Zed Books Employing the Enemy: The Story of Palestinian Labourers on Israeli Settlements

How would it feel to build homes on land stolen from you? This bitter toil is the daily reality for many Palestinians. Currently, thousands of Palestinians are working in, and building, illegal Israeli settlements. This work entails a rejection of their legal rights, little to no job security, low wages and dangerous working conditions. Through a vivid and moving narrative, based on many conversations with these workers and their families, Matthew Vickery explores the rationale, emotions, thoughts and consequences of such employment. In doing so, he draws attention to a previously neglected aspect of the Palestinian experience and Israeli subjugation. This, coupled with an innovative and ground-breaking analysis of the Israeli governments role in the settlement employment sector, exposes the true nature of these practices as a new, insidious form of state-sponsored forced labour. Exploring how such practices might be challenged, Employing the Enemy paints a powerful picture of how and why people collude with their own oppression, and why a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict which provides dignity and rights for all is so urgently needed. Review ‘Vickery convincingly illuminates a little known aspect of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank - the exploitation and abuse of Palestinians so desperate for work that they take underpaid and humiliating jobs in Israeli settlements.’ Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights‘The story of Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements is not well known. This book tells it with candour and vividness. Essential reading for those who want to understand the true extent of Israel's domination of the Palestinians.’ Ghada Karmi, author of Return: A Palestinian Memoir‘Provides a vivid exposition of the material struggles and moral dilemmas faced by these workers, as well as the ways in which their labour produces its own small, steadfast gestures of resistance.’ John Reynolds, author of Empire, Emergency and International Law'A forensic and humane study of Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements, Vickery's book is a much-needed resource on a complex issue.' Ben White, author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide'Employing the Enemy provides fascinating insight into issues that are usually only available to the NGO readership … easy to read, extremely thought provoking and should be read by anyone interested in the structural hardships imposed on the Palestinians living in the West Bank.'Palestine Square'Vickery writes clearly and movingly about the lives and conflicts of the people that he met … it draws such a clear and concrete picture of the injustices that are being suffered by the Palestinian workers and of the direct and premeditated role played by the Israeli government in creating this situation.'Jews for Justice for Palestinians About the Author Matthew Vickery is a journalist and researcher covering conflict, human rights, and workers rights issues. He has previously worked extensively in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine. He has written for, amongst others, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy Magazine, USA Today, Haaretz, Middle East Eye, and The Times. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Employing the EnemyThe Story of Palestinian Labourers on Israeli SettlementsBy Matthew VickeryZed Books LtdCopyright © 2017 Matthew VickeryAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-78360-995-6ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, Introduction, PART I: EMPLOYING THE 'ENEMY', ONE Employing the 'Enemy', TWO The middleman and the power of the permit, THREE Underpaid and underage, the child workers of the valley, FOUR Occupation's ultimate humiliation, FIVE The wretched of the Holy Land, PART II: EXPLOITING THE 'ENEMY', SIX Segregating the labour market, stifling the economy, SEVEN The creation of precincts of potential employment, EIGHT A reserve army of labour, NINE Sta