1_March 2019, Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), a week-long joint campaign “My Rights, Our Power” was launched today in Palestine to raise awareness on women’s fundamental human rights. The joint effort, with participation from over 30 national and international partners from civil society organizations, media outlets, and international development agencies, targets youth, women, and men in various geographic areas in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza to promote women’s human rights in Palestine.

The campaign comes at a crucial moment when the anticipated adoption of the Family Protection Bill is at a standstill, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders about the consequences of such delay on safeguarding women’s fundamental human rights in Palestine. According to the Palestine report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), nearly one in five Palestinian men (17 percent) surveyed said they had perpetrated act of physical intimate partner violence against female partners, while 21 per cent of women surveyed reported having experienced such violence.

“Family violence, usually committed by a family member who has social or economic power over others in the family, causes enormous pain and suffering to all members of the family, especially the women and children,” said a spokesperson from civil society, which has vigorously initiated the development of the Family Protection Bill (FPB), and has strongly pushed its adoption since 2004.

“The violation of women’s human rights manifests in various levels and should be also understood from economic, cultural, and social aspects,” the spokesperson added, highlighting the lack of opportunities and freedom of choice, as well as limited access to justice and services that women in Palestine still experience.

The joint campaign aims to raise awareness of the general public, especially youth, women, and men on women’s fundamental rights in line with international standards and embedded in the Family Protection Bill draft endorsed by the previous Cabinet at the end of December 2018. Five key messages, addressing women’s right to a life free of violence, right to achieve justice and seek help in case of violation of such life, as well as the right to equal opportunities and right to make one’s own choices, will be distributed through various channels such as radio, social media, helpline (121), outreach activities, and on-site events. The closing event of the joint campaign will take place on 8 March in Jerusalem and will celebrate women’s achievements using TED-style talks, followed by art performances.

“My Rights, Our Power” joint campaign is part of the global International Women’s Day 2019 campaign under the theme of “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, echoing the theme of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) taking place in New York on 11-22 March 2019.

The participating organizations of the “My Rights, Our Power” are (in alphabetical order): 17 Palestinian women’s organizations represented by Al-Muntada (coalition), British Consulate-General, Business Women Forum, CARE International, Consulate General of Sweden, Consulate General of Belgium, EUPOL COPPS, EU Representative Office, FAO, General Union of Palestinian Women, Government of Japan, CowaterSogema/GROW Project, International Labour Organization, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ma’an TV, MIFTAH, Netherlands Representative Office, Nisaa FM, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, Representative Office of Canada, Representative Office of Denmark, SAWA, Sawasya II, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sports for Life, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Representative Office of Norway, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UN Women, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Women’s Studies Center.

For more information, please contact Eunjin Jeong at UN Women via eunjin.jeong@unwomen.org or 059 2321 308, Majd Beltaji at UNESCO via m.beltaji@unesco.org or 059 4501 506.

Mr. President,

We thank France for organizing this important meeting and extend our appreciation to the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary General, the Executive Director of UN Women, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for their efforts and important briefings.

The issue before us is of relevance not only for half the planet, but to all, given the role and contribution of women in the fields of peace and security and the untapped potential that could be unleashed by mainstreaming their participation. Since the adoption by consensus of resolution 1325 by this Council, a lot has happened, and yet we are still far from the goal of full and equal participation, including in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and from ensuring the protection and empowerment of women. Gender equality and non-discrimination remain prerequisites for the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of this organization and all of our lofty, collective commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The State of Palestine welcomes the Secretary General’s report and his commitment to implementing the women and peace and security agenda, including by placing gender at the centre of his prevention platform and surge in diplomacy. We appreciate all efforts by the UN in this regard, including by UN Women, OHCHR and UNDP, notably in the field of human rights, capacity building, employment and rule of law. We urge UN bodies, notably those operating in Palestine, including the Special Representative, to intensify their engagement and collaboration with women organizations.

Mr. President,

I wish to highlight some of Palestine’s own important efforts in this regard. The Palestinian women’s movement is one of the oldest and strongest in the region and beyond, with institutional and representative structures established as early as the 19th century. Within the PLO, the General Union of Palestinian Women was among the first unions to be established. A coordination of women frameworks within PLO political parties and other organizations has also been established as the “Women’s Affairs Technical Committee” in the aftermath of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference.

There have been many achievements thereafter. Among them: In 2012, Palestine inaugurated a High-Level National Committee for the implementation of resolution 1325, led by the Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with relevant Ministries and NGOs. In 2016, the State of Palestine was among the 68 countries and areas that adopted a National Action Plan on women, peace and security.

This Action Plan (2017-2019), adopted by both the Government and civil society organizations, identifies three primary objectives: 1. ensuring protection for women and girls both domestically and in the face of the Israeli occupation; 2. ensuring accountability through national and international mechanisms, with a particular focus on crimes and violations committed by the occupation; and 3. furthering women’s political participation in decision making at the national and international level. The State of Palestine also joined core IHL and human rights instruments, including CEDAW, without reservations. Women’s participation and empowerment are also important and cross-cutting objectives in the context of the National Policy Agenda (2017-2022).

We are, however, conscious that, despite all these efforts, much more work remains to be done. Only in 2009 was a women elected to the highest executive body of the PLO. Quotas are still decisive in allowing women’s election to Parliament and local councils. And while women organizations were among the strongest advocates of national reconciliation, they have been unfairly absent from reconciliation talks. The relevant legislative framework applicable in Palestine is also outdated and must be revised to ensure consistency with Palestine’s international commitments and obligations and avail women the protection and rights they are entitled to and the opportunities they deserve.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian women’s movement since its establishment over a century ago pursued the struggle on two fronts – the struggle for the independence of Palestine and the struggle for women’s rights and empowerment – a dual struggle the movement continues to pursue to this day. The Israeli occupation remains the main source of the violations of our women’s rights and their vulnerability and violence against their person. We have repeatedly called for protection of the Palestinian people, especially women and children. We have also called for accountability, a key element of resolution 1325, the first resolution to address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, as the only way to put an end to violations and crimes.

While Palestine stands ready to do its part to advance women rights and the role of women in the fields of peace and security, it is clear that the enjoyment of these rights in our country necessitates ending the Israeli occupation. We will thus continue to work for an end of the occupation and true progress on the path to independence, justice and peace, with the equal and full involvement of women, leading to an independent State of Palestine ensuring human rights for all its citizens without discrimination.

On the occasion of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to Palestine, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, which consists of twelve different Palestinian women’s organisations, is urging the Prosecutor’s Office to take concrete actions towards investigating war crimes committed against Palestinians. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom remains deeply concerned with the complete impunity of Israeli war crimes and firmly supports the Coalition’s call for a just accountability mechanism for Palestinian victims. WILPF also calls on the international community to recognise and fully support Palestinian women’s organisations substantial role in paving the paths to justice, accountability and peace. Read the statement of the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325 below.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325,welcome the visit of the delegation of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office as a step in the right direction. But we are deeply disappointed that the purpose of this visit was restricted to preliminary examination, while Palestinian victims of Israeli war crimes, including women, continue to suffer and urgently await justice and an end to Israel impunity.

We do not understand the decision to exclude the Gaza Strip from this visit, when Gaza has been the site of the most war crimes and where women have been most systematically impacted by Israeli collective punishment policies; a prolonged imposed siege and a severe humanitarian deterioration resulting from Israeli military aggressions .

We are further disappointed that women who have been systematically impacted, and their women’s organisations, have been excluded from the delegation’s agenda.

We call upon all future delegations of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to include on their agenda meetings with women’s organisations and women who have experienced direct and indirect impacts of Israeli crimes.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, have seen in UNSCR 1325, 2242, and other UN Resolutions a commitment to hold the Israeli perpetrators accountable for their war crimes.

We look to the ICC as the most important mechanism to end impunity for all war crimes committed, finally bringing justice for the Palestinian people. Yet, we are very concerned that the preliminary examinations will be an endless process.

Therefore, we urge, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the ICC, to conclude the preliminary examination and move to investigations into Israeli war crimes, bringing justice to Palestinians.

We have paid the price of non-accountability and impunity of Israeli war crimes for too long. “Delaying justice is justice denied.”

Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325: The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), MIFTAH, Filastinyat, Women Media and Development (TAM), Women Stu Dies Center, Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WACLAC), the National, YWCA of Palestine, Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting (CWLRC), the Culture and Free thought Association(CWLRC) and Women’s Affairs Center (GWAC).

Occupied Palestine

October 11, 2016

When Sana, who comes from the West Bank city of Hebron, married her Jerusalem-born husband Mohammed 13 years ago, she never imagined their union would lead to a life of fear and hiding.

At first, their different residency permits -- hers for the West Bank, his for Jerusalem -- weren't much of an issue. She could live with her husband in East Jerusalem with a temporary permit, and movement between the city and the West Bank was still fairly easy.

But, with the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, travel restrictions gradually tightened until in 2003, Israel effectively stopped issuing Jerusalem residency permits to Palestinians in what caught Sana and Mohammed in an impossible bind.

Without an Israeli permit, Sana can't live in Jerusalem with her husband and children. But if Mohammed moves to the West Bank, he risks losing his Jerusalem residency and all access to the city of his birth.

Palestinians say it has never been easy to get a residency permit to move from the West Bank to East Jerusalem.

But in 2003, as the intifada raged on, Israel passed an emergency measure which effectively ended the process of "family reunification", citing security concerns.

Around the same time, Israel was also building a vast barrier through the West Bank which has since cut off most of East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territories, making access to the Holy City without a permit even harder.

In 2005, when Sana's permit ran out, she received an order expelling her from Jerusalem.

"Since then, I've been living illegally with my husband and children in Jerusalem," the 31-year-old told AFP.

"I left Jerusalem for a short period, but then I snuck back in and began living in hiding with my husband and children, who have permits," she said.

Her life, she says, has become a nightmare of constant fear. Turning the corner in a certain neighborhood could bring her face-to-face with a security official who could send her back to Hebron, separating her from her children.

"I barely leave the house," she told AFP. "I only go out to go to the doctor or to meet my children's teachers. When I'm near an area with police or soldiers, I feel terrified.

"I'm constantly worried -- afraid that the police will raid our neighborhood and find me in the house and arrest me, expel me and keep me from my children," she said.

Hassan Jabareen, the founder of Arab-Israeli rights group Adalah, says the situation for people in Sana's position has worsened dramatically since 2003.

"A law was passed that prevents Israeli citizens from living as a family if they marry Palestinians from the occupied territories or citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria or Lebanon," he explained.

'We live isolated'

"The situation now is much worse than in the past. We petitioned the Supreme Court years ago but have yet to receive a ruling."

The emergency legislation has never been repealed and this past week, Israel's cabinet extended it for a further six months at the request of Interior Minister Eli Yishai.

The legislation affects two groups: Arab-Israelis married to Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza, and Jerusalem residents who marry spouses without permission to live in the city.

In a 2006 report, Israeli rights group B'Tselem found that Israel had refused to process more than 120,000 requests for family reunification. The group accused Israel of using the policy "to prevent the further increase of the Arab population in Israel in order to preserve the Jewish character of the state."

For Sana, the policy has meant missing both happy and sad family moments, including when her mother became sick with the cancer that would eventually kill her.

"I didn't go to visit her when she was ill with liver cancer because I feared losing my children if I couldn't come back from Hebron. I only went when she died," she said.

"My brothers got married and I couldn't go to their weddings. And when my father was admitted to hospital a month ago, I also didn't go to visit. He died a week ago and I only went on the day of his death. It was devastating."

She snuck back into Jerusalem by taxi, using back roads that are regularly patrolled by Israeli troops.

"On the way back I was feeling two things -- sorrow over my father's death and fear at the thought the soldiers might shoot at us," she admitted.

For Bethlehem-born Huda, 33, the life described by Sana is a familiar one.

She married her husband in Jerusalem 16 years ago, and was initially issued a yearly residency permit that allowed her to stay in the city.

But 10 years later, her husband was convicted by an Israeli court for his activities with Fatah, the party of President Mahmoud Abbas, and sentenced to five years in jail prison.

"They stopped issuing my permit and instead issued an order expelling me," she said.

Since then, Huda has been living illegally in Jerusalem, and speaks of having to "smuggle" herself back home after rare trips to Bethlehem to see her family.

"One time I was with a group of women in the mountains and we ran into an army patrol. They forced us to go back to Bethlehem... and they mocked us as we walked back, making herding noises like we were sheep."

Like Sana, she has been forced to keep her distance from her West Bank hometown.

"I don't visit my family except in cases of serious illness or a death because I know what I will face on the road. It's tragic, my family lives 20 minutes away by car and I can't visit them," she said.

"We live isolated. Neither my brothers nor my sisters visit us, whether the occasion is happy or sad."

Palestinians prefer the Western-backed government of Salam Fayyad to the sacked cabinet of Hamas premier Ismail Haniya, according to a survey published on Thursday.

The poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre, the first it has conducted since Hamas seized power in Gaza in mid-June, also found that respondents blamed Hamas for the deadly internal fighting that preceded the takeover, and support early elections, as called for by president Mahmud Abbas.

The majority of Gazans, however, feel their security has improved since the Hamas rout.

Fighters from the Islamist Hamas overran security forces loyal to Abbas, leader of the secular Fatah party, on June 15. Afterwards, the president fired the Hamas-led unity cabinet and appointed Fayyad, a respected economist, to head a government of independents, a move not recognised by Hamas.

When asked to evaluate the performance of the Fayyad and Haniya cabinets, 46.5 percent said Fayyad's was better, compared with 24.4 percent who said it was worse and 22.8 percent who said they were similar.

When asked who was to blame for the deadly factional clashes in Gaza that preceded the Hamas takeover, 43.5 percent said Hamas, 28.4 percent chose Fatah and 17.5 said both. The breakdown for respondents in the Gaza Strip was little different from the territories as a whole with 40.7 percent, 30.9 percent and 17.7 percent respectively.

When asked to describe the situation in Gaza after the Hamas takeover, 46.7 percent said it was worse, compared with 27.1 percent who said it was better, and 21.1 percent who said it had not changed. In Gaza, the figures were 45.2 percent, 34.1 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Some 57.4 percent of Palestinians support the idea of early polls as favoured by Abbas, compared with 37.6 percent who are opposed. In Gaza, 56.6 percent support early elections and 40.9 percent are opposed.

But 43.6 percent of Gazans said that their feeling about security is better following the Hamas takeover, compared with 31.4 percent who say it has become worse and 25 percent who say it has not changed.

The pollsters questioned 1,199 people between August 16 and 20 in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and gave a three-percent margin of error.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Ehud Olmert's popularity has dropped further according to a poll in which more than three quarters of those questioned said they were dissatisfied with the Israeli premier.

Seventy seven percent expressed their discontent with Olmert in the poll published on Ynet, the website of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, on Wednesday.

A November poll showed 70 percent dissatisfied, compared with 68 percent in September and 40 percent in August.

In the latest poll, 47 percent gave Olmert "a very bad mark" for how he handles affairs, while 22 percent gave him "a good mark" and one percent "a very good mark".

Meanwhile, 62 percent said the prime minister was unable to face up to pressure, against 37 percent who said he could.

Finally, 80 percent said Israel had not carefully considered the consequences before declaring war on Hezbollah in Lebanon last summer.

Olmert and his government came under intense criticism over the war, which saw more than 160 Israelis and more than 1,200 Lebanese killed but which fell short of its goals of stopping Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel and securing the release of the two soldiers.

Corruption probes are also haunting Israel's leadership, with Olmert's personal secretary, Shula Zaken, placed under house arrest Tuesday in the latest development.

GENEVA - Huge discrimination against women in the Arab world is holding back overall economic prosperity and social development in the region, a United Nations report said on Thursday.

“An Arab renaissance cannot be accomplished without the rise of women in Arab countries,” the “Arab Human Development Report 2006” said.

“Directly and indirectly, it concerns the well-being of the entire Arab world.”

The UN Development Programme’s report, which was compiled by Arab experts and academics, said countries in the region must give women more access to the “tools” of development, such as education and health care, and consider positive discrimination.

In many nations, women’s exclusion is enshrined in laws that specifically restrict their activities, even though the constitutions of most Arab states would provide a basis to eliminate bias, according to the report.

“The business of writing the law, applying the law and interpreting the law is governed above all by a male-oriented culture,” the report entitled “Towards the rise of women in the Arab world” said.

However, an opinion poll carried out for the report in four countries -- Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco -- indicated that a huge majority aspire to much greater degree of equality between men and women.

“A complex web of cultural, social, economic and political factors, some ambiguous in nature, keeps Arab women in thrall,” the report said, pointing to “cultural hangovers” and the way societies are structured to deal with education and the family.

Women’s rates of participation in economic activity in the Arab world are lower than in any other part of the world, the report said. Female unemployment rates are between two and five times higher than those of men in most Arab nations.

Less than 80 percent of girls attend secondary schools in all but four of the Arab nations, with the highest rates of deprivation in the less economically developed countries. One half of women are illiterate, compared to one third of men.

However, the report also highlighted some of the stark differences that exist within the Arab world.

In Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, more girls are enrolled at school than boys. Mediterranean Arab nations were frequently cited as providing more rights for women.

Most Arab countries -- except Gulf states -- granted women the right to vote in the 1950s and 1960s, and more governments have been appointing women ministers in recent years.

However, the proportion of women parliamentarians in Arab nations remains the lowest in the world, just ten percent, and female ministerial posts are often “symbolic”, the report said.

Some of its authors argued that mainstream currents of Islam were not the key factor hampering women’s empowerment, despite Western perceptions.

But the report called for a reopening of some Islamic jurisprudence to reflect the different dynamics of modern Arab societies and “fundamental Koranic verses that recognise equality and honour human beings”.

Conflicts, foreign occupations, terrorism and the dominance of ”conservative and inflexible political forces” protecting “masculine culture and values” were the biggest obstacles, it added.

Maternal mortality rates are “unacceptably high” in Arab nations, averaging 270 deaths per 100,000 and ranging from just seven per 100,000 in oil-rich Qatar to over 1,000 in impoverished Somalia and Mauritania, the report said.

In addition, women lose a larger number of years to disease compared to men in manner that is unconnected to wealth, risk factors, pregnancy or childbirth, indicating “general lifestyles that discriminate against women”.

Nonethless, World Bank data cited in the report showed that women were taking on growing economic importance in Arab nations. The female workforce has expanded by 5.0 percent over the past five years, compared to just 3.5 percent overall.