Since Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, feminist associations have been blamed: accused of not having condemned the rapes perpetrated by the terrorist organization. As early as November 9, French rabbi Delphine Horvilleur asked on X (formerly Twitter): “Where are the feminists?” On November 22, in L’Express, the writer Sarah Barukh castigated the Nous Tous organizations and the Women’s Foundation, criticizing the former for a text taking up the cause “for minoritized and oppressed peoples”, “against colonization and its post-colonial effects” with Palestinian flag and hashtag of support for Gaza without a word for the Israeli victims, and in the second, its silence.
In our columns, again, a column signed in particular by Laurence Rossignol, Bouchra Azzouz, Martine Storti and Brigitte Stora, was indignant at the progress of the march on November 25, organized on the occasion of the International Day Against Violence Against Women. women. “Solidarity (towards the Palestinian civilians who die under the bombings) can in no way justify the scandalous exclusion of a group of demonstrators who came to denounce this violence against Jewish women committed by Hamas”, they denounced. Is the indignation of feminist organizations “variable geometry”, as the feminist Sophie Gourion wrote?
If Anne-Cécile Mailfert, founding president of the Women’s Foundation, notes a “difficulty in bringing out the subject of sexual and sexist violence committed by Hamas”, she judges “by reading the press releases from different organizations”, that “the condemnation is quite general and unanimous regarding the violence which took place that day.
L’Express: Feminist organizations have been widely singled out since October 7. If Nous Tous had already indicated that it denounced anti-Semitism on October 26, it was necessary to wait a month, on November 27, for a press release from the collective to condemn “unambiguously the sexual and sexist crimes, rapes and feminicides committed by Hamas, which particularly targeted women, LGBTQIA+ people and children. Do you understand the emotion surrounding this silence?
Anne-Cécile Mailfert: The Women’s Foundation and I have never refrained from denouncing violence against women. From October 7, I was absolutely horrified by the images we saw in Israel. I unambiguously condemned Hamas terrorism and immediately said that rapes are systematic with this type of massacre and that in these acts of barbarity women are particularly targeted. Seeing the first videos, we suspected that there would be atrocities of this kind.
I can completely understand the emotion when the silence of some seems like indifference. In recent weeks we have had more information. We have undertaken work with We Are Not Weapons of War. We are trying to ensure that this NGO, which documents abuses against women in times of war, can go to Israel and ensure that what happened there is recognized. We hope that the Israeli government can establish the facts in all their dimensions. The important thing today is to do justice to these women, and that we do not erase what happened.
The Women’s Foundation was questioned for having posted and maintained on October 31 a portrait of Mona Chollet, a feminist author who notably expressed her rejection of the march against anti-Semitism, referring to a “march against the Arabs”. Again, do you understand the emotion surrounding this decision?
On the occasion of Halloween, the Women’s Foundation recommended reading Witches, Mona Chollet’s bestseller. Under no circumstances have we relayed or endorsed his personal positions regarding the march. For my part, I marched against anti-Semitism, without any hesitation. When, like me, we have been fighting against violence for years, there is a form of evidence in denouncing all discrimination and violence. I have just returned from three weeks in the United States. I was able to see there as well as here the difficulty in bringing out the subject of sexual and gender-based violence committed by Hamas.
In France, a petition from Olivia Cattan’s Paroles de femmes association managed to circulate and put this subject on the agenda and I congratulate it. As soon as I returned to France, I wanted the Women’s Foundation to have a very clear statement on this subject. Usually we focus on violence committed on national territory because that is our expertise, but I insisted that we issue a press release on these crimes because for me silence has never been an option. Like most feminists, I have dedicated my life to fighting against violence against women and bringing them out of silence.
A collective formed after October 7 to speak out for Israeli victims explains that it was kept away from the Parisian demonstration against violence against women on November 25. Do you understand what happened?
I don’t understand what happened. At the Women’s Foundation, we wanted feminist associations working for peace to be able to come to the press conference of the demonstration on November 23, so that they could speak out about feminicide and war rape. committed by Hamas. I made sure that they could be in the procession, alongside me.
I deeply regret that women who denounce violence were not able to join the procession despite everything. However, I have no reason to think that the organizers of the demonstration had anything to do with this exclusion. We need to be able to see what happened in more detail. I observe that violence in society and in activist circles is reaching new heights. The feminist community is not spared.
I also take this opportunity to alert you to the fact that many feminists today are harassed, threatened, targeted and defamed. This is something I deeply regret. It is not by denouncing feminists that the necessary fight against sexist and sexual violence has been advanced. There were many of us in the streets on November 25 to reverse this scourge and we need everyone, united and united.
Would you say that feminism is fractured today in its reaction to October 7? Is there not a “double standard” in the convictions depending on the origin of the women concerned?
I’m not teaching you anything by telling you that feminism is diverse. However, reading the press releases from different organizations today, I see a fairly general and unanimous condemnation of the violence which took place that day. I don’t see why, when they denounce sexual violence everywhere, they wouldn’t do it here either. French feminist organizations, in my opinion, are doing it.
The Women’s Foundation has never changed. We stand with Israeli women, as we do with any woman who suffers violence and atrocities. Recognizing that all suffering exists, that there is suffering in Gaza, does not prevent me from recognizing the specificity of the crimes committed on October 7. This is important, not only for the women who were victims that day, but also for all women in general. For justice, for memory, for the feminist fight in general.
.