Unite the Union Delegation to Palestine Report by Joseph Murphy In coll aboration with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Introduction Palestine , a very b asic overview... Under the Ottoman Empire, Palestine existed in relative harm ony, with Muslims, Jews and Christians all living and worshiping side by side. However, the growing interference of Western forces that started at the end of the 19th and continued into the 20th century, upset a delicate balance that had existed for almos t 400 years. The British ma ndate that formally began in 1922 and ended in 1947 was calamitous, leaving behind a legacy of mistrust and division and a rise in nationalism on all sides. The United Nations’ attempt to allocate territory to both Palestinians and Jews was a shambolic ex ercise that only inflamed tensions further, the result being that war broke out between Arabs and Israelis in 1948. At the end of that war, Israel had gained a third more territory, Jordan ended up controlling East Jerusalem an d the West Bank, whilst Egyp t controlled Gaza. Nearly 800,000 Palestinians became refugees overnight as they were forcibly displaced from their homes, with a further 530 of their towns and villages completely destroyed. To Israel, this was the beginning of their nation state but to Palestinians this was the Nakba, the Catastrophe, as they became stateless. Over the next 18 years, nothing really changed territorially. However, the second Arab and Israeli conflict - The 6 Day War - saw Israel take control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. In 1967, the Unite Nations passed Resolution 242 that called for the Arab states to accept Israel’s right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from thre ats or acts of force, but it also called for Israel to withdraw from the territories it had taken and occupied in that conflict. Apart from the Sinai Peninsula, those territories remain under Israeli control to this day. Israel’s military occupation of t he Palestinian territories o f the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem has now lasted over 50 years. A fourth generation of Palestinians are now being born into this reality, the only reality that they and many others before them have ever known. This state of affairs is of ten confused as a religious conflict, when in fact the situation is better described as an unequal struggle of an occupied people and their legitimate and often desperate fight for their homes, their lands and for their basic hu man rights. According to B’ Tselem, the Israeli Human Rights Organisation... “For more than half a century, Israel has kept up a reality of dispossession, oppression and human rights abuse in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel’s ongoi ng, prolonged control over millions of people, whose lives are subject to its wants and needs, is unjustifiable, inexcusable and unacceptable.” At the start of 2021, B’Tselem went further and published a comprehensive and detailed report declaring that by all legal definitions , Israel was in fact an apartheid regime. As stated, this introduction is a very basic overview of the current situation. It was this delegation’s role to observe, engage and listen to those who were actually living in this realit y, in order to get a b etter understanding and bring their voices to a wider audience. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in th is report belong solely to th e author, and not to Unite the Union or the Palestinian Soli d arity Campaign. All images and words copyright of Joseph Murphy www. josephmurphyphotography.com josephmurphy.photo@gmail.com Arrival at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv If you are a not an Israeli, then p assport control at the Ben Gurion airp ort at Tel Aviv tends to be a slow and lengthy process. The staff, all military, look orderly in appearance but also dour and thoroughly disinterested. Everyone is being asked the same standard questions - Why are you here? How lo ng for? Where are you staying? My response to the final question, the National in East Jerusalem, causes the slight raising of an eyebrow in the young female conscript who is investigating the authenticity of my passport. However, t he display of emotion is quickly corrected, my entry permit along with my documentation pushed back under the glass screen, and I pass under the ‘Welcome to Israel’ sign above me. Walking through the a irport it was noticeable that the architecture was clean and contemporary but also large in scale, almost unnecessarily so , perhaps trying to impart a sense of power and authority A large fountain, the central focus of the departures lounge, added to the not so subliminal message, a statement of life but of also b eing in control of that life Our de legation gathered together and ventured outside into the late November sunshine to board our transport to East Jerusalem. Judged by British standards, the roads are open and quiet , the traffic light and quick and the g leaming skyscrapers and office blocks of Tel Aviv are soon distant shapes on the horizon behind us. The landscape east of the capital is soft and open, agricultur al and fertile, with no sense of concern or disquiet A s we track further east , the motorway gradually begins to cut through rock ier and drier terrain and the farmsteads are left behind. Little by little, urban s ettlements start to appear to the left and to the right and barbed wire fences contour the hills, t wist ing and contor ting the topograph y. The closer to Jerusalem we get, t he more unnatural it becomes – grey cylindrical watch towers, security cameras, concrete barriers, and manned military checkpoints. The feeling of relative calm and freedom that was conferred by the fields around Tel A viv was incrementally being replaced by a sense of tension and restriction. As we head into the outskirts of Jerusalem, massive concrete walls begin to appear, at least 8 meters in height. They are oppressive , encircling whole communities, and in one instance what appears to be a single iso lated school. Breaking and fracturing the landscape , the Separation Wall is a clear symbol of d ivision and disharmony . A statement of occupation . A statement of power . A statement of subjugation Even when you know of its existence, it is still a shoc k when you see it for the first time. We get caught in traffic; congestion being generated by Palestinians trying to get through a singular controlled access in the S eparati on W all It affords an opportunity to get a closer look at the new Israeli built settlements on either side of the motorway. High rise, high density and uniformly bland, the abundance of dark silhouetted cranes standing out against the pink and orange sk y suggest construction at a pace. As we edge towards East Jerusalem, we pass thro ugh Palestinian districts and communities Some of the properties display wealth and ambition , b ut on the whole housing here is at a very low density with few roads and litt le related infrastructure, a stark contrast of what was just witnessed before. Th ere are n o cranes or evidence of expansion to be seen at all. In such a small distance, we experienced an urban landscape of social and political division The sun is setti ng as we arrive at the National Hotel , which was Jerusalem’s first, and has been a landmark in the city since the 1940s . P revious guests have included King Hussein of Jordan and former US president Jimmy Carter. Its faded glamour is beguiling. Stepping in, we find t he entrance is packed with people either leaving or checking in, with countless suitcases standing together on the marble floor s and steps . Its colourful and energetic and a wonderful way to arrive. A camera crew that is filming the bustling scene just adds to the sense of vibrancy. The Old City, Jerusal em After checking in we take the opportunity to b rief ly explore our neighbourhood. It is clearly h istoric , but not as busy as one would expect. The main source of local interest appears to be focused on s ome municipal workers who have dug up a road to r epair a water pipe , with m any men standing around either offering advice, socialising or just watching . The general atmosphere appears to be laid back and relaxed We walk past an Israeli police checkpoint and venture through the magnificent Damascus Gat e and into the Old City, navigating the organic street structures contained within. Most of the shops were in the process of packing up and shutting down after what was probably a busy day , but there was just enough to get a sense of the colour and energy that existed. We also get a sense of dislocation and tension caused by the heavily armed military presence that resides and patrols the anc ient passageways of the Old City. Our first few hours had gently prepared us for what was to come. Da y One T he Dead Sea & Jericho Our time within Palestine was to be relatively short, and therefore every day started early with a packed agenda. For our first full day, w e head east out of Jerusalem and towards the Dead Sea , negotiating checkpoints, b arbed wire and sections of the Sepa ration Wall as we progress out into the West Bank. Israeli settlements begin to flank us on either side, and the sheer scale of them causes the greatest initial impact , as these are urban conurbations designed to holds t ens of thousands of people. The wo rd ‘settlement’ is probably too friendly a way to describe them for these constructions are not just outposts, but ideological goliaths pushing their way illegally into Palestinian land. We drive pass nomadic Bedouin com munities located on the eastern slo pe s of Jerusalem, r amshackle settlements surrounded by goats, donkeys and camels that are gradually being separated from the city by the expansion and consolidation of the Separation Wall These communities have been co ntinuously and systematically dis lo dged by the Israeli authorities since the early 1950’s, and now face a new threat of further displacement to Jericho and the Jordan Valley as the government seeks the realisation of the controversial E1 plan. C ameras , barbed wire and watchtowers are constant sights throughtout the West Bank T he E1 plan (that was first formulated in 1995) aims at preventing any possible expansion of East Jerusalem by creating a physical link between the illegal Israeli settlem ent of Ma'ale Adumim and J erusalem . I t would effectively complete a continuous crescent of Israeli settlements around East Jerusalem dividing it from the rest of the West Bank and its Palestinian population centres and therefore deliberately jeopardizing the prospects of a contigu ous Palestinian state As we continue to travel eastwards along Route 1, the road begins to descend and t he landscape and climate slowly begin to change, becoming more and more arid as we transition from a relatively fertile Medi terranean climate to a des ert one. The desiccated slopes on either side of the road are rugged and dusty, and present a formidable challenge to human survival, let alone habitation , y et we continue to observe temporary Bedouin homes mostly made up of corr ugated metal sheets and ragged canvases. Every bus and car going from Jerusalem to the Dead S ea passes the official Sea Level mark , a vantage point nestling in the mountains of the Judean desert that allows passing visitors to get out and have thei r pho to taken with a small stone marker informing them they have now reached the normal level of the sea If that isn’t enough excitement , there also exists the opportunity to have a photo taken with a camel and the ‘ resident Bedouin ’ to complete the expe rienc e. From there the road just keeps descending. Eventually, several ear - popping miles along and over 1,300 f eet lower, the road finally levels off . I n the near distance, the Dead Sea shimmers and sparkles and adjacent to it our next destination, the West Bank Salt Company The Dead Sea and Salt Pans The West Bank Salt Company was established in 1960 and employs people exclusively from the local Palestinian community We are warmly greeted by the Ali Idais, Mechanical Engineer and t rade u ni onist Abed Dari , Coordinator of Palestinian Workers for Kav LaOved , a non - profit union organization that aims to protect the rights of the most deprived workers in the Israeli economy and who has travelled with us from Jerusalem, acts as our translator a s we are given a guided tour of the site. Portrait of Ali Idais, M echanical E ngineer and T rade U nionist - West Bank Salt Company - North Dead Sea, Palestine. The refinery that we are standing i n is at the heart of the West Bank Salt Comp any, established 60 years ago by Othman Hallak, a chemical engineer who graduated from Ohio University. It is the only Palestinian company operating at the shores of the Dead Sea. In 1964, Hallak reached an agr eement with the Jordanian government and ass umed the ownership of what was then a small Jordanian/British Potash factory to reopen it as a salt extraction plant. Since then, the company has been producing traditional commercial table salt that is delivere d to markets in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and beyond. The process is relatively simple - Dead Sea brine is pumped into 12 separate ponds and the saline left for eight months to evaporate. Once crystalized, the salt is milled in the factory and packaged in a separate facility in nearby Jericho. We then move inside and meet the G eneral M anager , H u ssam Halla k who gives a broad overview of the company and the restrictions it works under. Raised in Chicago, Hussam returned to be part of the family business and speaks with an American accent, but mor e importantly with Palestinian passion. “Salt is our life It ’s our livelihood. It’s what we do best. It’s resilience. It’s survival. It’s fighting for what you believe in That’s what salt means to me.” Portrait of H u ssam Halla k , General Manager - West Bank Salt Company - North Dead Sea, Palestine. Wh ilst the extraction of salt from the waters of the Dead Sea is straightforward, what is evidently much more complicated is running a successful Palestinian business in the Wes t Bank , and Hussam details the challenges the company fac es “We work in a very challenging environment , politically and economically and we simply need to make the best of it. Laws made in the Knesset are de s igned to favour Israelis over Palestinians and are often obstacles to overcome. For example, p ermis sion to expand the refinery has been continually refused meaning that we have a packing house in Jericho. However, w e d o not want to sell on sympathy , we want to sell on quality ” His company is sm all and cannot compete with larger Israeli firms, but it can treat its workers fairly, especially in terms of salary , sickness benefits and general hea l th and safety. Salt W orks pays 3,600 I sraeli S hekels per month for entry level positions (above the loc al minimum wage) and up to 6,000 for some of its more skilled and experienced employees Hussam believes that it is people who build quality, not machines. Numbers fluctuate from a permanent 30 full - time employees to over 140 at the harvest and pickling season , many of whom are brought in by an external contractor. There are environmental complications to overcome as well. According to Hussam , the Dead Sea has retracted over a distance of 1.5 kilometr e s over the past 50 years, leaving behind the refiner y which was once adjacent to the shore O ver 30 percent of the Dead Sea has evaporated in this time, he adds. These ecological concerns are supported by academics and even the regional governments, although arguments over who and what is responsible for the on - going catastrophe continue. One re ason is that about 90 percent of the water volume of the Jordan River is extracted by the riparian states for drinking water and agricultural purposes before the river reaches the Dead Sea. R egional conflicts foug ht for control over the scarce water resou rces in the Jordan River Basin have led to unhindered and uncoordinated damming and diversion of the sea’s upstream source waters by Israel, Jordan, and Syria. However, environmentalists also cite research that cl aims 40 percent of the Dead Sea’s depletio n can be traced to the region’s mining industry, which pumps out the water to extract minerals from it. These include potash, which is used as an agricultural fertiliser; magnesium, exported as metal for uses in t he car industry; and bromide, which is oft en used in pesticides. Two private companies exploit the Dead Sea for its valuable minerals: the Arab Potash Company operates on the Jordanian side of the southern Dead Sea, and Dead Sea Works operates on the Isra eli side. The companies pump water from s outhern end of the sea into evaporation pools to isolate the minerals. These operations are vast, with the surface area of the pools themselves equating to almost a third of the surface area of the Dead Sea where the water is taken from. To give a sense of scale, the West Bank Salt Company produces 24,000 tonnes of salt every year, whereas the Dead Sea W orks extracts 3.3 million tonnes of potash a year on its own. Its clearly not sustainable and causes dismay and frustration to all those Palestinians liv ing and working in the West Bank who see their precious resources being taken by others. The unfortunate grim truth about this wonder of the world is that it is slowly dying and there seems very little regional ag reement on how to stop it from doing so. Before we leave, Hussam leaves us with his final thoughts on the current political situation facing both Palestinians and Israelis. “When you bring up history, everybody loses. You need to let bygones be bygones. Most people don’t want to fight any longer. But there has to be a willingness from both sides to forgive and move on. At the end of the day, this is about ethics and the Oc cupation and the stealing of resources is morally wrong. It’s bad not only for t he Palestinian people but also for the Israelis. Bravery is needed from both sides to call this out. It is simply wrong. Enough is enough. The O ccupation has to finish.” In some ways h is words almost echo the sentiments of Yitzhak Rabin , the Israeli P rime minister who was assassinated at a peace rally by Israeli right - wing extremists in Tel Aviv almost 25 years before. Date palm plantations at Tomer and Gilgal, Jordan Valley We c limb st eadily away from the Dead Sea and up onto the road to Jericho . In the near distance t he King Hussein river border crossing can be seen , set against a patchwork background of lush Jordanian fields and farms which stretch back up into the steep escarpments of the mountains of the Rift Valley which str etch out before us. As we continue north along the valley, we pass through a stark dichotomy of agricultural settings, from barr en rocky enclosures with little vegetation through to extensive date plantations and gleaming blocks of industrial greenhouses There is a reason for this and that reason is agricultural land annexatio n Since the late 1960s, Israel has established milit ary outposts along the Jordan Valley, which were later authorized as civilian settlements and were expanded at the expense of t he Palestinian villages that the outposts were deliberately located next to. The spring that was the beating heart of the village of Al Auja was known as one of the most reliable in Palestine. 40 years ago, water was running abu ndantly all around the village, and Palestinians from all over the West Bank would come to swim and fish there. Al Auja was also famous for its bananas Today, the spring has dried up and tourists come no more to enjoy the area because in 19 8 2, occupational forces dug 2 huge water wells be side the source and began pumping out every single drop of water from the underground reservoirs leaving the village dry. Al Auja now looks like a desert , whilst the nearby Israeli settlements of Tomer, Gilgal, Niran and Nativ Ha g dud appear as o ases Thos e wells belong , like all the wells within historical Palestine , to Mekorot the Israeli public water company that operates some 42 wells in the West Bank that now mostly supply the Israeli settlements Palestinian villages within the Jordan Valley used to sh are an extensive irrigati on system that is now all but completely dried up. Today , in their tractors and water tanks in tow , they have to drive dozens of kilomet re s away from their homes often having to negotiate numerous checkpoints in order to buy their irrigation and drinking water from Mekorot. T o secure this water, they have to pay up to four times the price that Israeli settlers have to pay and t o add further insult , settlers have free and unlimited access to water to irrigate their crops. Water is a precious and an Israeli S tate controlled commodity for al most all Palestinians Through the denial to freely access water and sanitation, it is argued that Mekorot collaborates with the state in the implementation of an institutionalized ‘ wa ter apartheid ’ , which is a central component of Israel’s policies of ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities throughout the Jordan Valley. There have been significant investments in resources in water treatment and irrigation infrastructure to serve s ettler agricult ure in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area. As a result of land expropriation and the ongoing expansion of Israeli agricultural areas, the last 40 years have witnessed a decline of about one third of cultivated Palestinian agri cultural land i n the West Bank. As we continue towards J e richo, we pass Moshav Na'ama, yet another example of an Israeli agricultural settlement that was established on Palestinian lan d in 1982. The plantations and greenhouses are 300 feet below sea le vel, sitting in a desert climate where irrigation is essential The site, already home to 92 families is currently in the process of expansion with m arketing agencies seeking to attract an additional 150 young families to become part of the ‘n ext g enerati on ’ and set up home there. Almost immediately after passing Moshav Na’ama, we turn right and p rogress into Area A territory. As part of the Oslo Accords, which were signed by the Palestine Liberation Organi s ation and Israel in 1993 and 1995, the occupied West Bank was divided into three areas which were simply designated Areas A, B and C. The Oslo Accords also led to the establishment of an interim Palestinian government, the Palestinian Authority, which was granted limited powers o f governance in Areas A and B. The Accords were also meant to kick - start future peace talks that were to be brokered by the United States, with a two - state solution as the desired objective of negotiations, meaning the three categories would vanish. That did not happen, resul ting in Israel being handed complete control of the Palestinian economy, as well as its civil and security matters in more than 60 percent of the West Bank. Area A signage, warning Israelis against entering Palestinian controlled territory Despite gr anting the Palestinian Authority (PA) control over administrative and internal security matters in parts of the West Bank, Israel maintains total military control over the entire area. Efforts to strike a comprehensive peace deal ove r the past 30 years ha ve sadly proven fruitless, leaving the Palestinians with a provisional self - governing authority that has been unable to prevent Israeli expansion Today, Area A constitutes 18 percent of the West Bank and is made up of the major Pale stinian cities such as Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus The PA controls most affairs in this area, including internal security. In Area B, which consists of s maller Palestinian towns and some agricultural land and is about 21 percent of the West Bank, the PA controls e ducation, health and the economy. However, i n both areas, Israeli authorities have full external security control. This means that the Israeli military retains the right to enter these areas at any time, typically to raid homes or detain individuals , oft en under the pretext of security. About 2.8 million Palestinians live crowded and compacted into Areas A and B Area C is the largest section of the West Bank, comprising about 60 percent of the Palestinian territory. It is also the location of the vast maj ority of the more than 200 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, strategically winding around and encircling Areas A and B and where more than 400,000 settlers now live. Although control of part of this area was meant to be transferred to the PA in 1999 as per the Oslo Accords, the handover did not materialise, leaving security, planning , construction and also matters of destru c tion in the hands of the Israel i state The U ni ted N at ions and human rights groups have condemned the settlement expansion project, de claring the settlements illegal under international law. The current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually pledged to annex parts of Area C – especially the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea region and some 65,000 Palestinians wh o live in that region would be directly affected. The Jordan Valley is considered the most fertile land in the West Bank and has proven lucrative for Israeli companies that have long exploited the area’s land and resources. In a deliberate attempt to appeal to the far right and secure a coalitio n government , N etanyahu has consistently employed the threat and ambition of further a nnexation in the numerous elections that have taken place in Israel in th e last two years. However, pressure both domestic and international has for the moment at least, prevented the Israeli state from acting on its election promises. Central Jericho Jericho is one of the world’s oldest continually occupied cities, and rises up above the wide plain of the Jordan Valley, its height the result of lay er upon layer of human habitation. The main road leading into Jericho starts as a substantial dusty dirt track which is quickly hemmed in by coffee shops, garages, burger bars, kebab stands, pharmacies and supermarkets. Every now and then you see schools and clinics that have been established with support from the United Nations and the European Union For many years there has b een a slow and gradual Palestinian exodus from East Jerusalem to Jericho and other areas of the West Bank. The property prices are cheaper, the taxes lower, and there is simply less aggravation and harassment from the Israeli state. As we move towards th e centre, the city becomes cramped and dense, mosques and minarets more frequent, and a sense of history impossible to ignore. We park close to the main square, which is focused around a small park with palm trees with a fountain in the middle. The park itself is surrounded by falafel stands, balconied restaurants and shops displaying an abundance of fruit, most notably bananas, dates and citrus fruits, which are all produce of the region. Yellow taxis match the local bananas and provide an additional vi brancy as they move around the busy and relatively unkempt central hub. The reason we are here is to meet with representatives from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and those from Kav LaOved . The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) was founded in 1965. It was a natural extension of the Palestine Arab Workers’ Society, established in 1925 to le ad the labour and trade union movement in Palestine and was fundamental in the development of the Palestinian national labour mo vement. The PGFTU is considered to be the most important labour institution that acts to safeguard and promote the rights of Palestinian workers in line with their national aspirations and objectives. The PGFTU also leads the process of supporting the w orking class in their struggle for the ratification and implementation of modern and fair workers’ legislation. Work also conti nues in advocacy, participation in the drafting of social security legislation, in addition to social protection laws, minimum w ages, unemployment laws, occupational health and safety, child labour and decent work laws. It has an estimated membership of 2 90,000, and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. Kav LaOved is an independent, non - profit, non - gover nmental organization committed to the defence of workers’ rights and the enforcement of Israeli labour law designed to protect e very worker in Israel, irrespective of nationality, religion, gender, and legal status. Since its establishment in 1991, Kav LaO ved has helped workers from all sectors realize and uphold their rights. Kav LaOved’s services target the most disadvantaged wo rkers in Israel, including those employed by contracts and receiving low wages, Arab citizens of Israel, Palestinians, migrant w orkers, refugees and asylum seekers, and new immigrants. On average, it helps over 60,000 individuals a year. Portrait of W ael Natheef - Secretary of the Jericho Branch of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. We are addressed by Wael Natheef, the Secretary of the Jericho Branch of the PGFTU , who begins by outlining its mission which is based on its role as a de mocratic and independent trade union body that aims to organize male and female workers in sectoral trade unions in order to improve their working and socio - economic conditions. It also works to raise awareness of the Palestinian situation with represent ations at national and international levels and Wael de scribes the good relationships that exist with the UK, especially within the TUC, Unite and Unison The PGFTU accepts delegations from across the globe in order to gather evidence and to act as indepe ndent witnesses and Wael reminds us that whilst we are here, we act as the eyes of the Palestinian people. Wael continues and details the deliberate fragmentation of Palestinian land within the Jordan Valley. Currently there are 38 Israeli settlements in the area, primarily agricultural and all illeg al under international law. There are also two industrial zones and one tourist area as well as numerous army camps and restricted zones that are used exclusively for Israeli military operations. “ The Israel i owned farms and factories provide essential l ivelihoods for many Palestinians and workers are drawn from all the major communities including East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus. The occupation forces Palestinians to work in the illegal settle ments. Their traditional crops such as olives are continually burnt, destroyed or chopped down by Israeli settlers, often with no formal investigation and even less consequence. ” I n a 2018 report , the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Hu man Rights (OHCHR) declared that 82% of Palesti nian workers stated that they would leave their jobs in the settlements, if there were another choice. The working c onditions for everyone are poor, but especially so for those who are employed in the agricul tural sector. The PGFTU has been documenting a steady increase in the number of work - related accidents and diseases, especially respiratory. Workers in the agricultural sector are often required to toil within th e vast greenhouses for periods of up to 5 hours without any break . Humidity levels are high, there is no ventilation and the high dependency on pesticides and chemicals to raise productivity creates a toxic mix. Snake bites are not uncommon, especially i n the date and palm plantations, as are in cidents with mechanical cherry pickers, which are often faulty. “ Those engaged in the processing of leather and glass are also at great risk as there is a high degree of chemical usage in both industries. There is no such thing as personal protective e quipment, no gloves, no masks. Skin allergies and respiratory diseases are sharply on the increase. Whilst there are regular health checks in place for Israelis, there are no such employer obligations for Palesti nians and therefore it is the unions who s tep in to organise health checks and screenings of exposed and vulnerable workers ” There is also a preference for women and children to be employed by Israelis in the West Bank, especially within the agricultural sector. Both are more productive than me n (due to the size and dexterity of their hands) and the employment of children between the ages of 12 to 16, despite being illegal, often spikes during the periods of school holidays. The not - for - profit co - oper at ive Corporate Watch, which provid es critic al information on the social and environmental impacts of corporations and capitalism , conducted over 70 interviews with Palestinians working on Israeli settlements , revealing that workers are consistently paid as little as half the minimum wage. Many of the interviewees also reported that children were employed on the settlements, that working conditions were unsafe, that they were not paid holiday or sick pay, that they had no health insurance and that they were banned from forming unions. Abed Dari , the Field Coordinator of Palestinian Workers for Kav LaOved takes the lead and begins by describ ing the problems encountered when trying to recruit individuals to the union. Organising in general is very d ifficult as Palestinian workers fear negative co nsequences from their Israeli employers for associating with union activities. Unemployment numbers are high, and there is a plentiful supply of workers meaning that sustained and meaningful employment is ra re and fragile. T hose who attend union meetings or health and safety workshops conducted by a union often find themselves unemployed the following day. Employers conducting polygraph tests on Palestinian employees have also been frequently reported, wher e workers are encouraged to reveal examples of t heft, poor productivity or name those colleagues who are perceived to not be working or associating with a union. Another barrier to organising is the ephemeral state of employment. Middlemen are utilised o n both sides in order to either source or provid e employment and the permits handed out are transient. There are no rules or contracts contained within these informal agreements, which are known about or shared mostly by word of mouth. In many ways there is no real formal evidence they these workers a ctually work and that suits the employer. How can you have rights if you don’t exist? It comes as no surprise that those who stand in the middle of these transactions take a hefty cut for their services, de spite being Palestinian themselves. For Palesti nians employed in Israeli owned workplaces, accidents often go unreported and sometimes untreated. The normal state of affairs is that the injured are sent to hospital, the incident formally investigated and any treatment required paid for and Israelis ha ve insurance to cover this. However, those Palestinians who are not just dumped at the nearest checkpoint, find themselves in hospital later discover that their bills are not paid and that their work permit is not renewed and this has led to a culture of gross under - reporting. Only the most critical are ever sent to hospital and the situation potentially investigated. In reality, there is little or no health and safety regulations protecting Palestinian work ers and no legislation that allows Palestinian e mployees to sue their Israeli employer if there were an accident or malpractice in the workplace. Palestinian unions are often left to fight for workers’ rights through the courts, which in many ways is no d ifferent to the situation in the UK. However, t he Israeli legal system is deliberately opaque; it costs 3,000 New Israeli Shekels per worker just to start legal proceedings; Palestinian lawyers are in desperately short supply; travel restrictions add an a dditional hurdle to actually being able to appea r in court; and there also exists the danger of being added to an Israeli black - list of individuals who attempt to complain or stand up for their rights. Their family members are also added for good measure, meaning that any dissent has a far - reaching fin ancial impact. Portrait of Abed Dari - Coordinator of Palestinian Workers for Kav LaOved. Kav LaOved also has serious concerns for those Palestinian women working in the domestic industry sector, mostly cleaning in private homes. Sexual abuse and phys ical attacks are frequently reported, but because of the isolated nature of the work, it is difficult to organise and therefore hard to protect those affected. Both Kav LaOved and the PGFTU are curre ntly working with Palestinian Authority to strength righ ts and regulations in this area. The meeting concludes with both Abed and Wael summarising the extensive work they are doing in the construction and agricultural sectors, for Palestinian workers, for Arab workers, in some case Israeli workers, for those w orking in domestic environments such as cleaners and carers and for refugees and asylum see kers. The obstacles to their objectives of fairness and equality are political, religious, ideological as well as economic and social. As we head back to East Jeru salem, our eyes become more attuned to the physical environment surrounding Je richo Whils t h erd s of goats and the odd camel give the arid landscape a touch of romanticism, a more concentrated observation reveals a darker side. Set against the setting su n are w ater valves surrounded by reinforced cages and topped with barbed wire . Remnants of charred or severed olive trees make unsettling and unwanted appearances as we continue to move through the West Bank. Security cameras and fortified watchtowers st art to become normal, almost unnoticed additions to the topography. The day ends at the Mo unt of Olives, a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City Numerous religious events a re said to have taken place here and because of this the lo cation is a holy site for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Like the c ity of Jerusalem itse lf, churches, mosques and Jewish landmarks stand side by side, jostling for sacred space as pilgrims swarm over the hill. However, t he most striking feature of the Mount of Olives is the gleaming dense array of over 150,000 gravestones that reside on its western slope. As the sun sets over the ancient Jewish cemetery and illuminates the golden Dome of the Rock in the Old City opposite, a gigantic Israeli flag ripple s in the breeze. It’s a not - so - subtle reminder of who and what is the dominant force aroun d here. View s from the M ount of Olives, Jerusalem Day Two East Jerusalem Both Palestinians and Israelis see Jerusalem as their capital city. At present, the Palestinian Authority is based in Ramallah to the north, but it hopes to one day move to East Jerusalem. However, the Israeli government views Jerusalem as its indivisible own and i t has constructed a Separation Wal l (on spurious security grounds) that effectively seal s off the city from the Palestin i an West Bank and has continued to expand its settlements in spite of wide and continued international condemnation. Approximately 300,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites resid e within the East Jerusalem neighbourhood which include s the Old City, At Tur on the Mount of Olives, Silwan and Ras Al Mud near the southern edge of the Old City , and Sheikh Jarrah and Shuafat north of the Old City. The United Nations has consistently stated t hat the Israeli authorities pursue a policy of physical, political and economic segregation of East Jerusalem from the West Bank and that its residents face continued and increasing official impediments with regards to housing, education, employment, taxat ion and representation. The UN has also reported that East Jerusalem r eceives a disproportionately smaller share of municipal services such as water, se werage,