Gender and feminism

Palestinians mourn the death of those killed in an Israeli airstrike outside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, September 12, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
The tears of Gaza’s men are an act of rebellion
Despite the intentional dehumanization of our people and emasculation of our men, Gaza is birthing a new kind of masculinity — based not on militarism or stoicism but on moral clarity and dignity, even in starvation.
By Abdallah Aljazzar June 30, 2025
Pnina Pfeuffer speaking at B'nai Jeshurun in New York, February 4, 2020. (Gili Getz)
From J’lm to NY, Orthodox activists are mobilizing against sexual abuse
After harrowing allegations about a revered Haredi educator prompted a painful dialogue among Orthodox communities, two activists discuss the grassroots push for systemic change.
By Natasha Soffer-Roth February 2, 2022
Labor party leader Merav Michaeli at the party's conference ahead of the Israeli elections in Hod Hasharon, March 14, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Can she handle it? How the Israeli media covers women politicians
Women running for the Knesset have to overcome not only voters' gender stereotypes, but a media landscape that is heavily skewed in men's favor.
By Noa Balf March 23, 2021
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A woman casts her ballot in the Knesset elections at a voting station in Jerusalem, on March 2, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
‘I don’t know her’: How Israeli elections disregard women voters
By ignoring women's policy preferences, Israeli parties are not just deepening gender inequality — they're shifting the country further right.
By Noa Balf January 11, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak change the epaulets of Israeli Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, February 14, 2011. (Abir Sultan/Flash90)
Why are Israeli generals such terrible politicians?
The popular myth that army generals have the skills to excel in politics will continue so long as Israeli society idealizes the military and masculinity.
By Noa Balf December 11, 2020
Israelis protest gender-based violence following the killing of a 50-year-old woman by her husband, Bat Yam, May 4, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90)
The coronavirus crisis is a ‘pressure cooker’ for domestic violence
Directives to shelter at home may be flattening one curve, but they have led to a spike in domestic and gender-based violence, and the Israeli government is yet to offer timely solutions.
By Henriette Chacar May 4, 2020
Palestinian women, joined by Israeli and international solidarity activsits, march to the Qalandiya checkpoint during a protest against the Israeli occupation on International Women's Day, West Bank, March 8, 2012. (Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Palestinian women walk the tightrope of toxic ‘shame’ and occupation
The murder of a young Palestinian woman at the hands of her family highlights what many Palestinian women have been saying all along: The struggle against patriarchy and gender-based violence cannot be separated from the fight against Israel’s occupation. By Nooran Alhamdan Israa Ghrayeb, a young Palestinian woman from the Bethlehem area, lived her life like…
By +972 Magazine September 23, 2019
Hundreds of Palestinians protested against LGBT violence in Haifa following the stabbing of an Arab transgender teen in Tel Aviv last week. August 1, 2019. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Queer Palestinian community holds ‘historic’ protest against LGBT violence
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Haifa on Thursday to protest against LGBT violence, following the stabbing of a transgender Arab teen. ‘The protest represents a voice calling for liberation without restraints – not of the occupiers, and not of the patriarchy.’ The queer Palestinian community organized an unprecedented protest in Haifa on Thursday, as approximately…
By Oren Ziv August 2, 2019
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza weeks into Operation Protective Edge, on August 9, 2014. (Basel Yazouri/Activestills.org)
How Israel’s blockade exacerbates violence against women in Gaza
Women in Gaza deal with patriarchal gender norms and intra-Palestinian political divides, but addressing their needs cannot be realized without Israel lifting its blockade. By Anwar Mhajne Violence during military operations affects both men and women, but women often face a unique set of challenges. For Palestinian women in Gaza in particular, the interaction between patriarchy,…
By +972 Magazine May 17, 2019
A Palestinian protester takes part in a mass rally against government inaction toward gender violence, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, December 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
The many costs Palestinian women pay to fight oppression
As if defying gender norms in their own communities isn’t enough, Palestinian women are forced to fight prejudices and racism masking themselves as feminism in Israel and the West. By Anwar Mhajne Tens of thousands of women protested against gender violence in Israel earlier this month, demanding the allocation of more resources to combat it.…
By +972 Magazine December 12, 2018
A protester takes part in a mass rally against government inaction toward gender violence, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, December 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Why I didn’t join the protests against gender violence in Israel
‘My identity as a woman is not detached from my identity as a Palestinian, so I can only rally behind a movement that calls to free women from all systems of oppression.’ By Maryam Hawari I first encountered Alice Miller v. Minister of Defense in my first year of law school. In 1994, Miller took…
By +972 Magazine December 5, 2018
Tens of thousands take part takes part in a mass rally against government inaction toward gender violence, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, December 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Tens of thousands of women hold mass protests against gender violence in Israel
Women across the country take part in a general strike to protest the government’s inaction over gender violence. Twenty-four women have been murdered since the beginning of the year. By +972 Magazine Staff Tens of thousands of women in Israel participated in a general strike across the country on Tuesday, declaring a “state of emergency” to protest the…
By +972 Magazine December 4, 2018
Feminist activists paint hundreds of pairs of shoes red to protest gender violence, Tel Aviv, December 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
‘Gender violence pushed Jewish, Palestinian women into a corner — together’
Women across Israel were set to strike to protest the government’s inaction toward gender violence. Samah Salaime, a prominent feminist activist, speaks about building solidarity between Jewish and Palestinian women and why this moment feels so urgent. Tens of thousands of women in Israel were expected to participate in a general strike and demonstrations across the country on Tuesday, protesting the government’s…
By Edo Konrad December 4, 2018
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  3. Israel is secretly surveilling its teachers. No prizes for guessing which ones
  4. Life in a laboratory of Israeli ethnic cleansing
  5. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  1. Arms sales to Israel are slowing. But that's only half the story
  2. Life in a laboratory of Israeli ethnic cleansing
  3. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  4. Qusra is where Israel’s lies about settler violence hit a wall
  5. In Jerusalem’s Mamilla Cemetery, an entire heritage is being erased
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. 'In Germany, Jews who reject Zionism are seen as not really Jewish'
  3. Palestinian who snatched settler’s weapon was killed while unarmed, videos show
  4. As Israel sabotages Gaza talks, Hamas’ new ‘warrior leader’ faces his first challenge
  5. What an Israeli settler pogrom feels like