Ramallah: An increasing number of Palestinian workers have been searching for Israeli employers at Israeli colonies in the occupied West Bank after Israel sealed the holes in its segregation barrier following the killing of two occupation soldiers in Qalqilia and Hebron.
Thousands of Palestinian labourers who had previously worked in Israel without work permits used holes in the Israeli Wall to reach Israel and stay for a week or two there to work.
Sources at the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and Labour told Gulf News that Israeli police had been given strict instructions to intensify their searches for and arrests of “illegal” Palestinian workers.
“The general working conditions have recently changed inside Israel, and Palestinian illegal workers have felt the serious consequences and generally have stopped sneaking into Israel for work,” said the sources.
Labourers had been entering Israel from certain areas of the Israeli Wall such as Yata in Hebron and Azun Atmah near Qalqilia.
Instead, Palestinian workers have been searching for alternative job opportunities in Israeli colonies in the West Bank, despite the federation’s announcement that work in the Jews-only colonies is not preferable under any circumstances.
“It is true that there has been no official ban on the work of the Palestinian labourers in the Israeli colonies, but official Palestinian bodies urge the workers to avoid work in the colonies as much as possible,” said the sources.
“We know the exact living conditions of Palestinian workers in the Palestinian territories, and a strict ban could not be imposed preventing them from working in the colonies as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) cannot find those people alternative employment in their home towns and villages,” said the sources.
The sources said that a total about 10,000 Palestinian workers work in the Israeli colonies and another 50,000 workers work inside Israel.
The sources said that a work permit for the Israeli colonies is much easier to gain than one which qualifies a worker to work inside Israel. The Israeli employer can arrange for a work permit in an Israeli colony within a day or two for any number of Palestinian workers but that does not apply for Israeli work permits to work inside Israel. These permits need the approval of several Israeli authorities including the Labour Department.
The sources said that scores of Palestinians, even those whose work permits are rejected by the Israelis or who do not qualify to obtain work permits, enter Israel “illegally” for work.
The Palestinians assume that the Israelis are aware of the entry but when the general conditions in Israel or the Palestinian territories deteriorate in security terms, the workers avoid entering Israel and head to the Israeli colonies for work.
The sources said that the higher wages inside Israel is the factor which motivates Palestinian labourers to work inside Israel and to prefer that to work in the Israeli colonies.
