International Workers’ Day: On the right to earn a living with dignity
Published:
1 May 2013
Palestinian workers cross the Qalqiliya checkpoint into Israel, 22 Nov. 2011. Photo: Oren Ziv, activestills.org
International Workers’ Day, marked on 1 May, commemorates the historic struggle for the basic right to an eight-hour limit to the workday. More than a century after that goal was achieved, Palestinian workers must still strive for the very right to earn a living without risking their lives, for the opportunity to support their families and for those self-same basic workers’ rights of minimum wage and a limit to the number of hours in a workday. Under occupation, Palestinians are unable to realize these basic labor rights.
In the nearly 46 years of military rule, Israeli authorities have not promoted the development of a stable, independent Palestinian economy. Consequently, many Palestinians try to obtain permits to work in Israel, yet most are denied this chance due to quotas and a complex bureaucracy.
The procedure for obtaining a work permit has a fundamental catch: Israel requires applicants to secure an employer within Israel before applying for a permit. Yet, it is extremely difficult to do so without actually entering Israel – which is illegal without a permit. Palestinians who do manage to overcome this obstacle must then meet further criteria that are arbitrary and oftentimes vague. Permits are issued based on age limits that vary according to occupation, and many young men are not even allowed to apply for a permit. As a result, in order to support their families, many Palestinians have no choice but to work in Israel without a permit, despite the attendant risks.
In 2011, approximately 30,000 Palestinians with work permits were employed in Israel. Many others worked in Israel without permits. Various estimates of this number ranged from several thousand to 30,000 such workers.
in full: http://www.btselem.org/workers/20130501%D6%B9_international_workers_day
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they had better just boot strap themselves and stop expecting Israel to do it for them
or at least that's what were told in these parts 
