Israel Matzav

PA trying to enforce 'settlement freeze' by finding new jobs for workers

One of the anomalies of life in Judea and Samaria is that most of the Jewish homes being built in the area are being built by 'Palestinian' construction workers. The 'Palestinian Authority' is trying to enforce the freeze by finding new jobs for those workers as 'Palestinian policemen.'

Arab construction workers have been the backbone of Jewish building projects for decades and were a strong factor in the PA economy, which boomed after the return of Judea, Samaria and Gaza to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967 brought about the building of thousands of new homes for Jews. The Arab Intifadas forced most Jewish contractors to drastically cut the number of Arab workers, resulting in a deep recession in the PA, particularly in Gaza, as well as a surge of foreign workers in Israel.

A rebirth of the concept of Jewish labor has slowly emerged, but Jewish contractors have complained that they cannot find enough Jews willing to engage in non-skilled construction work.

If the PA succeeds in carrying out its freeze of approximately 22,000 Arab laborers working in Judea and Samaria, the demand for Jewish labor, resulting in higher wages, may bring about an increase in their employment.

The settlements are completely dependent on cheap Palestinian labor for their infrastructure," Arab activists Jamal Juma told The Media Line, a Middle East news website maintained by a group of Arab and Jewish journalists. "So I think we can really hurt the settlements if all Palestinians stop working there."

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met last week with Arab activists seeking to prevent Arab workers from appearing at Jewish building sites, according to the website.

Maybe Defense Minister Barak can hire the 'Palestinians' to enforce the freeze. That would be right up his alley.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:27 PM