RESTORE & REBUILD:
FROM UCSB TO PALESTINE
Over 40,000 innocent civilians have been killed in the ongoing genocide and displacement of Palestine by Israel. A staggering 70% of those deaths have been women or children (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2024). With Gazan hospitals and homes entirely razed to the ground, Palestinian women have no access to reproductive healthcare. There is a consistent and perpetual belief that American women — due to an individualistic and capitalist culture — have no stake in international issues, nor a duty to care for women outside their immediate demographic.
Yet the collective liberation of women relies upon solidarity across borders, from Santa Barbara to Palestine (Nada, 2017). The American government and other entities including The University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) continuously fund the Palestinian genocide, investing in weapons manufacturing that engender bombs. State-sanctioned violence facilitates an unprecedented reproductive crisis in Gaza. Ergo, understanding the context of the Palestinian genocide leads to utilization of RRFRJ provided resources, achieving tangible methods of aid.
RRFRJ
RESTORE & REBUILD FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
About Us
We are an organization devoted to raising awareness about the reproductive justice crisis with a current emphasis on Palestine. Our main goal is to advocate for the women without voices, amplifying their circumstances and offering you tangible ways to help. Forced to give birth among the rubble of their city, starving Palestinian women are unable to breastfeed, struggling against severe famine (Awadallah, 2024). Sanitary products are nonexistent, forcing young girls to use tent scraps in lieu of pads or tampons (Froio, 2024). Nearly all Gazan hospitals have been desecrated and destroyed, eliminating reproductive healthcare for all women — including menstruating populations, pregnant women, and existing mothers. We know that this crisis bears an emotional, financial, and political connection to American women, especially the students of UCSB. If women everywhere are not liberated, then we are not collectively liberated. As such, we implore you to take advantage of our website, learn about the issue at length, and utilize our free resources.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
killed are women
and children
70%
have been forcibly
displaced
80%
of residential areas destroyed
70%
(United Nations, 2024)
RESTORE & REBUILD:
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Reproductive justice is “the result of the merging of ‘reproductive rights’ and ‘social justice’... coined by Black and women of color feminists in the USA in the 1990s” (Morison, 2021). As such, reproductive justice examines the racial, class, and colonialist implications of reproductive health differences. Women of color have been repeatedly deemed as socially undesirable reproducers and are thus subject to contraceptive coercion and higher rates of family separation. The staggering death toll of children in the ongoing Palestinian genocide – and the eradication of healthcare access – aligns with a plethora of reproductive justice issues.
936,700
women displaced from their homes
Intersectionality is key: by demonstrating that the issues of women across the world are linked by various systems of oppression that affect us all, the cultivation of empathy and solidarity becomes imminent (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, 2023). The effects of this genocide are farreaching. Whether climate change, women’s rights, or class solidarity, the desecration of such rights are occurring in real time. The connection between Americans and Palestinians is essential to grasping the full extent of the genocide and its ensuing reproductive health crisis.
LEARN ABOUT
THE HISTORY
“The Palestinian woman’s womb [is] a weapon that must be curtailed, urging us to consider the role of biopolitical surveillance”
– Palestinian scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian (2015)
RRFRJ
THE HISTORICAL CRISIS & ESCALATION
After the violent attacks on Israeli civilians by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2024, Israel retaliated with the unceasing destruction of Gaza. Yet the settler colonialist occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people began 75 years ago, with the Nakbae settler colonialist occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people began 75 years ago, with the Nakba – an ethnic cleansing in 1948 of Mandatory Palestine (AP News, 2024). Over 700,000 Palestinians fled, resulting in permanent refugee status as Israel banned them from returning to the land or tolerated their existence as second class citizens (Stagni, 2023). The state of Israel was backed and funded by imperalist first world powers, namely the United States and Britain. Thus, while Israel curated a powerful military with billions in funding, the Palestinian people had no equivalent military. For decades, scholars have outlined Israel‘s growing intent to further their ethnic cleansing campaign and eliminate Palestine. Reproductive justice plays a key role.
Considering that 2 mothers are murdered each hour in Gaza, and 50,000 women are pregnant without access to healthcare, the reproductive health crisis has grown even more dire. The trauma of continuous bombings, amputations, and deaths may have terrible ramifications on the bodies of Palestinian women going forward, impeding their ability to menstruate or have children. Palestinians experience a lack in agency, fighting for their right to retain bodily autonomy. It is important that the current attack on reproductive rights in the U.S. is not seen as an isolated incident, but rather linked to a global movement to continue suppressing women. Lack of abortion protection, criminalization of miscarriage, and an emphasis on traditional marriage all contribute to this gendered violence (Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 2015). Palestinian women face an unimaginable amount of subjugation, with their access to reproductive justice nonexistent.
The politics of birth as an aspect of reproductive healthcare is often overlooked for more palatable concepts. ver,ver, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, a target of Israeli bombs and snipers, permanently lost power for crucial incubators that kept infants healthy and safe. This level of genocidal intent is deeply linked with the desecration of reproductive justice. Separated from their children and prevented from family unification, Palestinian women in Israel have little to no rights. According to an academic study, the Israeli Family Reunification Order ended “the possibility of migrating spouses attaining residency” (Daoud et al, 2018). Their lives are wholly disrupted, whether economically, socially, or politically. Every woman deserves safe access to healthcare – and Palestinians are not exempt from normal human rights.
RRFRJ
RESTORE & REBUILD:
HOW IT CONNECTS
At UCSB, we have key resources for reproductive healthcare through the Women’s Center and Student Health. Student organizations like Students for Reproductive Justice further advocate for funding, spanning hygiene products, Plan Bs, gynecological exams, and educational programs. These provided resources are free and safe. Palestinian women have the same needs. They have the same hopes for their futures, same love for their families, and same desire for healthcare.
Yet Palestinians do not have access to these crucial products or services (Froio, 2024). Gaza is a healthcare desert devoid of substantial humanitarian aid. Major reproductive justice organizations such as Planned Parenthood have failed to illuminate the ongoing genocide. As such, the weight of change falls to us – ordinary Americans with powerful tools of education, social media, collective action, and mutual crowdfunding at our disposal.
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SUPPORT DIVESTMENT: UCSB IS CULPABLE
How much do you know about UCSB’s involvement in funding and enabling the genocide of Palestine? Scan this QR code to take a short quiz. If you don’t know the answers, that’s okay! We want to help you learn.
FROM @UCSBDIVEST ON INSTAGRAM
FROM @UCSBDIVEST ON INSTAGRAM
RRFRJ
RESTORE & REBUILD
Social Media Resources
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RESTORE & REBUILD: Donate
This spreadsheet provides comprehensive and direct links to GoFundMes for Palestinian women.
Access Reproductive Care is a reproductive justice organization that has voiced support for Gazans.
This nonprofit, run by queer women of color, highlights all marginalized voices.
RESTORE & REBUILD: COLLECTIVE ACTION
Boycott
Divest
Protest
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RRFRJ
CHange REQUIRES ALL OF US to act
The mental and moral motivations behind collective actions efforts aid in understanding how large-scale demonstations cultivate tangible change. According to a psychology research study, individual engagement in collective action is uniquely predicted by [one’s] identity, moral, injustice, and efficacy motivations” (Agnostic & van Zomeren, 2021). These findings indicate that people are most likely to take part in collective actions if they find themselves as part of the in-group, have strong moral compasses, or believe they hold power to enact change. Efficacy is an essential facet; the belief in individual capacity to affect change keeps movements afloat.
Boycotting is an easy, efficient way to make a significant impact. The Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions List provides historically effective targeted boycott methods, the likes of which succeeded in the American Civil Rights movement and end of the South African apartheid (Palestinian BDS National Committee, 2024). The list of current boycotted companies includes HP, Puma, Sodastream, and Sabra Hummus – these products are simple to avoid purchasing. BDS connects interested parties with local BDS organizations nearby. Targeted boycotts diminish key profits for exploitative companies.
Protesting in-person has a long history of effective agenda-setting, particularly the actions of university students – many of whom have spearheaded cultural shifts in acknowledging moments of dire oppression. Sites like SHUTIDOWN4PALESTINE.ORG and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights illustrate dozens of small actions through toolkits. More significantly, they allow viewers to look up protests in local areas. For knowledge about current pro-Palestinian encampments – most of which welcome community support – social media is a powerful tool to locate and bolster groundwork. Such encampments have raised crucial awareness about divestment efforts.
Divesting, as demonstrated in the quiz earlier, is a removal of funding from companies that invest in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. UCSB is among many universities with endowments for weapons manufacturers, a key reason for the encampment (Caraway, 2024). The list of demands includes full disclosure of investments so that students know their tuition supports genocide. Supporting divestment takes various forms: emailing and calling university representatives, physically attending the encampment, and more. Ultimately, we all need to act – placing immense pressure on adminstrators to divest now.
RESTORE & REBUILD:
YOUR VOICE IS CRUCIAL
At times, it may seem that international crises have little bearing on daily life. It can feel like an individual has no stake or power to change the global reality of genocide and displacement. However, social media is rapidly becoming an essential tool to uplift unheard voices with its various applications to disseminate information (Yan, 2021). Without platforms like Instagram and Twitter, the full extent of this genocide would likely be hidden behind censorship and propaganda.
Awareness is key to tangible, visible change. Representatives cannot ignore the needs of the people. Intersectionality ties each pertinent sociological or geopolitical issue to the other. Collective liberation relies upon the understanding that change cannot occur without the individual pieces coming together. Strong internal and external political efficacy characterizes those at the forefront of rights movements. Yet even a small involvement can make a true difference, illuminating the genocide and reproductive health crisis which requires our immediate attention.
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THE REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE CRISIS: FROM UCSB TO PALESTINE
You have more power than you know. You have a voice and it can enact change. How? Protest. Boycott. Divest. Educate. Utilize the tools at your disposal, whether that be financial, educational, technological, or community-based. At the click of a button, you can connect directly to Palestinian women undergoing an immense reproductive health crisis.
We should not look away. We have all watched for over nine months as the Palestinian people suffer. They describe their pain to us through sobbing Tiktok videos, clutching their dead children and asking for justice. Girls as young as twelve have no access to healthcare and no way to take care of themselves. For over 75 years, Palestinian women have been suffering under displacement and oppression by Israel. A vast majority of Gazans are currently dying of famine.
So take your first step today. Use our Restore & Rebuild graphics to repost on your social media. Take a moment to donate $10 to mutual aid efforts. Seek our your local encampment and drop off some food. Join a protest and make your anger heard. Research where your tuition and student fees go. Have a conversation with those around you about this urgent crisis – the most pressing issue of our time. Take a stance. Together, we can restore justice.
Now together, we can restore & rebuild.
RRFRJ
WORKS CITED
1) Agostini, M., & van Zomeren, M. (2021). Toward a comprehensive and potentially cross-cultural model of why people engage in collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of four motivations and structural constraints. Psychological Bulletin, 147(7), 667.
2) Awadallah, A. (2024, March 11). The forgotten women and girls in gaza: A sexual and reproductive health catastrophe. Bond. https://www.bond.org.uk/news/2024/02/the-forgotten-women-and-girls-in-gaza-a-sexual-and-reproductive-health-catastrophe/
3) Caraway, R. (2024, May 9). UCSB encampment organizers release demands, call for disclosure and divestment. Noozhawk. https://www.noozhawk.com/ucsb-encampment-organizers-release-demands-call-for-disclosure-and-divestment/
4) Daoud, N., Alfayumi-Zeadna, S., & Jabareen, Y. T. (2018). Barriers to healthcare services among palestinian women denied family unification in israel. International Journal of Health Services: Planning, Administration, Evaluation, 48(4), 776–797. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731418783912
5) Froio, N. (2024, February 13). Reproductive rights organizations are failing palestinians. Prism. https://prismreports.org/2024/02/13/reproductive-rights-organizations-failing-palestinians/#:~:text=As%20Palestinians%20in%20Gaza%20suffer,to%20question%20the%20purpose%20and
6) Morison, T. (2021). Reproductive justice: a radical framework for researching sexual and reproductive issues in psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(6), Article e12605. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12605
7) Palestinian BDS National Committee. (2024, May 27). Get involved. Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Committee. https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
8) Shalhoub-Kevorkian, N. (2015). The politics of birth and the intimacies of violence against palestinian women in occupied east jerusalem. The British Journal of Criminology, 55(6), 1187-1206. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43819350
9) Shahawy, S. (2019). The unique landscape of abortion law and access in the occupied palestinian territories. Health and Human Rights Journal, 21(2), 47-56. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6927376/
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WORKS CITED
10) US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. (2023, January 13). Palestine: A Reproductive Justice issue. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. https://uscpr.org/activist-resource/grassroots-advocacy-toolkit/palestine-a-reproductive-justice-issue/
11) World Health Organization. (n.d.). Women and newborns bearing the brunt of the conflict in Gaza, UN agencies warn. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/03-11-2023-women-and-newborns-bearing-the-brunt-of-the-conflict-in-gaza-un-agencies-warn
12) Yan, N. (2021). Social media is redistributing power. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 9(6), 107-118.
13) YouTube. (2024, March 11). Israel’s cultural annihilation of gaza | the listening post. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZVSQ-ClBn8
14) Zhang, S., (2024, January 18). Miscarriages in Gaza have skyrocketed by 300 percent under Israel’s siege. Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/miscarriages-in-gaza-have-skyrocketed-by-300-percent-under-israels-siege/