Palestinian Women

 

Palestinian Women in the Labor Market[1]

Determinants and Indicators

(Part II)

 

Adel Samara

 

 

 

Indictors

 

A recently published report by PCBS on the labor force[2] stated that “[…] women’s participation in labor market reached 40.0% in the pre 1967 era, but continuously declined after that, to re-increase in the PA era following 1994”.

 

In fact, the Report did not refer to the source of these figures and it did not identify the sectors where women labor is concentrated. While the Report indicated that female’s percentage in schools is higher than the males, and their dropout rate is less than that of the males[3] and their academic achievements are better as well, their participation in the labor market is still low”. (P 97) 

My comment here is that the Report failed to consider that much of female labor in the period pre 1967 was in agriculture which is the sector that has deteriorated the most under occupation as it is mentioned in several places in this paper.

 

To establish a link between the determinants and the indicators, we must remember that from a cultural-patriarchal point of view, it is not a condition that women education is an investment that would contribute to their employment!

 

 Moreover, while many Israeli and western liberal economists pretend that ZAR occupation had developed WBG and it is a ‘democratic’ settler-colonial occupation, facts on the ground show just the opposite especially in the case of women. The West Bank was part of Jordan pre 1967. Female participation in labor market in Jordan today is 25.4% while it is only 15.7% in the WBG (Report 97). This confirms the negative role of the settler-colonial occupation as still the determining factor in the WBG labor conditions in general including females in labor market.

 

The Report provides good points around certain aspects of the Palestinian labor market and the roles of men and women in it, but it did not present a thorough analysis of these aspects: “According to Hammami (1998): the low female participation in the labor market is due to the weakness of the industrial sector, and the high unemployment percentage among males which oblige females to avoid competing with males when unemployment is high. And there is the family orientation towards agriculture which provides job opportunities for females only.”(p.98)

 

Neither the Report nor Hammami explains who is behind the weakness of the industrial sector, which are both ZAR and PSRA. It is hard to believe that women might avoid taking jobs where men are unemployed! When it comes to material and basic needs, neither females nor males will hesitate to compete for jobs. I think that Hammami here is more tied to a feudal or lineage mentality which is unable to stand against human needs in a capitalist formation. It seems that Hammami here ignores the material conditions and concentrates instead on the cultural aspect. As for families’ orientation towards agriculture to provide jobs for women, which is good in general terms, we see that both, male and female labor in agriculture, had declined due to the males’ neglect of agriculture and PSRA neglect of land reclamation, in addition to land confiscation by the Israeli occupation policies of confiscation and closure of the roads. The only agricultural area which attracts women is the informal sector is mainly centered on marketing activities rather than cultivation and producing.

What is the relationship between the failure of PSRA in not adopting a development policy and the failure of both occupation and the Donors as well?

 

Does it attribute to the Donors conditions that donations should be limited to services and tension offset, i.e. (the projects of the World Bank) and the industrial parks (zones) on the borders whose goal is dependency and “economic peace” as ZAR Prime Minister B. Netanyahu argues?

 

This needs another discussion.

 

Butma and Sutnik’s study (2007), mentioned in the same Report, shows that job opportunities are available for illiterate and high educated women more than those of average education… The percentage of employment rise between both, women who have no education and those who received higher education, compared to those who are semi-educated, means that the available labor market for women is polarized between uneducated and higher educated women which refer to the fact that this market suffers from structural problem. (p. 98)

 

Competition between the two women groups might not be correct that much, they are groups with no direct friction, or not at all, at least from the level of education, professionalism and class. The correct interpretation lies in the structural problem which stems from spontaneous development of the socio-economic formation as a whole that might be attributed to factors affecting them, i.e. the contradictions and intermingling between the needs of the society as a whole on the one hand, and forces that influence these demands and needs like PSRA, ZAR economy, Donors, NGO’s, private sector on the other. While these factors are united in their ideology of market ideology, they are divided by the self interests of each.  This comparison is an interesting point. As for those of higher education it is similar to what I noted in the restrictions that the chance of small group of getting jobs is good. But, the writers should have pushed their analysis forward to show that women of higher education represent a small percent and that this is the reason why they got job, in the beginning of the occupation and now. But this is not imperative in the long run. While it is right that peasantry women work in agriculture, the writers should have considered the facts on the ground in addition to percentages and numbers, meaning that even in rural areas female labor in agriculture is diminishing and that is the reason behind the decline of female participation in the labor market in general.

 

Both writers noted that there were vertical and horizontal discrimination in the Palestinian labor market, which did not welcome women employment, in addition the writers also indicated that the high fertility rate among Palestinian women is a passive factor against women labor. (p.98-99)

 

It is hard to believe that employers discriminate against female labor if they are able to do the same jobs with the same efficiency as men, especially if they accept lower wages. To read the situation from private interests, one can see that discrimination should be mainly in terms of wages, to avoid spending more and to guarantee higher rate of profit, but not to discriminate against women by employing males even if their wages is higher and even if women are able to do the same jobs with efficiency as well. The opposite is the right interpretation which is that families, when able, prefer to keep females far from work to avoid interacting with males. Here, I believe that the writers are exaggerating the cultural dimension.[4] The opposite might be right: that families prefer to keep women far from work motivated by culture of separating sexes, and even this as a cultural dimension is not eternal because the needs of needs, consumerism and higher living cost would pressure even conservative families to push women to seek employment and labor force in the market. The formal family “honor’ is unable to steadfast in front of material needs.

 

As for the high fertility rate, it must be noted that high fertility is not always the woman’s choice. It is mainly a result of local culture which considers women as a human reproductive machine. But why it is that, after 43 years of deliberate destruction of agriculture by ZAR and neglect of rural development from the side of PSRA, the peasant is still looking for more children? Is it because employment in ZAR encourages him especially before the colonial/expansion wall? Is it because Donors had replaced the employment inside the ZAR by financing the PSRA gigantic bureaucratic and security apparatuses? I mean here that these factors are encouraging fertility as long as they provide income that replaces the declined income generated from agriculture and transcend it, in addition, to the effects of a long time of land neglect during the period of occupation. There is no evidence that all women prefer to have several children. Moreover, high fertility itself might play in the long run as a push, and not a pull, factor for female participation in the labor market as family needs expand as men fail to satisfy them.

 

The Report  noted that “[…]male and female participation in labor  declined during the years 2001-2002 as a result of the Israeli hard fist policy, while it is always expected that women labor must increase to minimize male burden when they suffer unemployment. But this never took place due to the tough conditions Palestinians had to endure during the Intifada and the restrictions imposed on Palestinian citizens’ ”.

These interpretations are right, but, they ignore another important reason. Let’s go back to the other restrictions, like PLO and PSRA lack of development strategy, their policies and finally culture. The years 1993-2001 presented a good opportunity for PSRA to start a development plan to create new jobs in the productive sectors, especially industry and agriculture. What happened was just the opposite, i.e. corruption and nepotism. In addition to that, ZAR, as mentioned above, did not respect its commitments in Paris Declaration which stated that Israel will accept 100,000 Palestinian workers to continue working inside Israel. This never happened. While for a country to depend on another one to employ its labor force is considered a deformity, this employment became vital for a country which did not draw a development strategy. Some might argue that it is impossible for a colony to draw a development policy under settler colonial occupation, which is to a large extent right, but the same PA regime never tried to challenge ZAR occupation to respect its commitments or to dissolve PSRA. In other words, PSRA insistence to maintain ‘power’ under occupation became a cover and excuse for the occupation, whether PSRA meant it or not![5] Does that mean that there is harmony between the several determinants, a functional division between PSRA and ZAR at the level of the social structure of accumulation? The reply is why not as long as it is a class issue. This reminds us of the fact that the so-called peace is the peace of capital which is a triad of local, Zionist and international components. One of its obvious manifestations is the Israeli-Palestinian Business Counsel.[6]

 

The Report noted that the age group (15-24) in labor market between males and females is declining in comparison to all world countries. In year 2000, male participation 52.2% and decline from 2003-2007 to 44%, and it attributed this to the economic decline which made participation in labor force slow and limited. (P 99-100)

The Report attributed that decline to the restrictions of Zionist occupation, which is right. But, to go back to the determinants I mentioned earlier, we find other reasons that contribute to the mentioned decline: the broken local capital/labor equation, i.e. that local capital is expected to absorb local labor in a healthy national economy. The private sector did not decide to open jobs for the surplus labor and new laborers who reach annually the age of work despite the continuous support to that sector and the long false writings, especially from the World Bank (WB) about its pioneering role. The Palestinian dependency on occupation to employ a substantial number of their workforce is a defect, not an advantage. It is a dependency. But at the same time not a guaranteed dependency, not because of economic obstacles or inability of the occupation economy, but also due to political/national contradictions, i.e. the occupation’s strategy leads to the deterioration of the Palestinian economy aiming at people would, as much as possible, leave their Homeland. This confirms time and again that peace for ZAR is actually another version of war.

 

Higher education for females (13 years of education and more) is a guarantee for gaining jobs, while middle-level education (1-9 years) is a source of employment for males (Report p.100). These trends might be a result of the current changeability and not positive transformation of the society. It might negate the above mentioned point that discrimination is taking place against females in the market, that some people prefer higher educated females at least because of their readiness to accept lower wages. In addition, there are new forms of jobs in the society that requires female labor, which is the expansion of the service sector in education, banking, tourism…etc.

 

As for males, business/workshops /industrial level play a role considering that factories might need males of middle education, car repair shops, carpenters, blacksmiths…etc while universities and colleges are already saturated because there are lots of educated males who already fill the gaps, and even under harsh competition with females for their posts. The deduced lesson here is that a planning and development center is necessary to make some balance of society needs and to amend and change the haphazard professions which blindly led the economy and society. Some sort of planned, or indicative economy is necessary. The PA policy of open market seems closer to pro chaos than a liberal one.

 

On page 102, the Report refers to the effects of discrimination on females entering the labor market where they are employed in service and agricultural sectors, not in other sectors which are issues that influence their decision for participation in the labor market. It is important to note that this might be real in the service sector but not in agriculture where their employment did not take place on a systematic fashion because they are included in family labor or self-employed in agriculture on the one hand, or in rural areas which are under the influence of patriarchal structure that absorbs some of them traditionally but not on the basis of market competition, on the other.

 

In page 101, the Report stated that: “[…] the labor market sectors that are open for women are restricted to the service sector which requires women with higher education and also the agricultural sector where education is not a prerequisite for those who participate in it”.

 

This might stem from deformity in the economic structure of the WBG as long as there is an expansion in the service sector, which absorbs female labor, in parallel with a decline in the agricultural sector and no expansion in industrial sector. A large part of the service sector expansion might stem from the increase in foreign and NGOs organizations many of which concentrate on female labor. Considering that the agricultural sector did not require labor with high education, this is not a comparative advantage in the WBG economy. Agriculture and agro-industry are considered sciences now! Family agricultural labor deserves more attention and its increasing feminization must push for more education and training for women, on health awareness, training in family farm and gardening…etc. This is related to what is mentioned in the same page of the Report  (p 101) that high fertility rate made it difficult for women to go to labor market and made it more accessible for widows and divorced or single women …etc. This change in female labor market must take in consideration that those new laborers did not choose to be in their current status which makes this vulnerable advantage. Accordingly, access and special facilities must be available for better training and education for women as heads of families.

Another point that requires further clarification and analysis in the Report is the increase of female labor in agriculture in the north of the WB. This is related to the migration of male labor to the middle of the WB especially to Ramallah as the center of PSRA. This migration led to a deformed expansion of the city. It is at least, traditionally and culturally difficult for single women to migrate even to Ramallah. This is a comparative advantage, for males that neither stem from the so-called gender /masculine superiority, nor from better qualifications. This needs a new economic policy to find jobs in other parts of the WBG to avoid haphazard migration. The increase of female labor in the north can be attributed to the nature of the land which is not as rocky as the areas in the centre of WB, i.e. Ramallah and Jerusalem. Fertile soil encourages people to cultivate as long as its productivity is market competitive to generate good rent.

 

However, it is not clear in the Report (p.102), whether it addresses the employment percentage of males and females in the age group of 15 and older in general or specifically in the year 2007.  Either way, the Report deals mainly with percentages and not with numbers. This might hide the real size of the unemployment problem. Numbers are better indicators that can inform us how many human beings are suffering as heads of families and/or families themselves.

 

The Report states in p. 102 “that women enter labor market to be employed in service and agriculture sectors, not other sectors, a fact that influence their decision to participate in labor market”. It is important to indicate that this could be the case in the service sector, but not in agriculture, because women are not hired, they are rather family or self-employed in agriculture on the one hand, and in rural areas they are already under the influence of that patriarchal structure which absorbs part of them traditionally not on market competitive basis, on the other.

 

The Report also refers to discrimination against women in job positions of decision making like directors and legislators where women are less represented. It indicates that women have better opportunities in the education and health sectors (p.104). This can be attributed to the dominant ideology, male domination and the structure of the regime.

 

The Report refers again to decrease of women labor in agriculture because of the ZAR land confiscation, the siege imposed on cities and villages and the construction of the colonial/expansion wall. It stresses that rural women labor in agriculture gradually ends on the shoulders of old women (p.104). That is right, while also some old men are in the same category. But, this phenomenon can be better tackled by encouraging rural young women, who are usually educated to work in family farms and gardens. This might be practical if a local bank decides to open a development window of opportunity to lend those women small business loans to develop plots/gardens to plant basic food needs.

 

One might accept from the Report   that agriculture is an additional source of income, as noted previously,  not a main one and that agriculture provides unpaid jobs for women, a fact that refers to informal employment of women. (p.105)

 

It is not logical that agriculture is an additional source of labor and income in every country. The case of WBG is, to a large extent, far from what the Report pretends, because it is still a country of no real industrial base, undeveloped, to jump to become an economy of services or even to Casino Economy according to tremendous passive indications. In other words, if Casino Economy is more likely to take place in a semi-developed economy, the case of the WBG is a colonized underdeveloped economy, a reality that blocks even this poor alternative unless it first benefits ZAR. Moreover, agriculture in the WBG should not be considered as an additional sector because of several reasons:

 

·        the country’s need for food security;

·        the availability of idle labor force that should be employed in agriculture,

·        the protest from some healthy conscious elites who raise awareness about the quality of Israeli agricultural exports to the WBG that proved many times to be unhealthy,

·        and because land cultivation is a national duty and a goal to stand against land confiscation of land by ZAR.

As for equality, table 1.4 page 106 of the Report explains that 12.8% of women work for themselves from the total of all working women in WBG, while the percentage among male workers is 26.8. This had attributed to male domination in both, culture and law of inheritance and traditions which did not implement that law especially when the issue is related to land. It must be noted that this percentage does not tell much because the matter is not the number of projects but its capital, technology, size…etc.

 

The Report  states “…that the reason behind women’s occupation of most of unpaid works is the fact that Palestinian society considers women labor as an additional and supernumerary or complement to family income”. (p. 106)

 

This is a debatable issue. Why it should not be due to the lack of paid-wage labor, or the low level of capitalist development in the country, or the lack of demand in the labor market, it is true that the society, the economic/political/cultural leading elite did not count women’s domestic and family farm work as a labor producing/creating value. This issue must be discussed at a broader level, i.e. women rights to equality.

One positive indication quoted from the UN Economic and Social Counsel indicates that women in 30 rural communities decided to look for job opportunities even if this will cost them to travel and stay far from their dwellings and family needs. This issue deserves examination to check if the women concerned here took in deed this step or not and how did their communities behave towards this decision? We must differentiate between women willingness to be free in all aspects of life, and their implementation of what they believe constitutes their rights. The same report shows that most of them found non-waged jobs in their communities in the area of agriculture and some of them found jobs in textile, two sectors that fall under the informal sector.

 

As for the women from 30 communities who declare their readiness to travel looking for jobs (migrate alone), I would like to note here that ordinary people might declare some courageous ideas in front of cameras and foreign journalists or researchers, though they might never try to apply their commitment for what they say they believe in. The result will be biased. The Report did not inform us about the ownership of the textile workshops where women find work, whether these belong to Israelis through sub-contractors or to the locals.

 

Public or Governmental Sector

 

The Report stated that in 2007, the public sector provided 23% of work opportunities for females and 24% for males in the WB, and 39%, and 17% respectively in Gaza. In fact this is not a public, but a governmental sector because it employs people in a bureaucratic not-productive apparatus. Many Palestinians mix public sector as projects employ workers in productive working places managed by state, and jobs in governmental ministries. The governmental sector is a main, or might be the main, source of employment in both WBG.  It is right that this governmental role is at the cost of the private sector. The question is why does the government replace the private sector through non-developmental and unproductive activities, and why is it that the regime did not build productive public sector? Moreover, why the donor countries finance large bureaucratic apparatus, but not a productive one? This puts on the table the whole economic policy of the PSRA and the policy of the political “donations” of donor countries.

 

Wage discrimination mentioned in page108 of the Report against females proves that it is an issue of material interests more than being merely cultural. It is motivated by deeper exploitation of females, and it is encouraged by a large supply of female labor as well. One might find some contradictions in the Report which states in previous pages that high educated females find jobs easily. If there is discrimination based on sex reasons, then females shouldn’t get jobs even if they are highly educated except in places that are obliged to employ females only if it is there! These places are not very common in the WBG, especially prior to the last few years.

 

While the Report refers heavily to role of the Israeli occupation in all aspects of life, mainly economy, it did not mention the occupation regarding the depreciation of wages which consume the wage purchasing power and its increases (p. 109).   My point here is relevant to the WBG economic dependency on ZAR economy, especially in terms of export/import which heavily influences trade relationship between the two, ZAR and WBG. The complexity is that the WBG market is formally and practically open for AZR products since the PA stopped boycotting AZR products following Oslo Accords, and it is easy for smuggling as well. But ZAR market is tightly protected from WBG products, especially the agricultural ones. This resulted in a unification of most commodities prices, as long as the source is the same which is either ZAR or other countries which are determined only by ZAR. This means that the cost of commodities is the same in the two areas, but the wages are not! The per capita income in ZAR is around $24,000, while in the WBG it is around $1.200! If the WBG economy is independent from ZAR, prices will be lower at least because WBG will be free to import cheaper commodities from other countries, not to say that the society will develop an internal local law of value more related to the local standard of living in the country and Arab region, and less sinking in the law of value on world economy. This was the experience of the first Intifada.

 

Informal Sector

 

The informal sector is a world phenomenon on the one hand and globally feminized on the other. It is there in the center and periphery. It takes different shapes and is always justified even in countries of the capitalist center more than the periphery.

“Most of the house-work is founded in the informal sector, even though the goods that are produced may be marketed or used by some of the biggest companies in the world. House-workers usually work outside the protection of the law. Some countries, such as Philippines, Portugal and Italy, have a specific law covering house-workers, but it is rarely implemented. In others countries, such as UK or the Netherlands, there is no specific law[7]”.

 

What the Report refers to about women in informal sector is right: that this sector is feminized. The Zionist siege and colonial/expansion wall accelerate its expansion as they add more men to the public/governmental sector.

 

There are several factors in the WBG that encourage and even push women towards informal sector, dependency on the ZAR economy, de-industrialization, weakening of agricultural sector, the siege, the colonial/expansion wall…etc. While this sector became a reality in the WBG economy, it seems that intentions do not exist to deal with it properly. Trade unions must consider people in this sector and attempt to organize them. The same must be the goal of women organizations especially the feminist. It is questionable why the so-called development agencies and organizations did not try to support those who work and depend on this sector through loans, training, and to defend their rights especially against exploitation. This failure opens the way for estimation that the ceiling of these agencies and organization is conditioned by the limits that are imposed by Donor countries and NGOs.

 

Additional Points

 

Through analysis of indicators in this Report based on facts and determinants, it is clear that despite the weak improvement of female employment in the WBG, female chances and contributions to the labor market are still marginal. What made female situation in the labor market difficult is that it affects more the young generation of females 14-25. This might represent a challenge for feminist organizations and local and foreign NGOs: why do they, in most of their activities, concentrate too much on reprimands and bereavements more than working women?  Why some of them pay for training women in the art of negotiation with ZAR as the Miftah NGO is doing.[8]

Moreover, why civil society organizations in general, feminists, females themselves, and males as well do not protest against the inhumane conditions of the majority of women. This uncovers a bitter fact that this situation became an accepted phenomenon to a great extent in the WBG!

 

The concentration of jobs for females in certain sectors of WBG economy, beside their unavailability in most of other economic sectors, uncover a deep disarticulation in the sectors of the local economy on the one hand, and deterioration in the Palestinian women’s situation and rights on the other.

 

This problem is nationally dangerous because it encourages the young generation, mainly males to emigrate, which is a development that affects the economy and society because the economy is risking losing the young labor in both production and national struggle in a country that faces the national challenge of resisting a settler-colonial regime.

 

The higher unemployment percentage affects more women who have 13 and more years of education. This is a loss for the national economy which invests a lot in educating this group to remain idle.

 

In case of large male immigration, new jobs might be available for females, but according to the determinants, women will be under harsh exploitation and will have fewer rights as citizens and humans.

Labor market in Gaza is worse than that of the West Bank. This made a clear difference between the two parts of the country which might affect its national and social cohesion.

 

Finally

 

According to the determinants, there is no clear evidence of political and social trends inclined to support women participation in labor market as it is noted in the Report mentioned above (p. 113), despite the political decision from above or may be because of pressure from Donor’s policies which motivate normalization with ZAR or because many local political organizations and feminist groups are seeking assimilation with modernism and even post-modernism. For instance, the resolution from Palestinian cabinet 22-6-2009 to adopt a budget for gender ministry to follow up the commitment of Ministry of Women  Affairs and the completion of preparation of a unit for gender in all Palestinian ministries. In general, there are two approaches to deal with women rights regarding equality and emancipation:

 

·        Development by popular protection, a model of resistance that contradicts colonized dependent formal economy. This approach has been betrayed after Oslo Accords and is out of the scope of this paper.

·        Economic policies of the PA which is in the sphere of improvement, reform, charity, Donors “support”, radical and liberal feminists, and political parties from Oslo camp…etc.

To improve the conditions of women workers in the labor market in terms of rights, equal wages, fair and adequate wages, and other rights, a new policy must be adopted by PSRA, trade unions, women organizations and political parties.

 

It is necessary to issue new laws to restrict and punish owners/managers of working places who discriminate against women and exploit them.

 

A campaign for the equal labor and rights between males and females should be led by Civil Society Organizations.

 

Development agencies in the WBG must provide training courses for women to lead both private and cooperative businesses. It is better if these courses are conducted to fit into a development plan, so as not to invest in courses for people who will be idle after the completion of their training.

 

A new credit scheme or bank should be initiated to provide loans to women wishing to start their own businesses, especially women who are trained on special components of a national development plan.

 

More attention should be paid to media to initiate programs on women right for equality. These programs must be conducted on continuous basis, and not randomly.

The Report noted that because of the high fertility rate among women in the WBG, more attention should be paid to infants and children, such as kindergartens so as to enable women to go to work (p.113). But, the issue of fertility itself must be discussed: what is better for women health and role in labor to continue the WBG high birth rate or to restrict it. Yes, a campaign of encouraging relatively late marriage age will help at this level.

 

The same applies to the point on page 113 of the Report for part-time jobs, which are good for women with children in a society were males did not share females in child rearing, home work…etc. This point must be analyzed deeper to explore whether part-time jobs provide suitable income for those mothers? In this context, a cultural campaign must be conducted to motivate and encourage males to take part in home-work including and along with child rearing.

 

It should be noted that PA, political parties, grassroots organizations and donors who agree to deal with local priorities, must work jointly and control each other mutually. This might require the establishment of a joint counsel for enhancing women’s rights in general and to work out, in particular, the issues that are highly needed in the WBG.

 

Briefly speaking, as Mao Tse Tung argued good designed laws and nice wishes cannot be delivered without a keen and continuous follow-up from each part that is in charge of any sector of economy and society.

 

A practical follow-up in the WBG in general requires the establishment of a center or institute for Planning & Development. This center must be independent from all power influences so as to analyze the situation in a free manner to be able to initiate development policies and plans for the majority.

 

The main issue remains to what extent there is a chance and possibility to proceed towards real equal rights and real emancipation for women in all aspects of life in the WBG and for the entire society. While this does not fall under the scope of this paper, it is really debatable whether this goal can be achieved in a country that is under settler-colonial occupation which remains the main challenge and contradiction and the determinant factor of all aspects of life in the WBG.