Israeli Arabs to launch strike against discriminatory policies

Israeli Arabs to launch strike against discriminatory policies

By Jean Shaoul
30 September 2009

Israel’s 1.4 million Arab citizens are to stage a one-day general strike on October 1 to oppose the openly racist and discriminatory policies of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government.

Jafar Farah, director of the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, cited “ongoing police violence, cuts in the state budget that will detrimentally affect local Arab councils, the deepening of social and economic discrimination, the huge amount of bills introduced which would increase legal discrimination against the Arab community, political incitement against both the Arab community and its leaders and the atmosphere since the election of the new government.”

“Somebody has to say stop it, that's it, it's enough,” he warned. “Otherwise it could lead to civil war.”

The strike takes place on the anniversary of a general strike, or Intifada, in northern Israel in 2000, two days after Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in response to the killing of six Arabs in the mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli police responded with gunfire, killing 13 Arab demonstrators, some at point blank rage, and injuring hundreds more. It was the first time that the security forces had turned their firepower on Palestinians living within Israel.

Ministers in the ruing Labour coalition and the media denounced the demonstrations and strikes as an “uprising” and a “revolt.” This helped inflame the situation, leading to more killings and numerous attacks by Jewish zealots on Arab shops, homes and individuals, with little attempt on the part of the Israeli authorities to defend the Arab minority.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/isra-s30.shtml

They are loyal citizens of Israel.

Setting aside for a moment the usual Israel / Palestinian back and forth, it's no secret that Israel's Arabs are the bottom rung of the country.

American DUers, do take note. Snippy letters and four hours of being put on hold aren't how you stand up for your rights. Take an example from these Israelis. Stand up, walk out.

So would you mind explaining to me how refusing to work is going to help them out?

Are you clued in to just how essential the working poor are to any given society?

Tell you what. DU has an awesome labor forum. Why not go ask those folks how this works? I'm sure they'd be better at it than I would

Its the same with companies and it is the same with states.

How often should they "strike"? Do you honestly think that is going to be a successful tactic?

It's pretty clear that just petitioning their government isn't going to help, after all.

And yes, 20% of the workforce in a single company going on strike ends in failure. 20% of the workforce in a country is a very different thing. If they get solidarity (that's the questionable bit) then this could very definitely make an impact. imagine 20% of all people in all sectors of work going on strike in your town. One fifth of the whole place just closing up for the day. pretty sure people would notice.

And if sympathetic Jewish Israelis join them... Well there you go.

And how often should they strike? However many times, for however long it takes

Who is going to pay for their food while they strike for however long it takes? Who is going to pay their mortgages? Who is going to pay their rent? Do you really expect companies to continue to hire and keep on people who randomly stop working for weeks at a time?

It isn't realistic and it is utterly self destructive, it is fine as a one day token event now, but If Israesi arabs try to make it a permanent thing it would be disastrous not only for their economic well being but for their communities.

..and possibly not as strong as what I'm used to here. I've noticed that many Americans appear to disapprove of industrial action, and dont' really seem to understand what the point of it is. Here the trade unions will assist families affected by strikes, and years ago our docks used to be shut down more often than not due to strikes. I'm assuming that Israeli Arabs are predominantly employed in manual labour work and other menial work. Here anyone who took one of their jobs or crossed a picket line would be labelled a scab and detested by union members, but I doubt Israeli Jews have that sort of 'one in, all in' ethic...

However, they will manage, just as strikers the world over have managed.

Why do I say feigned concern? Read your posts here, then compare them to why they're going on strike.

"to oppose the openly racist and discriminatory policies of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government."

You seem to be of the mind that they should just sit the fuck down, shut hte fuck up, and take it on the chin, for the good of the very people discriminating against them.

Now, despite what I've seen from other posts of ya, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and offer that I may be wrong, and you just think a strike isn't the proper way to deal with this problem. What, then, do you suggest the Arabs of Israel do in order to address the rampant discrimination against them?

However, there are some jobs that are done disproportionately by Arabs, and I think this strike may show Jewish Israelis, and the Government in particular, that Arabs are really an important part of the population.

I am not there and don't know the logistics in any detail, but I wish the strikers luck.

<snip>

"Representatives of foreign governments stationed in Israel plan to participate in a rally marking the Israeli Arab riots of October 2000, Haaretz learned on Monday, in a diplomatic first in Israel's history.

The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee has said that the representatives of about ten embassies have approached it over recent days, expressing their intent to tour Arab towns on Thursday, when the rally will be held.

During the disturbances, which coincided with the outbreak of the second intifada, Israeli police killed 13 Arab youths. Thursday's event is set to take place in the Israeli Arab village of Arabeh.

According to sources in the committee, the foreign envoys asked to remain anonymous, so as to thwart any attempts by the Israeli government to pressure them into canceling their participation.

The committee sources added that the participation of foreign diplomats represented a turning point in the way world that the world treated relations between Israel's Arab population and the state."

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