International Women’s Day from the Edge of War

International Women’s Day in Egypt, 2011 (Wikimedia Commons)

March 8 was International Women’s Day.

Every year, I feel proud to mark this day, not because it is an occasion to place women in the spotlight. Women are already there every day, with or without a celebration. Women at home, proudly full-time mothers like my dear mother, and those who have devoted their lives to the vocation of motherhood. Women balancing work and family, navigating the constant tension between professional responsibilities and care at home. Women pushing their way into political spaces locally and nationally because they saw other women succeed and realized that doubt and fear are no longer barriers, but part of the journey. 

In my country, Lebanon, only an insufficient number of women have reached positions in national or local politics. Yet women’s voices are rising. Authors, artists, civil rights activists, educators, and community leaders are speaking out more than ever.

This morning, I came across a quote by Nikita Gill, an Irish-Indian poet and writer:

“We owe everything to angry women. The women who raged until hope was not a dream but a destiny.”

Later, I watched a speech published by Middle East Eye from UK activist Lindsey German at a Stop the War Coalition rally. She said:

“They talk about liberating women, and the first thing they do is kill 165 girls in a school in southern Iran.”

Spanish politician Manuela Bergerot also spoke in anger in parliament, condemning the killing of schoolgirls while political leaders claim to defend women’s rights.

These voices echo a painful reality.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the war in the Gaza Strip has killed thousands of women, including mothers, since the beginning of the current hostilities. Meanwhile, UN Women estimates that more than 28,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

And Gaza is not alone.

From Lebanon to Sudan, Myanmar, and Yemen, women and children remain among the first victims of war.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker, there are nearly thirty major ongoing conflicts worldwide.

For them; for all the women suffering today, whom no international system seems able to protect from missiles, strikes, terrorist attacks, insurgents, or the trauma of displacement, we mark this day.

Not to celebrate victory.

Because victory is still far away.

We mark it out of rage.

A rage against violence. Against injustice. Against the slow erosion of human rights and human dignity.

For her—carrying her child while running from evacuation alarms.
For her—fleeing violence and armed attacks in search of safety.
For her—burying her child.

For her—crossing borders with nothing but the hope of safety for her children.
For her—sleeping in refugee camps, uncertain if home still exists.
For her—the humanitarian, the frontline doctor, the nurse, the social worker, tending to wounds while the bombs continue to fall.
For her—the mother who became both parents overnight.
For her—whose body has been turned into a battlefield in wars she never chose.

But also, for the brave Jewish mothers and daughters who are raising their voices to stop the war, challenging governments that claim violence is necessary for protection.

And for the women and students across the United States who are speaking out, sometimes risking their safety and their future.

To her, and to you, we celebrate your resilience—and we bow our heads before your pain.

I write these words from Maharashtra, about 3,000 miles away from my home in Lebanon, which has been under bombardment for seven days.

Until the day when those who wage wars are held accountable…
Until international laws and courts meant to protect humanity, regain the legitimacy and strength to do so…
Until women rise more widely in leadership and power…
Until the fight against war is carried forward together by women and men across the world…

We will continue marking International Women’s Day.

Not out of pride.

But out of responsibility.

And until that day comes:

may we keep raging.

Because, as the words remind us:

“We are not free until we are all free.”

*The opinions of contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of We Are One Humanity. Submissions offering differing or alternative views are welcome