GAZA: LABOR STRIKE CONTINUES (WHILE EXECUTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001913

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GOLDBERGER/LENTZ; PRM FOR
PRM/ANE; NSC FOR PASCUAL; TREASURY FOR AHERN;
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2013
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PTER EFIN PGOV KWBG
SUBJECT: GAZA: LABOR STRIKE CONTINUES (WHILE EXECUTIVE
FORCES TEACH KIDS)

REF: JERUSALEM 1697

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


1. (C) Summary: Public sector employee representatives said
that the labor strike in Gaza, which began in August, will
continue until the Hamas government halts its actions against
employees perceived to be opposed to Hamas rule. Sixty to
eighty percent of teachers are reportedly still participating
in the strike; participation among health sector workers is
somewhat lower. Hamas has fielded 4,000 replacement
teachers, including a number of Executive Force members.
Union leaders claim that Hamas is taking advantage of the
strike to reshape the health and education sectors to further
its political objectives. A UN mediation effort has
apparently failed. End summary.

Union leaders say the strike will continue...
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2. (C) Ramallah-based Secretary General of the Teachers'
Union Jamil Shihadeh told Econoff October 16 that the public
sector strike in Gaza will continue until Hamas halts its
discriminatory practices against employees - particularly in
the education and health sectors - who are perceived as
opposed to Hamas rule. He said that 80 percent of the
teachers on the PA payroll in Gaza and 65 percent of
employees in the health sector are abiding by the strike,
which has continued for seven weeks (reftel). (Note: WHO
contacts in Gaza estimate that health sector participation
rates are lower and the strike's impact is increasingly
focused on administrative offices, not health care providers.
End note.)

...while Executive Force members "teach" class...
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3. (C) Shihadeh claimed that most of the 4,000 replacement
teachers hired by Hamas in September are completely
unqualified and spend the day teaching children Hamas slogans
and Islamic doctrine. He said the new teachers have limited
education and many of them are members of the Hamas Executive
Forces. Shihadeh said that parents are shifting their
children from school to school in search of competent
teachers.

...and teachers spend the day in jail.
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4. (C) Union Of PA Employees Chairman Bassam Zakarneh (Fatah)
told Econoff on October 16 that Hamas is increasing its
pressure on striking workers, requiring those that do not
show up for work to spend the day (8:00 am to 2:00 pm) in
jail, or face arrest. (Hamas apparently forces male family
members to report on behalf of striking female workers.)
Zakarneh remarked that Hamas is taking advantage of the
strike to reshape the education and health care sectors in
Gaza to further its political objectives.


5. (C) UNSCO Robert Serry said privately to EconChief on
October 17 that a UN effort to end the strike has failed.
Serry noted that the UN had successfully gotten the health
workers and the Hamas run "Ministry of Health" in Gaza
together, but that an agreement to end the strike had broken
down over Hamas' insistence to "punish" those responsible for
organizing the strike. Serry said that he had the impression
Hamas in Gaza is becoming "more extreme" and that a
significant gap is opening up between the Hamas leadership in
the West Bank and that in Gaza.

Brief West Bank strike over
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6. (SBU) Shihadeh noted that West Bank teachers were on
strike October 15-16 over a contractual dispute with the PA
that had nothing to do with the Gaza strike. He said those
issues had been resolved following a meeting with the Prime
Minister's office and West Bank teachers were back at work on
October 18.
WALLES