Israeli police arrest hundreds of Palestinian workers inside Israel

Thursday November 15, 2007 06:28 by IMEMC Staff

Haider Ibrahim, Secretary general of the Palestinian Workers' Union, stated that the Israeli police have arrested 270 Palestinian workers inside Israel this month.  The arrests took place in several raids in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jaffa.

Archive Photo

The police claimed that the Palestinians captured in the raids do not have the proper work permits to work inside Israel.  Ibrahim added that Israeli border guards, police units, security personnel and military police took part in the raids. 

The police transferred the arrestees to interrogation centers in Haifa, al-Afoula and al-Jalama.  Twenty of those arrested, including five women, were sentenced to parole and forced to pay excessive fines.

Ibrahim also stated that these arrest raids are part of the Israeli policies to starve, close off and attack the Palestinian residents of the West Bank whose only crime is seeking work in order to feed their families in the midst of a collapsed Palestinian economy.

He added that Israeli authorities continually claim that they are easing the restrictions on the Palestinian people, but the reality on the ground shows the opposite: Israeli authorities refuse to issue work permits to thousands of workers who are authorized to work inside Israel.

Ibrahim demanded that the International Labor Organization work to expose the Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian workers.

Translated by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC 

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