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Arab Women March in Tel Aviv Demanding Work
Arab women have never before marched in Tel Aviv with banners raised demanding work. This year on International Women’s Day it happened: some 150 Arab female agricultural workers from the Galilee and the center of the country marched through the streets, demanding that the government stop “importing” cheap, exploited workers from Thailand and allow them – the women – to earn a living. The marchers waved the banners of the Workers Advice Center (WAC) that helps them to find work and defends their rights. As they marched, they shouted slogans such as “No to unemployment,” “No to the new slavery of foreign workers,” “Yes to work, no to poverty,” and “Create job opportunities.” The aim of the demonstration was to give the lie to the claims of Israeli farmers and the establishment, who assert that local workers are not ready to work in agriculture, and that it is Arab society that prevents women from working and not the lack of jobs. The demonstrators protested against the Israeli government's decision to import 3000 Thai agricultural workers, in addition to the 26,000 that already work in Israel. “Whenever we appeal to a farmer to give us work, he says, no thank you, I already have Thai workers,” said Khitam Naamneh, a WAC activist. The high poverty rate among Arabs in Israel (50%), and the low participation of Arab women in the work force (only 17%), led WAC to decide to raise the issue of unemployment among Arab women in Israeli public opinion. Women’s work is the key to lifting Arab society above the poverty line. The march drew the attention of the Israeli media, and received prime time coverage in the first and second TV channels. A short video named “A day in the life of Siham,” produced by the Video 48 group, was also shown on Israeli TV. The women’s march terminated in the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, where the Women’s Forum of WAC held a panel with Jewish and Arab speakers. The speakers noted the importance of establishing a farmers' trade union to defend the rights of women and prevent abusive employment by subcontractors, and protect them from the policy of importing cheap foreign labor. They insisted on the importance of work for achieving economic and personal empowerment, and encouraged the female agricultural workers who are organized in the Women’s Forum to continue their just and courageous struggle. |
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