Skip to main content

Gaza workers protest against ban on construction material imports


By iGaza's correspondent in Gaza Hazem Zatma
Palestinian workers held a protest Wednesday to lift the ban on construction materials and the eight-year siege on Gaza, calling on the international community to support the workers' cause.

During the protest, which was organized by the supreme national committee and the General Association of Palestinian Workers' Syndicates. Workers at the protest hoisted banners such as, "what is our sin to be deprived from building our homes and renovating our streets", "Gaza tests the Arab chivalry and humanitarian justice" and chanted: "Lift the siege on Gaza, eight years of construction materials ban"

MP Marwan Abu Ras said that work in many professions has been halted due to the construction materials ban, in addition to a large number of other related activities that play a significant role in promoting the process of reconstruction in the besieged territory, calling on the Muslim and Arab world to take a serious stand to support Palestinian workers.

Sami el-'amassi, President of the General Association of Palestinian Workers' Syndicates, said that maintaining the stranglehold and effective control over the Gaza Strip has resulted in a high unemployment rate of 45, stating that all this is crystal clear to those in the Muslim and Western worlds that do anything to support Gaza.

Regarding the workers' suffering in Gaza, el-'amassi said that the continuing crises have made 30,000 workers jobless in the construction sector and another 40,000 in other related sectors.

El-'amassi added that the siege forced 97% of industrial facilities to close with 35,000 workers being laid off, among them 7,000 workers in the mineral industries, in addition to prolonged suffering of more than 40,000 farmers and the closing of 100 tailoring factories that resulted in a further 1000 layoffs. more

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of  the novel coronavirus  spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with  some joking  that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario.  But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned.  "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of