Strikes in Palestine

[Devrim]

Some information on a possible strike in Palestine starting on Saturday:
Originally posted by Libcom news
A mass strike is due to erupt amongst civil servants in Palestine over the non-payment of wages, amidst party-political manoeuvres by the ruling factions.
Palestinian civil servants are demanding the payment of overdue wages from the Hamas government. Around 3,000 marched yesterday in Ramallah, while in Gaza City over 300 unemployed workers demanding jobs and unpaid welfare fought riot police and attempted to storm the parliamentary building, breaching the gates before police fired live warning shots. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (of Hamas’ rival Fatah party) has stated his support for a major strike, a manoeuvre interpreted as an attempt to increase Fatah’s leverage in attempts to form a (bourgeois) 'unity government' with Hamas – a plan supported by the Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan. The UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has appealed to the 'international community' for funds to diffuse the "ticking time bomb".

The freeze on international aid to the Palestinian Authority, instituted when Hamas won the elections in March, has meant 165,000 government employees, including 85,000 members of the security forces and 40,000 teachers have been receiving little or no pay. The civil servant’s union has said that an indefinite strike at all government institutions bar hospitals and border controls will begin on Saturday, coinciding with the start of the school year, unless their demands are met.

Hamas have condemned the strike as an attempt to destabilise the government and called for teachers to scab, saying anger should instead be directed against Israel “which imposes the siege on our people.” Hamas claim the strike has “no relation to national interests” and is being co-ordinated by the Fatah party “that has no ties with employees” – many union leaders are Fatah members. However, despite these party-political manoeuvres the grievances are very real; with unemployment running at around 30% and around 25% of the workforce affected by the current withholding of wages, over half of the workforce is surviving on very little income. The UN estimates 80% of the population lives in "poverty".


Link to some info on Ma'an news agency: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=S...etails&ID=14970 (http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=14970)

[Severian]

(From the article)"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (of Hamas’ rival Fatah party) has stated his support for a major strike, a manoeuvre interpreted as an attempt to increase Fatah’s leverage in attempts to form a (bourgeois) 'unity government' with Hamas – a plan supported by the Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan."

Hamas-Fatah rivalry has been responsible for considerable violence, especially since Hamas' election victory. Neither being able to point a road forward, they've sunk lower than even I'd expected. Many PA employees are probably Fatah members or supporters; I'd guess that helped people get jobs with the Fatah-run Authority.

But that's probably not the only thing going on here, if Fatah could call a strike at will they woulda done it earlier. The element of straightforward worker discontent is probably the main factor.

The LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-palestinians2sep02,0,4215430.story?coll=la-story-footer) is interesting on this:
Palestinians Begin to Direct Blame Inward
Discontent with the Hamas-led government festers among its many long-unpaid workers.

Abdelmohsen Radwan has gone unpaid for the last six months of work. His list of who is at fault grows with each new household debt, and Palestinian officials rank high.

Radwan, a legal advisor in the Palestinian Authority Economy Ministry, blames the international community for cutting aid. He holds the Hamas-led government responsible for not paying tens of thousands of civil servants since February. And he is disappointed in President Mahmoud Abbas for not figuring a way out of the mess.

"They are all responsible in the end," said Radwan, 54, as he sweated in the midday heat along with hundreds of other government workers who gathered outside Abbas' office this week to demand their pay.
......
"Until recently, the public was not blaming the government at all," said analyst Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian planning minister. "I think there is some change toward blaming collectively the government, the presidency and the donors. The public places all these groups in one basket."

A gathering sense of desperation has led some Palestinians to question the need for the Palestinian Authority, which was created in 1994 as a product of the Oslo interim peace accords with Israel.

Which reflects the reality that the PA - under any party - is a Bantustan administration serving imperialist interests, not paving the way for any meaningfully independent Palestinian state.

Also, it's fine to point out that Israel, the U.S. and European powers are responsible for the situation - but you've still got to find some way to deal with that situation.

Hamas has utterly failed to do so. I predicted some time back that Hamas' electoral victory would be their political debacle (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=45454&st=25&#entry1292010563) (also here (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=47965&st=0&#entry1292042695))

I'm sorry to have been right about much of that; but I'm not sorry about Hamas' loss of popularity.

[D_Bokk]

Originally posted by Severian
Also, it's fine to point out that Israel, the U.S. and European powers are responsible for the situation - but you've still got to find some way to deal with that situation.
What does the almighty Severian suggest? You cannot expect a government to pay their employees when all funds are cut and Palestine isn't exactly made of gold.

[Severian]

I don't pretend to have The Answer, nor do I think it's possible to develop The Answer to a situation on the other side of the world.

But you can see the second thread I linked for some comments.....

[Devrim]

UPDATE
Originally posted by Libcom news
Over 80,000 Palestinian civil servants have walked out on a general strike over 6 months non-payment of wages by the Hamas government.
Previous coverage on libcom.org here.

The strike, inspired by Fatah-affiliated union leaders, was predictably strongest in the West Bank where Fatah have their main base, but was surprisingly solid in Hamas’ Gaza heartland. Approximately half of Palestinian state employees have walked out, with support being strongest amongst teachers, while many police have stayed on duty, purportedly to prevent clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters. The government has declared the strike illegal and called for workers to return to work.

A union spokesman has played down the anti-government nature of the strike, styling it as lobbying, saying “our strike is not directed against the government but it is a message to the government that they must act to end the crisis of salaries.” Most schools in the West Bank are closed as the new term begins, and Fatah claims that 70% of Gaza schools are closed too. Hamas has deployed armed men at schools to try, unsuccessfully, to ‘persuade’ teachers to return to work, while in the West Bank Hamas supporters tried to smash open padlocked school gates while armed Fatah supporters stood outside others to “enforce” the strike.

While the strike is widely seen as a Fatah tactic to gain bargaining power in their attempts to form a ‘unity government’ with Hamas, a Hamas spokesman has said the strike is undermining national unity and any such plans. The Fatah-affiliated union leader said the strike has “succeeded 95% so far”. One teacher opposed the strike as a party-political spat that was only harming ordinary people, "they're driving us crazy, both Fatah and Hamas. They haven't done anything to get the Palestinian people ahead." However in Gaza many teachers who do not support Fatah have nonetheless honoured the strike out of solidarity with their colleagues.

Meanwhile in Israel two Bedouin schools have been hit by strikes after government ministers ignored the findings of an inspection, which reported overcrowding, and safety hazards. Also in the Israeli district of Talibeh, municipal workers including teaching assistants are striking over the 7-month non-payment of salaries, while school strikes are affecting 42 Israeli schools over the lack of defences against Qassam rocket fire.

[Leo]

This is very good news. Indeed, as one of the most defeated working classes in the world, it is really promising to see Palesinian workers striking against their local authorities and national interests :lol:

[D_Bokk]

Originally posted by Leo Uilleann
This is very good news. Indeed, as one of the most defeated working classes in the world, it is really promising to see Palesinian workers striking against their local authorities and national interests
Not paying any worker will get them in the streets, I don't think this is something to be too excited about. Even if this does spark a working class upheaval, Israel will jump in and police Palestine for "their own safety." Then we're back to square one... again.

[Severian]

Update:

"Government officials and civil servants are striking for the 10th day in a row today in the Hebron province...... (http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=530&Itemid=29)The strike in Hebron, among other areas of Palestine, has enacted a complete paralysis of government institutions.

Fatah, Hamas agree on coalition government (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5334976.stm) The bourgeois press is speculating over the response of the imperialist powers. I'll be interested to see the response by the striking employees.

A Palestinian university's opinion poll (http://www.najah.edu/english/news/show.asp?key=349) showed majority support for the strike, and a sharp decline in support for Hamas.


63.8% of respondents supported the strike of the public sector employees; 34.3% rejected it.
.....
• 54.7% of respondents assessed the position of the Palestinian Government towards the strike as "bad".
......
• 84.9% of respondents supported the formation of a national coalition government; 11.3% rejected.
......
• 60.4% of respondents supported conducting early legislative elections; 34.6% rejected.
.......
• 18.8% of respondents will vote for A Hamas bloc if a new PLC elections are conducted; 34.8% will vote for a Fateh bloc.