[Nyclocal] May Day & the struggles of the Palestinian working class

Wed May 7 08:43:50 MDT 2008

             http://www. pflp. ps/english/?q=may-day-current-conditions-struggle-palestinia
n-wo

  On  May 1 (May Day) of every year, the Palestinian working class marches in  its struggle for national liberation. Today, the Palestinian working  class, an integral part of the working class of the world, stands  steadfast in its struggle for freedom - despite living under siege and  occupation, deprived of all rights, including the right to work and the  right to seek employment.

  The entire Palestinian people are  subject to a collective punishment that not only deepens poverty and  creates a crisis of unemployment but also continues the policy of the  Zionist forces maintaining the Palestinian working class as a reserve  army of labor.

  Palestinian workers today are part of an ongoing  and continuous struggle for liberation. This struggle, with Palestinian  workers in the forefront, spans decades and centuries - from the  factories in Haifa at the turn of the century and the early resistance  to British colonialism, Palestinian workers have spurred the struggle  for liberation onward. Palestinian workers in 1936 waged a historic  general strike over a six-month period - the longest general strike in  the world - as part of the revolt against British and Zionist  colonialism.

  Indeed, the Zionist movement has constantly  attacked Palestinian labor and Palestinian workers, from the time of  its inception. As Zionist colonialism spread in Palestine (in alliance  with British colonialism) in the 1920s and 1930s, policies banning the  hiring of Palestinian workers spread, at the same time that local  Palestinian-owned small businesses were forced out of business by  larger competitors, often Zionists - creating even more unemployment,  in a deliberate attempt to impoverish and dispossess Palestinian  workers in their own land. In addition, Palestinians under Jordanian  rule were prevented from organizing labor unions by the Jordanian  regime, and all attempts at labor organizing were ruthlessly suppressed.

  These  same types of attacks continue to this day, as siege and closure are  used as weapons that first target Palestinian workers. Today,  unemployment is once more a mechanism used against Palestinian workers  in an attempt to separate them from their homeland. There is a 70%  unemployment rate among university youth, and 50,000 unemployed  university graduates, and 120,000 Palestinian workers without jobs.  That number reached 200,000 after 3,900 factories were shut down out of  the 4,000 factories operating, due to closure and siege.

  At the  same time that the oppression of Palestinian workers has always played  a central role in Zionist colonialism and occupation, the Palestinian  workers have always played a leading role in pushing the revolution  forward and constantly building the resistance. Palestinian workers -  and farmers and peasants - have always made up the main forces of the  resistance, and Palestinian workers' and labor organizations have  played a key role in resisting occupation. The role of the Palestinian  working class in the first Intifada was key, as labor organizations and  trade unions and worker-led committees played a key role in organizing  and coordinating resistance and protest. General strikes and mass  closures of stores and factories, among many other activities of the  Intifada, were coordinated by the labor unions, with broad  participation and leadership of Palestinian workers. The Palestinian  labor movement has given dozens of martyrs and countless prisoners from 
 its leadership, as Palestinian union leaders have always been targeted  for assassination and imprisonment.

  Within the occupied lands of  1948, the Histadrut, the Zionist so-called "trade union", played a key  role as an agent of the zionist state rather than a workers'  organization. The slogan of "Hebrew labor" has governed the activities  of the Histadrut, which for decades excluded Palestinian and Arab  workers from its membership. At its inception, the Histadrut placed as  its key goal "conquering" Palestine for Jewish labor - away from  Palestinian Arab labor. For years, the Histadrut collected dues from  Palestinian workers while providing them with no services. When, in the  Oslo period, the Histadrut finally agreed to pay the Palestinian union  federation, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, some  compensation for the millions upon millions of dollars taken from  Palestinian workers, the Histadrut soon abandoned its promise. The  Histadrut has played an integral role as a part of the structure of the  racist, colonial-settler state of Israel - rather
 than representing  workers, it represents Zionist racism, and has, in fact, been an enemy  of Palestinian workers. The role of the Histadrut has reflected that of  the so called "Israeli left," a so-called left that is founded on the  racist principles of Zionism and finds no accomodation, solidarity or  space for the liberation of Palestinian workers.

  In addition,  the Palestinian trade union sector of today is corrupted. It must be  rebuilt, fully and completely, on a democratic basis with full  participation of all forces. Palestinian workers need a leadership and  an organization that represents them and the valor and steadfastness of  their struggle. In addition, the Palestinian Authority itself has  deprived Palestinian workers of their rights - refusing to pay salaries  and wages to many workers, including teachers, engineers and employees  of the general public sector, in an attempt to exercise political  control over the political activities of Palestinian workers. Indeed,  the Prime Minister of the Ramallah government is none other than Salam  Fayyad, a former representative of the World Bank and the International  Monetary Fund. These organizations, known around the world for their  anti-worker policies of forced corporatization and imposed "austerity,"  have, in Palestine, played the same role they have
 elsewhere, of  fostering exploitation and imperialism. The World Bank has been key in  developing a plan to create so-called "industrial zones," into which  Palestinians, dispossessed of their land, would travel to work, in an  environment geared toward foreign exploitation, rather than Palestinian  economic development, and without trade unions or labor protection, in  prison-like conditions, surrounded by the racist annexation wall.

  Similar  forces of repression have been arrayed against the Arab workers'  movement on a national level. The rise of hunger and poverty in Egypt  graphically illustrates the dreadful conditions of Arab workers. Iraqi  workers, organizing under and against occupation, face the threat of  military occupiers and a puppet government, and vast exploitation  exists of international workers in the Gulf. At the same time, the  movement of Egyptian workers for their rights, against hunger and  poverty, is an inspirational symbol of the rise of a revitalized Arab  workers' movement, as are the oil workers of Iraq, organizing and  fighting despite occupation. Today, we salute all Arab workers in our  common struggle against imperialism and exploitation. Arab wealth  gained from oil resources can and should go to the workers who make  such wealth possible, and to support the Palestinian cause - not to  regimes and rulers who exploit Arab labor and seek to use the people's  resources
 for their individual interests.

  On an international  level, there have been tremendous victories for the working class in  recent years, despite the international balance of power heavily  favoring U.S. imperialism. Throughout Latin America, for example,  workers' and people's movements have moved towards throwing off the  shackles of imperialism and exploitation.

  This May Day, we call  upon the workers of the world and the international labor movement to  support Palestinian workers in our struggle for liberation. The  solidarity of working class forces around the world, particularly the  workers of the United States, is needed. The Histadrut, a racist arm of  the Zionist state that has done nothing but aid in the exploitation of  Palestinian workers, should be boycotted and unwelcome at all labor  functions. Israel Bonds are not a fit investment for a labor  organization - they are an investment in a racist, colonial state. The  U.S. labor unions hold billions of dollars in such bonds; now is the  time to divest from Israel Bonds and make it clear that racism is the  common enemy of all workers, around the world.

  In addition, the  labor unions of Europe have key roles to play in fostering solidarity  with Palestinian workers. The ruling class in Europe, the U.S. and  Canada support Israel - the organizations of workers can and should  take their role in supporting the struggle of Palestinian workers for  liberation and against racism and colonialism. Indeed, there have been  promising and important developments, and we salute the workers and  workers organizations that have taken part in the growing movement to  demand the full international isolation of Israel, including economic  boycott. Most recently, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers passed an  important resolution at their most recent conference urging boycott,  divestment and sanctions against Israel because of its denial of  Palestinian rights, including the right of Palestinian refugees to  return, and including its repression against Palestinian workers,  including postal workers who daily must brave numerous
 checkpoints  merely to deliver the mail. Such initiatives are important and should  be widely replicated by the international labor movement.

  Today,  the PFLP is calling upon the Palestinian left and Arab left to unify  our forces into one working-class front. This is a historical moment  for the left, and it is critical that we rise to our responsibility in  defending the working class, and we are committed to working toward  that end. Any victory for the Arab working class - and the  international working class - shall immediately impact the Palestinian  working class.

  On May Day 2008, one hundred and twenty-two years  after the first workers marched on May 1 through the streets of Chicago  to demand an eight-hour workday and justice for our class, the Popular  Front for the Liberation of Palestine salutes the workers of Palestine,  the Arab nation, and the world, in our common struggle against  exploitation and oppression, to break the chains of Zionism and  imperialism.

  Victory to the workers of the world!

  Por El Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine english at pflp.ps http://www. pflp. ps/english/

http://www.girights.org/

---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://spnyc.org/pipermail/nyclocal_spnyc.org/attachments/20080507/f73b153c/attachment-0001.html 