In light of post-9-11 America’s desire to better understand the Middle East conflict, specifically the issue of Israel and Palestine, the College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) invited Hasan Barghouthi, director of the Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center, to give a lecture on the condition of Palestinian labor.

The forum began with a few words from Kevin Murray of Grassroots International, a non-profit organization that aims to “promote global justice through partnerships with social change organizations,” and is the sponsor for Mr. Barghouthi’s lecture tour.

Hasan Barghouthi is a long-time Palestinian activist in the field of social and workers’ rights. He is well known in Palestine for his many years of struggle as a trade unionist, for which he was arrested by Israeli forces and was placed under house arrest for several years. In pursuit of his vision of peace between Palestinians and Israelis and for democratic values within Palestinian society, he helped found the Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center (DWRC) in Palestine in 1993. Hasan Barghouthi remains an active participant in the fight against the negative consequences of globalization and the promotion of the rights of workers worldwide.

Since 1993, the DWRC has been at the forefront of the fledgling Palestinian labor rights movement, working to protect the rights of Palestinian workers and build an independent labor movement in Palestine through activism and research.

Barghouthi began his speech by explaining that before 1967, 78% of Palestinian workers depended on farming for income, but that year saw the construction of the first Israeli settlement, of which 410 now exist. All of these settlements have been built on land confiscated from Palestinian farmers and landowners.

In 1973, due to rising unemployment amongst the Palestinians, the Ministry of Labor in Israel decided to cheaply recruit Palestinians as “daily wage workers.”

Barghouthi illustrated through comparison the awful fate of Palestinian workers. Israeli minimum wage rates do not apply to them and they receive only 3 types of benefits, compared to 13 granted to Israeli citizens. Palestinians get around 2% of their wages if unemployed whereas Israeli’s get 75%. Despite this, Palestinians get taxed the same 13% for social services as Israelis.

Barghouthi explained that some Palestinians wake up at 2:30am to catch a bus to work. He said, “They work 15-16 hours a day under a great deal of tension and concern.” and that, “The last 13 years have seen a lot of attacks on Palestinian workers.”

Even beyond the harsh working conditions, he outlined injustices like March 29th, 1993 when “Israel closed its border to 200,000 Palestinian workers, sending them all home” and that “today there is more than $3 million frozen by the Defense Ministry owed to Palestinians.” Today, no Palestinians work in Israel. Unemployment has risen to 44.7% and 66.5% of Palestine lives below the poverty line.

He talked about international civic mission groups that are fighting to defend Palestinian olive trees, relaying that, “during the last 2 years the Israelis have uprooted more than 34,600 trees, bulldozed 14,000 square meters of land, and left 33,600 houses uninhabitable.” Barghouthi explained that “200,000 people have been directly affected in Palestine’s labor class, and more than 2000 have died in the last 2 years, 35.6% of whom were children.” All this from a population of only 3.5 million.

And the situation worsens. Palestinian students are often unable to reach their universities. Barghouthi said, “The ones that do make it risk being shot at on their way home. Two hundred schools have been taken over and converted into military camps for Israeli forces.”

He discussed Nablus, which has been under curfew for 120 days. “Residents have 2hrs per week to go outside to get food for their kids.”

Barghouthi said, “Palestinians are being treated worse than animals. Just imagine yourself at an Israeli checkpoint, being asked to take all of your clothes and crawl on your hands and feet, in front of your kids. How can your family trust you to protect them after that?”

Barghouthi concluded by appealing to the audience to feel responsible, because September 11 shows that America’s foreign policy affects them directly.

He noted, “Since 1948 no UN resolutions has been respected by Israel” and said, “The media shows Palestinians as terrorists but never the actions of Israeli military forces.”

He asserts, “The only way to bring peace and security for both people is to put an end to the occupation. I don’t believe any human being is happy to see children die. Today we have time, tomorrow will be too late. Put an end to the occupation”