Open letter: Mothers Appeal To Mumsnet CEO Justine Roberts

[IwantToRetire]

Mumsnet is a powerhouse, and your advocacy for the protection of women and children carries real political weight. With every Prime Minister since David Cameron fielding your questions, it’s clear that when you speak, policymakers listen. No mother would turn away from the suffering of a child -and the children of Gaza are still suffering needlessly. Together as mothers, we can help.

While many parents may not feel confident enough to speak out themselves, your leadership now would galvanise them to demand tangible actions to get life saving supplies into Gaza and create safe conditions for women to give birth, giving those mothers and babies a chance at life. We cannot leave them alone in the New Year.

From https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XJv6qEHsa8XAQHfc_wjzUvNTqI2uCrvU0k45uk8H-UM/edit?tab=t.0

Irrespective of what they are asking, why aren't the asking politicians. Why are they asking Justine Roberts to do it for them.
https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/cultural-heavyweights-call-for-action-to-help-mothers-in-gaza-after-aid-ban

Cant find anything about this on mumsnet, not sure which forum it would be in. Or is it a pritvate matter. Nothing to do with mumsnet itself?

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?

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.

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.❤

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.

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

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.

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.

@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.

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.

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

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.

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

Yes, I don't either, as Google often insists on having you signed in at all times and I'm concerned they can see who reads the document, and so would see my name.

I think you're spot on. Sadly.

Oh I quite agree - the lack of compassion and empathy from all the women writing the letter for women whose livelihoods have been trashed by the TRAs and their groupies, and for those whose privacy, dignity and safety has been shat on from a great height by the same men's right movement is awful, isn't it?

What about the kids suffering in other war torn countries?

In the Sudan, Ukraine, the DRC, Yemen, Myanmar etc?

Why specifically focused on Gaza? And ignoring the plight of all these other children?

It seems the 'glitterati' are quite selective when it comes to their performative empathy.

Aye. Wait til they hear about Iran!

Have had a change of heart and am now thinking I want to create an open letter that any one can sign, addressed to the letter writers and asking them to do their own spade work.

And that it is rude and arrogant to pick on a woman who has a high profile which forces her to engage publicly on an issue (as far as I know) she hasn't done herself, and is outside interference with her professional work.

Added to which this demand makes it clear these luvvies dont understand that the mumsnet power is its contributors, who are not ruled or directed by JR (however much they appreciate the service she provides).

If these "mummies" really want other "mummies" to join them in their campaign, they should talk directly to them, and not assume they will toe the line of someone they must think is some sort of dictator!

There's a BBC article about it:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1evp7weyv2o

The issue isn't just about refusal to provide employee information - I imagine NGOs who Israel considers to have taken an anti-Israel stance could be excluded under one of the other grounds for rejection (see bullet point list below).

"The diaspora affairs ministry said the primary [my emphasis] reason INGOs had their licences revoked was "the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information regarding their employees,"
...
Fewer than 15% of the INGOs providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza were found to be in violation of the new regulatory framework, it added.

That framework includes several grounds for rejection, including:

• Denying the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state
• Denying the Holocaust or the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023
• Supporting an armed struggle against Israel by an enemy state or terrorist organisation
• Promoting "delegitimisation campaigns" against Israel
• Calling for a boycott of Israel or committing to participate in one
• Supporting the prosecution of Israeli security forces in foreign or international courts "

Can anyone point me in the direction of a copy of the text of the open letter, without having to read it on someone's Google Drive? TIA.

Oh, and that BBC article (dated 31 December) says Israel's revocation of the licences had been condemned by 10 countries, including the UK.

" The move was condemned by 10 countries, which said the rules would have a severe impact on access to essential services.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland said INGOs were integral to the humanitarian response in Gaza and that any attempt to stem their ability to operate was "unacceptable".

"Without them, it will be impossible to meet all urgent needs at the scale required," they warned. "

If the UK government has already condemned it, what do the writers expect Justine to do? Get them to condemn it twice (unlikely to be more effective than the first time)? Start a war?

These "cultural heavyweights" should write their own open letter, and leave Mumsnet out of it. Any Mumsnetter who wants to sign can do so - and every Mumsnetter can carry on doing what we've always done: using our voices, on here, every day of the week!

If we want to give Kier Starmer a bollocking at any stage, I have no doubt we'll find the "confidence" to do so, without needing to be chivvied into it by the great and good of the acting world.

"Many parents may not feel confident enough to speak out themselves"

Seriously, have these people spent five minutes on Mumsnet? We're not a herd of quivering sheep waiting for guidance from the Almighty Justine.

Who could apparently sort out the Middle East by tea time, if she'd just stop faffing about and galvanise the women of the nation already