Gaza, Palestinian Territory (TML) – The Palestinian Authority will begin in 2011 to punish Palestinians who accept work in Israeli communities built on land Israel acquired in the 1967 war.
The cities and towns in question are at the heart of the “settlement” issue, which is arguably the principle obstacle to the current round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Israelis, and Palestinians.
The first step in the P.A.’s battle against the Israeli communities was launched last January, when a ban on all “settlement products” came into affect in the West Bank. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad embraced the campaign, personally participating in a product- burning ceremony in the town of Salfit.
The Palestinian “Law to Ban and Combat Settlement Products” represents the second stage of the campaign. Issued in April 2010, the aim of the law is “to combat settlement goods and services built on the Palestinian territory.” But many Palestinians who understand the national political strategy of de-legitimizing Israeli building on land the Palestinians see as their nascent state feel the law will be too costly on a personal level.
Ziad, 37, a construction worker from the West Bank town of Sa’ir, is paving a sidewalk in the Israeli community of Efrat, south of Jerusalem. He is upset by the new decision.
“We come here to feed our children, not to play games,” he told The Media Line. “I have been working for Israel since I was fifteen. What shall I do, sit at home?”
Ziad says that if the P.A. was willing to provide workers with a proper monthly salary, he would be willing to quit his job.
“If I were paid 5,000 shekels a month (about $1,300), I would sit at home and be happy,” he said.
“But otherwise, let me work!”
Ziad’s co-workers speak of a rumor circulating in the West Bank, whereby the Palestinian Authority will pay each worker forced to quit his job a stipend of 700 shekels a month (about US $200).
“That’s barely enough to buy milk for two days,” Ziad says ironically. “I have seven children at home, what shall I feed them, dirt?”
‘Abir Kopty, head of the Israeli Media Unit at the Palestinian Media Center (PMC), admitted that the “Law to Ban and Combat Settlement Products” was somewhat vague, mentioning only “assistance to settlements” rather than explicitly referring to workers. She added, however, that the law does, indeed, ban Palestinian workers from accepting any work in the Israeli towns.
“The law is already in force,” she told The Media Line. “It is now primarily the responsibility of workers to find alternative workplaces.”
Kopty added that the P.A. economics minister has decided to defer enforcement of the law until 2011 in order to give workers time to find alternatives.
“There are initiatives by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, which has begun implementing agricultural projects in the West Bank,” she said. “In addition, a fund was established last year with public and private money, meant to support Palestinian workers.”
According to Kopty, about 25,000 Palestinians work in Israeli settlements. These workers comprise 9.9% of the total Palestinian work force in the West Bank, according to the Arab daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
The workers on Ziad’s construction site say that Israel only allows Palestinians over the age of 30 who have children to work inside of Israel, but that exceptions are made for work in the post-1967 territories, where younger men can also receive work permits.
‘Issa, a 54-year-old worker, is frustrated by political decisions that do not take into account the needs of simple day-laborers.
“We, the general public, are powerless,” he complained to The Media Line. “The ‘big guys’ decide everything. We can protest, but it’s useless. If they want us not to work here, let them give us an alternative.”
“When there was a closure [on the West Bank] and we sat at home for two months, the Palestinian Authority did nothing for us,” Ziad adds. “Nobody gave us money.”
Asher, a Jewish supermarket worker in Efrat, believes the Palestinian law is unrealistic and could never be implemented.
“It’s completely irrelevant,” he said to The Media Line. “The Palestinians will revolt. It simply makes no sense.”
“I have been working with Palestinians for 38 years,” added Asher. “Neither side has any choice but to work together. No Jew is willing to work in construction, so what can we do, bring Thai workers in again?”
Ayyash, a construction worker sitting on the sidelines, displays a more stoic attitude towards the new law.
“Our livelihood comes from Allah,” he says. “Not from the Jews or the Arabs.”
©2010. The Media Line Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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