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Session Details
Guest Name Ahmed Al-Qutb, Secretary General of the Palestinian Association of General Unions for Services & Productive Institutions 
Subject Under Siege: Jobless Palestinians Can't Mark Labor Day
Date Monday,May 1 ,2006
Time Makkah
From
... 12:00...To... 20:00
GMT
From
... 09:00...To...17:00
 
Name
Editor    - 
Profession
Answer Dear visitors,

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Name
Ahmad Izzat    - Pakistan
Profession
Question

What is the unemployment rate in Palestine ?? Any other related statistics ??


Answer
The unemployment rate in the West Bank has reached about 20.3% percent and 30.3% in Gaza. This rate varies from time to time due to the security conditions. For example, during closures, this rate can very easily jump to far higher tan that.

The number of the unemployed on the West Bank and Gaza had reached more than 200000 according to the central statistic committee in Palestine. The number of the people listed as unemployed at the Labor Ministry more than 400000. The poverty rate has reached 52% knowing that the number of laborers in the Palestinian territories 633000, 450000 on the West Bank, 180000 in the Gaza Strip.

The unemployment rate faces all countries, including the developed countries. What makes the Palestinian unemployment rate unique is that it is highly influenced by the continuing military operations and other measures against them.


 
Name
Alex    - Jordan
Profession
Question
How do you evaluate the general condition of the labor unions in Palestine ??

Answer

The labor unions in Palestine had a prominent role in alleviating the pains and help Palestinian workers. However, there are a number of labor unions in Palestine which means the division of our resources. We as a union had called every occasion we had to unite the labor unions so as to be an effective voice and to be able to represent our members and fight for their rights more effectively.

We had invited the Labor Ministry to initiate a labor union laws that seeks to unite all unions into one.We hope that the legislature will adopt laws that will unite all unions into one.
 
Name
Umar    - 
Profession
Question
I would like to buy authentic Palestinian-made products to increase employment for Palestinians. What categories of products and what brand names can Muslims purchase in the West that will increase employment for Palestinians?

Answer
We in Palestine produce many products, mainly agricultural products, but due tio the continuing Israeli seizures, the great majority of our products are being destroyed at Israeli checkpoints because most of these products go bad, expires while waiting for clearance to leave for their destinations. As you can see, we are producing but the vast majority of our products are being wasted.
One thing you can do, though, and that is to insist when going to your local store, ethnic or middle eastern that what you buy is coming from Palestine. We can talk about countless instances of good products being wasted at Israeli check points, we can also talk of thousands of instances of our factories, our agricultural fields, our olive trees being uprooted by the Israelis.

We thank you and hope you will be able to find what you are looking for.

 
Name
Kim    - Iceland
Profession
Question
What programs do you have, if any, as labor unions to limit the unemployment rate in Palestine ??


Answer
We refer you to the earlier questions for the answer. Again, we do help our members in cooperation with government and the private sector. Our resources are scarce but we do all we can to help our workers.

 
Name
John Williams    - United States
Profession
Question
What role do you play as a Labor Union in Palestine ??
Answer
In Palestine, we do have more than labor union. However, I will be speaking for our Union.

In general, the unemployment in Palestine is affecting all unions. However, our union does have programs and plans to alleviate the bitter conditions we live in which requires the cooperation and collaboration of all governmental and private entities to resolve our problems. However, we have done all we could to produce some modest solutions through raising the skills of the Palestinian worker from a professional standpoint through one of our programs which we initiated that concentrates on honing the skills of the Palestinian worker by providing professional courses and seminars that are needed in the Palestinian sectors . We have indeed employed new workers in new jobs created in cooperation with the local institutions and some other International unions, we believe that to feed a man fish, you will give him food for one day, but if you teach him how to fish, you will feed him for life.

We also help our workers in cooperation with local and international organizations through providing work programs, like olive picking, which benefited more than 1400 workers. We also sent people outside the country for treatment that could not receive such treatment in Palestine.

Our union has provided our members two types of insurance, a free one though the government and the other is private one through our union.

Our union has also helped support our members psychologically during the intifada years through mass meetings which aimed to entertain the laborer and his/her family to alleviate some of the pressures which many laborers suffer from.

We also have programs to honor the retired members through providing them certificates of achievements. We also helped educate & support our members through our own newsletters, seminars, etc.

Additionally, we reached to our members through the mass media by which we seeked to educate the laborers about their rights and responsibilities. We have also started a web site which deals with labor issues www.alnaqaba.org.

We have also employed as much of people as we can in cooperation with local institutions.

 
Name
doaa    - France
Profession
Question
Welcome
Do for you that she clarifies for me you by your attribute concerned with the workers affairs, how is possible to more than 400 thousand workers they lack the work that it finds an alternative solution for them ¿

Answer
If the question is what can we do to help our 400000 unemployed workers, I believe we answered this question previously.
In general, the unemployment in Palestine is affecting all unions. However, our union does have programs and plans to alleviate the bitter conditions we live in which requires the cooperation and collaboration of all governmental and private entities to resolve our problems. However, we have done all we could to produce some modest solutions through raising the skills of the Palestinian worker from a professional standpoint through one of our programs which we initiated that concentrates on honing the skills of the Palestinian worker by providing professional courses and seminars that are needed in the Palestinian sectors . We have indeed employed new workers in new jobs created in cooperation with the local institutions and some other International unions, we believe that to feed a man fish, you will give him food for one day, but if you teach him how to fish, you will feed him for life.

We also help our workers in cooperation with local and international organizations through providing work programs, like olive picking, which benefited more than 1400 workers. We also sent people outside the country for treatment that could not receive such treatment in Palestine.

Our union has provided our members two types of insurance, a free one though the government and the other is private one through our union.

Our union has also helped support our members psychologically during the intifada years through mass meetings which aimed to entertain the laborer and his/her family to alleviate some of the pressures which many laborers suffer from.

We also have programs to honor the retired members through providing them certificates of achievements. We also helped educate & support our members through our own newsletters, seminars, etc.

Additionally, we reached to our members through the mass media by which we seeked to educate the laborers about their rights and responsibilities. We have also started a web site which deals with labor issues www.alnaqaba.org.

We have also employed as much of people as we can in cooperation with local institutions.
 
Name
Ahmad    - United Kingdom
Profession Student
Question
As-salam wa'al'la'kum.

With the palestinian Authority not receiving its aid from western doners, how do you see the future of the palestinian people?, will another intifida happen, worse than any other prevoiusly?.

Thank you
Answer
Initially we refuse all forms pressures exerted on the Palestinian people and its the democratically elected government, having said that, we as labor unions that represents a large sector of the Palestinian people, the laborers, we fully support our freely elected government and say to it, move ahead, guarded by the Almighty Allah and we are with you despite closures and everything else, sharing everything good or bad, and that we will never bow to any pressure. We also say to these countries that are imposing outside pressures, in addition to the local closures, where is you so-called democracy that you never cease to preach to the whole world. We tell them that the Palestinian people will persist and be patient and continue to support its freely elected government.

As to the second question, I believe that should the current conditions persist or worsen, that the Palestinian people will go back to square one, meaning that the Palestinian people will defend itself with all means necessary and/or available.


 
Name
Naheed    - United States
Profession
Question
As-salam alaykum
Can i ask you a question not related to the topic please? if yes then my question is :
I have questions about praying, what am i suppose to pray? can we add stuff to the
basic prayer...i still don't know why we could do that..Why is that we
are allowed to add prayers...I have a book my uncle gave me which has
ways to pray (and alot of prayers which i could do during
namaz, like duas i could say)...Most of them say that Muhammad (pbuh) used to pray like this or someone
else prayed like that and Muhammad (pbuh) said that and we should pray this and thats good etc etc..
I was thinking if we could trust it even if it is not in quran? I am so
confused about that... please help me... Thank You


Answer

Again, I thank you for contacting us, however, because we are discussing maters that relate to Workers Unions in Palestine, we refer you to the Fatwa section at Islamonline or any other sites. We can also refer you to your local Islamic Center. I think they are better qualified to answer your question knowing the book you are talking about as we are not in any position to comment on a book that we do not have in our hands.

 
Name
sabreen    - Saudi Arabia
Profession
Question
Concerning the services that they advanced to the workers do she fulfill their needs and their purposes or that they prepare assisting factors and is not main?

Answer

If I understood your question correctly, we had hoped that we never had occupation. We had hoped that there were never assistance from anyone. We had hoped that we are a productive people through our agricultural and other products, but unfortunately, this is our conditions.

 
Name
Djilali    - United States
Profession
Question
What is the general situation of the palestian workers with the new governement (Hamas)?



Answer

The conditions of the Palestinian worker has always been miserable in the past. Closures, incursions, arrests, beatings, etc. has always made his conditions miserable, and it is continuing more so now that the Israelis are punishing the Palestinians for electing Hamas, we can only hope that their conditions will improve with the elimination of occupation.

 
Name
Fawad    - 
Profession
Question

How come muslims don't unite. I mean all the scholars and influential people get together and collect money for palestenians. Where is the Muslim unity?
Answer

We hope that Muslims in all the world will unite. We join you in this wish, however, there are some private organizations that are providing assistance to the Palestinian people. We hope that many other Muslim organizations will follow their example and provide all help to help alleviate our dependence on foreign aid.

 
Name
tasneem    - Palestine
Profession
Question
The blockade on the nation increases every day, then do if what aids introduced to you in an individual way from western countries you will accept them ¿ the government Woutgaoza " .

Answer
We have always received aid individually in the past. However, we prefer if aid is channeled through our freely elected government. For the first time we can say that we have a government that we can trust to honestly distribute aid to people equally.
Having said that, we have no objection to receiving such aid individually, but we prefer it going thorough the government.


 
Name
Josiah    - United States
Profession Student
Question
How do you hope to make the Palestinian economy more viable? How do you plan to diversify?
Answer

I believe we have answered this question earlier, however, I will say this : Ending occupation is our number one priority, viable economy and occupation can not co exist together. Israel have been and is still continuing to decimate whatever is left of our economy. They want a totally independent economy. Once occupation ends, then we can talk about controlling ports of entry, investment, sharing information technology, etc. etc.

 
Name
mona ibrahim    - Qatar
Profession
Question
Did she present punching the Arab countries aids ¿ and specifically two Qatar countries ¿ and if they did not present why not they headed the horns of the calling by the call for help of them ?




Answer
Could you please rephrase your question, I am not sure I understand what you mean. Write it in Arabic if you want.


 
Name
Mohammed Saber    - Belgium
Profession
Question
How the Israeli siege affect the Palestinian economy and in this misery that palestinain ex- workers live in, what is the solution in your view ?



Answer
Initially the Palestinian economy is totally dependant on the Israel. This is due to the Oslo agreements signed by the previous government. First, we are unable to export to the outside world. Our products, mostly agricultural sits at Israeli ports for months. Almost always expiring while waiting for clearance to leave Israeli ports. As you might have noticed, this is deliberate to decimate the Palestinian economy.
To add an insult to the injury, meanwhile, Israeli products are reaching our territories in record times, sometimes hours.

Add this to the new wave of imports from cheap labor countries like China, and you have a formula for disaster. And that is exactly the conditions our laborers are living under.

In our view, having our own free ports is a first step. Stopping the continuing Israeli, almost daily incursions and destruction of Palestinian private sector, factories, institutions, is a second step.
Once we get to that point we can then talk about being independent from Israeli economy, we can then talk about making progress, but until and unless this point, it is hopeless.



 
Name
rais ahmad    - India
Profession selfemployed
Question
Asslamualaikum:
First of all i want to thank and pray to Almighty to keep you all happy and fill your hearts with the noor of Iman for your all good deeds.
Question:
I came to watch different videos in which a human being was beheaded. Most recent case that happened 2 days back was Narainan from India was beheaded because of this reason that he was working there.I want Islamic point View in this regard.
Thanks
Asslamualaikum W.M.W:


Answer
We thank for your good will, however, since we are labor unions and this session in concerned with issues that pertain to Palestinian laborers. We refer your questions to Alfatwa corner in this site or other fatwa related sites. Again thank you and hope you will find the answers you are looking for.

 

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