United Nations Human Rights Day to be Observed on December 10
Google the phrase “human rights in
In Israel, dozens of organizations are devoted to causes listed under the umbrella of human rights, some focused on Israeli society while others are concerned with the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, regarding which several experts have said there is some good news for the past year, starting with an unlikely place: Israel’s weeklong aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip last month to stop rocket fire its southern communities.
“The last operation in
Shany was recently appointed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, a group of experts from states that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is only the second time an Israeli expert has been part of the group.
Shany also said that certain attempts by political organizations to restrict the freedom of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in
“There are still some robust safeguards on human rights including public opinion, media, and civil society that are able to resist pressure, he said. “The fact that nothing dramatic has occurred is good news.”
On the Palestinian side, there is also an extensive civil society and a plethora of human rights organizations in the West Bank and fewer in
“The National Plan is an excellent opportunity for the Palestinian people and institutions to show their commitment to human rights, and to set clear goals and targets for improving the human rights situation,” said Troels Gausla Engell, Associate Human Rights Officer at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ramallah. “The Plan will be one of the first of its kind in the entire Arab world, and, within the context of the Arab Spring, will show the way forward for the region to be guided by human rights.”
However, the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement, has deteriorated during the past year. Last month, six Palestinians accused of collaborating with
“The society is becoming more and more conservative,” Izzam Younis, the director of the
In
Some 5000 people marched through Tel Aviv on Friday as part of an event organized by The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). ACRI President Sami Michael spoke about discrimination against women in
“A society that excludes women from the public sphere is sick and will never truly flourish,” Michael told the crowd. “Our society becomes more and more violent, more and more racist every day. And women – who make up half of the human race – pay the highest price of all, with their bodies and their souls.”
Michael said the wage discrepancy in
“We cannot tolerate this situation,” he said. “Women are entitled to the same pay, not a shekel less.”
Several ultra-Orthodox political parties, including Shas and Yahadut HaTorah, do not allow women to vie for seats in parliament. Francis Raday, the director of the
“
Some Middle Eastern human rights organizations, such as B’tselem, devote themselves exclusively to the Israeli – Palestinian conflict. B’tselem says the number of attacks by extremist Jews on Palestinians, including the burning of mosques, increased in 2012.
“There is a great deal of hostility to human rights and a lack of understanding of the universal nature of human rights,” Jessica Montell, the executive director of the B’tselem organization told The Media Line.
At the same time, she believes there is a significant minority in
“We have a core constituency of 20-30 percent of the public that is embracing our message,” she said. “We want to build on that and increase it.”