Many civilians died, but women were not killed in the same way as others. They were exposed naked and raped. A group of French public figures, including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabelle Carré and Marek Halter, emphasised that these crimes were committed against women because of their gender.
Their names were Sarah, Karine, Céline... On the initiative of the association Paroles de femmes, we launch a appeal to feminists and supporters of our cause that the massacres of women perpetrated on 7 October in Israel are recognised as feminicides.
Importantly, this term is usually used in the press to describe murders of women by their spouses or ex-spouses, is recognised by all international NGOs (Amnesty International, UN Women, etc.) as a case amounting to mass feminicide.
We must deal with this mass feminicide without linking it to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We know it is difficult. But we must do this so that women are no longer the first victims of wars and armed conflicts, and so that their faces are never forgotten.
Performed, raped, decapitated
Many civilians died, but women were not killed in the same way as others. The violence committed against these women corresponds in every respect to the definition of feminicide, i.e. the murder of women or girls because of their sex. The women were exposed naked. They were raped to the point of fracturing their pelvises. Their bodies were also raped. Their genitals were brutalised. Urine was urinated on their remains. Some were beheaded, others dismembered and burnt. Others still taken hostage. All this was filmed and photographed to instil terror because women and children are symbols of our humanity. The videos of the terrorists' interrogations confirm this: "We wanted to rape them to make them dirty'. The women hostages were also sorted out, the most attractive were taken away, the others killed. Disabled women were also raped and killed, such as Noya who is autistic, and Ruth who has multiple disabilities.
Once again: this is not about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This appeal is not political. This appeal is purely feminist and humanitarian. We must all stand together. We have launched a online petition so that this solidarity can continue.
First signatories: Olivia Cattan, president of Paroles de femmes, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anne Hidalgo, Tomer Sisley, Isabelle Carré, Catherine Marchal, Samuel Le Bihan, Elsa Zylberstein, Bernard Campan, Arié Elmaleh, Marilou Berry, Pascal Elbe, Michel Boujenah, Stéphane Guillon, William Mesguish, Jean-Luc Moreau, Lior Ashkénazi, Michel Cymès, Valérie Trierweiler, Laurence Ferrari, Françoise Laborde, Brigitte Benkemoun, Marc Levy, Marek Halter, Arié Avigdor (former Israeli ambassador), Georges-Marc Benhamou, Master Nathalie Tomasini, Maître Michèle Schor, Anne Baer (CEO iKare Innovation), Yvan Attal, Lamia El Aaraje...
The petition can be signed here.
The original article by Libération you can read here (translation by Marina Terragni)
