Since the occupation of East Jerusalem (EJ) in 1967, Israel has maintained a policy of discrimination and neglect toward Palestinian residents of the city. In the field of employment, this policy has generated a profound economic and social crisis. For years, women have been excluded from the labor market and pushed into an abusive labor market. All of this contributed to the creation of poverty indices which have risen to 80% in the last decade.
In 2018, the Israeli government adopted Decision 3790 to reduce social and economic disparities and promote economic development in EJ, a decision that implies a change of direction and a tacit acknowledgment that discrimination has taken place.
According to the report, written by the director of MAAN’s Jerusalem branch, Erez Wagner, Decision 3790 allocated for the first time ever significant resources to reduce gaps between East and West Jerusalem. As part of the program, an amount of NIS 2.2 billion was allocated over five years to improve infrastructure and services in EJ, with an emphasis on the field of employment and in particular women’s employment. MAAN’s report focuses on this area, and claims that the implementation of Decision 3790 still lacks fully equal treatment of Palestinian residents.
This field report examines implementation of the government plan some four years after its adoption. The report summarizes MAAN’s extensive field work, which included monitoring the plan’s implementation, as well as assistance in exercising rights and integrating women into the labor market. The report also presents practical recommendations to reduce gaps and a proposed policy to realize social and economic equality for EJ residents.
According to the report’s recommendations, the next five-year plan must construct a large and sustainable public sector in EJ, a sector that will express a profound change – from a policy of discrimination to one of equality.
MAAN’s recommendations, if adopted, will create good, well-paying public-sector jobs in medicine, education, urban planning and welfare, alongside improvements in health, housing, and education. Our proposal will help eradicate the abusive labor market, thus providing the EJ population, and women in particular, with the tools to escape poverty.
The report also publishes in-depth interviews with six extraordinary women about their difficult journeys into the world of work.
The report was written as part of a project to monitor implementation of Government Decision 3790 for investment in East Jerusalem. The project has been funded by the European Union and led by Ir Amim and MAAN.
Read the full report here (PDF)
The report was designed by Studio Vered Bitan.
