BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) –The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women approved a resolution Friday marking Israel’s illegal occupation as contributing to the “grave situation of Palestinian women,” according to the Associated Press.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 27-2 with 13 abstentions, the United States and Israel voting against and European Union members abstaining.
Stressing the need for equality, the resolution held that continued Israeli occupation contributes to preventing the advancement and self-reliance of Palestinian women.
The resolution also condemned Israel’s assault on Gaza last summer that left over 2,200 Palestinians dead, including 283 women and 521 children, urging the international community to provide assistance needed by Palestinian women and their families who face a major humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the war.
Israeli sources report that Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor denounced the resolution as proof of UN bias against Israel, pointing to other UN member states he said were “some of the worst violators of human rights.”
The ambassador also cited Palestinian mistreatment of women, highlighting low employment among Palestinian women and remarking that honor killings were a “daily occurrence.”
Twenty-five Palestinian women were killed in honor crimes in 2013, according to the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling.
A 2014 report by Amnesty International indicated that increased Israeli militarization and deterioration of the security and economic situation worsened existing problems of gender inequality and control of women by males in Palestinian society, resulting in an increase in domestic violence against Palestinian women in recent years.
Friday’s resolution passed during a two-week meeting held by the commission, which developed a goal aiming to achieve gender equality worldwide by 2030.
It was sponsored by Palestinian and South African actors, in one of many strategic moves Palestinian leadership hopes make on an international level in seeking justice against Israel.
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