I send to you an urgent appeal on behalf of Palestinian workers in Nazareth. Along with $3billion in annual military aid to Israel (up to %75 must be spent on U.S. weapons -- can we say "privatization?) and several million dollars in forgiven loans, it would appear that the U.S. is also shipping off privatization in the form of welfare to work programs to Israel as well. In fact, USAID's Israel program makes requisite, Israel's adoption of privatization models, for receipt of development funds.
For more information on the "Wisconsin Programme": http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=8103&CategoryId=14 http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl05810.htm Peace with justice, Emma Rosenthal L.A. Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Appeal for international solidarity for trade unionist received from Nazareth Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 08:38:10 -0800 From: steve zeltzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: MEI3 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: JP BARROIS [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 09 February 2006 09:22 Subject: Appeal for international solidarity received from Nazareth Dear Friends Please find below an appeal received from a trade unionist based in Nazareth urging trade unionists and civil rights supporters to express international solidarity with the unemployed Palestinian Workers based in Nazareth who are being denied the basic right to fight for jobs and bebefits. If you wish to express your support, please return me your endorsement with the endorsement coupon printed below. Thanks in advance JPB January 7, 2006 Appeal for international solidarity Denounce the attack against the headquarters of the Sawt el-Amel association On December 30, 2005, a meeting, organised by Sawt el-Amel and an action committee, brought together hundreds of unemployed workers outside the premises of the company in charge of implementing the Wisconsin programme in the Arab city of Nazareth. This gathering denounced the bitter reality of what implementing this programme means. While it was supposed to resolve the dramatic situation of thousands of unemployed people from Nazareth and find jobs for them, instead it is driving them into poverty. In the evening, the Sawt el-Amel headquarters was attacked with petrol bombs by people whose identity is unknown. The Wisconsin programme was launched in August, 2005 by former Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as part of his privatisation and dismantling of social services agenda. When he launched the programme, Netanyahu reaffirmed what had become the pet subject of his economic reformation plan: "From now on, no one will be able to escape from work and fraudulently receive unemployment benefits". An in-house document from the Ministry of Finance published this week is boasting that the Wisconsin programme has been "successful" beyond the ministry's expectations and has already reduced the cost of State expenses for unemployment benefits by 35 %. In the same official document it is written that 10 % of the unemployed have automatically lost their unemployment benefits because they didn't come forward and register, and the right to unemployment benefits was eliminated for 10% more people because they didn't meet the mandatory requirements. This is the way the Israeli government resolves the unemployment problem! Sawt el-Amel activists reject those figures and assert that, as far as they know, the facts are more serious than what is described in this official document and that thousands of families are driven into utter poverty by this programme. At the launching of the programme, Wehbe Badame, President of the Sawt el-Amel association, told a gathering of 500 unemployed outside the premises of the Wisconsin programme that "as long as the government does not invest money into creating jobs in Arab areas this programme is useless and dangerous. Indeed, this programme is aimed at denying the rights of the unemployed to unemployment benefits and it is forcing them into poverty. The proof is that the company which is in responsible for implementing the Wisconsin programme sends unemployed people to work in fictitious places that do not need them or to places where they are employed for wages that are much lower than the minimum wage". Sawt el-Amel also denounces the ambiguous attitude of the Nazareth local authorities (led by a coalition headed by the Democratic Front of the ICP) which participate in the programme and try to prevent Sawt el-Amel from campaigning against this programme among the population of the city. In recent months, the unemployed protest movement has grown and every Friday hundreds of unemployed gather outside the premises of the programme in Nazareth, at the appeal of Sawt el-Amel. Undoubtedly, the Ministry of Finance is worried by the extent of the unemployed protest movement, unseen in Israel and in the Arab population. It is all the more important that an international solidarity movement will be developed with the courageous and exemplary fight of the unemployed from Nazareth and their spokespersons of Sawt el-Amel at a moment that all the Arab workers in Israel are watching them. Remy Mendelzweig Member of the national council of "Irgun Hamorim" Teachers Union (Israel) Pers Cap We, the undersigned denounce the attack against the headquarters of the Sawt el-Amel association. Unemployed Palestinian workers must be recognised the right to fight for jobs and benefits Name: Country: Organisation: -- "I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living." -Frida Kahlo emma rosenthal is a disabled artist, writer, educator, activist and consultant, living in southern california. emma rosenthal po box 1664 baldwin park, ca 91706 [EMAIL PROTECTED] emma's web page: http://home.earthlink.net/~emmarosenthal emma's blog: In Bed With Frida Kahlo http://inbedwithfridakahlo.blogsource.com/ The writing empowerment project http://home.earthlink.net/~theweproject -educational and organizational consulting and dialogue. cafe intifada http://home.earthlink.net/~cafeintifada -art for social justice [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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