A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Palestinian Labor Rights

The following is a brief overview of Palestinian labor in Israel and the Occupied Territories. (Source: Breaking the Cycle of Dependency.)

Palestinian workers were first drawn to Israel in large numbers in 1968, when Israel created an "open door" policy towards goods and labor from the occupied territories. One of the aims was to create a pool of cheap Palestinian labor that could be used for unskilled and menial work in Israel.
 
However, the thousands of Palestinians who enter Israel every day have no job security. They pay for benefits that they will never be able to collect; even when they are entitled to collect benefits, they run the risk of being cheated by their employer.
 
Those who work illegally are even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. In spite of this, there is evidence that Israeli forces are turning a blind eye to the entry of some illegal laborers during the current crisis in an effort to ensure that settlements and isolated Israeli factories have workers. 
 
In order to encourage a productive and peaceful Palestine, Israel must work to build up an indigenous Palestinian economy and develop a skilled Palestinian workforce for the territories.

The Democracy and Workers' Rights Center (DWRC) is working with Palestinian workers both in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in order to build a Palestinian society where peace, democracy, human rights, fundamental liberties and social justice prevail.