Al-Khater also called for the need to “stop igniting wars so that weapons’ companies can make more money”.
Lolwah Al-Khater, Qatar’s Minister of Education and Higher Education, gave the world a reality check on International Women’s Day, marked this year amid major global instability.
“Happy Women’s Day to all women wherever they are, those who are striving for their families, to survive, to make this planet a better and more peaceful place,” Al-Khater said on X.
Observed annually on March 8, the global day is aimed at addressing issues facing women globally while commemorating their achievements.
However, this year, it comes a week since the United States and Israel waged a war on Iran under the pretext of liberating Iranians. U.S. officials and the West frequently cited the need to liberate Iranian women to justify sanctions and escalatory actions against Iran.
The same narrative has been applied throughout military interventions, most notably the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, of which the countries’ populations are still reeling from their aftermath.
“As a Muslim woman and as an Arab woman I just want to say: STOP. STOP talking on our behalf. STOP using us as an excuse for your sick destructive agendas. STOP your baseless claims that you want to LIBERATE us. Just STOP,” Al-Khater said on X, although she did not explicitly mention who her speech is aimed at.
“No one needs you to liberate them, we just need you to leave us alone,” she added.
Al-Khater also called for the need to “stop igniting wars so that weapons’ companies can make more money”.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest arms exporter, followed by France, Russia, China, and Germany, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI). The U.S. is also a key provider of military support for Israel, which has carried out a genocide in the Gaza Strip since 2023.
Between October 2023 and late 2025, the U.S. provided over $20bn in military aid and approved extensive arms sales to Israel, according to the Cost of War project.
Israel killed at least 72,126 people, half of whom are women and children, in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the genocide in 2023.
A United Nations report in March 2025 revealed that Israel was increasingly using “sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination”.
About 107,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Strip also face serious health risks due to the absence of adequate medical services, Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
More than 12,000 miscarriages were also recorded due to malnutrition and the overall harsh conditions, the statement added.
Throughout its wars, Israel has also targeted schools and medical facilities, whether in the Gaza Strip or Iran. During the first day of the war on Iran, Israel and the U.S. targeted a girls’ school in the city of Minab in Hormozgan province, killing 165 schoolgirls and teachers.
“We need you to stop bombing schools, to stop trafficking and raping little kids,” Al-Khater said.
“It’s not our fault that you screwed in school and got your education through Hollywood movies, the world is not a movie, this is not a ‘call of duty’ game, these are human souls, God’s creation if you truly believe in one,” she added.
Concluding her post, Al-Khater further stressed:”Please STOP liberating us, just LEAVE US ALONE and we will be just fine.”
