A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #359 - Return from the West Bank/ Interview (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In the West Bank, but also for Palestinians living in Israel, the 
situation deteriorated even before October 7, 2023. The genocidal war in 
Gaza, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has partially masked 
this intensified and large-scale ethnic cleansing. The project currently 
underway is that of Greater Israel, stretching from the sea to the 
Jordan River, with the complicity of the United States and the complicit 
silence of European countries, including France. The aim is, in effect, 
to expel all Palestinians from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.[1]

Verveine, you went to the West Bank with a delegation from the 
Solidaires trade union at the end of January 2026. Can you tell us about 
the context of your trip and who you met?

The Solidaires trade union has long been involved in solidarity with 
Palestine, for example in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) 
campaign, and has also forged direct links with independent Palestinian 
trade unions. Independent, meaning independent of the Palestinian 
Authority as well as, of course, of the Israeli occupation forces. We 
have never had any connection with the Histadrut, the Israeli trade 
union that, even before 1948, was dedicated to promoting "Jewish labor" 
in Palestine and continues to do so.

Several delegations have visited the West Bank in the past, and we 
decided to return knowing that union activists, as well as those working 
in associations and NGOs-some of which have been declared terrorist 
organizations by Israel-are in a difficult situation and are seeking 
concrete contact.

How is life organized for the population in the villages and camps, and 
what has changed since your last visit? Can they still work in Israel?

The situation has worsened considerably since our visit in 2019. To be 
precise: there were 170,000 Palestinians working in Israel before 
October 7th; now 10,000 have permits, and 30,000 work 
clandestinely.[2]Crossing the wall clandestinely involves very 
significant risks for people, primarily men; there are deaths, serious 
injuries, and imprisonments. The revocation of these permits represents 
a considerable loss for the local economy in the West Bank.

Furthermore, Israel now withholds 62% of the Palestinian Authority's 
budget, which consists of VAT revenue. This means that workers employed 
by the Palestinian Authority are not being paid in full. Teachers and 
postal workers, for example, work only three days out of five. This also 
means that children attend school only three days out of five, and that 
the Palestinian economy and society, already severely hampered by 
settlement activity, are operating at a reduced capacity. Added to this 
situation is the pressure Israel is exerting on international NGOs to 
force them to leave the country, resulting in further job losses, which 
compound the impact of their departure on humanitarian aid, support for 
economic and social projects, education, and healthcare.

The situation in the camps is extremely difficult because Israel, in its 
pursuit of total annexation of the West Bank, wants to eliminate them. 
These camps symbolically and concretely represent the spirit and 
enduring nature of resistance to the occupation and settlements. The 
camps in the northern West Bank are facing devastating attacks: military 
operations and the destruction of homes with bulldozers. This is also 
the meaning behind the Israeli-American attacks against UNRWA, the UN 
agency for Palestinian refugees since 1949, which is responsible for 
schools for children up to age nine and healthcare centers in the camps. 
Living conditions in these camps, which are veritable cities, are 
therefore severely threatened. This is also the case for the people who 
contribute to their social life: community committees, youth center 
leaders, and those involved in cultural and sports clubs, who are 
currently victims of particularly harsh repression and imprisonment.

We have a context where people are refugees once, twice, or more. Those 
expelled from the camps must take refuge in villages, with relatives, or 
in schools. One form of solidarity practiced by independent unions is 
providing material support in the form of food baskets to their 
unemployed members and also to refugees in the camps.

Settlers are becoming increasingly aggressive and offensive in their 
attempts to seize land, with the support of the army and the government. 
Have you witnessed these abuses?

We did not witness direct operations by settlers and the army because 
our interviewees are in cities and areas that are currently less 
affected, but that doesn't mean they aren't. Even Ramallah is regularly 
targeted by incursions. But we saw the extent of the Israeli presence in 
Jerusalem and Hebron, the settlements under construction on the hills 
and along the roads leading to the northern West Bank. Settlers plant 
Israeli flags whenever they can. They are marking their territory. 
Furthermore, the proliferation of checkpoints and mobile roadblocks 
makes life easier for settlers, since many roads are blocked before 9:00 
a.m. and after 4:00 p.m. to allow settlers to get to work. Palestinians 
have to wait, arrive several hours late, or not arrive at all, at the 
obvious risk of losing their jobs.

There are also the archaeological sites. Archaeology is a weapon against 
Palestinians in the West Bank, as new measures have recently been 
enacted to allow the Israeli state to appropriate the land if 
excavations are permitted.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been committing genocide in 
Gaza. But how should we describe what is happening in the West Bank and 
East Jerusalem?

Our interlocutors, with whom we spoke in English, used the term "ongoing 
Nakba." It's a widely used term. It means that the Nakba, the 
"catastrophe" of the expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians between 1948 and 
1949, has not ended. An organization we met called Badil documents this 
precisely, not only by tracking the number of refugees but also by 
showing all the methods of expulsion: the destruction of villages and 
individual homes, the deprivation of property rights and residency 
rights... This is also what the "Decolonizer" center in Israel was doing 
with a map showing villages destroyed at different times, in successive 
waves since 1948. Of course, the situation has deteriorated considerably 
since October 7th; for example, the number of housing units authorized 
for construction by Israel has quadrupled between 2017 and 2022 and is 
projected to increase by 2025[3]. Israel has an opportunistic approach, 
meaning that its leaders throughout history and across all governments 
have seized opportunities to expand settlements. And we can clearly 
sense today the further step that has been taken, the idea also being to 
completely break free from the Oslo Accords, whatever one may think of them.

What bonds of solidarity remain between Gaza and the West Bank? How are 
the people we met organizing themselves? Is resistance possible? Is 
there a message of hope?

Many organizations existed and still exist in these two parts of 
Palestine. Obviously, the genocide and the massive destruction of Gazan 
society have made the existence of organizations in Gaza difficult. But 
links remain with the oldest and most established organizations: this is 
the case with the Palestinian Journalists' Union (PJS), the Palestinian 
Farmers' Union (UAWC), and the Workers' Rights Council (DWRC), and 
undoubtedly others as well. The Palestinians we met do not speak of hope 
in the sense of a path or paths that would allow us to consider 
political solutions. Their hope is that solidarity from 
abroad-mobilizations in the United States, for example, and the BDS 
movement-might one day influence the situation. There is more than just 
distrust of Western leaders; there is genuine anger and a feeling of 
abandonment. Faced with this, the demand for solidarity from civil 
society, unions, and associations is immense.

We must also remember that there was Covid before, and all of this 
weighs heavily on the feeling of isolation. But despair, isolation, and 
anger do not mean giving up. "This is our land" is a recurring theme.
Upon returning, we want to share their experiences but also to build 
strong links between professional unions at the sectoral level, as has 
been requested of us and as already exists, for example, between the 
postal workers' union and Sud PTT. We want to encourage delegations of 
all kinds to go back there. They need to see people, to feel tangible 
support.

Notes
[1]*The notes, introduction, and sidebar are by the Caen Journal Commission*

[2]Palestinian workers have been replaced by people from the 
Philippines, Sri Lanka, or Thailand.

[3]See Jean Stern's article on this subject in Orient XXI.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4689
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en