The first of May is not a day to celebrate as much as a bell that beats in the minds of people and society to knocking the walls of the reservoir and restore to themselves the values of dignity and freedom with all its values and concepts
In Palestine, the first of May is a typical case and exceptional imposed by long stages since the twentieth century, and the establishment of the Palestine Arab Workers’ Union of in 1922
The birth of the Palestinian labor movement was linked to the local variables of the Palestinian, regional and international society. The trade union movement grew and developed according to a more revolutionary, libertarian and cultural understanding,
The changes in the 1920s from the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate over Palestine through the Jordanian rule and then the Israeli occupation took a period of no more than 100 years. This was accompanied by turning points and radical changes in the renaissance of the Palestinian factor and the quality of the conditions that were nourishing them in spite of all the complexities, And the Israeli occupation to move towards the liberation of the Palestinian intellectual and cultural structure and to transform the Palestinian trade union movement into a revolutionary and liberal movement against the Zionist project in general.
The union witnessed a shift and development typical of the impact of the international game and the division of the Arab world and the occupation of Palestine, the movement union took part in the revolutionary work until the Union of Arab Workers’ Associations was established in 1942
The Nakba of 1948 was a remarkable point in the labor movement because of the impact and displacement of the Palestinian people, Palestinian workers and leaders of the movement, although the movement was able then to continue its structure and the resulting decisions and provisions of the Federation of Associations
Where the headquarters of the Palestinian Arab Workers’ Association moved from Haifa to Nablus, despite the displacement of the founders and leaders of the labor movement in neighboring countries, but the preservation and continuation of the movement and its rise continued with many circumstances and changes to recover wounds and follow their work with the outside and inside the occupied Palestinian
That period affected Palestinian Arab Workers’ Association from the founding until the Nakba, which lasted until the year of the 1967 Nakba. The Society under the occupation authority has been a once-closed and closed-off organization draws its strength from the Palestinian workers and the Palestinian revolutionary movement, which also called for the rights of Palestinian workers.
The Palestinian experience can’t be summarized by the status and details of union movement, and today the situation is not better or a colored picture can be talked about despite the existence of regulations and laws under the Palestinian National Authority.
However, reports indicate that the number of Palestinian workers working in Israel and settlements exceeds 128,700 Palestinian workers until the third quarter of 2017 according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The report noted that among these, 69,700 workers have work permits by Israel, about 43,500 without permits, and approximately 15,500 with Israeli documents or foreign passports
Amnesty International also noted that Palestinian workers have been paying about 380 million to permit brokers since 2016 only
In this regard, it does not stop at the level of Palestinian workers, but goes beyond systematic practices, torture and humiliation of Palestinian workers at checkpoints and in all West Bank and Gaza cities, and complex entry procedures, in terms of concrete barriers and barbed wire
These are the ways of death, the long hours of waiting that start from 2 am to 7 pm and under the sun and cold weather, not to mention the procedures and stages experienced by the Palestinian worker and the resulting daily dizziness and dozens of injuries and suffocation, Palestinians and permit holders. As for mountains, valleys and climbing, it is a huge road for living. This daily risk of more than 43500 workers a day is accompanied by terror, tension and anxiety. These bodies bear the energy of any human being.
The life of the Palestinian work and its impact on the social and psychological structure of the Palestinian family does not stop at the end of the living, but goes beyond the loss of social communication and parental feelings towards the children. Returning from work and sleeping very early in the mountains or valleys A few hours after his return home,
The children of Bethlehem “I have not seen my father for days, come in the evening as we sleep and go in the morning as my mother says
Another child says, “I see my father every day for a short period and he is very tired and tired. We can’t talk. He wants to wash, change his clothes and dinner, and then sleep
Another 14-year-old girl “We do not have time to be together as a single family. My father’s work is very tired, he walks long distances and sometimes climbs the mountains
Viva flirts of May
Long life for Palestinian workers
Raed Amira
Palestine