026 19:23

I don't get why the finger is being pointed at mumsnet rather than politicians. Really odd way of going about things.

There are no fingers being pointed. They are asking MN to weigh in, not accusing MN of anything.

Mumsnet is a) primarily a website for parents, mainly mothers, so for people who are perfectly placed to understand how atrocious the conditions for pregnant women or post partum women must be in Gaza, and b) well-known in the UK as a political weathervane, frequently canvassed by politicians.

So if you wanted to get some action going for mothers suffering in an unimaginably awful way, then Mumsnet is probably one of the first places you'd go in the UK to start the lobbying.

Nyeaccident · 08/01/2026 19:24

Are they going to ask netmums to do the same too?

Nyeaccident · 08/01/2026 19:23

I don't get why the finger is being pointed at mumsnet rather than politicians. Really odd way of going about things.

48percenttoday · 08/01/2026 19:20

The organisations had their licenses revoked for refusing to hand over the names of their workers within Gaza. Aid agencies in that area have a real issue with Hamas infiltration and I know this because I used to work in Aid and I’ve seen it.

It’s not an unreasonable demand but the NGOs refused. 23 other aid agencies have complied and will continue to work in the area. There will also continue to be heavy support from the UN and the international community. The 37 aid agencies could have prevented this.

JacknDiane · 08/01/2026 19:20

Its pathetic if mn doesn't support this.
But after seeing how the CITME board was moderated, im not surprised if they dont support it.

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:20

If you want to have a campaign, don't use celebrities to push it.
People are sick and tired of them

WalkingInTheRainAndWind · 08/01/2026 19:17

GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:15

But it is not about the celebrities it is about pregnant fellow women in a dire situation needing help

Show quote history

Honestly I think for some it’s about wanting people to forget what Israel is doing and not caring about the women and babies of Gaza, however it’s wrapped up as disdain for celebrities or some other tangent.

Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:15

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:13

Don’t think the causes are linked but your choice
The link is entitled public 'celebrities' thinking that i care about what they think.
I don't

But it is not about the celebrities it is about pregnant fellow women in a dire situation needing help

OP posts:
WalkingInTheRainAndWind · 08/01/2026 19:13

Upstartled · 08/01/2026 19:02

God, you'd think those bank balances united would have a better impact on maternity care in Gaza than hen-pecking a website to lobby the government with this project.

It’s there in the OP. Aid agencies are not being allowed to operate. Why are you anti a campaign to get maternity care to women?

Israel banned 37 international aid organisations from operating in the strip, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF).

International aid groups grapple with what Israel's ban will mean for their work in Gaza

Israel has revoked the licenses of more than three dozen humanitarian organizations, and now those groups are grappling with how that will affect aid operations in Gaza

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/israel-united-nations-norwegian-refugee-council-palestinians-doctors-without-borders-b2894091.html

Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:13

Don’t think the causes are linked but your choice
The link is entitled public 'celebrities' thinking that i care about what they think.
I don't

AncientMarina · 08/01/2026 19:07

Upstartled · 08/01/2026 19:02

God, you'd think those bank balances united would have a better impact on maternity care in Gaza than hen-pecking a website to lobby the government with this project.

We don't know that they're not giving money as well as their time.

All the money in the world won't help if the agencies can't get in.

Celestialmoods · 08/01/2026 19:07

It’s truly horrifying that an apparently civilised country would ban internationally renowned aid and medical agencies when it is the only support an entire population has access to. This is on top of the press having been completely banned already.

Why aren’t more people asking what they have to hide? Why do they feel the need to silence the voices of independent organisations? And when we already have enough evidence from them of brutal inhumanity from the IDF, why are still so quiet?

Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:07

should we not help fellow mothers, we all know how tough pregnancy and birth is?

OP posts:
Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:05

Don’t think the causes are linked but your choice

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Sausagenbacon · 08/01/2026 19:05

You'd have thought they'd have learnt their lesson after supporting Alaa Abd el-Fattah so enthusiastically.

socialdilemmawhattodo · 08/01/2026 19:04

When the good people in the arts sector start standing up for women, women's rights and single sex spaces, then I might support a cause they fervently believe in. But I would want to see far more than just words. And it is a cheek.

Original poster
GiantBranch · 08/01/2026 19:03

wow , will take a look but why would anyone disagree?

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