Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon demanded that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon revise a report disseminated by his office ahead of International Women’s Day and in which Israel is blamed for the situation of Palestinian women.Actually, it's worse.
The report, issued for the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women to be held March 14-24, highlights the situation of Palestinian women for the period from October 1st 2014 to September 30th 2015.
According to the document, Israeli occupation is to blame for domestic violence against Palestinian women.
First of all, out the 13 documents issued by the UN in advance of this meeting, only one deals with women from a specific "nation." That is of course E/CN.6/2016/6 The situation of, and assistance to, Palestinian women. Report of the Secretary-General.
Here is the paragraph that offended Israel:
Refugee camps in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are among the most densely populated urban environments in the world and the conditions in these camps have deteriorated over decades, in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Specifically for women and girls, this overcrowding limits their mobility, privacy and access to recreational spaces. Overcrowded living conditions and a lack of privacy cause psychological distress among camp residents and strain family and social relations. Residents frequently note that gender-based violence, including domestic violence, is a manifestation of such stress, combined with the strain caused by the unstable political and security situation and discriminatory gender stereotypes and norms.4The basic question of why "refugee" camps exist in the territory under Palestinian rule is not mentioned. If the existence of these crowded camps inherently causes all these domestic problems including abuse of women, then why does the UN keep funding them? Shouldn't they be dismantled and replaced with new villages and towns where all Palestinians could be treated equally?
The unspoken truth is that the "refugee" camps exist for only one reason - to make their residents' lives miserable for photo ops that blame Israel for not allowing them to "return" to homes that no longer exist even though they live in "Palestine."
Remember, Israel tried to give Palestinians in camps decent housing, and the UN condemned them for it. If anyone is to blame for the camps, it is the UN itself. UN resolution 34/52 section F says that "measures to resettle Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip away from their homes and property from which they were displaced constitute a violation of their inalienable right to return... Calls once more upon Israel to desist from removal and resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and from destruction of their shelters."
The report throws in a section about Israeli settlements that has nothing to do with women and doesn't say exactly how Jews building homes impacts Palestinians at all, let alone women.
The Israeli Government has come under increasing pressure from settler groups to resume the planning and tendering of settlements, which have been in a lull since the fall of 2014. In July 2015, following the demolition of two buildings in the settlement of Beit El, the Government announced the construction of 300 new residential units there, as well as around 500 more in East Jerusalem settlements.
I guess after all these years of incitement it is obvious to the reader that Jews building houses is so inherently evil that there is no reason to describe why.
Israel's killing terrorists - who are mostly male - also is terrible for women:
According to data collected by UN-Women and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, it is estimated that a round 700 women were widowed as a result of the conflict in Gaza in 2014.The vast majority of these men were of course fighters. Yet Israel needs to be more mindful of killing Hamas terrorists - because some of them have wives!
Gender-based violence continues to be a key protection concern for women inBut the UN can never blame the men who are abusing them! No, it is because of the lack of privacy and basic services which is, of course, Israel's fault!
the State of Palestine, and the situation is particularly acute in the Gaza Strip. A
2011 survey showed that 51 per cent of women in Gaza had been victims of genderbased
violence.17 A rapid assessment by UNFPA conducted after the 2014 conflict
revealed that the protracted crisis and related displacement, lack of privacy and lack
of basic services had exacerbated people’s sense of vulnerability, leading to violence
against women.18
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
|