COVID-19 has been a part of our lives for over a year. In this period, those of us living in highly militarized countries witnessed the various ways government representatives instrumentalized COVID-19 prevention measures to increase the pressure on social opposition, turning the process into a “power grab”. The line between the pandemic protection and covert authoritarianism was blurred most of the time. For this issue of Feminist Approaches, we met with anti-militarist feminist activist Rela Mazali to discuss their activism in Israel during the pandemic, specifically to talk about their project called Gun Free Kitchen Tables. We met via the Internet, from our homes. Rela Mazali joined from Tel Aviv, Ayça Günaydın from London, Özlem Aslan from Kocaeli, Ayten Sönmez, Öykü Tümer and Zeynep Kutluata from İstanbul. Rela Mazali, previously wrote an article for the 25th issue (February 2015) of Feminist Approaches about Gun Free Kitchen Tables where she introduced us with this anti-militarist feminist project for the first time. In the conversation below moderated by Zeynep Kutluata and Özlem Aslan, Rela Mazali told us how the project has progressed since 2015, as well as how the pandemic has affected feminist activism in Israel. The following is an edited version of a long and insightful conversation between Feminist Approaches members and Rela Mazali. During the last weeks of our publishing process, the attacks of Israel targeting Palestinians escalated and resulted in loss of lives, including children, due to bombardments lasting for days. You may find the “Afterword” written by Rela Mazali at the end of the interview where she shares her views of this last wave of violence in Israel.
