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Nazareth Women Conference: Employment is a precondition to fight poverty
Press release, June 14 2008: Workers Advice Center AGM, Nazareth Some 200 members of the Workers Advice Center (WAC), mostly agricultural laborers, gathered on 14 June for the WAC annual general meeting at the Hama'ayan-Rimonim Hotel in downtown Nazareth. In the morning session, a panel discussion took place on the topic, “Employment as the key to solving the problem of poverty among women.” WAC is currently promoting an initiative to cease the importation of agricultural laborers and achieve government involvement in placing 1000 Arab women in farm work. While the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry talk loudly about the need to reduce poverty in the Arab sector by increasing employment rates, in fact they allow injurious employment practices and the import of migrant labor. Participants at the conference included experts in the fields of employment and gender issues, NGO directors, leaders from women’s groups and activists. Michal Schwartz, Coordinator of the WAC Women’s Forum, noted that this struggle is not a national one pitting Arabs against Jews, but a struggle against the dictatorship of capital. Dr. Orly Binyamin, a sociologist from Bar Ilan University, said, “In Israel, more than in any other country, there is a cynical and widespread use of women employed through manpower agencies. It has become clear that, in the view of the state, efficient management entails denying women social rights, pension plans and even safety or hygiene in the workplace. The state has adopted the methods of the ra'is (middleman) in order to save money.” Nurit Tsur, manager of the Women’s Lobby, spoke about “family empowerment” as a new perspective on recruiting the family and community to support working women, especially Arab women. Haaretz journalist for social issues, Ruti Sinai, claimed that the media in Israel prefer the soap operas of misery, because tears are good for business. On the other hand, “There is a huge class of workers who, for the press, are ‘transparent’, uncounted.” Attorney Ola Shteiwi from the Women’s Budget Forum said that the establishment has relieved itself of responsibility for employment problems among Arab women, defining them as “cultural problems.” Other speakers included Dr. Ktzia Alon, head of Gender Studies at Beit Berl; Dr. Hannah Safran, one of the founders of Woman to Woman and a lecturer at Emeq Yizrael College; Wafah Tayara, WAC’s Placement Coordinator in Kufr Qara and the Um al-Fahem area; Leila Suleiman, Employment Coordinator at the Human Capital Center in Kufr Tamra and Kabul; and Samya Nasser, Gender and Empowerment Coordinator at WAC.
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