Lawmakers Are Asking, ‘Why is UN Women Siding with Palestine Against Israel?’

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

Lawmakers Are Asking, ‘Why is UN Women Siding with Palestine Against Israel?’

October 24, 2023 – UN Women recently issued a “Statement on the Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (1). The statement made no mention of Hamas’ unprovoked killings of innocent men, the beheading of babies, or the mass rapes of Israeli women.

The UN Women Statement has three major shortcomings:

‘Occupied’ Territory: The debate over the presence of Israel in the Gaza Strip is a long and convoluted one (2). UN Women’s use of the term “Occupied” in the title of its Statement is divisive and inappropriate.
Callous Neglect of Men and Boys: Mothers and women care deeply about the welfare of their sons and men. So why did UN Women issue a Statement that ignores the plight of men and boys?
One-Sided Conclusion: The UN Women document concludes, “UN Women has been supporting Palestinian women since 1997 to achieve their social, economic, and political rights. We remain present on the ground to provide support and assistance and will do so for as long as it takes.” Nothing is said about the rights of Israeli women or men.

Three reasons account for these shortcomings:

Soros Financial Backing: On its website, UN Women lists several major partners (3). One of these partners is the Open Society Foundation, which was founded by billionaire George Soros. Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz has remarked that “no one has done more to damage Israel’s standing in the world, especially among so-called progressives, than George Soros.” (4)

Soros once wrote an editorial chastising Israel for not recognizing the legitimacy of Hamas: “Israel, with strong US backing, refused to recognize the democratically elected Hamas government… If Israel had accepted the results of the election, that might have strengthened the more moderate political wing,” he claimed (5).

Later, the Open Society Foundation provided a $550,000 grant to the Palestinian Policy Network, also known as al-Shabaqa. As events were unfolding over two weeks ago, the pro-Hamas group issued this statement: “al-Shabaqa rejects the Israeli regime’s colonial borders that work to fragment and ultimately erase the Palestinian existence…We stand alongside those committed to this effort and to the liberation of Palestinians worldwide.” (6)

Bahous Bias: The head of UN Women, Sima Bahous, previously served as Assistant Secretary General at the League of Arab States. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sima-bahous-09156477 The Arab League orchestrated a boycott of Israel that sought to block all trade between Israel and Arab countries and discourage private companies from doing the same (7).

Ideological Blinders: UN Women is guilty of wearing ideological blinders. Columnist Sean Parker explains that UN Women “will tacitly equate Israel with dominant, authoritarian masculinity, and Palestine with long-suffering, put-upon women. So a little terrorism is justified in breaking free of the shackles, surely?” (8)

UN ambassadors and lawmakers around the world should demand that UN Women immediately remove its biased “Statement on the Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Telephone: +1 646-781-4400, Extension 3. Email: janine.kandel@unwomen.org

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 111 member organizations from 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/coalitions/davia/

Citations: