Summary
The nickname Israelis gave to the gathering places, especially in the big cities, where after 1967 Palestinian day labourers congregated in the early morning hours waiting for Israeli contractors to drive by and collect workers for the day — paid for a single day, with no guarantees and no social benefits — a form of exploitation mostly dismantled since the First Intifada by closures and the restrictive permit policy (Exploitation of Palestinian Labour in Contemporary Zionist Colonialism, PDF p.6 / printed p.129, note 6).
Details
- Those who were picked up were those judged by the contractors to be young, fit and hard-working; those who were not picked up had to return home empty-handed, after wasting half a day (PDF p.6).
- Hever: the nickname was perhaps an indication of the unease Israelis felt at the abuse of human beings happening under their noses (PDF p.6).
- With closures and permits, Palestinian workers no longer have access to a safe place to gather, and this particular form of exploitation has been nearly, though not entirely, eliminated (PDF p.6).
- Source as cited: George T. Abed, The Palestinian Economy: Studies in Development Under Prolonged Occupation (Routledge, 1988) (note 6).
Related pages
Exploitation of Palestinian Labour in Contemporary Zionist Colonialism, Closure system, First Intifada