palestinian workers

Israeli Border Police officers check a men near the scene of a stabbing attack at Jerusalem's central bus station, December 10, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The casual racism of war-time Israel

Trauma and racism are an inescapable part of Israeli society, especially on days when the drums of war are beating. The bike ride along the outdoor platform of Tel Aviv’s central bus station takes about a minute north to south. The area, long neglected by the city, has become home to junkies, sex workers, the…

By Edo Konrad November 13, 2018

A Palestinian worker waits to cross Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and East Jerusalem, during the early hours of February 25, 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Forget BDS: Denied entry to Israel, just because of a last name

Over the past two years, the Israeli army has revoked Palestinian workers’ permits to enter Israel simply because they share a last name with someone who carried out a violent attack against Israelis. The move has already dealt a severe blow to over 2,000 workers in the West Bank, many of whom have been working inside Israel…

By Social TV September 26, 2018

Illustrative photo of Sodastram workers in Israel. (Flash90)

‘Sodastream workers allege being threatened over unionizing attempts’

According to a lawsuit filed by Israel’s largest labor union, Sodastream workers who tried to organize reported being harassed by the company’s management. Sodastream denies the allegations. Israel’s major worker’s federation filed a NIS 15 million lawsuit against Sodastream this past month, claiming that the company attempted to disrupt workers’ attempts to organize. The story hit the…

By Haggai Matar June 17, 2017

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Palestinian construction workers in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, November 10, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Denying Palestinian laborers access to justice

A new Israeli labor regulation continues a trend of increasingly suspending rule of law for Palestinians in the West Bank, in this case leading to further segregation in access the courts. By Sawsan Zaher In the Israeli economy, dirty, difficult, and dangerous jobs often are left to some 170,000 foreign workers, among them 55,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank.…

By +972 Magazine September 30, 2016

Illustrative photo of Palestinian workers in Israel. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

For Washington Post, cheap labor is key to Mideast peace

A recent article in ‘The Washington Post’ praises efforts by the Israeli government to bring in cheap labor from Jordan as a sign of growing peace. The problem? It all comes at the expense of Palestinian workers. By Hagar Shezaf A Washington Post article published earlier this week praised a new pilot project between the…

By +972 Magazine May 19, 2016

Thousands of Palestinian teachers march to the Palestinian Authority's government offices to demonstrate against low salaries, Ramallah, West Bank, March 7, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why we’re fighting for the dignity of our Palestinian teachers

The Palestinian Authority has been doing all it can to put down a two-month long teachers strike in the West Bank. But this crisis won’t end until we realize that respect for our teachers is part and parcel of our liberation. By Rula Salameh Several days ago, a teacher called me and described the great…

By +972 Magazine March 10, 2016

Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators release hundreds of balloons marking International Women's Day during a protest march against the occupation, Beit Jala, West Bank, March 4, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Palestinians, Israelis march to mark Int’l Women’s Day

Hundreds mark International Women’s Day with a joint Israeli-Palestinian protest outside the ‘tunnels checkpoint’ in the West Bank. ‘Our children pay the price of the conflict, and we want to protect them.’ Photos and video by Oren Ziv / Activestills.org Over 500 Israelis and Palestinians took part in march to mark International Women’s Day and…

By Haggai Matar March 6, 2016

Hatem Abu Ziadeh is seen holding formal pre-dismissal papers. (photo: Elifelet Sara Levi)

Court orders dismissed Palestinian union organizer be returned to work

The management at a West Bank auto repair shop tried to paint Hatem Abu Ziadeh as a ‘security threat’ for organizing workers. After seven months of stalling, an Israeli court finally orders he be compensated and brought back to work. Jerusalem’s Labor Court ordered a Palestinian union leader who had been dismissed from his job…

By Haggai Matar February 18, 2016

Hatem Abu Ziadeh (Photo courtesy of WAC-MAAN)

Employer turns Palestinian union organizer into a ‘security threat’

Hatem Abu Ziadeh spent almost 20 years working at an auto repair shop in a West Bank industrial zone. But once he began organizing workers for better conditions, he was fired for ‘security-based reasons.’ In many respects, this is a painfully simple and well-known story: a veteran factory worker decides to unionize his fellow workers…

By Haggai Matar February 16, 2016

Court denies equal rights to Palestinian workers in Israeli industrial zone

National Labor Court rules that unlike their fellow Israeli workers, Palestinians in a no-man’s land industrial zone will remain subject to the Jordanian labor laws of 1967. Israel’s National Labor Court rejected an appeal by Palestinian workers from the Nitzanei Shalom Industrial Zone this past Sunday, ruling that they will continue to be subject to the…

By Haggai Matar July 23, 2015

Activists spread postcards from Gaza in the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the Israeli attack on Gaza, July 21, 2014. (photo: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

When an Arab kid is arrested in the heart of Tel Aviv

The ugly Israeli is not the one who is filmed yelling at stewardesses or hotel receptionists. It is the one who lives in denial of an entire system that oppresses another people. The one who eats his ice cream as a Palestinian child is arrested right in front of him. By Mei-Tal Nadler A few…

By +972 Magazine March 29, 2015

Palestinian construction workers in an Israeli settlement (Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Who really profits from Israel’s permit regime?

The number of work permits the Israeli army gives to Palestinian workers nearly tripled, a new Bank of Israel report reveals. Did all those people suddenly become less dangerous, or do the permits serve interests other than security? The normative framework for viewing Israel’s permit regime is that it stems purely from the state’s security…

By Haggai Matar March 6, 2015

A Palestinian public-sector worker holds part of his salary withdrawn from an ATM, Nablus, West Bank, February 9, 2015. (photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

Palestinian workers struggle as Israel seizes PA tax funds

Palestinian public-sector workers receive only partial salaries as Israel punishes the Abbas administration for its ICC bid by withholding tax funds it collects on the PA’s behalf. Text and photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org Palestinian public-sector workers finally received part of their monthly salaries from banks in West Bank cities and towns on Monday. The Palestinian Authority…

By Activestills February 11, 2015