GAZA: HIGH PARTICIPATION RATES IN PUBLIC SECTOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001644

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2013
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PTER EFIN PGOV KWBG
SUBJECT: GAZA: HIGH PARTICIPATION RATES IN PUBLIC SECTOR
STRIKE

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: The Gaza public sector labor strike that
began on August 30 has been extended to at least September 9.
Participation rates have been high - an estimated 90 percent
among teachers and 50 percent among health care workers. PA
officials and labor leaders told Econoffs that Gaza's public
sector employees are unhappy with Hamas and its
discriminatory policies against non-Hamas affiliated workers.
PA contacts said that hundreds of teachers and health care
workers have been jailed or forced to work since the strike
began August 30. End summary.

90 percent of Gaza teachers on strike;
600 jailed for "losing their religion"
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2. (C) Secretary General of the PA Teachers' Union Jamil
Shihadah told Econoff on September 3 that he expects the
labor strike to continue for "many weeks," despite his
office's recent press release stating that it may end
September 9. He said that 90 percent of Gaza's 10,000 public
sector teachers are participating fully in the strike, which
began August 30. The teachers' union is protesting Hamas's
violent and discriminatory policies against
non-Hamas-affiliated teachers and demanding an official
apology from Hamas, according to Shihadah. He said that
Hamas has arrested at least 600 teachers who went on strike
in the last week, accusing them of "losing their religion"
and therefore no longer being qualified to teach Muslim
children. Shihadeh underscored that the high participation
rate among teachers is evidence of the public's growing
discontent with Hamas, as at least one-third of teachers have
historically been Hamas supporters.

Hoping to expose Hamas as a Gaza minority
--------------


3. (C) Shihadah stated that "the media conveys the idea that
Hamas is the majority in Gaza, but this strike will prove
that to be false," adding that "Hamas's goal of Gaza as an
Islamic emirate and an example for the whole world" is being
undermined by the strike. (Note: Shihadeh noted that 95
percent of the teachers in Gaza receive their monthly
salaries from the PA, while the remaining five percent, most
of whom were appointed by Hamas to top administrative duties
since the June 2007 takeover, are on the Hamas payroll. End
note.)

PA claims no role in the strike;
50 percent of health care workers participate
--------------


4. (C) PA Deputy Minister of Health Anan Masri told Econoff
on September 3 that around 50 percent of the nearly 7,000
"ministry of health" employees in Gaza continue to
participate in the strike. Masri underscored that the PA had
no role in the strike. He speculated that those involved in
the strike want to end Hamas's mistreatment of health care
professionals, many of whom have been replaced with Hamas
appointees and demoted in the bureaucracy since the Hamas
takeover in June 2007.


5. (C) PA Prime Minister Advisor on Budget and Finance
Affairs Karim Nashashibi told Econoff on September 3 that
"teachers will be paid by the PA whether or not they strike."
He implied that all other striking public sector workers
would continue to receive salaries, adding that the PA has
not pressured any employee to participate in the Gaza strike.

Hamas gunmen force doctors to work
--------------


6. (C) WHO Gaza Director Mahmoud Daher confirmed to Econoff
on September 3 that nearly 50 percent of Gaza's public sector
health care personnel have been on strike since August 30.
Daher said that numerous non-Hamas-affiliated doctors have
been relocated in recent months in order to make room for
Hamas's hand-picked appointees and that these actions were
the principal causes of the strike. He said Hamas security
forces have forced hundreds of striking doctors to report for
duty at hospitals and/or clinics, jailing those who refuse.
Health sector strike organizers announced on September 2 that
the strike would continue to September 9, in coordination
with the teachers strike.


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7. (C) Daher said that the strike's impact on the Gaza
health care sector has been significant, as many Gazans are
now looking to NGO and private hospitals for immediate health
care needs. He said that doctors and nurses not
participating in the strike are working 15-20 hour days
because of the staffing shortages. (Note: Daher said that of
the estimated 7,000 employees of Gaza's public health sector,
around 85 percent receive their salaries from the PA, while
the remaining 15 percent, most of whom were appointed to top
management positions by Hamas in the last year, are on the
Hamas payroll. End note.)

WALLES