Palestinian women – Second Cttee debate – Summary record (excerpts)

SECOND COMMITTEE

27th meeting

held on

Wednesday, 29 October 1986

at 10 a.m.

New York

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 27th MEETING

Chairman:   Mr. HAMER (Netherlands)

CONTENTS

AGENDA ITEM 94:  ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (continued)

…

Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Official Records Editing Section,submitted in one of the working languages.  They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record.  They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.  Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

AGENDA ITEM 94:  ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (continued)

…

46. Ms. BARGHOUTI (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization), speaking on agenda items 92 and 93, underscored the peculiar situation of Palestinian women, who not only were victims of social inequalities, as were many other women, but also endured oppression and exploitation more pronounced than in any other part of the world excerpt for southern Africa.  In their situation, Palestinian women had demonstrated a courageous resistance as early as 1920 by their participation in the first mass uprising against the British Mandate.  It was the women who, after the illegal eviction of more than a million Palestinians in 1948, had shouldered the responsibility of preserving the unity of the Palestinian family.  Currently, in the Arab territories occupied by Israel, Palestinian women were living under extremely difficult conditions because of lack of employment and vocational training, and most Palestinian men and women were employed in low-paring jobs in Israeli agriculture and industry.

47. For Palestinian students, male and female, education posed problems at all levels.   The universities which, contrary to Israeli claims, had been neither established nor financed by Israel, were constantly the target of measures aimed at restricting their freedom.  Elementary and secondary schools would long since have ceased to function had it not been for the dedication and steadfastness of the Palestinian teachers.

48. With regard to health care, the situation was equally precarious because of a lack of staff and medical supplies.

49. Nothing, however, better illustrated the situation of Palestinian women than the inhuman lot of the women imprisoned for political reasons.  Their condition had, in fact, been described in detail by Felicia Langer, a well-known Israeli lawyer.  In general, the situation of Palestinian women living under Israeli military occupation had worsened in all aspects.  The women were nevertheless still struggling to exercise their inalienable right to return to their homes and property and to establish an independent Palestinian State.

50. She welcomed the adoption of the Forward-looking Strategies which, if implemented, would allow women to overcome the obstacles facing them.  For Palestinian women, however, what was essential was the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Achievement of Palestinian Rights.  The United Nations and its specialized agencies must keep its implementation under review, with emphasis on the role played by Palestinian women in the preservation of their national identity and heritage and in the struggle for sovereignty.

…

The meeting rose at 1 p.m.