CEDAW on Israel: Failure to Address Core Issues
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) released its Concluding Comments to Israel in July 2005. The Committee, as in its previous Concluding Comments in 1997, reiterated its concern over the non-implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and urged Israel to “give full effect to the implementation of its obligation under the Convention in regard to all persons under its jurisdiction, including women in the Occupied Territories.”
Concerns were expressed over participation, health and education of Arab women in Israel, especially Bedouin women. More precisely, a specific recommendation was made “to eliminate discrimination against Bedouin women and...enhance respect for their human rights through effective and proactive measures...in the field of education, employment and health.”
The Israeli government is also encouraged to take sustained measures to address the low level of representation and participation of Arab women in decision-making positions in local authorities, elected and appointed bodies as well as in institutions of higher education.
On family reunification, the Committee expressed concern to wards the Israeli Nationality and Entry into Israel Law, which basically prohibits family reunification for Palestinians. The Committee called on Israel to “balanceits security interests with the human rights of persons affected by such policies” and provide periodic report on the evolution of the situation and its impact on affected women.
The sole Recommendation regarding the OPT calls on the state party to ensure that “Israeli authorities at the checkpoints are instructed to ensure access to health-care for pregnant women, while protecting the security of Israel.”
Failure to address core issues
While discussions of members of the Committee and the Israeli delegation have been fruitful, and at times, have touched upon core issues of the conflict, i.e., in equalities between Jewish and Palestinian women, the Concluding Comments fall short of exposing the root causes of the problems affecting Palestinian women’s rights, namely, Israel’s rejection of the return of Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) and the continued annexation of Palestinian land for the exclusive benefit of Jews in Israel and the OPT. All this, to consolidate a Jewish majority over the largest amount of Palestinian land with the smallest possible number of Palestinians.
The Committee also omitted to consider the dual legal system being applied to the OPT, whereby Jewish women are protected under Israeli Law, and therefore included in Israel’s report to the Committee, while Palestinian women are subject to a mixture of Israeli military orders, Jordanian, and Egyptian laws, and are excluded from the state’s report (despite the fact that Israel is the Occupying Power and is responsible to ensure respect for international humanitarian and human rights law). What does this dual legal system concretely entail? Palestinian women in the OPT are not accorded equal rights and are not protected by the Occupying Power - Israel.
Failure to address new developments
Furthermore, over the past three years, Israel has relentlessly pursued the construction of the Wall and its associated regime; a permit system has been implemented in ‘closed military zones’, and more recently, ‘border terminals’ have been built, furthering the annexation of Palestinian land, unilaterally determining the future border between Israel and the OPT and undermining the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.
As Israel continues to acquire territory by force, Palestinians continue to be forcibly displaced, sometimes for a second or third time. Recent reports have emerged and are clearly confirming this troubling pattern: ‘closed military zones’ are slowly being emptied of their residents; houses too close to the Wall are being destroyed, farmers and land owners can no longer access their land to harvest crops while women and girls can no longer access basic services. A recent report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that 15,000 Palestinians have already been forcibly displaced as a result of the Wall and its regime.
More recently, plans have been drawn to move the Bedouin population in the Naqab to ‘concentration points’ in Israel in order to allow for the urban expansion of the Jewish population.(1) These plans may lead to the forcible displacement of part of the Bedouin population and the destruction of their lifestyle. Similar ‘urban development’ projects are planned in the Galilee, where most of the Palestinian population reside, and may have similar effects on Palestinian communities.
In comparison...
In comparison with other UN Human Rights Committees, CEDAW stands out as one of the most conservative Committees. Indeed, while recommending improvements and changes to the state party, these are in most cases, superficial or conditional upon Israel’s security; an undefined concept, often misused and abused.
In contrast, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recognizes the denial of the “right of many Palestinians to return and possess their homes in Israel” as a situation perpetuating and generating violations of fundamental human rights. CERD also characterizes the colonies and their related system as “actions that change the demographic composition of the Occupied Territories...”(2) Hence, CERD addressed the question of Palestinian refugees and the effects of Israel’s actions in the OPT.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) reached similar conclusions in 2003 on the status of “Jewish nationality”, which it says, is ground for “exclusive preferential treatment” resulting in practice “in discriminatory treatment against non-Jews, in particular Palestinian refugees.”(3) It also stated its deep regret at “the refusal of the State party to provide ... additional information on the living conditions of population groups other than Israeli settlers in the occupied territories...” and its grave concern “about the continuing practice of expropriation of Palestinian properties and resources for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.” (4)
The Human Rights Committee also examined land issues in Israel, where it came to the conclusion that the Israeli Land Administration (ILA), which owns 93% of the land in Israel, has developed few, if any, Arab localities. In light of this information, the Committee recommended that “urgent steps be taken to overcome the considerable inequality and discrimination which remain in regard to land and housing.” (5)
Hence, most Human Rights Treaty Committees have addressed issues that are central to Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians in Israel and the OPT, namely, illegitimate and discriminatory denial of return of Palestinian refugees, confiscation and expropriation of Palestinian land, and annexation of occupied Palestinian land for the expansion of colonies.
Conclusion
As mentioned, the goal of the Israeli government is the acquisition of Palestinian land without the Palestinian people. This rationale guides Israel’s administrative and legal systems. The resulting inherent inequalities between Jews and Palestinians in Israel and in the OPTs have not been addressed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In this sense, the Committee’s comments and recommendations can, at best, be a balm to limit the damage, but are unable to lead to a tangible improvement of the lives of Palestinian women in Israel, the OPT and in forced exile around the world.
Karine Mac Allister is Assistant to the Coordinator of the Research, Information and Legal Advocacy at BADIL.
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Notes:
(1) Israel wrote in its
response to the Committee questions “Approximately 83,000 Bedouin
(60% of the total Bedouin population) live in planned, urban
settlements. 40% of the remaining 55,000 reside in hundreds of
illegal clusters over an area of more than half a million dunams,
obstructing the urban expansion in the greater Negev area and the
common good of the Bedouin population. The State encourages the
Bedouin population to move into the permanent towns, by granting
special financial aid, also through the allocation of subsidized
land.” UN CEDAW, Responses to the list of issues and questions for
consideration of the combined fourth and fifth periodic report,
CEDAW/PSWG/2005/II/CRP.2/Add.7,11 May 2005, para.23.
(2) UN CERD, Concluding
observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination: Israel, CERD/C/304/Add.45, 30 March 1998, para.
10.
(3) UN ECOSOC,
Concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights: Israel, E/C.12/1/Add.90, 23 May 2003, paras.
18.
(4) Ibid, paras. 19,
26.
(5) UN HRC, Concluding
Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Israel,
CCPR/C/79/Add.93, 18 August 1998, para. 25.