A group of human rights organizations, including HaMoked,
turned on January 25, 2015, to the Prime Minister of Israel and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a demand to reconsider the decision to prevent the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the prevention of violence against women in the OPT.
The organizations emphasized that the purpose of the visit of the rapporteur, Prof. Rashida Manjoo, was to meet with women who survived violence, high officials in the Palestinian government and civil society organizations (CSOs), to promote the activity for the promotion of women's rights in the OPT.
The organizations noted that the quote of a high ranking official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to which the decision to prevent the visit derived from the manner by which the request for Prof. Manjoo's visit in the OPT was drafted, which included the use of the word "Palestine", indicated that Israel had cynically exploited its position as an occupying power to deliberately prevent promotion and protection of human rights, due a debate which has already been decided in the United Nations, since the State of Palestine has already been declared.
At the same time, the organizations also
turned to the rapporteur and expressed their disappointment of the decision of Israel to prevent her visit, and their support of her work and objectives.
