Arab women march in Tel Aviv demanding work

The Workers Advice Centre* reports on Arab women’s demand for work, to relieve their poverty and to empower themselves

Arab women have never marched in Tel Aviv with banners raised demanding work. This year on International Women’s Day, 150 Arab agricultural women workersfrom Galilee and the centre of the country marched through the streets, demanding that the government stop “importing” cheap, exploited workers from Thailand. The women demanded the right to earn a living.

The marchers waved the banners of the Workers Advice Center (WAC) that helps them to find work and defend their rights. As they marched, they shouted slogans such as “No to unemployment,” “No to the new slavery of foreign workers,” “Yes to work, no to poverty,” and “Create job opportunities.”

Aim

The aim of the demonstration was to oppose the claims of Israeli farmers and the establishment, that local workers are not ready to work in agriculture, and that Arab society prevents women from working, and not the lack of jobs. The demonstrators protested against the Israeli government’s decision to import 3000 Thai agricultural workers, in addition to the 26 000 that already work in Israel. “Whenever we appeal to a farmer to give us work, he says, no thank you, I already have Thai workers,” said Khitam Naamneh, a WAC activist.

Poverty

The high poverty rate among Arabs in Israel (50%), and the low participation of Arab women in the work force (only 17%), led WAC to publicly raise the issue of unemployment among Arab women in Israeli. Women’s participation in the workforce is key to uplift Arab society above the poverty line. The march drew the attention of the Israeli media, and received prime time coverage in the first and second TV channels. A short video named “A day in the life of Siham,” produced by the Video 48 group, was also shown on Israeli TV.

Empowerment

The women’s march terminated in the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, where the Women’s Forum of WAC held a panel with Jewish and Arab speakers. The speakers noted the importance of establishing a farm workers’ trade union to defend the rights of women and prevent abusive employment by subcontractors. This will also protect workers from the policy of importing cheap foreign labour. The speakers insisted on the importance of the demand for work, to achieve economic and personal empowerment; and encouraged the female agricultural workers organised in the Women’s Forum, to continue their just and courageous struggle.

* The WAC is an independent labour association based in Israel. Edited & Syndicated from the WAC website, 2007, www.wac.com.