UN Commission on the Status of Women
220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 1 (646) 781-4444
Dear UN Commission on the Status of Women,
You recently passed a resolution blaming Israel for “the grave situation of Palestinian women.” It is assumed that your resolution was based on the huge increase in spousal abuse suffered by Palestinian women inflicted on them by their husbands and boyfriends who are overly stressed due to Israel’s occupation.
There are other factors that ought to be taken into consideration such as honor killings of Palestinian women and girls by their husbands and brothers to protect the honor of their families that have been rendered terminally dysfunctional because of Israel’s walls and check points.
It should also be noted that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has deliberately promoted the higher education of Palestinian women. This elevation of women violates all the tenets of Sharia law that holds that women are intellectually inferior to men and therefore must be controlled by their husbands. Educating Palestinian women has introduced insecurity among Palestinian men who beat their women to reinforce their traditional role as controlling partner.
Another factor and perhaps the most egregious of Israel’s outrages are forced clitorectomies imposed upon Palestinian girls, and girls all over the Islamic world who cannot sleep over their fear that marauding bands of Israeli nurses will invade their homes and remove their clitorises using unsterilized pieces of broken glass. Talk about getting even for Kristallnacht.
One final thought about Israel’s racist treatment of Palestinian women. It has been reported that IDF soldiers refuse to rape Palestinian women. These soldiers see Palestinian women as unhygienic and of a lower species unworthy of being raped.
We sincerely hope that the UN Commission on the Status of Women will inform the world about this egregious racism.
Respectfully yours,
Wilbur Hemmings
Researcher-in-chief
Elkin Institute of Women’s Studies