Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- Palestinians living in occupied territories are suffering from unemployment or discrimination.  According to the research findings, the Palestinian labor force in the Israeli settlements accounts for 40.8 percent of the total Palestinian population, that is between 15 to 64-year-old. The unemployment rate among them has hit 11.3 percent.

This article aims at shedding light on the state of employment, unemployment, their reasons and consequences, as well as the conditions of the different groups and classes of people in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the Israeli settlements.

Up to 2013, the number of residents of the Israeli settlements in West Bank, excluding al-Quds (Jerusalem), was 296,600. Sixty percent of these people are in working age, between 15 to 65-year-old. From this number 111,000 work in part-time jobs while 7,600 are unemployed. See table 1.

Table 1: labor force figures in the Israeli settlements in 2013 (per 1000 people)

The unemployment rate in the settlements is 6.8 percent while this rate in the main Israeli territories is 7.6 percent. Concerning the geographical distribution of the employed people residing in the settlements in different economic sectors, the table 1 indicates that only 2 percent of the employed are active in agriculture. The major reason for this is that the settlers use foreign– rather than local– workers.

The settlement-based workers in West Bank and other regions who work in main Israeli territories account for only 1.1 percent of the employed. One of the reasons behind decrease in number of agricultural sector workers compared to other sectors is a $1,511 monthly drop in wages of these people in comparison to other wages.

The Palestinians working in the Israeli settlements are paid very lower than other workers working in non-settlement jobs. For example, a daily salary of a Palestinian worker in farming sector is between $50 to 60 shekels ($13.30 to $15.95), namely one third of minimum salaries in the Israeli regime which are 7.20 shekels ($1.92) per hour. See table 2.

Table 2: distribution of the settlements workers according to activities

The important point about the employed settlers is that they have houses in the settlements only to reside and not to work. For example, only one fourth of the residents of East al-Quds have job there while over 50 percent of them are working in the Green Line zone. In fact, if we exclude the East Al-Quds Palestinians (201,000 people in Area J1), the percentage of the East al-Quds settlers whose workplace is in Green Line will reach 100 percent. See table 3.

Table 3: geographical distribution of settlers’ residence and workplace

Concerning the West Bank settlements, if we exclude al-Quds settlements, about one third of the employed, namely 37.7 percent, are working in their home settlements while 62 percent of them have job out of the settlements. See table 4.

Table 4: workplaces of the Israeli workers residing in West Bank settlements

Therefore, the cuts in pays of economic activities have pushed the Israeli settlements to have significant role in making people construe them as residential areas.

It must be noted that the Palestinian labor force is one of the major factors of economic development in West Bank, because Palestine’s production sector, especially in farming, relies on the labor force. This is an important matter in West Bank because of lack of technological facilities in comparison to the settlers' advanced equipment.

The Israeli Supreme Court ordered equality in the labor law, however, the Palestinians working in the Israeli settlements are paid very lower compared to the workers active within the Israeli borders. The table 5 indicates a 50 percent wage gap in the Israeli settlements and the Palestinian territories. See table 5.

Table 5: Average daily wages in the Palestinian territories, in the Israeli settlements, and their gaps

A new study published by the Israeli daily of Yedioth Ahronoth suggests that 70,000 foreign workers from the Philippines, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are working as housemaids. Their monthly wages are 30,578 shekels ($8128) on average. Although they work for 11 hours per day, their average monthly salaries are lower than the average salaries paid to the Israeli workers. See table 6

Table 6: relation of average monthly wages of foreign and Israeli workers 

Furthermore, hundreds of the Palestinians are working in Barkan Industrial Park in east of Tel Aviv. Therefore, over 30,000 Palestinians are active in the West Bank’s settlements. The Palestinian workers in the Israeli settlements are categorized in 5 parts, most significant of them are as follows: over one third in industry, 31 percent in construction works, and 19 percent in farming activities.

The Palestinian workers' flow in to the Israeli settlements is motivated by high unemployment rates in West Bank and the camps as well as low wages. The Israeli regime has invested in the industrial parks of the settlements to create jobs because Tel Aviv grew fears of the Palestinians being involved in illegal activities or works in violation of the Israeli laws. See table 7.

Table 7: Distribution of Palestinian workers in settlements according to economic activity 

Population density and unemployment are among the other incentives of the residents of the occupied Palestinian territories to work in the Israeli settlements. Some Palestinian refugee camps like Shuafat in al-Quds or Kalandia in Area c are under full Israeli administration. Some other camps in Area B are under shared administration of the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Authority, which include Deir Ammar Camp, Jalazone Camp, Fawar Camp, Al Faraa Camp, and Nour Al Shams. Due to the Israeli policies and lack of job opportunities in West Bank, the residents of these camps work in the settlements to make living. The unemployment rate is very high among the West Bank residents. The reports suggest that in the last quarter of 2013 the unemployment rate in West Bank hit 15.2 percent, contributing to the poverty and pushing the Palestinians to work in the Israeli settlements.

The work in West Bank is tied to market demands. When the work days increase, the Palestinians' income increases. But they cannot make more than 120 shekels ($31) at best per day. Their daily income does not go beyond 40 shekels ($10.64) at worst. In normal conditions they make not more than 70 shekels ($18.63). The Palestinians who can obtain license for working in the Israeli regime can make much higher that what they make in West Bank.

Although pay rises improve the living conditions of the Palestinians in their territories, they could negatively affect the Palestinian economy. Because labor force shortage in West Bank has led to rise in salaries, and the producers have to pay high costs for their production operation while their end products are sold cheaply. At the same time high wages in the Israeli regime spur the Palestinians to leave their farming lands in West Bank, something making the lands grow infertile, and so being seized by the settlers.