Webinar Recording available: Feminist Frontlines, Women’s Voices for Peace from Israel, Palestine, and Iran
14 July | 17.00 Brussels time | 18.00 Jerusalem time
Video available: https://youtu.be/P3VyQzVuGgM?si=e9HOgaGC4dS6gFlP
With violence and repression used by governments in an escalating manner across borders, the interconnected struggles of women in Iran, Palestine, and Israel come to the surface. It has lead to increasingly dire situations: the devastating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, violent crackdowns on dissent in Iran, particularly targeting women’s rights activists, students and ethnic minorities, leading to further oppression of women’s rights to freedom, and the shrinking civil society space in Israel for anti-war and human rights advocates, many of whom are women.
This webinar, Feminist Frontlines, gathers women activists, artists, and scholars from or connected to Iran, Palestine, and Israel to share feminist perspectives on war, exile, resistance, and transnational solidarity. At a time when the politics of fear and militarism dominate headlines, these voices offer vital insights into the lived realities of violence and the possibilities for transformative resistance.
The conversation will explore how women in these regions are navigating militarization, surveillance, trauma, and displacement, while also resisting authoritarianism and advocating for justice. How are feminist movements responding to deepening repression and violence at home and across borders? What does solidarity look like when communities are fragmented by war, ideology, and geography? And how can women’s collective strategies of care, creativity, and defiance chart a path forward in the face of despair?
By fostering dialogue across disciplines and experiences, this webinar aims to deepen our understanding of the issue and to chart a path toward more just, humane, and inclusive responses.
View the webinar here: https://youtu.be/P3VyQzVuGgM?si=e9HOgaGC4dS6gFlP
The session will include an interactive exchange with Q&A sessions for collective discussion.
With contributions from:
Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman (she/her) is a woman of many creative passions. Award-winning author, anthropologist, educator, strategic consultant, peace activist, and American-Israeli feminist, Elana is dedicating her life to creating a more compassionate society. Two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Council Award in the categories of Education and Women’s Studies, as well as a winner of the Gourmand Award in the category of fundraising, and Best Jewish Nonfiction of 2022 by Hey Alma, her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Slate, The Independent, The Jerusalem Report, Everyday Feminism, Lilith, Haaretz, The Forward, Plus61J, and many more. Elana is co-host of the podcast Women Ending War — follow on Spotify, Youtube, Facebook, She is also involved with Forum 1325, a group of Israeli and Palestinian women thought leaders and activists who are working towards ending the current conflict and building a different future for the region.
Dr. Elena Qleibo Kogan is an anthropologist and researcher, diplomat and writer, who has lived in the Middle East since 1987. She worked in Gaza for over thirteen years in the humanitarian sector while carrying out ethnographic research into the day-to-day challenges faced by Gazans. Her research was the body for her PhD doctoral thesis at the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, in November 2017. This research was published in a book entitled: S’en sortir sans sortir, Ethnographie de la vie quotidienne sous le blocus, which was published on 25 February 2020, by Éditions du Croquant. She has worked in Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as a humanitarian professional, mentor and negotiator. She is continuing her research on coping mechanisms and gender transformations in the context of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
Faravaz Farvardin is an exiled Iranian singer based in Berlin. Her music fuses alternative pop with Oriental elements and is deeply shaped by her personal struggle for artistic freedom. In Iran, where women are banned from singing solo, she began performing underground and sharing her work online—actions that led to her arrest. Since fleeing the country, she has rebuilt her musical career in Germany, using her voice as a tool of resistance. Her debut album Azadi (2025) features powerful tracks like “Mullah” and “Enemy of God,” which have gained international media attention. Faravaz’s work explores themes of oppression, exile, and identity, giving voice to those silenced. She is the founder of The Right to Sing e.V., a nonprofit advocating for artistic freedom. Her story and music are portrayed in the documentary My Orange Garden (2025), a tribute to her resilience and creativity
Aida Kleibo is a Palestinian gender equality and human rights advocate from the illegally annexed eastern part of Jerusalem. She currently works to advance rights-based practices within the Palestinian healthcare system in Jerusalem, with a focus on integrating gender equality, protecting patient and staff dignity, and challenging systemic discrimination. Aida leads the implementation of a multi-year Gender Action Plan at a local hospital, in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), where she is actively building a comprehensive support system for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), alongside reforms in policy, infrastructure, HR equity, and social norms.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Law and Human Rights, with a minor in Political Science from Bard Liberal Arts College, and a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership for Social Change from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her work is grounded in feminist ethics, intersectionality, and decolonial practice, with a commitment to ensuring inclusive, just, and culturally rooted healthcare for all.
Organized by:
WIDE+ (Women In Development Europe Plus) — a European feminist network committed to social justice, women’s rights, and transnational solidarity.
This webinar is part of a broader feminist transnational initiative to amplify the voices of women speaking out against war, repression, occupation, and displacement — and to envision pathways toward peace and justice: ‘Feminist Alternatives for Europe’s uncharted future’.