Palestinian Ban Or No Ban: Arabs Are Working In Israeli Settlements

I wrote back in June 2009 that it was clear that among the ones who were the most eager to build the settlements were the Palestinian Arabs and that Arabs have been working on construction in the settlements since the very first day--to the extent that today there are over 12,000 Arabs being employed in the settlements, building new homes.

More importantly, the article noted that the Palestinian leaders themselves were aware that there were Arabs helping to build the settlements and did nothing to stop them:

He and most of the laborers interviewed by the Post over the past week said they had never come under pressure from fellow Palestinians to stay away from work in the settlements.

"If they want us to leave our work, they should offer us an alternative," Abu Sharikheh said. "We don't come to work in the settlements for ideological reasons or because we support the settlement movement. We come here because our Palestinian and Arab governments haven't done anything to provide us with better jobs."

Back in Ma'aleh Adumim, most of the Palestinian laborers said they had no problem revealing their identities.

The PA may not have liked the idea of Arabs working on the settlements, but with no real alternative, they did nothing to stop them--and that goes for Hamas as well:

He [Jawdat Uwaisat] added that even Palestinians known as supporters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are employed as construction workers in settlements.

"I know some people from Hamas who work as construction laborers in Ariel," he said. "When people want to feed their children, they don't think twice."

The settlements pay 3x what the Palestinian construction companies pay: NIS 350 to NIS 450 a day vs. NIS 100 to NIS 150 a day.

Yet in March, the PA consider putting legislation in place to ban Palestinian Arabs from working in the settlements.

Seven months later, after the number of Arabs working on the settlements has ballooned from 12,000 to 35,000--and the Palestinian leadership is rethinking the ban on Arab workers in the settlements:

The Palestinian Authority has reconsidered a proposal that would have barred Palestinian laborers from working in West Bank Jewish settlements.

Although several PA officials, notably Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh and Prime Minister Salad Fayyad, came out in favor of such a move at the beginning of the year, it appears the PA has decided not to push for legislation on the issue because it is unable to offer the workers alternative employment.

It's one thing for Arabs to unofficially be working in the settlements--it's another for it to be reported in the press. Not surprisingly, now the PA has come out with a correction, claiming that they will be implementing a ban incrementally:

Speaking out to clarify Israeli media reports suggesting the Palestinian Authority had decided to reduce restrictions on West Bankers seeking work in settlements, government officials told Ma'an Tuesday that progress on the ban was being made, explaining that the policy of zero Palestinians working in settlements would take time to realize.

“The PA is progressing gradually with its plan to enforce a boycott on work in Israeli settlements by encouraging laborers to abstain from taking jobs there," PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Tuesday.

Good luck with that. The ban on using Israeli cellphones went into place over the summer, but has yet to be fully implemented--it turns out that the lack of Palestinian telecom company that can provide service to the West Bank and Jerusalem has made the ban on cellphones unsustainable.

Of course, there is one other small detail that the Palestinian leadership has overlooked: PA boycott of settlements violate the Gaza-Jericho Agreement.

But if the PA can ban Israeli cellphones when they don't have a telecom company that can provide service to the West Bank, why should they stop to consider some agreement that they signed off on?

Technorati Tag: Israel Settlements.