Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 6)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 6)
- المحتوى
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May Ist
Workers, Peasants and Merchants in the Uprising
May Ist is International Workers’ Day, and this year there is truly cause to celebrate the leading role of the
Palestinian working class. A powerful component of the current uprising is the general strike when
Palestinian workers boycott their jobs in the Zionist state. However, the overriding characteristic of the
uprising is the united action by all Palestinian classes against the occupation, as a logical consequence of
the national oppression imposed on the Palestinian people as a whole. In addition to the role of the work-
ing class, this article examines the role of the Palestinian national bourgeoisie and petit bourgeoisie in the
uprising, specifically the role of the merchants and peasantry.
THE PALESTINIAN WORKING CLASS—
A NEW CHALLENGE
The expansion of the Palestinian working class in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip is a direct result of the policies of
economic subordination enforced by the Israeli authorities
since the beginning of the occupation. Contrary to Zionist
aims, these policies contributed to the expansion of the
Palestinian working class and its role in the struggle. In urban
areas, the economic subordination policies affected mainly the
craftsmen and small businessmen, and forced the majority of
them to become day laborers. In the countrside, these policies
had similar damaging effects on the peasantry. Thousands of
small landowners, and consequently their family members,
were turned into laborers in Israeli factories and farms.
The bulk of the expanded Palestinian working class in the
occupied territories has been channeled into light industry,
such as the manufacture of glass, furniture and construction
materials, rather than into automated, heavy industry, where
the workers constitute the nucleus of the proletariat. The na-
tional industry in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has generally
been deteriorating due to the high tariffs, taxes and interest
rates imposed by the Israeli authorities. This lead to a reduced
number of large factories, limiting the concentration of
Palestinian workers; 93.3% of Palestinian industrial enter-
prises employ | to 9 workers, whereas only 6.3% employ 100
workers or more. Despite horizontal expansion of the in-
dustrial sector in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967,
there was no significant rise in production. Industrial produc-
tion was restricted to processing raw materials (such as tobacco
and textiles) rather than turning out finished products, and
other light industries that absorb the largest share of the
laborers. The dispersion of the Palestinian labor force in small
production units, spread in different areas of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, has had negative effects on the development of
the working class, and on the maneuverability of trade unions.
According to Israeli statistics, in 1981 there were 247,000
workers in the occupied territories, of which 70,000 worked for
Israeli enterprises, in addition to over 40,000 unregistered
Palestinian workers. These figures reflect the extent of the
deterioration of the Palestinian national economy and the
decrease of the number of workers in the national industry,
parallel to the increase in the number of Palestinian-workers in
the Israeli economy. This situation is a result of systematic
Zionist efforts to provide for the Israeli economy’s need for a
low-paid reserve labor force and to fill the vacancies left by
6
drafted settlers. Hereby the Zionist authorities also aim to
weaken the Palestinian farmers’ adherence to the land.
THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
After 1967, despite the continuous expansion of the
Palestinian working class and the formation of many trade
unions, the trade union movement has suffered due to several
factors. Prime among these is the continuous harassment and
repression of the Zionist authorities, such as periodic storming
of union headquarters and the arrest of union leaders and ac-
tivists. The Zionist authorities also issued decree no. 83 that
constitutes interference in how the leading bodies of the trade
unions are formed. Moreover, the military government and the
Histadrut prohibit the Palestinian trade unions from defending
the interests of Palestinians working in ‘Israel’, who now con-
stitute approximately half the Palestinian working class. Add-
ed to this, the trade unions under occupation lack the finances
to hire professional trade unionists or to rent offices needed
to function at full capacity.
The union movement faces other difficulties which are the
responsibility of the different Palestinian political forces.
First, there is the split in the West Bank General Federation of
Trade Unions, due to political disagreements which have had
very damaging effects on the unity of the working class. Se-
cond, there is a separation of the trade unions in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. As a result of the objective and subjective dif-
ficulties, the workers’ movement has not in the past played the
vanguard political role it should play.
A prerequisite for advancing the awareness and consequent-
ly the role of the Palestinian working class, and for improving
the conditions of the trade union movement, is the unity of all
the nationalist and democratic forces, in order to maintain the
unity of the working class. There is an urgent need to restore
the unity of the General Federation of Trade Unions in the
West Bank, to unite the trade union movement in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, and to consolidate the democratic spirit
in the trade unions. It is the role of the political forces to ad-
vance the political role of the trade unions, and to motivate the
working class to play its vanguard role in confronting the oc-
cupation.
THE WORKING CLASS UNDER
OCCUPATION
Over fifty percent of Palestinian laborers in the 1967 oc-
cupied territories work beyond the green line and fall prey toa - هو جزء من
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