The betrayal by and of the Palestinian workers
There are so many aspects of the October 7 attacks that were horrific – but one element that can get lost in the focus on the more barbaric events involves the Palestinian workers who, prior to 10/7, were gainfully employed in Israel. Many of them (we don’t know how many, but a substantial number) acted as spies for Hamas while they were pretending to be friendly to the Israelis they would be helping to torture, murder, and rape.
The program was meant not only to help Palestinians economically, but to show goodwill and most of all to lay the groundwork for better relations between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians’ betrayal of all this goodwill was profound; one can hardly imagine a worse one. The resulting destruction of all trust the Israelis might have still retained up to 10/7 in the word of Palestinians and the potential goodwill of the ordinary Palestinian “man in the street” meant that it would be difficult or actually impossible for any such program or any such rapprochement again.
All of this came to mind again when I read this recently:
On the eve of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Israeli authorities had issued work permits to some 18,500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs. Israel was forced to revoke the work permits for security reasons after the October 7 atrocities carried out by Hamas and thousands of “ordinary” Palestinians.
This was particularly true in light of evidence that some of the workers had used their time in Israel to gather intelligence on the Israeli communities that were targeted on October 7. The work permits of another 80,000 Palestinians from the West Bank have also been suspended in the aftermath of the Hamas attack. Prior to the October 7 massacre, more than 170,000 Palestinians were working in Israel, constituting an important source of income for the Palestinian economy. …
Palestinian trade unions had said the reopening of the border between Israel and Gaza was a “positive step:” the workers had far higher earnings in Israel than in the Gaza Strip, where salaries are low and unemployment is rife. …
The Israeli goodwill gesture of expanding the number of Palestinian work permits came only days after Palestinians had rioted near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip and had attacked Israeli soldiers with stones, Molotov cocktails, and explosive devices. Palestinian workers were joyful over the Israel’s decision to overlook the riot.
Workers were quoted at the time as saying the riots had nothing to do with them – and perhaps, for some, that was the truth. Perhaps some really did just want to better themselves economically. But for too many of them, it was all a lie and a ruse.
More:
In 2022, then Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed that Israel was planning to increase the number of work permits for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip from 5,000 to 20,000. The pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported:
“[Israeli] Political authorities believe the gradual increase in the number of Palestinian workers will prompt Hamas to consider any escalation since it will take into account that the thriving labor movement is a major factor in supporting the economy.
“Workers bring to the [Gaza] enclave up to 90 million shekels [roughly USD $24 million] per month, in light of the difficult and deteriorating economic situation there.”
Looking back, it seemed to make a certain amount of sense. But the Israelis were naive, putting too much faith in the idea that all human beings are motivated to better themselves economically, and that such goals can overcome jihadi hatred. Not every worker had to be a jihadi to make the situation extremely dangerous; just a critical mass of them. And that requirement was fully met.
Well, here you have the consequences:
Ibrahim, a father of four, sat with friends in his living room in the Palestinian village of Hizme, just outside Jerusalem, to talk about the hardship of unemployment over the past eight months: “The Israeli government cannot wage war on every Palestinian as if we are all guilty [of Hamas’s crimes],” he said.
Sure they can, and they should. Was the US supposed to ferry some Germans over during WWII to work in the factories? I think not. The concept of “enemy” precludes it.
More:
Within hours of the onslaught, the Israeli government announced the suspension of work permits for about 150,000 West Bank Palestinians who had been commuting daily to work inside Israel, plus another 18,500 Palestinians from Gaza, leaving an economic hole on both sides of the border.
It is estimated that besides permit holders, an additional 50,000 West Bank laborers were sneaking through the border illegally each day before October 7.
Among those who found themselves unable to work in Israel, where salaries are considerably higher than in the West Bank, were around 80,000 Palestinians who used to work on Israeli construction sites, many of them highly specialized in sectors such as ironwork, flooring, formwork and plastering. …
Today, Ibrahim spends most of the time at home, gripped by uncertainty for his and his family’s future. He occasionally gets work in the West Bank, but it pays half what he used to make in Israel — about NIS 300 a day ($80).
The article goes on to say that the Israeli building and agricultural sectors have been hard hit.
And the following is telling, although it doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know:
Like Ibrahim, other Hizme residents agreed to speak with The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal for talking with the Israeli press. Their real names have been replaced.
The reprisal they’re worried about doesn’t come from Israel. It comes from Hamas and other Palestinians.
This is one of the reasons it’s hard to measure how large the “live and let live” Palestinian contingent is. It might be nearly non-existent, or it might be bigger than that. I very much doubt it approaches anything like a majority, although I also think it’s not zero.
But unfortunately it doesn’t matter – although it might matter in the future if Gaza is fully defeated and the re-education begins. The fewer who have to be de-cultified, the better.
But unless these people are presently numerous enough and powerful enough to overthrow the government and establish a new one with good relations with Israel, it doesn’t matter how many of them there are moderates about Israel. They are effectively impotent to change a thing. And Hamas and the other jihadis have sacrificed any moderates for the sake of perpetrating slaughter and mayhem on Israelis. But sacrificing Palestinians who aren’t sufficiently bloodthirsty – or even ones who are, through martyrdom – is part of Hamas’ game.
Israel is importing large numbers of foreign workers, to replace Palestinian workers. There is no longer any reason to continue supplying healthcare in Israeli hospitals, electricity, water or sewage treatment.
One thing that hits you about partisans of the Arabs on the West Bank and Gaza is that their point of departure is that none of the decisions made by the Arab bosses should have any untoward consequences for their public. (The worst among them pretend Israel was being provocative on 6 October just by existing).
A book I have, which I need to read again, is Palestine Betrayed by Efraim Karsh. So many decisions made by the Arab leadership in the run up to and the aftermath of the partition were against the actual best interests of the Arab populations. Even now, Israel knows that Fatah is only marginally less dangerous than Hamas. There have been terrorist incidents in the West Bank since Oct. 7, and a tunnel complex was attacked and destroyed the area.
The Arab Jew-hating cult is destroying Arabs.
following the row of links mostly from the new arab, it’s hard to determine who issued the permits,
Had to be some who were approached to spy and declined. What happened to them?
Impossible situation. Quick ‘Mr. Nineballs’ view—not meant for debate:
• Devil’s Advocate – was this a prisoner/guard > slave/master > dregs/elite situation where labor was exchanged for pittance? Domestic Servitude? Forced Criminality? Duress or coercion?
• Map – Ditto on the Impossible situation.
• Wars won – since when does winning land thru victory in War not count? Why were the Palestinians even allowed to stay!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
• What’s wrong w/ This Picture – 18,500 > 80,000 > 170,000 Palestinians working daily in Israel.
I mentioned giving the Palestinians the option to immediately flee Israel thru provided corridor/s into Lebanon and/or Syria not long ago, and caught heck from some REPs/Conservatives here. Israel has/had been providing corridors from cities to safety camps. That was either too mean or dangerous, according to those commenters here.
The other options I had suggested for the remaining Palestinians were – Stay and fight until you win or die OR stay and be a shield for Hamas until they win or you die.
Suggestion also mentioned that Gaza first, and then West Bank second. IMHO, those lands belong to Israel.
• Too Late – last 5-balls in a tight group: Cat has nine lives. Am not sure how many lives Israel had and/or has left, but like this tight group, that map is even tighter. Long time DEMs & REPs against forcing Palestinians out of Israel, and probably too late at this point. Lulled into such an impossible situation again—as if gas chambers long gone from memory. Start slaughtering or be slaughtered…
Pinhead Biden wants to have a negotiation with Hamas, never mind it is a federally designated terrorist group.
Let us not forget Hezbollah, which is daily firing several hundred explosive rockets into Israel from Lebanon and is said to have a stock of 10,000.
The problem is Israel is too small a country to be bordered by groups and nations which seek its obliteration. Northern Israel is quite depopulated because of its proximity to rocket-firing Muslims in Lebanon, who want to kill all Jews “from the [Jordan] river to the sea.”
Israel made a grave mistake in returning the war-trophy Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982, which it held from the Six Day War in 1967 . That would have made a great, new, defensible Israel.
Our Democrats have turned into anti-semites, anti-Israel, as has Dopey Joe. Pro- Hamas!
The only solution I see for Israel is to drop tactical, low-yield nukes into Lebanon, but that would have our globalist righteous Left screaming and yelling throughout the Western world so Israel cannot use them in its own defense, except maybe to drop them on Iran, with another leftist sceam. But the Lefts do not care that Iran is busily building nukes for its long-range rockets, which can reach Europe, not just Israel.
The most despairing fact about the entire conflict is that if Palestinians had ever agreed to live in peace with Israel, they would have been the biggest beneficiaries, not Israelis. Classic frog-and-scorpion stuff.
I’m reminded of something St-Exupery wrote, based on his experiences in North Africa:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/49911.html
“I’m reminded…”
Thanks very much for that link, David…
Related?
“NYC Jewish family pummeled at 5th-grade commencement by attendees shouting ‘Free Palestine,’ mom says”—
https://nypost.com/2024/06/23/us-news/nyc-jewish-family-pummeled-at-5th-grade-commencement-by-attendees-shouting-free-palestine-mom-says/
Lest one forget…there are always those ready to remind us…
“ But the Israelis were naive, putting too much faith in the idea that all human beings are motivated to better themselves economically, and that such goals can overcome jihadi hatred.”
Why I stopped voting Libertarian. Those who become, or celebrate suicide bombers cannot be motivated by economics. It’s what annoys me about Art Laffer, he just wants a good economic policy, ignoring the “culture war.” We generally have a good economy, but look what’s happening on college campuses. There is a need for a deeper meaning to life.
I cannot believe the wasted time with the above comments. These can best be described as pseudointellectual masturbation. A Muslim is a Muslim is a Muslim.
Well what do you really think Drcool#1?
Too cool for school.
well its more complicated then that, during the colonial period there were no farhuds in baghdad or cairo damascus is probably an exception, there was no great animosity toward the jews in the zanjak of nablus that included jerusalem till haj amin took power, thanks to the foolish british authorities, the indian office giving weapons to ibn saud was nearly as foolish,
al banna the founder of the brotherhood was the son of a naquib, as was ghailani, the persecutor of baghdad, it is the joining of political power to islam that seems to be the catalyst, Bernard Lewis as with Michael Doran seem to be too sympathetic to the Ottoman viewpoint, had the Sultan not fallen to the young turks,
would things have turned out different, there would likely not have been a Balfour declaration, but settlement would have proceeded on a smaller scale,regardless despite the farhud, there were no large scale persecutions till after 47, one might check my notes, on that score, was it the influence of Mawdudi in the subcontinent Rida in North Africa, as well as Al Banna
Very soon after Oct. 7, I remember reading that some people in the Israeli government were planning how to resume some work permits. This will be conveniently forgotten by most people who discuss this, but actually it’s the most important part of the whole situation. The agenda of powerful people in every Western government that certain things have to happen, no matter how ridiculous and destructive. There has to be a Palestinian state, there have to be work permits. The solution is to remove these people from society, and by these people I mean Israeli, American and European leaders who impose these absurdities on honest people.
well it’s much like how the dominoes lined up for september 11th, the Saudis had a privileged position because of the oil as well as the 1945 pact, some members of the istikbarat, foreign intelligence have distinctly anti American attitudes, some of the hijackers had done work in bosnia chechnya, and other places, so the passport offices were likely to give them a pass, one might say kamal adham based the service, along the lines of it’s close neighbor, with support personnel,the ones in Los Angeles, in the link I included in the open thread,osama bassnan, another bayoumi was the one who met with two of the hiiackers, interestingly they had cased the dc area, and yet were not among the teams that went to the pentagon, or were headed for the Capitol, question that come to mind, why was this tape withheld, and who else was supposed to see it, the likes of ziad jarrah who was on the fourth plane,
it is from omissions like these, that the denialists, took root, even though their premise was utterly wrong,
feral lunch lady:
I’ve done a great deal of reading about this, and I’ve never seen any report like you describe. Please provide a link.
miguel cervantes:
The problems began in Iraq in the 1930s. It was similar in Egypt. That was also the pattern elsewhere. My sense is that it was a combination of the growth of the Pan Arab movement, fear of Zionism, increasing fundamentalism among some Muslims, and the Nazi influence.
I think so, as well, ghailani was another that the brits treated with respect, unlike say the shia and sunni emerging majorities, peculiarly he and several of his ottoman trained associates, helped form the golden square that took power in 1941, why do I think peculiar because despite being the minority with all the power, they largely had a persecution complex as a result even under nuri al said, the shia largely swelled the heart of the communist parties, because they had been driven out of public life, battuti is who I think wrote a monograph on that,
the shia still had some influence, one of chalabi’s uncles was prime minister,
nasser seems to have fanned the flames in many places in lebanon, leading to the landings, in yemen, and syria, the Baath had a similar pattern of influence, they had sampled fascism in Europe and they liked what they tasted, Saddam’s uncle was part of the Golden Square militia, and his own commentary was a testament to that If memory serves,the Sinai pullout was part of the Camp David agreement, which was a ill considered concession in retrospect,
I was pondering that the Ayatollahs have been in charge in Iran, almost twice as long as the shah,45 years, the Authority has been in charge in the West Bank, longer that the idf had control of it, 30 years, when are they accountable for their choices,
I don’t think Muslims can ever be trusted in a civilized society. There are just too many “Sudden Jihad” incidents. The most egregious was, of course, Hassan the Fort Hood shooter. The guy is a psychiatrist ! and a citizen. Of course the feds were under Obama’s thumb but there was good evidence that he was under surveillance and ignored.
Time to play Compare and Contrast….
(thanks, once again, to Gatestone Institute…)
“The Palestinian Plan For ‘The Day After’ In Gaza: To Kill More Jews And Destroy Israel”—
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20725/palestinian-plan-gaza-day-after
“Biden Outraged Netanyahu Mentioned His Blocking Aid to Israel”—
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20727/biden-outraged-by-netanyahu
…The Truth being “Biden”‘s biggest nemesis…
(So of course anti-Bibi protests in Israel have ramped up significantly over the past several days—Jack Lew, take a bow!…for jus’ doin’ yer job with skill and determination….)
File under: If you don’t hate Netanyahu then you ain’t no JEW…
From the linked article:
Sounds very familiar. I don’t doubt that the money is more than most Gazans get, but curiously missing from the article is what it cost to employ Israelis in those positions. Maybe next time hire your own people and not your genocidal enemies, even if it costs you more… when you import people you import their pathologies.
But you MUST hire them…because…
– How else are you gonna show them AND THE WORLD that you want to improve their economic plight, their economic well-being, their economic future, their lives, the lives of their kids????
– How else are you gonna show them AND THE WORLD that you’re not such a bad dude after all????
– How else are you gonna give them SOMETHING TO LOSE(TM)—something that they’d think twice, thrice, four times, five, about losing before throwing it all out the window????
– How else are you gonna give them an INCENTIVE to work toward peace????
– How else are you gonna make “Biden” happy except DO WHAT “HE” DEMANDS; make “him” so happy, in fact, that “he” can Go ‘n CROW that the region hasn’t been soooooooo—caw-caw-caw—peaceful—caw, caw, caw—in over 20 years—the message of course(!) being, ‘Screw the (so-called) Abraham Accords, which gives the Palestinians NO HOPE at all; ANYTHING that that Orange-Haired S.O.B. Can Do “WE” Can DO BETTER—MUCH, MUCH BETTERRRRR…caw-caw-caw’ (IOW “TAKE THAT! YOU ORANGE-HAIRED BASTARD…and all a’ youse that support him.)????
So tell me true: how ya’ gonna do ALL THAT by hiring Israelis????
There is one example of Germans working in the US during the war. I have a friend whose father controlled a lot of land near Ruidoso, NM. They are Mescalero Apache. With all the young men away in the military, there was no one to help round up the cattle scattered in the valleys.
At nearby Fort Stanton, German merchant marine crews were interned. Not exactly prisoners, but restricted in movement. Her father approached these Germans: could any of them ride?
Well even those who couldn’t would lie and say yes, because participation in a cattle roundup will get drinks bought for you for decades. Plus, I’m sure they were bored. Given a few days of training, 18 greenhorn cowboys were born. They did the job, bringing all the cattle and calves to the summer pastures.
I’ve seen the picture of them. The Lincoln County Historical Society was able to identify all of them.
Niketas Choniates:
Do you really think Israelis are or were unaware of the pathologies – in particular, Jew-hatred – so common in Palestinian societies? They hired these people with the idea that economic improvement would help cause societal/cultural improvement. The theory turned out to be wrong, but that was the theory.
Methinks that your second sentence rather contradicts the first.
As for wrong theories, well, wishful thinking can do that….
(Of course it made—MAKES—SOOO much sense. It was—IS—so reasonable…But ONLY when/if one forgets, or denies—or wishes away—the enduring, implacable goal of one’s Partner in Peace(TM)…)
File under: “If you build it they will come….”(?)
Niketas Choniates,
It is my understanding that Israel has a labor shortage, thus all the foreign workers murdered by Gazans last October.
This I take as a curious coincidence, but as this thread has been developing, it just happens that I’ve been reading Brands’ biography of Franklin, and just now came across a passage therein which describes some of the atrocities in western Pennsylvania after the disaster of Braddock’s campaign:
This is mentioned in the context of a French officer’s having turned the tribes that had been recently loyal to the English against the latter.
While this narrative was set in the context of the wars between France and England over control of the Ohio Valley in the eighteenth century, it really does seem to me to map fairly well to some of what we have been talking about here concerning Gaza and southern Israel of late. Not exactly analogous, of course, but the parallels are striking, particularly in the cruelty of the respective raids.
@Chases Eagles:It is my understanding that Israel has a labor shortage…
i. e., hiring Israelis costs more than Israeli employers wish to pay. That’s what a “labor shortage” is, unless it’s for trades or professions where skills take years to acquire. But it wasn’t neurosurgery, it was tourism, agriculture, construction, just like here in the US.
@neo:Do you really think Israelis are or were unaware of the pathologies…
No, I have no doubt they were aware, but unless they were paying Gazans at parity with Israelis I’m afraid that there was probably a less noble economic motive also at work, and let’s hope the mistake is not made again.
@feral lunch lady:Very soon after Oct. 7, I remember reading that some people in the Israeli government were planning how to resume some work permits.
Closest thing I found to this was dated December 11, 2023:
Well, at least they weren’t thinking of letting Gazans back in but it’s hard to see how it’s better to let in West Bank Palestinians.
Ah, yes! The ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE for murdering, raping, disemboweling, incinerating, mutilating, kidnapping, torturing…men, women, children and infants.
Novel! Creative!! Imaginative! Different!
Deeep thinking outside the box!!!
I believe you got yerself an ECON textbook here…with a ready-made audience of millions upon millions of avid readers ….
Go for it!!!
I always felt it was suicidal to bring Arab workers into Israel and I was proven right. No good deed goes unpunished. I hope Israel in the future refuses to bring Palestinians into Israel to utilize the superb Israeli medical facilities.
I guess THE questions that might be asked are:
How many Gazans were working in Israel before January 2021…and to what extent did that number skyrocket from January 2021 onward.
And WHY?