Alkarama to hold its founding conference in Lebanon

On Saturday, 5 December 2026, Alkarama – Palestinian Women’s Movement will hold its founding conference at the Lebanese National Theatre in Hamra, Beirut. The conference will bring together Palestinian women from camps and communities across Lebanon, women’s delegations and solidarity activists from several countries.

The founding of Alkarama in Lebanon grows out of the work of Palestinian women organising in the camps and communities where they live. The conference will be a space for feminist organising and political discussion, where we can share experiences, strengthen ties between camps and decide together how to carry this work forward. As Palestinian women, we play an active role in popular resistance. Our voices, priorities and decisions must carry the weight they deserve in the struggle for Palestine’s liberation.

We will gather just days before the 39th anniversary of the Intifada of the Stones, which began in December 1987 in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. We remember the Palestinian women who helped organise strikes and boycotts, took part in popular committees and sustained community life in the face of repression. Alkarama members in Lebanon’s camps carry forward that history of grassroots organising.

In those camps, the exile imposed by the Nakba has shaped the lives of several generations. Palestinian women have kept alive the memory of the towns and villages from which their families were expelled and defended the right of return. Organising in the camps also helps us strengthen ties with our people in Gaza, the West Bank, the 1948 territories and elsewhere in the diaspora. We are one people, united in the struggle for liberation and return.

The conference will strengthen our work with those organising in their own countries against the genocide in Gaza, settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing, and in defence of the Palestinian people’s right to determine their future and return to their homeland.

International call for messages of solidarity

We invite individuals and organisations around the world, including feminist groups, trade unions and grassroots movements, to send a message of solidarity to the Alkarama members gathering in Beirut. Tell us where you organise, what struggles we share and how you want to keep building solidarity with Palestine.

You can send a written or video message to alkaramapalestina@gmail.com. If you prefer to post your video on social media, tag Alkarama so we can see and share it.

The programme will feature political speeches, a roundtable discussion, and a chance to hear directly from freed Palestinian women prisoners and Palestinian women active in the struggle. It will also pay tribute to the Al‑Majdal women’s basketball team and include an open mic for attendees to take the floor. Other activities will include workshops, solidarity speeches and a performance by the Al‑Majdal Dabke and Folk Arts Troupe.

Saturday, 5 December 2026 · 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Lebanese National Theatre · Hamra, Beirut