Collective Punishment:

Israel Closes Employment Bureau in East Jerusalem

Since the start of the new intifada, the Employment Bureau of East Jerusalem has been shut. This means that 1500 jobseekers have been deprived of their unemployment benefits and welfare payments. Hundreds of families are affected.
In a press conference on December 14 at the Ambassador Hotel in Arab East Jerusalem, the spokespersons of WAC (the Workers Advice Center, Ma'an in Arabic), together with fifty Palestinian job seekers, exposed false statements by Israel's Employment Authority and its National Insurance Institute regarding the closure of the Employment Bureau (EB). These statements, WAC held, were intended to deny benefits to 1500 jobless workers. The WAC spokespersons were Assaf Adiv (National Coordinator of WAC), Asma Agbarieh (organizer of WAC's project for East Jerusalem) and Attorney Bassam Karkabi (WAC's legal advisor). All three put the blame squarely on the Israeli authorities. The shutdown of the Bureau, they said, inflicts collective punishment on the Palestinians of Jerusalem because of their support for the intifada. Innas Siaj, a member of the Unemployed Workers Committee, testified to her bitter experience with the EB. After a year of delays, she said, only through WAC's intervention was she able to present her case before the EB Appeals Committee.

Responding to questions from Israeli press, speakers for the Employment Authority and the National Insurance Institute insisted that benefits had been paid as usual in October and November. Palestinian jobseekers countered by displaying official letters they had received, informing them they would not receive benefits because they had failed to register in October at the Employment Bureau.
WAC, a militant trade union association, has been handling dozens of cases for the unemployed of East Jerusalem over the past several months. WAC has turned to the Jerusalem Employment Bureau, as well as the State's Attorney, in an attempt to get the East Jerusalem Bureau re-opened. It has met with evasive responses.

WAC operates in East Jerusalem in clear consciousness of the fact that it is occupied territory. Until Israel recognizes Palestinian sovereignty here, there will be no peace. Nevertheless, as long as it maintains its Occupation, it is obliged by international law to respect the rights of the inhabitants. WAC has been working for several years to defend the unemployed against the arbitrary and willful policies of the Employment Service, especially in those Arab localities where the unemployment rate is highest. Our activity in East Jerusalem is a natural continuation of the work we have done elsewhere - for example, in the village of Ein Mahel, where we took the issue to the Supreme Court. The press conference and protest rally on December 14 expressed the outrage the job seekers feel toward the punitive policy of the Employment Service. We demand that the Employment Bureau re-open its doors immediately.