An American non-profit focused on combating contemporary antisemitism last week co-sponsored a discussion on the dire state of women’s rights in the Middle East at the European Parliament in Brussels.
“The October 7 attack was not just an assault on Israel but on the core values we claim to uphold—human rights, equality and dignity,” said Charles Small, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and a co-organizer of the event.
Earlier this year, amid a worldwide rise in antisemitism that led to unlawful encampments and rounds of arrests at universities and colleges, ISGAP held its Summer Institute for Antisemitism Studies in Oxford.
At the event, which took place from July 28 to Aug. 9 at St. Catherine’s College, faculty members from more than 15 countries received guidance in building antisemitism courses to teach students upon returning to their home countries.
“The brutal murders and abductions of Israeli women by Hamas should have sparked global outrage, yet we faced silence, or worse, justifications disguised as resistance. This is a profound moral failure,” Small continued.
“Today, the forces attacking Jewish people are the same ones oppressing women, Christians and moderate Muslims across the Middle East. If the world continues to turn a blind eye, we embolden these regimes and open the door to more atrocities globally,” he added.
Over a year after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, the event, co-hosted by Member of European Parliament Fulvio Martusciello, explored how extremism, political upheaval, and regional instability continue to erode women’s rights and security in the region.
A panel of speakers included Claude Moniquet, professor Firouzeh Nahavandi and MEPs Lopez-Isturiz White, Miriam Lexmann and Giuseppina Princi.
The discussion was moderated by Manel Msalmi, president of the European Association for the Defense of Minorities, which champions women’s and minority’s rights in some of the world’s most oppressive regions.
“As we reflect on the horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks, it is impossible to ignore the gendered nature of the violence. Women were not only targeted for their identity but also for their gender, subjected to unspeakable brutality designed to dehumanize and terrorize,” said Msalmi.
“This kind of gender-based violence is a stark reminder of the oppressive forces that continue to plague women across the Middle East. Whether in Iran, Afghanistan, or Gaza, women are systematically silenced, subjugated and stripped of their most basic rights,” he continued.
“The time for silence is over. We must stand in solidarity with the women who suffer under these oppressive regimes and speak out against the violence that has been normalized in too many parts of the world,” she said.
