In wanting Mumsnet to help Judi Dench and Joanna Lumley

[GiantBranch]

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

Sums it up.

It's signalling. Ineffective timewasting at best.

I didn’t “run it as an argument”. I simply said we don’t know if such a letter exists or not when someone suggested it would be a better approach. 🤷‍♀️

All this kerfuffle about a bloody letter.

You have to do a lot of manipulative mental gymnastics to spin people caring about women and children trapped in a warzone where the majority of casualties have been women and children and where pregnant women are sometimes undergoing c sections with no anaesthesia into supporting Hamas. Absolutely disgusting. It's coercive control to ask someone to express support for maternity care but it's not coercive to say "if you care about these women you are supporting terrorists?" Shameless

Considering how many Jewish people are critical of Israeli policy this is a disgusting thing to say. Shame on you.

If it was an open letter we would know that it existed. If it wasn't an open letter then that begs the question why Justine was treated differently

It's not a trivial point at all.

Except posters arguing that this is the intention are doing this exact behaviour of accusing anyone who does support this cause as "supporting Hamas" which is completely baseless. If Justine doesn't want to express support for the cause saying she didn't want to publically support it is at least an accurate representation of the situation but it's not the same as leaping to "Justine supports Netenyahu" which is the extreme manipulative twisting people are doing (and it's unsurprising WHO is doing it) n this thread.

The hive mind continues to prevail.

How unsurprising, Feminism and Women's Rights board posters leading the charge against getting humanitarian aid to mothers and babies in warzones.

Guess it detracts from their anti trans obsession.

How unsurprising FWR board posters recognised manipulation when they see it.

I certainly have done no such thing. What an appallingly inaccurate accusation.

Why is it a disgusting thing to say? Hamas love any show of support from the West. They were delighted when Keir Starmer promised to recognise Palestine (with no mention of securing hostage releases first).

A senior Hamas official crowed, “ victory and liberation are closer than we expected”.

I’m in favour of a 2 state solution but not in the middle of a war when Hamas were still at the time holding all those Israeli hostages (mostly civilians). It’s one thing to criticise the Israeli government’s policy on certain things, quite another to criticise Israel as often and as enthusiastically as many people do in the West.

As I said, the whole thing is a weak attempt to malign site users.

We have no idea how many letters these people have written personally. No
open letter to YC but agree it would be a good idea.

We have no idea if these people have engaged on Mumsnet or not do we - or am I missing something?
Many more people read than comment. I don’t personally know anyone else that comments on here and have myself only started posting in the last year after 12 silent ones.

I wonder why it is that when someone tries to speak up for women in Gaza or Palestine, it must be virtue signalling. Why can’t it be that they simply want to help? Using a high profile to benefit others should be encouraged not disparaged surely.

As the OP said, perhaps they didn’t expect women’s maternity healthcare to be so divisive. It is weird.

It’s the usual playbook of resorting to personal attacks when they their argument fails to convince.

I think some site users are doing a pretty good job of showing themselves up all by themselves.

Whose usual playbook? Who are they and their? Who are you actually talking about?

Back to your omnicause….

The people who resort to personal attacks instead of debating properly.

The kind of posters who on the CITME board get lots of posts deleted for personal attacks on other posters who they disagree with.

You hang out on that board too so must see all the deletions.

If your Spidey senses don't tingle when you see

' 'feminists on fwr don't care about mums and babies because they're obsessed with trans',

then you've never tried to reason with a toddler. (Quite sensible actually - sometimes you just shouldn't engage)

@Twiglets1 I don’t see any personal attacks or deletions here. One poster referred to posters generally from another board much as you have just done.

None on here yet but the chat which has generally been quite polite beginning to descent into personal attacks which are quite unnecessary.

It would be inappropriate for Justine to support this letter on behalf of mumsnet.

There's a huge range of views on this site and the assumption of the letter writing luvvies is that mumsnetters are left-leaning social justice campaigners, which some are, but by no means all.

It was an open letter because they assume the contrary to so wanted to force Justine’s hand or show her up.

'Come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God, and fuck off'

Why so nasty?