Palestinians told to boycott online Israeli work permits

Dubai: The Palestinian Labour Ministry has asked its citizens to boycott buying illegal Israeli work permits online peddled by money-hungry swindlers hoping to make a quick buck.

The West Bank suffers from high unemployment — around 43 per cent of its residents aged 20-24 are jobless.

As a result, around 110,000 Palestinians legally work in 1948 areas and around 40,000 work in Israeli colonies.

But the stifling situation forces thousands of Palestinians unable to obtain a work permit legally, to buy expensive illegal work permits.

They often end up doing high-risk odd jobs mostly as labourers which opens them up to exploitation as they have no legal rights.

The labour ministry says the swindlers are a “highly organised” group which has enormously profited from the desperate situation of their fellow Palestinians.

A one month work permit sells anywhere from between 3,000 to 6,000 shekels which customers have to pay up front.