Who‘s coming to FiLIA?

The rise in anti-Semitism is frightening and FiLiA has fully opened my eyes to how bad it actually is getting. Not quite the education I was expecting at a women’s lib conference, but there you go.

Aja's tweet:
https://x.com/AjaTheEmpress/status/1977336566277447970

This. There is so much more to talk about than some dickhead spoiling for a fight so she can get social media likes.

FiLiA was inspiring, diverse, emotional, thought provoking.

Apart from a tiny minority, women were respectful of other women they weren’t politically aligned with.

Bev Jackson’s tweet

“An organization called @TWVnewsletter had a stand at FiLiA. It has been disseminating a pamphlet with some of the most virulent anti-Jewish tropes I’ve ever seen.”

https://x.com/bevjacksonauth/status/1977367806514434329?s=61

@YouveGotNoBloodyIdea and @ResisterOfTwaddleRex that is shocking.

Filia can get fucked.

I was there, including the opening ceremony.

The excitement and feeling of solidarity was building through all the local women, talking about women’s history and Brighton suffragettes. It felt positive and wonderful. My first FiLiA.

Then the Hamas sympathizer started chanting, “Free, free Palestine.” Some women in the audience stood up and joined in, a few women walked out and the rest of us sat there in stunned silence.

It took all the joy out of the occasion and divided the room. The compere could easily have apologized and said that the chanting wasn’t appropriate or that FiLiA didn’t condone it, but there was nothing said. The poor woman who came on to speak last had to talk to a room where everything had fallen flat.

This morning, perhaps as a sop to the FiLiA consciences, a small room was allocated for a meeting of those who wanted to support the Jewish women. Even there, some anti-Semitic women gatecrashed and when one was given the microphone, started on an anti-Israel rant. She was ejected, but it was honestly shocking to do that on the one small session given to the support of Jewish women, some of whom had family members who were directly affected on October 7th. I know they asked FiLiA to say something at the closing ceremony. I didn’t expect FiLiA to say what that group of women hoped they would say, but I did hope they’d at least give some kind of indication that they sympathised.

I waited to see if any apology or even recognition was forthcoming from FiLiA to say that the flag waving and chanting wasn’t appropriate. There was nothing.

The closing ceremony was shortened and fairly muted. After we’d all left, FiLiA sent out an email and I opened it, still hoping for some comment, but it was an email saying there had been two women banned for their actions at the disco. Those women were Jean Hatchet and Aja.

So there has been zero acknowledgment from the management that some women came to FiLiA with the deliberate intention of expressing their anti-Semitism and celebrating terrorists.

There were some brilliant sessions, particularly the Supreme Court session this morning, but the attitude of the FiLiA management in not condemning those who came to cause trouble and hurt genuinely put a dampener on the whole event and I won’t be going again, which is honestly really sad. It should have been amazing, but I can’t give my money to this organisation again.

According to that Filia made a conscious decision to platform them because they were pro Palestine. Either they didnt do due diligence beyond that or they did and platformed someone who has declared support for Hamas.

I thought the throwing drinks and trying to punch people was bad, but this another level.

It gets worse, it really does. Someone at FILIA seems to have orchestrated this.

Who the fuck are these ‘feminists’ who support Hamas?!

Shameful. Absolute fucking disgrace.

If only there had been a way FiLiA could have known

https://x.com/mrsSkys/status/1977413442274521354

https://x.com/radicalizingher/status/1977426921584787581

https://x.com/nicolelampert/status/1977430367561822674?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

Many of us who are concerned have been regular supporters, attenders and speakers for many years.

Many of us couldn't attend this time because it was too far, or we couldn't afford it, or we couldn't get time off work, or we have caring or mothering responsibilities, or we are unwell or disabled, or some permutation of multiples of these. Do we not get a voice?

Half of social media is smoke and mirrors- first rule of the internet. Many people trying to pull Filia down were not there

It's irrelevant.

It's the messaging that's echoing across social media.

Damage done.

I agree, @inkognitha . I want to hear from the women who were surrogates, those are voices worth amplifying. So many brave and interesting women to hear from, but instead, we’ve got this conference reduced to gossip from the drunken disco. Filia need some PR advice.

I was there on Friday (not the opening conference), didn’t realise at all there had been a walkout, didn’t realise there was a stand selling hijabs (WTAF), had to learn here about it and the fiasco at the disco.
Very sad to see such a great event tarnished, what I experienced personally was awesome, there was so much to see and discover, but I share and understand the anger of Jewish women.
Effing omnicause.
Feminism is for all women, seeing it split by a male conflict between 2 different shades of religious sexist patriarchy in the Middle East, or here between the head girls and the ultras, it is enraging.

“You’re only allowed, as grassroots, to criticise events organised by the elite if you give them your money and time to attend their events. But at the same time, if you do attend their events you have to remember we’re all in it together and not criticise them “

Maybe imagine that you were at the opening session and at the party, and then maybe imagine you're a Jewish woman. Would you still be able to ignore what happened?

More being reported.

x.com/freyavanadiss/status/1977368337907613873?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

How many of you condemning FILIA were actually there?

I was - although not at the opening session or the party. But the sessions I was at were full of women interested in international matters, in women’s writing, in menopause, in women’s history - so many different issues and very many different perspectives.

What a fucking shit show.

I am left with a lot of lost respect for all those who took sides and escalated matters rather than knowing when to just walk away under the circumstances.

It wasn't the place for flag waving of any kind. All it's done has successfully undermined the entire feminist agenda and principal that all women shouldn't be caught up in the violence, whether it be state sanctioned, terrorist, sexual in nature or whatever form it is. It's a hard, none of this is acceptable.

Women are always harmed in these scenarios.

There will be a bunch of men laughing hard at the sorry outcome.

@Yawhati wondered that too.

Wow. Looks like it’s not trans people we have to worry about. We can do a good job of tearing each other apart without any help.

I was really interested in being involved with this initially. The behaviours that have been spoken about though? I understand women with an antrong political stance are going to disagree but surely we can all have solidarity over rape etc? That seems like a red line.

I am sorry this has happened. It does nothing for women’s rights.

I think Lucy Masoud is a good speaker, but she should have been banned for that.