UN committee: Israel must allow civil marriage
Report on implementation of 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women says Israel lacks gender equality in matters of marriage and family relationships.
By Gili CohenThere is no meaningful equality in Israel between men and women when it comes to matters relating to marriage and family relationships, according to a new UN report.
The report was compiled by a panel of experts overseeing implementation of the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The panel submitted its conclusions to Israeli authorities in February of this year.
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| Photo by: Eran Wolkowski |
The panel, which includes representatives from several countries, receives reports on gender issues every four years. These reports are based on each country's official statistics, as well as reports by non-governmental organizations, and interviews of state officials conducted by the panel members.
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kadari, who heads Bar-Ilan University's Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women's Status, is a member of the panel. The Rackman Center is about to publish a guide to the international convention and the conclusions of the oversight committee that will include the recommendations made to the Israeli authorities.
"There's a huge gap between rights that are formally granted, and the lack of implementation and enforcement of the laws," said Halperin-Kadari.
Halperin-Kadari added that this was the first time that a UN committee had so clearly stated that Israel must allow civil marriage and do all it can to end the discrimination against women in family law.
The committee also stated that domestic violence and violence against women were still widespread in Israel. The panel also expressed concern over the scope of trafficking in women and the wide income gaps between men and women.
The report included a section on violence and harassment of women in the Palestinian-controlled areas, citing violence from Israeli soldiers, "non-state" elements, such as settlers, and the abuse they are subject to in their communities.
Halperin-Kadari said that this section of the report reflected a political bias common to UN reports.
"They relied on information from sources they would not have relied on in other countries, and expressed themselves more strongly," she said. "In part, the information was simply wrong."
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You are still better than Saudi Arabia!
This article is obscurely written. After reading the article, i still do not understand the accusations made in the UN report.
we are sliding deeper and deeper into a theocratic state. Demography is the name iof the game.
The nutcases who have created this situation are not Jews. They are bearded men pretending to be Jews so that they can live in Israel, live on welfare, and avoid work. Reveal these pretenders for what they are!
The nutcases who have created this situation are not Jews. They are bearded men pretending to be Jews so that they can live in Israel, live on welfare, and avoid work. Reveal these pretenders for what they are!
BTW, in the UN's recommendation, was Israel singled out or did the recommendation apply equally to other places where only religious marriages take place, like, for instance, the Muslim countries.
BTW, in the UN's recommendation, was Israel singled out or did the recommendation apply equally to other places where only religious marriages take place, like, for instance, the Muslim countries.
And if you think that's bad, UN, why don't you look at the inequality between Israeli jews and Palestinians/Israeli Arabs?
And if you think that's bad, UN, why don't you look at the inequality between Israeli jews and Palestinians/Israeli Arabs?
And if you think that's bad, UN, why don't you look at the inequality between Israeli jews and Palestinians/Israeli Arabs?
Errrrr...I mean demokracy. Yeah, that.
If there is one factor which makes Zionism invalid it is the attitude of the state of Israel to civil marriage. It is as yet a century or more behind Europe in not allowing civil marriage and not recognising it except when it has been contracted abroad. This rules out the majority of the nation since only the uneducated or the brainwashed believe that Marriage was a union under God. I have been married for over fifty years by a civil ceremony in the town where i went to school and to which I must have more allegiance than to a state in the Middle East.
point a finger at Israel when the countries that surround it consider women not much more than household chattel. When honor killings are a way of life in the Arab world. When a female reporter is sexually abused in Tarir square during the revolution. When enlightened Egyptians admit that sexual harrassement is a way of life in Egypt. Is Israel a perfect society? No. Is it always being singled out as the only nation with problems to solve. Yes. The UN would find fault, and appoint committes to investigate anything in Israel if they believed it would damage it's international standing.
Let's not compare Israel to those countries in near proximity. When examining Israeli policy progress ignore those other countries' lack of human rights and barbarism. Equally ignore the hollow UN recommendation. Let's only compare ourselves to our ourselves. We will always strive to be greater than our past performances without the push from others because that is what make Israel great. Israel is full of innovation and ambition and civil unions will come in due time.
Israel should just drop their weak claim to being a democracy and then people would have fewer expectations.
Open you're eyes. You're blinded by what you hate.
much like this media outlet.
it doesn't make the ban on civil marriage in Israel any less despicable.
...compare the situation with modern, westernlike societes.
Why look to countries that really abuse women..female mutilation,acid thrown in faces and on bodies,stoning to death,dress codes that border on absurdity,honor killing.. when you have Israel to attack. This has to end and so does the U.N.
and then just investigate the situation in that country until there is a new "worst" country. Because that way Israel cannot be criticized. And that's the goal, isn't it... Who cares about improving gender equality? If you weren't so busy feeling indignant about criticism of Israel you might realize that other countries also get criticized...
and then just investigate the situation in that country until there is a new "worst" country. Because that way Israel cannot be criticized. And that's the goal, isn't it... Who cares about improving gender equality? If you weren't so busy feeling indignant about criticism of Israel you might realize that other countries also get criticized...
hypocrites
How very strange that the report about Israel's gender equality does not deal with the gender equality in all other countries. Mind-boggling really.
I think UN has reports of every country. This report was about Israel. Not about cuntrys were women are not premited to drive . They well get their share. Israel is a member of UN.
I think UN has reports of every country. This report was about Israel. Not about cuntrys were women are not premited to drive . They well get their share. Israel is a member of UN.
You've misunderstood. A 'civil marriage' generally means a non-religious marriage between a man & woman. Anyway, how can the UN say what Israel (or any country) 'MUST' do?