Palestinian worker trampled at crossing remembered as a martyr

[Herschel]

Trampled to death in a crush of laborers trying to get to work in Israel, Muhammad al-Sheikh was honored here on Tuesday as a different kind of martyr of the Palestinian cause, killed on his way to earn his daily bread.

Memorial posters carried a picture of al-Sheikh against a backdrop of the gold-covered Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem, proclaiming him a hero who had lost his life at the "crossing of death" into Israel.

Al-Sheikh, 41, died on Monday at the Erez Crossing, a fortified border point at the northern edge of the Gaza Strip where thousands of Palestinian laborers gather in the early morning hours to go through security checks before traveling to menial jobs in Israel.

cut

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/7975443.htm

Trampled to death by his own, yet a martyr. We should not forget the larger picture - Israel providing jobs to these people.

[Forkboy]

1. Slaves were provided jobs too

[Herschel]

2. Explain yourself

These people are not slaves. These are jobs provided, for which there should be gratitude.

[Forkboy]

3. I have nothing to explain

[Herschel]

4. I am puzzled

as to why you mentioned slaves.

[Jim Sagle]

5. Then I guess I'll remain unenlightened as to why you called them slaves.

[Noon_Blue_Apples]

7. if that was indeed stated, but it wasn't

so you will just have to remain 'unenlightened'

Bill

[Forkboy]

9. Yup

[Noon_Blue_Apples]

8. Explain yourself

These are cheap labour provided, for which there should be gratitude.

[Djinn]

11. I would imagine the point Herschel

is perhaps that TWO people get a benefit from a job being created...the person who cleans houses and the person who WANTS their house cleaned.

Expecting people to be "grateful" for work is a well held belief amongst the other side of politics doesn't usually get an airing here - is the boss "grateful" he found an employee?

And without Palestinian low paid low skilled labor Israel would be up shit creek without a lav brush.

[Herschel]

12. Begging your pardon

My reference was not to American employers and employees. It was toward Israel providing jobs and entry to Palestinians, which has at times resulted in homicide bombings.

[Noon_Blue_Apples]

6. conversely

We should not forget the larger picture - Palestinians providing cheap labour to 'these people'.

B

[Comadreja]

10. Apartheid Quote

"Whether a Palestinian state actually emerges from the Oslo process or Israel’s occupation becomes permanent, the essential elements of apartheid – exclusivity, inequality, separation, control, dependency, violations of human rights and suffering – are likely to define the relationship between Israel and the Occupied Territories/Palestine."
- Jeff Halper (Israeli academic)

"The delegation’s observations confirm the oppressive apartheid-like conditions under which Palestinians residing in both Israel and the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem are living… Palestinian citizens in Israel face nearly identical discriminatory land planning and Jewish settlement policies, separate rights and privileges between Jews and Palestinians, and have been subjected to comparable excessive use of force by Israeli security forces… it became apparent to members of the delegation that we needed to view Israel’s relationship to Palestinians living within Israel through the same lens of apartheid and control as Israel’s relationship to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories… the four million Palestinians living under Israeli control – either through military occupation or as citizens – are being subjected to apartheid and institutionalized discrimination by Israel."
- National Lawyers Guild ("NLG Middle East Delegation Report")