Dr Maliha Khan, president and CEO of the international nonprofit Women Deliver, has released a strong statement condemning the genocide in Gaza.
“The violence against Palestinians results from decades of systematic oppression designed to dominate, dehumanise, and dispossess,” she writes, quoting UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese who said, “Israel has… killed, maimed, made orphans and homeless, tortured and persecuted millions of Palestinians.”
By some estimates, over 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, when Israel launched a massive US-aided military offensive on its tiny colony. More than 1.9 million have been displaced or forced into overcrowded camps, and starvation and disease are on the rise. According to UNHCR, nearly 70% of those killed were women and children.
“Families incinerated in their homes, lifeless children pulled from rubble, and basic human needs — food, water, shelter, safety — systematically destroyed. This isn’t collateral damage. It’s deliberate, state-sponsored genocide,” writes Dr Khan, who took over as Women Deliver’s president and CEO in April 2022.
“What makes Gaza even more horrifying isn’t just the scale of violence — it’s the hypocrisy of those enabling it,” she adds, describing how billions in military aid from US, Germany and other Western nations have sustained this unimaginable destruction, while terming it ‘self-defence’.
Dr Khan has worked for three decades in the field of gender equality. She started her career in Pakistan’s development sector, working with marginalised sections of society. She later worked at organisations like Care, Oxfam, Rockefeller Foundation, Asian Development Bank and Malala Fund. She also spent many years in academia teaching gender studies.
Dr Khan, who did her PhD from the State University of New York, says she has been asked why she so frequently speaks out on the topic of Gaza but not on the violence in places like Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ukraine.
“Let me be clear,” she responds, “the violence being perpetrated against girls and women in these countries is no less horrific. But in those cases, world leaders and our sector condemn the atrocities without hesitation. No one pretends that the people of Sudan or the DRC deserve what is happening to them, nor does anyone defend the perpetrators’ ‘right’ to commit these crimes against humanity.”
However, she adds, “In Gaza, the response is different. The violence isn’t just ignored; it’s actively supported, justified, and perpetuated by the same powers and institutions that claim to uphold human rights, social justice, and the rules-based international order. These are the same entities that loudly denounce oppression elsewhere. The hypocrisy is staggering, and I can’t forgive it.”
She exposes censorship in humanitarian organisations where articles about Gaza are edited to soften language that is critical of Israel, and to reframe the ground realities. “This isn’t just about silencing dissent; it’s about shaping public perception to align with the interests of those in power. It’s a betrayal” she says.
She warns that a dangerous precedent is being set by leaders and organisations who avoid naming oppressors or those who obscure the truth because they fear losing funding or facing political backlash.
“The genocide in Gaza is not just a regional crisis — it is a global fight for justice and humanity’s shared moral obligation,” she says, adding that social-justice organisations and leaders must take a stand that reflects the values they claim to uphold. “Advocacy cannot be selective — choosing to speak out only when it’s politically convenient erodes the very foundations of social justice itself.”
Calling for a ceasefire, immediate humanitarian access, and lasting peace grounded in gender equality and human rights for Palestinians, she says, “This goes beyond policy or diplomacy — this is a test of our values as advocates, as human beings.”
Read the complete column on Medium.
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