Dear John,

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend, and all I can think about are the mothers in Gaza: mothers undergoing C-sections without anesthesia; mothers collecting rotten flour to make bread for their kids; mothers whose babies are buried under the rubble; mothers whose fetuses were violently aborted from their bodies by the force of Israel’s bombs. Now, they face an even greater challenge, as Israel has blocked all food, fuel, and aid from entering since March 2. Gazans are dying RIGHT NOW because Israel is deliberately starving them. The situation is so dire that a group of people, including CODEPINK’s very own Ann Wright and Tighe Barry, went to Europe to try and sail the Gaza Freedom Flotilla to break the siege on Gaza themselves. Israel attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla's boat, "The Conscience," last weekend as it sailed off the coast of Malta, damaging the ship and halting its humanitarian mission to break the siege. Thankfully, those aboard escaped harm. Israel is so desperate to starve Palestinians that it attacked a ship of humanitarians — our commitment to peace needs to be a million times stronger than their commitment to violence. We are here to support you in action! 

Act for the mothers and children of Palestine! Take collective or individual action this Mother’s Day! 

Israel has murdered AT LEAST 17,400 children in Gaza since the genocide began. Behind each of those children was a mother who did everything she could to protect them. The worst part? We paid for it because our elected officials refuse to stop funding genocide with our tax dollars. 

Here’s another thing you can do: educate the women signing off on the killing of Palestinian mothers. Of the 26 women in the Senate, only three — Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith, and Mazie K. Hirono — voted to block weapons to Israel. All but five of the 26 are mothers. Sign the petition to ask them why they are silent while mothers and babies are being murdered.

I read in an Al Jazeera report that Israel kills an average of 30 children in Gaza every day: that’s one child every 45 minutes. So many children have been killed by Israel, with such disregard for their lives, that at least 2,000 of those CHILDREN murdered have not even been identified. None of us will ever be able to truly grasp how devastating that is. Can you imagine the turmoil mothers in Gaza feel not knowing where their baby is? Not having a body to bury? Not even having their child’s grave to visit? 

Over 800 babies have been murdered in Gaza before their first birthday. Have you ever looked at photos from your first birthday? Parents tend to make a big show out of it because their child’s first year of life means so much to them. That joy has been ripped away from so many mothers in Gaza. Nearly 900 one-year-old babies have been murdered — before their parents could watch them take their first steps. It hurts to talk about the people of Gaza as if they’re merely statistics, instead of the universe each martyr represents, but I only have your attention for so long. I encourage you to visit the Instagram page @martyrs_gaza to read the stories of those murdered by Israel. Bearing witness to their existence is a small act of love you can do for them and their families. 

I’m also thinking of Noor Abdalla, Mahmoud Khalil’s wife. She gave birth to their first child with her husband on the phone 1,000 miles away. Motherhood is scary even when all the conditions are right. To go through it while your homeland is subjected to a genocide, with your husband in ICE detention for protesting said genocide and millions of eyes on you, is downright terrifying.     

Being heartbroken is not enough; in fact, it’s the beginning. It’s a hard thing to feel, but it’s a testament to our humanity. And what does being human mean if we’re not doing what we can for each other, especially our children? Sign the petition to Senate mothers asking them to reckon with the fact that they celebrate motherhood while massacring mothers and babies in Gaza, but we need to take action beyond our screens if we want Gaza to feel it.

👉 Make Mother’s Day this year an act of solidarity:

• Join a CODEPINK Mother’s Day event near you!
• Hold a vigil for Gaza outside your Senator’s office. Bring signs with your demands, photos, names of martyred mothers and children, and statistics about Israel’s genocide campaign — you can pull them from this email. I recommend doing this on the Monday after Mother’s Day to ensure staff are present! If you get a chance to talk to them, take it. I'm here to help you!

If it were your children in Gaza, what would you do? My guess is you’d do everything possible to keep them safe. Mothers in Gaza need our help doing that right now.

👉 Here are other ways to engage: 

• Read: "I am in Malta with the Gaza Flotilla Ship" by Ann Wright
• Join our 2025 summer school: Feminists Resisting Fascism!
• Take our 30-day challenge in the lead up to Nakba Day!
• Stay updated with news on the pro-Israel lobby.
• Order our new "I Love Palestinian Liberation" Tee!
• Get pink keffiyehs from the West Bank!
• Sign up to organize and engage locally!

Until Liberation,

Nour and the entire CODEPINK team

PS: Maikelys is a two-year-old Venezuelan girl who’s spent nearly a year in U.S. foster care. She was taken from her parents after they arrived at the border seeking safety. Her father was deported to El Salvador. Her mother, Yorely, was deported to Venezuela and is now desperately trying to bring her baby home. Sign the petition to reunite her with her parents now!