Statement of Solidarity with Palestine
Wellness Within feels that any civilian death is a tragedy; our hearts go out to Palestinian and Israeli civilians and their families who have been victims of the recent violence and terror.
Over the past five weeks, we have watched in horror as the Israeli military’s constant bombardment of Gaza has forced approximately 1.51 million to flee their land. With the support of governments in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Australia, and more, Israeli forces have enacted brutal destruction of homes, schools, refugee shelters, mosques, and hospitals throughout southern Gaza. As Independent Jewish Voices Canada states, “the conditions under which Palestinians have been forced to live in the Gaza Strip are unconscionable”.
Palestinians have been fighting for their freedom for over 100 years. The UN has documented the spread of Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied Palestine territory as Israeli settlements and expropriation have expanded. In 1948, the Nakba marked the violent displacement and dispossession of Palestinians, with the attempted destruction of their society, cultural identity, and political rights. Despite the UN General Assembly re-affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, sovereignty, independence, and refugee return in 1974, the ethnic cleansing and apartheid have continued.
As of the time of writing, at least 11,261 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including at least 4,550 children and 3,028 women. Thousands have been injured, and more remain missing. The number of children killed in the first three weeks of the conflict surpassed the annual number of children killed in conflict zones since 2019. In Gaza, almost 200 medical staff have been killed, and 51 out of 72 primary healthcare facilities are out of service, as well as 21 out of 35 hospitals. This includes the al-Shifa Hospital, the City's main medical facility, which was struck by Israeli forces and has gone several days without electricity, fuel, water, and very poor internet and communications—increasing patient fatalities significantly.
As the World Health Organization and several other UN agencies report, women and newborns are disproportionately victimized by the violence in Palestine, both through casualties and the lack of access to health services. We mourn deeply for the children and parents who have lost their lives or their loved ones, and weep for the people in Palestine who are pregnant or birthing without access to healthcare, medicine, electricity, clean water, or food. A doctor at al-Shifa hospital said that they expect to lose more babies each day, with newborns in the maternity ward unable to access incubators or other essential care. With Palestinians starving and unable to access medical aid amid ongoing airstrikes and a ground invasion, over 50,000 pregnant people are in extreme distress not knowing where they will give birth or how they will survive.
Wellness Within joins Palestinians and their supporters around the globe in demanding an end to the Israeli genocide and violence against Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, historic Palestine, and the diaspora. We ask that international courts hold Israel and its allies responsible for their war crimes, and we implore our government to call for an immediate ceasefire. We ask that community members join us in our call by filling out petitions calling for our government to take action.
Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people.
Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.
Contact: Claire Rillie, Chair, 902-456-3807 or crillie@gmail.com and Dr. Martha Paynter, Director of Research, 902-292-7082 or martha.paynter@gmail.com