As some of you may have seen, earlier this year Juliet Stevenson, together with a group of other prominent women, wrote to Mumsnet Founder Justine to ask whether Mumsnet might consider lobbying the UK government to do more diplomatically to ensure that aid reaches families and children in Gaza. The letter was intended to remain private but was accidentally published.
Following a thoughtful and constructive meeting with Juliet, in which we talked through how Mumsnet’s campaigning is shaped by the views and lived experiences of our users, we agreed it would be right to publish this piece from the group and open up the conversation more widely.
It has been written in conjunction with the humanitarian charity Small Steps Project and grassroots campaigns All Our Relations and Gaza Formula Fund, all run by British mums.
As ever, we welcome your views.
Months after the ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza, Unicef condemns the fact children continue being killed “from airstrikes, from drones, from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from [remote-controlled] quadcopters.” Christmas brought heart-breaking reports of small babies dying of hypothermia.
Nowhere is the impact of the violence of blocking aid more evident than with Gaza's pregnant women and their babies. In early December, Unicef raised the alarm on Gaza's maternity crisis, with its report on newborn mortality, emphasising a 75% increase in babies dying on their first day of life. They warn that “mothers who’ve been left starving in Gaza are now giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition".
They predicted this 'domino effect from mother to child' would continue for months to come as the root causes; trauma, a collapsed healthcare system and lack of nutrition, all fail to be addressed. Too many women are giving birth alone, without medical assistance, pain relief or even the most basic conditions of cleanliness. The risks to the life of both mother and baby, and likelihood of lifelong complications, are huge.
The lack of sanitation, inability to access a bathroom and basic privacy is particularly distressing for Gaza’s 700,000 women and girls during menstruation. Sanitary pads and basic hygiene supplies have long been on the list of items restricted by the Israeli government and despite the absurdity, this continues. Not only does it have a profound impact on women's dignity and ability to be active members of the community during these periods, more worryingly, the makeshift solutions they are reduced to can lead to infections and cause lifelong reproductive complications.
What is being done to women and children in Gaza is not the consequence of a natural disaster, but human decision making, and the world’s most renowned aid organisations insist there are basic actions that would immediately alleviate much of this suffering. As the British government is an ally to the Israeli government, we call on them to use their diplomatic power and insist on those tangible actions.
They must demand the complete reversal of the upcoming ban on 37 aid agencies who provide much of the medical infrastructure remaining. Governments worldwide, including allies such as the UK, issued a joint statement condemning this shocking move which means banning internationally renowned INGOs including Oxfam, International Rescue Committee and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) but statements without consequences are useless.
Israel claims this unprecedented ban was implemented because agencies had not shared “data” about their employees, funding and operations including sensitive personal information which Israel claims must be handed over for the sake of “security and transparency”. However, throughout the killing of the past 2 years, over 500 aid workers and 1,500 health workers have been murdered, often in targeted strikes and in many cases alongside their children. As a result, in order to comply with international law and duty of care to their employees, aid agencies insist they must take the same actions as they do globally, and refuse to share such details when they are aware it would risk the lives and safety of their staff. They warn “False narratives delegitimize humanitarian organizations, endanger staff, and undermine the delivery of assistance.”
These risks are well understood, just four months ago, 11 National Medical Associations including the BMA called for independent investigations into Israeli illegal detention and abuse of Gaza’s healthcare workers and condemned the fact they “have been continuously targeted, detained, tortured”.
As this new ban comes into effect, organisations worldwide warn it will plunge
the maternity crisis into catastrophe. MSF alone provides 1 in 5 of the hospital
beds, and delivers 1 in 3 of Gaza’s babies, to remove them now is inconceivable. The fragile system simply will not cope without their presence.
Oxfam, alongside a group of leading humanitarian organisations, has been forced to take legal action against the state, saying “Israel’s move to deregister Oxfam and other humanitarian organisations has no factual or legal basis and reflects escalating pressure on groups documenting violations or supporting Palestinian civilians”.
World affairs are complex, but as parents and carers, our foremost wish is simple - the safety and wellbeing of our children. Despite the announcement of the ‘ceasefire’, the killing continues and the intentional destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, buildings, medical and educational systems has merely changed form. Gaza’s families are being deliberately prevented from recovering. They desperately require access to the most basic of human needs: safety, health, warmth, food, education.
This is not a fringe issue, and concerned voices from across the world are calling for an end to this senseless barbarity, upon which we will surely all look back in horror. With our shared experience as women and mothers, we must use our collective power to advocate for those mothers and babies enduring an ongoing maternity crisis, those women and girls facing gender-specific indignity and pain. Israel stands accused of genocide by leading scholars and institutions across the globe. We must demand all governments, including our own, who are allied to those making decisions on Gaza assume the responsibility to act now.
Written in conjunction with humanitarian charity Small Steps Project and grassroots campaigns All Our Relations and Gaza Formula Fund, all run by British mums. With aid consistently blocked from Gaza, these women worked with people on the ground to buy commercially available goods and distribute them among Gaza’s desperate families, bringing baby formula, nappies, food, clothing and other basic supplies to those most in need. The need is enormous and ongoing, and these families have been forgotten. Please, please support their work at the links above.
Thank you.