Palestinians - Just Keep Shooting Themselves in the Foot

Hisham Jarallah..
Gatestone Institute..
17 August '12..

As the Arab countries continue to impose strict employment restrictions on Palestinians, Israel is opening its doors to Palestinian workers from the West Bank. Palestinians say, in fact, that Israel is becoming one of the largest employers of Palestinians in the Middle East.

Figures released this week by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in Ramallah showed that at least 80,000 Palestinians were now working in Israel and even in Jewish settlements.

In the first quarter of 2012, according to the bureau, there were only 77,000 Palestinians working in Israel and the settlements. In the second quarter of the ear, the number grew to 80,000; and earlier this week, the Israeli government issued work permits to another 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank.

The move has been received with a sigh of relief among Palestinians, especially as it comes on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.

The figures also showed that Palestinians employed by Israelis earn more than those who work for their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A Palestinian construction laborer often earns more than a senior ministry official in the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank or the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip.

What is interesting about the bureau's report is that the number of Palestinians working in Jewish settlements has increased despite calls from the Palestinian Authority to boycott the settlements.

Elder - The biggest BDS fail in history!

Elder of Ziyon
24 November '11


The number of Palestinian Arabs working in Jewish settlements has increased since the PA announced they would ban such activity.

According to the head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Palestine, Shaher Saad, some 31,000 Palestinian Arab workers are now employed in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. This is a significant increase compared to the number of such workers in April, 2010 - estimated at 25,000 - when Mahmoud Abbas signed a law banning Palestinian Arabs from working in settlements. (Saad claims that it is an increase of between one and two thousand workers.)

At that time, the PA Economic Minister stated that anyone working in the settlements after 2010 would face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $14,000.

Saad said that some 70,000 others are working in Israel proper.

(Read full "The biggest BDS fail in history!")

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Exploiting Palestinian Workers

Yarden Frankl
Crossing the Yarden
16 January '11

As all enlightened people believe, the evil settlers in the West Bank exploit Palestinian workers by forcing them to build Jewish housing in dangerous conditions at slave wages.

Well, not exactly.

I don’t know how many slaves drive Mercedes and the latest SUVs, but the contractors here seem to do all right. I have even heard that many send their children to college in the U.S. with the money that they earn from building settlements.

But that’s just the top guys. What about the workers? Well it seems rather telling that even though the Palestinian Authority has expressly forbid them from working for the evil settlers, they still come every day. In fact, many will tell you that they much prefer working in the settlements to work in Palestinian villages since their wages are so much higher here.

Yes, I know. Some have given interviews in the media about how they feel terrible working in settlements and only do so in order to feed their families. Deep down they hate the “occupation” and dream of a Palestinian State. I’m not surprised. I would say the exact same things publicly if I lived next to a gang of Hamas thugs who watched my kids go to school every day. But talk to them in private, and they will tell you a different story.

(Read full "Exploiting Palestinian Workers")

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PA GDP proportional to percentage working for Israelis

Elder of Ziyon
05 January '10

From Ma'an:

Of every 100 Palestinian workers, 11 work in Israel and the settlements compared to 10 in 2009, a new survey from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics found.

The increase helped push up the Palestinian GDP per capita, in what was counted as a year of growth across the region.

Palestine's Gross Domestic Product increased by about 9 percent during the first three quarters of 2010 compared with the same period of 2009.

Released on Monday, the survey said growth was concentrated in economic activities with largest share in construction with a growth rate of 36 percent, followed by agriculture and fishing, wholesale and retail trade, transport, storage and communications, services, and public administration.

GDP per capita for Palestinian areas increased by 5 percent during the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same quarter of 2009, spurred mostly by an increase of three percent in the number of workers in construction, industry and the service sector.

Which means that since the settlement freeze ended, with Arabs working to build houses in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian Arab GDP for the fourth quarter should go even higher.

(Read full "PA GDP proportional to percentage working for Israelis")

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Arabs and Muslims Run to Israel

Khaled Abu Toameh
Hudson New York
27 July '10

Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have a dream: to work or live in Israel. Some even say they are prepared to pay large sums of money to obtain Israeli citizenship.

Others pay a lot of money to Palestinian and Jewish traffickers who help them bypass checkpoints to enter Israel in search of work and good life.

These are not self-hating Palestinians. Nor are they "pro-Israel traitors" who support the Zionist movement.

Many Palestinians feel that neither Fatah nor Hamas has done enough to alleviate their suffering. Many Fatah leaders who stole billions of dollars of international donations earmarked for the Palestinians have invested their fortunes in hotels, tourist resorts and real estate firms in the West. Hamas, on the other hand, prefers to spend millions of dollars on purchasing [and smuggling] large amounts of weapons, including rockets and ammunition.

It is a disgrace for Arab and Muslim dictators, particularly those who make billions of dollars from selling oil, that their constituents have to seek work and refuge in Israel and the West. It is also a disgrace for Fatah and Hamas that thousands of Palestinians cannot find jobs or a good life in the two Palestinian states in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Arab and Islamic regimes are spending billions of dollars on building new mosques and madrasas while nearly half of their people are illiterate and live under the poverty line. University graduates in these countries are forced to search for work in the West because of poor working conditions and lack of opportunities.

The absence of good government, transparency, accountability and democracy in these countries is driving Arabs and Muslims to seek work and a better life not only in North America and Europe, but even in places like Israel.

A wealthy Arab prefers to spend millions of dollars on a private zoo than building a hospital or a university. Why should he when he and his family members could travel anytime they wish to receive medical treatment at Mayo Clinic or study at Harvard University?

(Read full story)

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Palestinians sue Gush Katif farmers in flurry of lawsuits

Israeljustice.com
01 July '10

JERUSALEM -- In the latest flurry of more than 200 lawsuits, Palestinian workers in Gaza are claiming compensation from 400 Israeli farmers expelled from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Palestinians, aided by the Yesh Din Human Rights Organization, are continuing to file a flurry of lawsuits against Israeli farmers who were expelled from Gush Katif in August 2005. They are suing in Israeli labor courts for dismissal compensation and for compensation under the minimum wage law. "There are 400 farmers and at least 200 claims against them," Aharon Chazut, chairman of the Gush Katif Framers Committee, said. "Every day recently another one or two claimants are filing suit. Chazut said that many of the Palestinian claimants never worked for the Jewish farmers.

"The onus of proof falls on the farmers and not on the Palestinian claimants," Chazut said. "Some of the claimants never worked for us but you have to prove that they didn't work for you."

Chazut said that he was prepared to ignore the suits but the other farmers decided to hire an attorney to represent them in court. "They are law abiding citizens," Chazut said.

(Read full article)

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