Seven Women Killed in One Week… When Women’s Rights Become Selective

In just four days, seven women and girls were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting homes and residential areas:

Maryam Salameh – Mifdoun | September 4

A young woman who had recently graduated from school and was preparing to begin university.

Isra’ Bahja – Arab Salim | September 6

A teacher and educator who was preparing to welcome her students at the beginning of the new academic year.

Basima Hassan – Arab Salim | September 6

A mother of three and the daughter of martyr Haidar Hassan.

Hiba Ali Sabah – Kfar Rumman | September 7

A graduate of the Faculty of Science and an employee at the Ministry of Labor, known for her competence and dedication to serving citizens.

Zahraa Ayyoub – Kfar Rumman | September 7

A municipal employee who served the people of her town and followed up on their affairs.

Fatima Hassan Farhat – Kfar Rumman | September 7

Killed alongside her mother, Hiba Sabah.

Maryam Hussein Farhat – Kfar Rumman | September 7

A child among the victims of the massacre, which also claimed the lives of several other civilians.

In Kfar Rumman, Hiba Sabah’s two children survived the massacre but sustained severe injuries and were reported to be in critical condition.

The Political Indicator

The issue is not simply the number of victims.

The issue is who is allowed to be a victim worthy of solidarity, and who is excluded from the human-rights narrative.

While images and stories of the women killed circulated across social media, a striking silence emerged from segments of the feminist discourse, according to the report’s authors, regarding the targeting of women and civilians in the south.

This raises a direct political and moral question:

Are women’s rights a universal principle, or a selective discourse determined by the victim’s identity and political and geographic position?

If the killing of women and violence against civilians in wartime constitute crimes, the characterization of those crimes should not change according to the identity of the perpetrator or the political affiliation of the victim.

And if protecting women is a principle, southern Lebanese women are not an exception.

The Bottom Line

The most dangerous outcome for the cause of women’s rights is for it to be transformed from a human-rights principle into an instrument of political alignment.

The right to life does not require an acceptable political identity.

A civilian does not cease to be a civilian because she lives in the south.

And a woman does not become less deserving of protection because she does not belong to the political camp favored by certain rights-based narratives.

The real test of any discourse on women’s rights is not when the victim “looks like us,” but when the victim is different from us.

The Observer