P.A. taken to task for tolerating crimes against women
Nearly one-quarter of Palestinian women are victims of domestic violence, abused or raped while governmental agencies do nothing to protect them, according to a new report.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch blamed the Palestinian Authority (PA) for failing to make violence against women and girls a legislative priority and urged the government to take steps to prevent it.
“PA officials across the political spectrum appear to view security only within the context of the ongoing conflict and occupation, all but ignoring the very real security threats that women and girls face at home,” said Farida Deif, a researcher in the Women’s Rights Division and co-author of the report.
The report found that violence against women “is getting worse while the remedies available to victims are being further eroded: Palestinian women and girls who report abuse to the authorities find themselves confronting a system that prioritizes the reputations of their families in the community over their own well-being and lives.”
Entitled “A Question of Security: Violence Against Palestinian Women and Girls,” the study documents cases of violence from spousal and child abuse to rape, incest and murder. It is based on research conducted in the Palestinian territories from November 2005 to early 2006.
Police officers and clan leaders regularly “mediate” rape cases by returning the abused women to the “care and protection” of their attackers, without referring cases to the courts. Few cases of sexual violence are ever prosecuted: According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinian courts rendered only one rape conviction in 2004.
Laws reduce penalties for men accused of “honor killings” or attacks against female relatives who commit adultery and absolve rapists who agree to marry their victims. Rape within marriage is not considered a crime. Victims say they are often afraid to report abuse or rape.
Even social service centers, such as the Bethlehem Home for Girls, force pregnant girls to marry their rapist for the sake of the child. “The majority do not want to marry him [the rapist],” the head of the home told Human Rights Watch. “But the baby is what’s important.”
There’s also been an increase in incest cases and fathers don’t deny it. “They say, ‘I have a right to her body over others’ or ‘I want her to go to her husband experienced,’” said Lina Abd al-Hadi, the legal advisor to the governor of Nablus.
“When confronted with cases of violence against women and girls, the Palestinian criminal justice system is more interested in avoiding public scandal than in seeing justice done,” said Lucy Mair, the report’s other co-author. “A woman’s basic right to life and bodily integrity are seen as a secondary concern at best.”
Dec 1, 2006
A New Deal at the Shuk
From down and dirty to class act, Jerusalem’s market undergoes a renaissance
It is one of Jerusalem’s last bastions of gritty Israeli culture, the real bustle and chaos of Middle Eastern life. But now even the shuk has been swept up in the city’s continuing development and modernization.
Once the calling card for loud heckling, surly shopkeepers, harried shoppers—and bargains—the outdoor market has been invaded by swank cafes and gourmet food shops. It’s a twist as surprising as the imported specialties that now appear at every turn. Some even deign to describe the shuk, called Mahane Yehuda, as “yuppie.”
“It’s more like a yuppie destination now,” Ada Spitz, a Jerusalem native, told Israel Today. “They started selling sushi in the shuk. Who would’ve thought they’d sell sushi in the shuk?”
Spitz herself works in one of the new designer clothing shops surfacing in the market with designer—not shuk—prices.
New and old are now side by side: designer clothing, imported cheese, eclectic wine collections, cozy cafes and haute cuisine restaurants are interspersed between the traditional colorful arrays of fruits and vegetables, raw meat and fish, stacks of pitas and other breads, pastries, dried fruits and nuts, olives of all colors, and of course shwarma (meat roasted on a spit) and falafel shops, among many other things.
Woven together by alleys and nooks, the three lengthwise shuk streets off of Jerusalem’s main Jaffa Road are about a half a mile west of downtown. The new delicacy and designer shops combined with the city’s aesthetic renovations contributed to an upsurge in customers this past year, merchants say. They also credit a decline in terrorist attacks since the last one there on April 12th, 2002. The shuk was one of Jerusalem’s recurring targets for terrorism in the early years of the intifada (Palestinian uprising).
These “yuppie” changes seem to be welcomed by all so far, if not with a sniff of sarcasm from some old-timers. “We call that part ‘North Tel Aviv,’” said Yossi Ankona, a lifelong shop owner, making a dig at the new shops’ trendy ambiance not typically associated with the gruff shuk.
But Eli Mizrahi, considered by many the pioneer of this renaissance, resists that label. “Is it like France? Italy? Is it like Barcelona? No, it’s Mahane Yehuda!” he said, insisting that there was nothing out of place with a classy café in the midst of a grimy market.
Mizrahi, who grew up in the family’s shop at the shuk, took a risk four years ago when he opened up his gourmet coffee shop. “Fifty percent of the people thought I was a genius, 50 percent thought I was a lunatic,” he said. “But I knew this is something that was missing in the market. It changed the market totally.”
Considering the renewed busyness of the shuk and copious media coverage, Mizrahi proved genius. He has been followed by other “hip” shops including his own high end restaurant, Zahko, on the perimeter of the shuk. Mizrahi believes the time was right for attracting a younger generation of customers.
“Customers have gone, some died or they’re too old to make it here,” Mizrahi said, standing outside the narrow porch of Café Mizrahi which overhangs one of the shuk’s lanes. “We get more young people now, and—I hate this word—‘yuppie’ people.”
Indeed, the shuk now rivals the ultra-popular Jerusalem mall for convenience and surpasses it for connoisseurs seeking specialty items. “There’s no need to go to the mall. You can find everything here,” said Yitzhak Cohen, a shuk veteran selling Syrian olive oil and halva (a sesame sweet) for more than 20 years.
In fact, shuk regulars have marveled at the tour groups of Israelis that have traipsed through the market lately, with guides even. Regulars, unruffled by all the attention and modernization, are almost as much tourists as the real sightseers. “If I don’t come here to shop, I come to tour,” said Mordechai Maloun, an Orthodox Jew and regular customer.
Shopper Ze’ev Mizrachi said the new shops and tourist pilgrimages add color to the market: “It’s about the experience,” he said. “We have friends here, we talk to people. It’s a meeting place.”
Meanwhile, one of the so-called yuppies, Asher Kravitz, was studying mathematics while enjoying coffee and apple strudel at JD Cafe, which serves beer on tap, another shuk novelty. “It’s a big innovation,” he said. “We live nearby so we come here all the time,” he said. “It’s a new voice, it’s a new spirit and it sounds good.”
It is one of Jerusalem’s last bastions of gritty Israeli culture, the real bustle and chaos of Middle Eastern life. But now even the shuk has been swept up in the city’s continuing development and modernization.
Once the calling card for loud heckling, surly shopkeepers, harried shoppers—and bargains—the outdoor market has been invaded by swank cafes and gourmet food shops. It’s a twist as surprising as the imported specialties that now appear at every turn. Some even deign to describe the shuk, called Mahane Yehuda, as “yuppie.”
“It’s more like a yuppie destination now,” Ada Spitz, a Jerusalem native, told Israel Today. “They started selling sushi in the shuk. Who would’ve thought they’d sell sushi in the shuk?”
Spitz herself works in one of the new designer clothing shops surfacing in the market with designer—not shuk—prices.
New and old are now side by side: designer clothing, imported cheese, eclectic wine collections, cozy cafes and haute cuisine restaurants are interspersed between the traditional colorful arrays of fruits and vegetables, raw meat and fish, stacks of pitas and other breads, pastries, dried fruits and nuts, olives of all colors, and of course shwarma (meat roasted on a spit) and falafel shops, among many other things.
Woven together by alleys and nooks, the three lengthwise shuk streets off of Jerusalem’s main Jaffa Road are about a half a mile west of downtown. The new delicacy and designer shops combined with the city’s aesthetic renovations contributed to an upsurge in customers this past year, merchants say. They also credit a decline in terrorist attacks since the last one there on April 12th, 2002. The shuk was one of Jerusalem’s recurring targets for terrorism in the early years of the intifada (Palestinian uprising).
These “yuppie” changes seem to be welcomed by all so far, if not with a sniff of sarcasm from some old-timers. “We call that part ‘North Tel Aviv,’” said Yossi Ankona, a lifelong shop owner, making a dig at the new shops’ trendy ambiance not typically associated with the gruff shuk.
But Eli Mizrahi, considered by many the pioneer of this renaissance, resists that label. “Is it like France? Italy? Is it like Barcelona? No, it’s Mahane Yehuda!” he said, insisting that there was nothing out of place with a classy café in the midst of a grimy market.
Mizrahi, who grew up in the family’s shop at the shuk, took a risk four years ago when he opened up his gourmet coffee shop. “Fifty percent of the people thought I was a genius, 50 percent thought I was a lunatic,” he said. “But I knew this is something that was missing in the market. It changed the market totally.”
Considering the renewed busyness of the shuk and copious media coverage, Mizrahi proved genius. He has been followed by other “hip” shops including his own high end restaurant, Zahko, on the perimeter of the shuk. Mizrahi believes the time was right for attracting a younger generation of customers.
“Customers have gone, some died or they’re too old to make it here,” Mizrahi said, standing outside the narrow porch of Café Mizrahi which overhangs one of the shuk’s lanes. “We get more young people now, and—I hate this word—‘yuppie’ people.”
Indeed, the shuk now rivals the ultra-popular Jerusalem mall for convenience and surpasses it for connoisseurs seeking specialty items. “There’s no need to go to the mall. You can find everything here,” said Yitzhak Cohen, a shuk veteran selling Syrian olive oil and halva (a sesame sweet) for more than 20 years.
In fact, shuk regulars have marveled at the tour groups of Israelis that have traipsed through the market lately, with guides even. Regulars, unruffled by all the attention and modernization, are almost as much tourists as the real sightseers. “If I don’t come here to shop, I come to tour,” said Mordechai Maloun, an Orthodox Jew and regular customer.
Shopper Ze’ev Mizrachi said the new shops and tourist pilgrimages add color to the market: “It’s about the experience,” he said. “We have friends here, we talk to people. It’s a meeting place.”
Meanwhile, one of the so-called yuppies, Asher Kravitz, was studying mathematics while enjoying coffee and apple strudel at JD Cafe, which serves beer on tap, another shuk novelty. “It’s a big innovation,” he said. “We live nearby so we come here all the time,” he said. “It’s a new voice, it’s a new spirit and it sounds good.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
