Israeli Border Police Arrest 50 Palestinian Workers

6 September 2007

Nablus – Ma'an – Israeli border police arrested 50 Palestinian workers without Israeli work permits in the city of Jaffa in central Israel on Thursday.

The workers claim they were beaten and humiliated before they were taken to appear before Israeli courts. The penalty for working without a correct permit in Israel is usually a fine or a jail sentence.

Head of the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Shahir Sa'd, said that the Israeli authorities deprive the Palestinian workers of their right to work and provide for their families by not issuing work permits.

Palestinian workers are subjected to the worst treatment in the world when they are jailed in Israel on charge of working without permits, he added.

Sa'd called on international organisations and labour unions to put pressure on Israel to stop committing atrocities against Palestinian workers, and to adhere to the Geneva Convention which calls for the protection of civilians under occupation.