Statement by MAAN Workers Association
We face a cruel reality. Israeli provocations against Palestinians in East Jerusalem have finally let the genie of pent-up resentment out of the bottle, while awarding Hamas the glory of defending al-Aqsa. Hundreds of rockets launched into Israeli cities have so far killed eight Israelis, injuring dozens. Massive bombings by the Israeli Air Force have killed hundreds of people in Gaza and injured thousands in just a few days, destroying infrastructure and countless homes. In the West Bank Israeli army repressed with force demonstrations and killed at least 9 people.
At the same time in Israeli cities, clashes between Jews and Arabs threaten to rip the country apart.Faced with this wave of violence and hate, MAAN Workers Association calls for a halt of the war and all military action on both sides. We join the medical staff of Haifa’s Rambam Hospital – Jews and Arabs – and many others, who have gone out to demonstrate, opposing incitement and calling for better relations between Jews and Arabs.
Religious fanaticism, nationalism, and racism on either side will drag us all into oblivion. We must not let that happen. In recent weeks, while religious and nationalist clashes in Jerusalem harbingered catastrophe, we at MAAN conducted intensive negotiations with employers to sign collective agreements of great importance to the Palestinian and Israeli workers organized in our union. In March, MAAN signed a collective agreement with the Rajwan food factory in the Atarot industrial zone (North of Jerusalem) where 55 workers, residents of the West Bank, will now enjoy fair and legal job conditions. Another collective agreement has just been signed for the second time with Yad b’Yad (Hand in hand), an Israeli NGO, where 250 Arabs and Jews educators many of them women provide bilingual education to more than a thousand children from kindergarten to high school. The new collective agreement will guarantee their rights and work conditions and strengthen their commitment to MAAN.
The new members of MAAN, along with many who joined our ranks years ago, are aware that we strive tirelessly for solidarity and equality between all human beings, and that we have zero tolerance for segregation or discrimination between Jews and Arabs. In these days of war and chaos, we look to the new leadership in Washington and receive inspiration and encouragement from it. After decades of decline in the status of organized labor in the United States, the White House is again calling for stronger unions. The Biden Administration is also demonstrating leadership on the issue of climate change, once more leading the international coalition to combat air pollution and global warming.
We call upon all who can exert influence, civilian movements, public figures and others in both Israeli and Palestinian society, to unite behind the call to end the violence and prevent further harm to innocent civilians on both sides. We call for Israelis and Palestinians to cross the borders, visible and invisible, and work together to prevent the extremists on either side from taking over. Together we can help build a just and sane society without discrimination based on religion, nationality, race or gender.
Poster by Vered Bitan
