Palestinian workers risk life to seek work opportunities in Israeli
English.news.cn 2011-05-01 23:57:27
by Maysaa Bsharat

=============================================== RAMALLAH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Mohammed Omar's body still have imprints of burns due to an attack inside an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, but he still risks his life to seek work opportunities in Israel in order to feed a family of four. The 27-year-old used to be a legal worker in the settlement, guarding a factory there. In an afternoon more than a year ago, Jewish settlers attacked him when he was leaving the settlement, spilling hot water on his body and causing him severe injury. He started the job after the death of his father. Despite the injury, Omar, who lives in northern West Bank, still goes to work inside Israel, but this time without getting an Israeli permit, spending most of his time playing hide-and-seek with the Israeli police. Thousands of Palestinian workers go to Israel or Jewish settlements in the West Bank for work, and many of them, like Omar, do not have permission. On the Labor Day, Omar still goes to construction sites in Israel, sneaking through checkpoints and borders without having a chance to relax. "This is the second May Day since the attack on me," he recalled. "So far, I could not get my right back and the attackers are still unpunished despite a complaint I filed at Israeli courts. " He says that Israel cites security reasons when refusing to issue work permission for him. "I find no way to get money but to still work in Israel after I enter it as smugglers." After finishing his daily work, Omar sleeps on the roofs of houses when he is lucky, or near garbage containers to avoid the police. "Sometimes I slept in a hole I dug for myself." "I do not remember that I have slept for more than two continues hours in the night for the past year," Omar recalled. If he was caught, he would be, arrested, fined and returned to the Palestinian territories. "I wish I can sleep for one complete night in sleeping garment instead of sleeping with my work clothes with my shoes on and my papers in my pockets," he said. And those who have working permission are not happier than Omar. Said Salama, 43, starts his day at 2:00 a.m. in order to reach his work place on time inside Israel. He goes through Israeli checkpoints and he says it takes hours there in investigation and checking. Salama, who has a university degree in accounting, says he wishes to find a job in the West Bank, which will be better for him to spend more time with his six children. The Palestinian government in the West Bank allocated the end of 2010 to declare that Palestinian markets are free of goods produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It also said that no Palestinian should work in the settlements by the end of that year, but alternative projects to employ Palestinians were apparently unavailable. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says that 65,000 Palestinians work in Israel and 9,000 work in the Jewish settlements. Those people mostly work in construction, agriculture and industries. Shaher Sa'd, the head of the Palestinian labors union, says Israeli employers blackmail the Palestinian workers, especially those who enter Israel illegally. He also noted there are no projects in the Palestinian territories to contain this number of workers.... Editor: yan  (source:xinhua) ================================================