Statement by Mrs. Somaia Barghouti, Counsellor, before the
Third Committee, Agenda Item 107: Advancement of Women and Agenda item 108:
Implementation of the outcom of the Fourth World Conference on Women and of
the special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender
equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century", 10 October
2000.
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At the outset, allow me, Madame Chair, on behalf of my
delegation to extend my warmest congratulations up on your election as
Chairperson of this important Committee. We are confident that your able
leadership will lead our deliberations to a successful conclusion. We wish
also to extend our warmest congratulations to the other members of the bureau.
Madame Chair,
The convening in June 2000 of the 23rd Special
Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Women 2000: Gender Equality,
Development and Peace for the twenty-first century, five years after the
Beijing Conference, is a clear testimony by the international community of the
vast importance of the issue of women, their advancement and their
empowerment. After long days and nights of work and difficult negotiations,
the Session successfully adopted a balanced and action-oriented outcome
document. It addresses the main achievements and obstacles in the
implementation of the twelve critical areas of the Beijing Platform of Action.
It also set out further initiatives to overcome these obstacles and to achieve
the full implementation of the Platform. Women in poverty, violence against
women, human rights of women, and women in armed conflict, including women
under foreign occupation are among the issues given considerable attention.
Such attention, however, must be transformed into action by means of more
innovative approaches and additional resources.
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Madame Chairperson,
The continuation of the Israeli occupation has resulted in
great difficulties for Palestinian women, seriously hampering efforts to
promote a viable and comprehensive plan of action for their advancement and
empowerment. They have been long deprived from developing their socio-economic
potential due to the oppressive Israeli policies and measures including
confiscation of land, building and expansion of settlements, judaization of
Occupied East Jerusalem, prevention of the territorial continuity of the
Palestinian land, exploitation of natural resources, detention of prisoners,
and the rejection of assuming responsibility and allowing for the right of
return of the refugees and displaced Palestinians. Moreover, the Israeli
occupation, along with its oppressive policies has exacerbated the inability
of Palestinian women to thoroughly implement the Beijing Platform of Action.
The latest tragic events of the continued Israeli aggression have occurred
following the provocative visit of 28 September 2000 by the leader of the
Israeli Likud Party, Mr.Arial Sharon to Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Occupied East
Jerusalem. The aggression and violence against the Palestinian people in the
following days throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
Jerusalem, has claimed the lives of over 80 Palestinians mostly young men,
children, and women and has also resulted in the wounding and injury of over
2000 Palestinians. The excessive lethal force used by Israel, the occupying
Power, against the Palestinian people was witnessed by the international
community in one brutal photo, as 12-year-old, Mohammed Jamal Al-Durra was
shot and wilfully killed in the arms of his father by Israeli security forces.
Madame Chair,
Despite all of these hardships the Palestinian people,
particularly Palestinian women, have been able to establish the foundations
for the social, economic, and institutional development of the Palestinian
State, which has been long overdue. This establishment includes foundations
for the educational, health, and economic infrastructures as well as various
structures and networks needed for development, simultaneously bearing in mind
the issue of gender. Women’s units in all of the Ministries have been created.
The cooperation between these units and the non- government organizations has
resulted in a national strategy for Palestinian women, which serves the basis
for future plans to achieve equality, development, peace, and prosperity.
Madame Chair,
In spite of the appalling actions taken by Israel, the
occupying Power, on 29 September and the following days, and the detrimental
effects it has had on the Middle East peace process and the efforts to achieve
a final settlement between the two sides, we wish to reaffirm the commitment
of our people and their leadership to achieving a comprehensive and just
peace-a peace that guarantees the inalienable rights of the Palestinian
people, especially the right to self-determination and the creation of their
independent State on all Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, the heart of
which is Jerusalem, the City of Peace, and a peace which allows for the
development, integration and advancement of all members of the Palestinian
society, including and in particular women.