U.N. to Condemn Israel Over Treatment of Women, Ignore Syria

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women “is expected to pass a resolution condemning Israel's part in the degrading of living conditions for Palestinian women, while failing to mention the mistreatment of women in the ongoing crisis in Syria,” Haaretz reports.

[T] the panel is expected to also an eight-clause resolution, determining that the "Israeli occupation" in territories, including East Jerusalem, is the main obstacle for the advancement of the Palestinian woman.

The panel, which includes representatives from 45 countries, including Israel, is considered to be one of the UN's most active and respected bodies.

Responding to the decision to condemn Israel, Israeli envoy to the UN Ron Prosor told Haaretz that the "council's bring levels of absurdity and cynicism to new heights."

But in fact this seems to be becoming an annual event. Last year, a similar resolution was adopted: “[The] U.N. policy-making body dedicated to ‘gender equality and the advancement of women’ adopted a resolution accusing Israel of holding back the advancement of Palestinian women, but it took no action on the emergency in Libya or the legally enshrined discrimination faced by women in Iran. The only country-specific resolution passed by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at its recent session in New York was one condemning Israel over the Palestinian issue.” 

There are no reported plans for the U.N. committee to condemn Syria.