If this is what feminism has become, then I’m out.
These days, so-called feminists must proudly wear a Palestinian scarf, chant “free Gaza” in the streets, and turn a blind eye to the fate of all the other (i.e. Jewish) suffering women.
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This is a guest essay written by Giada Condello, an Italian woman who decided to move to Israel after falling in love with the city of Tel Aviv and Israeli “chutzpah.”
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
I believe there are aspects of life that are either black or white.
Sometimes you just need to take a position, and those shades of grey are simply not an option.
What happened on October 7th falls into this category for me. Sexual violence falls into this category for me. There is no gray area and there is no context.
While I do not perceive this as a biased viewpoint, I have seen a global tendency to minimize those events and fight truth with facts taken from a parallel reality. So I understand that some may not consider my opinion objective; therefore this would be one more biased essay they will read from me.
Months ago, I found myself wondering when did everything start becoming associated with “Palestine.” Had it always been like that, and due to my biased approach to life, I had not realized it? Did it become more evident when it hit home on Christmas, and Jesus was declared a Palestinian refugee, nonetheless? At that moment, I also began to notice slices of watermelon everywhere, and that was when things truly started to turn ridiculous.
When did watermelon become Palestinian, I wondered? Will I still be able to enjoy watermelon this summer at the beach in Tel Aviv, or must I fear criticism when posting fresh-cut cubes of avatiach (Hebrew for “watermelon”) against a Mediterranean backdrop, risking being labeled an apartheid sympathizer or a White colonizer?
What will be next on the propaganda list? Pizza being declared Palestinian?
I have seen a few brave souls attempting to assert this over the months, but I presume the hundreds of Italians commenting in anger discouraged the creators from continuing with that narrative. I must admit, I almost lost my temper on that one as well, but I refrained from commenting. Over time, I have learned to pick my battles and, lately, feminism has seemed like the right path to follow.
Now, it is evident that my primary concern back then was not really the destiny of watermelon or pizza. These are merely two silly examples used to illustrate a more significant, sophisticated propaganda machine. A machine so capable and so deeply rooted within the Western culture that it can commandeer the narrative of systematic sexual violence towards a minority and recast it as an act of resistance. All skillfully garnished with that so-called feminist support, which made me wonder: Have we lost feminism for good? Has it become solely a Palestinian right?
Because, if we need to make a tradeoff, I am willing to give up the pizza. Just take it. But let feminism live free from propaganda and hypocrisy.
Currently, this is not the case. Discussing feminism comes with an expectation that if you identify as one, you must support “Palestine” unequivocally, regardless of the circumstances, and label the opposing side as a genocidal terrorist state.
In today’s context, being a feminist seemingly requires one to exclusively advocate for Palestinian women. And only for them. Any form of support for Palestinian women must come at the exclusion of showing empathy or solidarity towards Jewish or Israeli women. It is simply unacceptable to support both sides.
If you dare to label yourself as a feminist, you must shift further away from your “moderate” point of view towards the Left, proudly wear a keffiyeh (a Palestinian scarf), chant “free Gaza” in the streets, and turn a blind eye to the fate of all the other (i.e. Jewish) suffering women.
Otherwise, you are branded a fascist, accused of disregarding women’s rights, and labeled a supporter of patriarchy. Did I get it right? Because it certainly leaves me with a feeling and impression that these feminist movements were compelled to make a choice, and they made a very clear one from the very start — or should I say, before the beginning?
Last November 25th, for example, I was in Italy when the feminist and trans-feminist group “Non Una di Meno” (which translates to “not one woman less”— meaning there should never be another victim) organized a much-needed national demonstration to raise awareness about violence against women. A few days prior to this event, another Italian girl was violently murdered by her partner, so that day was meant to show our national unity, as women, against violence. But it failed to achieve such a goal.
On November 25th, only 50 days had passed since October 7th, and not a single speaker from these Italian feminist organizations had the decency to take the stage, hold a microphone, and explicitly condemn the brutal mass murder and mass rape of Israeli women and men.
On the contrary, they only supported the majority of those 500,000 attendees who were holding signs demanding to “Free Palestine,” or chanting anti-Israel slogans.
That day, the feminist movement made a conscious decision that not all lives matter. That day, cognitive dissonance reached a whole new level, showing that if your rapists happen to belong to what is perceived as the “oppressed” group, well then what happened to you is just their way of showcasing their “resistance” to the world.
I must confess: It was hard to witness. It felt wrong and deeply personal; I or any of my friends could have been among the hostages. Facing the harsh reality that those feminists would not have cared about me or anyone I know being kidnapped and abused daily felt like a slap in the face. But that slap brought me back to today’s harsh reality, in which “not even one woman less” turns into “not even one Jewish or Israeli woman.”
On March 8th of this year, just four days after the UN Mission Team stated in its report that there are reasonable grounds to believe sexual violence toward the hostages may still be ongoing, feminists continued marching in the streets of the West — as if this report had never been published.
In fact, acquiring more information does not seem to make a difference, since it is not so much about how much they truly know about what happened, but rather a matter of whether it aligns with their preconceived agenda. Because, when it does not align, the story simply loses its appeal.
Why is that? Is the rape of Jewish Israeli women and men so different from the Iranians or anyone else? I remember thousands of feminists rallied against the atrocities committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, when Mahsa Amini was murdered by the regime’s morality police. I have seen hundreds of celebrities and friends cutting their hair and sending it to the nearest Iranian embassy.
Back then, no video was necessary for anyone to understand what caused this young woman to die. No one had ever asked for it. No one ever asked her family to prove it. Everyone knew the truth.
But now? Now, it is not the same. Feminists require “evidence” of what truly happened in the tunnels, in Gaza. They demand videos, testimonies, personal experiences, and official reports to arrive at the same conclusion: If it happened, it is safe to say that it did not happen in a vacuum.
Over the months, Iranian women have unequivocally stood in solidarity with Israeli women, publicly voicing their support. They seem to grasp something that proves challenging for many Western women: the simple truth that Israeli women and men are real human beings genuinely suffering.
They acknowledge that the same mastermind responsible for the pain and abuse of women and men in Iran also instigated this war and obstructs its resolution. To me, it appears that Iranian women possess a clear understanding of the true genocidal force confronting us, and they express profound disgust towards it.
Yet where is the disgust and the outrage of the feminist movement? Where is that loud voice that they have promised to use for us when we would not have had one ourselves?
To all the feminists who chant “Free Gaza” in the streets of the West, Israeli women and men (whom you somehow choose to ignore) are being held in cages in Gaza.
Who should be freed after all?
A version of this essay also appeared in The Times of Israel.
Wow, you didn't miss a thing. I was approached near a mall by a blonde, blue-eyed woman who was trying trust a Palestinian flag into my hand. She wanted me to join the noisy screaming Hamas supporter in a community centre named for a former Jewish mayor. I refused the flag and she was getting quite aggressive with me, a short senior woman. Suddenly, a very tall, handsome black man appeared and without touching the woman, put his hand in front of her, she stepped back, as he grabbed her stateless flag, tore it up, told her to leave. I thanked him as he escorted me into the mall. I had wished I could have commented to this misled woman about the treatment of women, all women by Hamas, etc., but she fled down the street. The crocodile teared women in the world have forgotten about what happened on October 7th, along with our Canadian Government, a government that is always talking about empowering women, but as soon as women disagree with them, they are out of the government. I think every woman in those mob riots should be forced to watch the videos from that fateful, over and over and over again, along with all the Gay men who are also supporting Hamas!
Thank you, Giada, for articulating the shameful stance of the current feminist movement. It is yet another front on which we Jews have been declared expendable. It almost makes me ashamed for having participated in the DC Women’s March that January day after you-know-who was inaugurated. Unbeknownst to me, what you describe had already started within the movement long before 2016, sadly.