Dear Colleagues,
The war between Israel and Hamas has forced us, especially an organization far removed from the frontlines, to take a second look at what we believe.
I am reminded that belief is the product of a series of concentrated inputs from those closest to us when we are struggling, afraid, or in pain. We seek those we trust to help make sense of the unthinkable and give us a North Star when we find ourselves afloat in a dark sea.
That’s why WFN joins our movement sister, Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds, in their call “to listen to our common humanity and exercise feminist politics of care.”
Our North Star is solidarity with the peacemakers, the mothers and life sustainers, and the lovers of justice and humanity – despite humanity’s imperfect struggle toward progress.
Yet questions remain. Can condemnation live alongside compassion? Can silence live alongside love?
In the answers to these questions, we look for words; inadequate and imprecise because the answers are in the heart, in the pit of the stomach, in the lump in the throat as we watch, as we hear, as we learn.
Thank you for joining us in looking beyond easy answers and the safety of indifference. Thank you for standing up when groups and governments leverage hate and fear to justify violence against innocents and children. No one deserves terror, rape, or to see their family murdered. No one deserves the despair and grief of war.
In these times I’m even more grateful that feminist movements have been both comfort for the weary and catalysts for peace in conflict areas around the world including Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – both of which still need our support and attention. Thank you for doing your part for our collective political project toward justice and liberation for all.
Until peace, yours,
Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO