Rabat – UN Watch released a report in conjunction with the UN’s 47th session of the Human Right’s Council (HRC) that slammed the Palestinian Authority (PA) for promoting gender-based violence and antisemitism. The 47th session of the HRC takes place from June 21 to July 13.
The UN has published the report as an official document supporting the claims made during the council meeting.
The report outlines a number of problems facing the Palestinian Authority, beginning with the issue of ‘wide-spread’ gender-based violence in Palestine.
In addition, the NGO condemns “the perpetuation of a false narrative that somehow blames Israel.”
The UN Watch adds that PA news broadcasting has encouraged “wife-beating” on television programs. Citing a 2016 report of the Special Rapporteur on the violence against women, the UN Watch states that Palestinian women “suffer under a system of violence emanating from tradition and culture.”
According to the concluding statement on gender-based violence, the UN Watch report states that honor killings “remain socially accepted and underreported due to the stigma suffered by victims.”
In relation to antisemitism, the UN Watch argues that the Palestinian education system “continues to promote antisemitism and incite terorrism, including in schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).”
The document does not cite external sources for evidence but instead refers to internal UN reports that concern Palestine.
“In August 2019, the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination criticzed the existence of hate speech in ‘school curricula and textbooks’,” notes the report. Adding that the textbooks and curricula “fuels hatred and may incite violence, particularly hate speech against Israelis.”
The report ends by noting that the “problematic material” has yet to be removed from Palestinian textbooks.
In the report’s entirety, Israel’s wrongdoings were never mentioned, and it primarily focuses on the Palestinian Authority.
Two reports titled “Remedies for the Protection Gap in the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Palestine” and “Hamas Rocket Fire is a Double War Crime” are forthcoming.
