WAC MAAN holds its 17th AGM: Breaking down walls through equal Arab-Jewish partnership

The Independent Trade Union Centre WAC MAAN held its 17th AGM on June 10 in Tel Aviv. Notable among those present were workers organized by WAC, including representatives of Palestinians employed in the Zarfati garage and the Hayei Adam carpentry in Mishor Adumim, representatives of teachers at Musrara College and the Rosh Ha’ayin Music Center, and a representative of a new organizing drive of teachers and workers at the NGO Hand in Hand (bilingual schools) who have recently joined WAC. Staff from WAC’s offices in Jerusalem and Baqa al-Gharabiyeh also attended, as did activists in the various fields in which WAC is active such as the Women in Work project and the struggle against work accidents in construction.

Erez Wagner – East Jerusalem Organizer for WAC MAAN

The event was a call to Arab and Jewish workers, including Palestinian workers employed in Israel and the settlement areas of the West Bank (Area C), to join WAC as the only union in Israel open to all workers without regard to nationality, religion, ethnicity or gender, and the only union to take a clear stand against the occupation and in favor of full equality between Israelis and Palestinians. WAC offers an alternative to the disconnection between Arabs and Jews and between Israelis and Palestinians, WAC MAAN remains a platform of equality and progressive social agenda that stands firmly in opposition to the situation where one side closes itself off behind racist Zionist nationalism and the other behind religious Islamic nationalism, both of which lead only to disaster for their nations.

Hatem Abu Ziadeh, Zarfaty Garage workers leader talks in WAC’s AGM

The AGM began with a comprehensive report on the organization’s activities from WAC Secretary General Assaf Adiv. “When you join WAC you are assuring yourselves of power that will support and assist you in securing your rights from your employer, but you are also participating in building a social movement that leads the struggle against social and political ills, that will fight racism and the occupation. In this way you become partners in creating a common future for the two nations in this country.”

Yossi Mar Haim, WAC activist and worker committee member at Musrara College, was among the speakers, along with the Zarfati garage committee chair Hatem Abu Ziadeh, the director of WAC’s East Jerusalem office Erez Wagner, and Wafa Tiara, Women in Work project coordinator at WAC’s Baqa al-Gharabiyyeh branch. Then WAC board member Tzipora Friedman presented the financial report; and Auditing Committee Chair Orit Soudry presented the auditing committee’s report. The two reports as well as the report presented by Assaf Adiv were adopted by the representatives in a vote which ended the debates.

Musician and leader of Musrara College Teachers Yossi Mar Chaim

To finish, the AGM voted for members of the board Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka, Guy Aloni, Muna Abu Asba, Ido Mahal, Yossi Mar Haim and Tzipora Friedman, headed by Hanan Manadra Zuabi. The participants also approved the members of WAC’s national committee, which directs the unionizing activities, headed by Assaf Adiv and including Erez Wagner, Wafa Tiara and Yoav Tamir.

Translation – Yonatan Preminger

MORE...

Uncategorized

New Beekeepers Receive their Diploma and Join the “Bees for Peace” Family

The smiles on the faces of the 17 graduates of the beekeeping course were uplifting. The buzz in the room even resembled the hum of a beehive. Since the course ended in June, these women have been busy maintaining the beehive each received for her home. The certificate ceremony took place on September 9 at the “MAAN Workers’ Association branch in Baqa al-Gharbiya, attended by course graduates, the project’s leading team, and members of the MAAN’s women’s forum.

READ MORE »
Palestinian Workers

COGAT Obstructs Entry of Palestinian Workers Essential for Olive Harvesting

For years, Israel’s olive harvest has relied on 10,000 Palestinian workers (usually some 3000 families) from the West Bank who receive permits to work in Israel in the season. The sector employs these workers each year to pick tens of thousands of tons of olives from September to December, in groves stretching from the Negev to the Upper Galilee.

READ MORE »
The Women’s Project

Protecting the Bees and Empowering Women

A course on biodynamic beekeeping ended in June of 2024 in the village of Baqa al-Gharbia, where 17 graduates each received a hive containing a queen and a swarm of bees. The course, which began in February under the guidance of educator and expert Yossi Aud, founder of the Bees for Peace project, took place at the MAAN Workers Association’s Center in the Triangle region, managed by Wafa Tiara.

READ MORE »

אנא כתבו את שמכם המלא, טלפון ותיאור קצר של נושא הפנייה, ונציג\ה של מען יחזרו אליכם בהקדם האפשרי.

رجاءً اكتبوا اسمكم الكامل، الهاتف، ووصف قصير حول موضوع توجهكم، ومندوب عن نقابة معًا سيعاود الاتصال بكم لاحقًا








As an organization committed to the rights of workers without distinction of religion, race, nationality, gender, or profession - democracy is our essence. We strongly oppose the authoritarian laws that the extreme government of Netanyahu, Lapid, Bennett, and Smotrich is attempting to impose.

Without democracy, there are no workers' rights, just as a workers' organization cannot exist under dictatorship.

only a victory of the democratic camp will enable a discussion on the Palestinian issue and lead to an alternative solution to occupation and apartheid while ensuring human rights and citizenship for all, Israelis and Palestinians alike. As long as the apartheid regime persists, the democratic camp will not succeed in defeating Israeli extremists. Therefore, we work to involve the Arab and Palestinian society in the protest.

We invite you:

To march with us in protests and to build an alternative, democratic, Jewish-Arab professional union in Israel. Join our quiet WhatsApp group today, "Marching with us in protest."

To join MAAN and unite workers in your workplace. Read here how to join the organization.

To follow MAAN's work on social networks.

Please write your full name, phone number, and a brief description of the subject of your inquiry, and a representative from our organization will get back to you as soon as possible.