Open letter: Mothers Appeal To Mumsnet CEO Justine Roberts

Also, fwiw, I no longer click on google doc links as there seem to be some possibe security vulnerabilities in there.

My first response is that these people seem to be cynically using the children suffering in a war torn country to try to carry out a complicated and faintly baffling virtue signal.

But maybe I've got too cynical.

Are these not all the types who generaly spend time 'how awfulling' about Mumsnet?

Yes, on the face of it, the request from the Israelis doesn't seem to be unreasonable in the light of Hamas's past conduct - from infiltration of ostensibly civilian organisations so they can more easily carry out terrorism, to siphoning off aid funds to fund terrorism and line their own pockets.

I could weep when I think of how different life in Gaza could be if the aid given over the years had been used for its intended purpose - much better maternity provision could have been had, for one.

@whatwouldafeministdo - I think they want the details of people living in Gaza who are working with the NGOs, not just the foreign nationals entering Gaza. Caveat: I probably read that in a post, not an official report.

I'm going to regret asking this but - what are Israel really asking for though? Names and addresses of those staff being allowed in as far as I can tell to check against intelligence of terrorists. That doesn't seem unreasonable?

And they're not doing this from nothing, are they? This is in response to aid organisations being used by Hamas. They didn't do this until now. Why?

Have been reading around the issue and it appears one reason they've suspended MSF license is because of their overtly anti-Israel political statements which I just noted were taking a side and a) made me uncomfortable and b) was in contrast to most of their site / work. I'll add c) seems to detract from actual frontline healthcare.

I would have thought the Israelis will be looking for established names of suspected or proven terrorists on their intelligence lists, rather than expecting each person to go through a quasi trial in which they prove their innocence.

its very hard to prove a negative - to prove that someone isn’t a Hamas terrorist

at best you might be able to prove that they could not have actually committed any terrorist activity / because you can prove they have always been in another country but proving negatives is hard

especially if terrorist doesn’t just mean someone committed to acts of violence but could be extended to people saying the wrong words

Yes, I'm wondering this as well. Happy to be informed, but on the face of it I can't see why the charities aren't just giving the names of their aid workers? And why the letter isn't being sent to them to encourage them to do this.

i have not dismissed the import of any of said organisations but, as said, trying to say kind things so will leave it there. Have a lovely weekend.❤

Sigh, have now discovered MSF is refusing to demonstrate its workers aren't Hamas terrorists and / or Israel is refusing to meet them so they can reasonably provide the evidence needed in a way that is safe to their staff. Depending on who's telling you about it. Who knows what the truth is.

I just give up, frankly. Though I will note that the MSF pages on Gaza are a lot more political than the rest of the site which I find very offputting. And for foreign workers surely it should be fairly easy to demonstrate they're not Hamas terrorists?

Hopefully they're still doing good frontline work in Afghanistan and Pakistan without any politics.

Before you dismiss the relevance of the WEF, the UN and NATO maybe look into their aims, objectives and how that filters down around the world particularly in the control of the world oil reserves?

Agreed.

Can't the good people of Israel start it off by petitioning their own politicians and government first? Perhaps a bit more forcefully so those lovely men at the top can hear them.

Also agree with pp, as soon as I get a sniff of emotional blackmail my hackles rise and I start looking at what they are trying to hide and dismiss.

It's not just Gaza, is the Palestinian cause in general. It seems to matter infinitely more to people here than any other similar situation.
Mass demonstrations, flags all over the place, references to it at the oddest times - it seems obligatory to shoehorn in a reference to support for Palestine.

People are entitled to their opinions, but there seems to be an extraordinary lack of perspective and proportionality in the responding to human tragedy depending on whether the victims are Palestinian or Not-Palestinian - like Yemini or Rohingya or Sudanese or Afghan or any number of other victims of conflict and hunger.

They just doesn't have whatever X-factor the Palestinians have.

I'm sorry this is derailing but I'm going to put this here until I have time to start a thread about it because it was the luvvies who sent me down this road of research because I was originally going to suggest the luvvies support MSF rather than pile on Justine in a performative way. But decided I was wasting time on the AIBU thread and so have given up.

MSF appeared to still be working in Afghanistan at the end of 2025 and there are also links to their work in Pakistan where many Afghan refugees flee but may not feel confident seeking medical help due to risk of deportation.

They do name women and girls and how restrictions on dress restrict access to healthcare there. This is a good thing both that they're naming the harms to women and that they're still there. Though it's probably a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed and I am sure it is increasingly tricky for them to get around the ban on men treating women and women working at all. I don't know why there's not more on this, maybe they're treading a fine line where if they don't name what they're doing the local Taliban will look the other way.

Afghanistan | Our Work & How to Help | Doctors Without Borders

Why are these people so focused on Gaza? What about the Yazidi women and the women in Afghanistan? Surely maternity and child health issues are at least as much of a concern there?

I agree. I'm increasingly put off anyone who describes themselves or the things they're doing as 'good' or 'right' or 'proper' without having in depth knowledge and being able to explain why they think that.

And on the AIBU thread the OP has said I'm not a feminist. Then said it wasn't an attack, and I said I received it as an attack, and she has actually said sorry, which was nice.

The power of MN at work once again to foster world peace and understanding. 😁

👏👏👏

I’m over being made to feel that if I don’t completely agree with every single word of someone who has decided to label themselves as ‘good’ and ‘right’ and the voice of an entire section of society, then I am somehow bad/evil/a Nazi. It’s manipulative bullshit that seems to only work on people who are either ignorant of the issue at hand, unable to comprehend complexity, or want to be told how to feel and think.

At this point, any sniff of the use of these tactics sends me searching for information and evidence in the opposite camp to their views.

Could only come from a profession that has spent the last 20 years making films where plucky Britishers solve war / poverty / sexism / the Miner's Strike / the lack of geriatric nude calendars / the problems of ballet dancing Geordie boys by just pulling their sleeves up, forming a team, writing a letter and marching to Downing street before punching the air in a cheery musical sequence.

And world peace and voting Labour, Stan.

I mean the MN maternity care campaign hasn't sorted UK maternity care so I fail to see how we're going to sort Gaza where it's not even local to us.

I've done some whataboutery on the AIBU about why Gaza (where you can hardly move for celebs 'helping') and not Afghanistan where women seemingly have to now give birth entirely without medical care and indeed live (and most likely therefore die more frequently) without medical care entirely.

It did also prompt me to go down a rabbit hole to see if MSF are still operating within Afghanistan and I have a horrible feeling they're not treating women any more. There's something in March 25 about a child every day dying of measles but they don't use the words girls or women (it's children and parents - we've been here before) and there's a post from July 25 about a trauma recovery centre with photos of only men. I appreciate they can only do what is possible but I found it frustrating to see there is no comment on women's health in Afghanistan more recently whilst they are very happy to call Gaza a 'genocide' and it's easy to find a lot about Gaza and not so much about Afghanistan. But perhaps that's what their donors want. I used to donate regularly but am not as rich as I once was plus having to donate to crowdfunders for women in the UK to try and retain our rights here. (sorry for the derail).

emmm... i'm trying to learn to be kinder in my comments. but talk of there being a 'world order' might lead some to think there is some conspiratorial thinking at play. The 'deepstate', QAnon, shadowy people cackling in darkened rooms as they secretly plot amongst themselves, that sort of this.. 5G masts, chemtrails..

If you are, then I'm missing it too. Why are they not providing the requested information?

Or, asking Justine to sign said letter rather than asking her to sort out world peace. But I'm sure she was on the phone to Nettie as she calls him first thing this morning to sort it out. [Or they could just tell the agencies to provide the information required and resolve this themselves].