This is a pledge of international solidarity that connects the women resisting in Mexico with those sustaining life in Palestine.

“Break off, break off — relations with Israel!” The cry flooded the streets of Mexico City on May 15 and 16 at the demonstrations marking the 78th anniversary of Palestine’s Nakba. The Nakba — meaning “catastrophe”— represents what was, for some, the “creation of Israel,” but for others, the beginning of a nightmare: a massacre that hasn’t ended and that seeks to erase an entire people.

Nakba Day march, Mexico City 2024 Photo: Jay Watts

From all corners of the globe, we rise up to demand that governments and international bodies not merely speak out but take action against this genocide.

Here in Mexico, feminist collectives have learned that patriarchal violence knows no borders; it is a colonial and global structure that dispossesses people of both their lives and their land. For this reason, the slogan currently sweeping the world — “From the river to the sea” — is not foreign to us; rather, it is deeply intertwined with our own cry of resistance: “If they touch one of us, we all respond.” This is a pledge of international solidarity that connects the women resisting in Mexico with those sustaining life in Palestine.

We absolutely repudiate this cruelty — recently made visible when Israel seized and tortured participants of the humanitarian aid flotilla — and the lack of a global response. In the face of this humanitarian catastrophe, it’s essential to acknowledge how different the impact on women is: in armed conflicts, women become — in the eyes of settlers — mere objects to be desecrated, destroyed and discarded. Agencies such as UN Women and Amnesty International have documented how Israeli forces have systematically committed violations against women, ranging from sexual violence to deliberately destroying health centers and specialized hospitals.

In the face of this dehumanizing violence, women across both Mexico and Palestine respond with organization, care and hope. These are not isolated struggles, but rather a united front against systems that presume certain bodies and territories can be sacrificed.

The resistance of Palestinian women stands as a beacon of dignity. If oppression is global, the response is too: to respond for one is to respond for all, in any corner of the planet.

Nakba Day 2025, Mexico City Photo: Jay Watts

Fabiola Paulina Ramírez Ortiz is a human rights defender with 17 years of experience designing political advocacy strategies with an intersectional approach. She addresses issues of union democracy, socio-environmental devastation, community organizing and support to victims of discrimination and gender-based violence. She founded and coordinates Mariposas Mirabal, dedicated to strengthening female leadership, the ethics of care and community governance.

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