International Women's Day

Palestinian women have always stood side by side with their fathers, brothers, husbands, comrades to resist the Zionist occupation, to fight for freedom and legitimate rights. They are the first to go to the streets to protest the brutality of the Israeli military occupation, the first to organize sit-ins and marches demanding the release of their children, brothers and fathers from Israeli prisons. They are the protectors, the supporters, but most of all they are the comrades in the fight for a free Palestine.
— Reham Al Helsi

In 1917 the young Soviet state declared the 8th of March a public holiday celebrating the contribution of women to society. In 1965 it became a non-working day for all Soviet citizens.
It remains a special day in Russia when women are given flowers, read poems and where women receive favours from boys and men. Incidentally, the 23rd of February is Defender of the Fatherland Day, informally known as Men’s Day. On this day Russian women honour the sacrifices men have made over the centuries to keep Russia sovereign and peaceful.

Statement and image by Pinjra Tod On the eve of International Working Women’s Day, Maneka Gandhi has given a deeply patriarchal, casteist and classist statement to a media channel saying that hostel curfews are necessary as “laxman rekha” for controlling women’s “hormonal outbursts”, that the question of “women’s safety in colleges cannot be solved with … Continue reading Our “hormonal outbursts” will be your nightmare! Pinjra Tod

Israeli soldiers escort blindfolded Palestinian women to the Kissufim Israeli army base,after they were detained during a military operation in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008.(AP Photo/Yehuda Lahiani)
 
 

The Palestinian society is exposed daily to Israeli occupation repressive measures, including the kidnapping and detention of more than 800,000 Palestinians since 1967, including over 15,000 women.

 

When I boarded the plane to Cairo, Egypt, to make sure everything was in place for the women’s delegation headed to Gaza, I had no reason to think I’d end up in a jail cell at the Cairo airport and then violently deported.

On International Women’s Day, although I woke up in America, my heart was in Gaza. After having been detained for over 22 hours in the Cairo airport without explanation, I had been deported to London and ultimately sent back to America. I was the youngest American of an International Women’s Day Delegation bound for Gaza to answer the call of the women of Gaza issued to the women of the world to come and stand with them in solidarity.

Five years ago in March, 2009, only two months after the 22 day Israeli attack on Gaza, I was on an international delegation of sixty women organized by CODEPINK who traveled to Gaza for International Women’s Day. In the week in Gaza, we met with women where their homes used to be before they were destroyed by the Israeli attack that killed 1450, wounded 5,000 and left 50,000 homeless. We also met with women in 13 community centers throughout the country, to listen to their stories of life under attack and under siege.

Israeli regime forces have fired stun grenades and tear gas at dozens of Palestinian protesters marking the International Women’s Day near a West Bank checkpoint, injuring at least 11 women.
During the Saturday incident, the female protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation after the Israeli occupation forces attacked their rally at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the central West Bank, Ma’an news agency reported.