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The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories - Report of the Director-General

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Introduction

1. In accordance with the resolution concerning the implications of Israeli settlements in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories in connection with the situation of Arab workers, adopted by the International Labour Conference (ILC) at its 66th Session (1980), the Director-General again this year sent missions to Israel and the occupied Arab territories, as well as to the Syrian Arab Republic and Egypt, in order to make as full an assessment as possible of the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories (West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and the occupied Syrian Golan).

2. The Director-General's representatives were guided by the principles and objectives laid down in the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, including the Declaration of Philadelphia, as well as the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. The representatives were also guided by the resolutions adopted by the ILC, as well as the principles laid down in the relevant international labour standards and those enunciated by the supervisory bodies of the ILO.

3. In examining all the issues involved, both during the missions and in the preparation of this Report, the Director-General's representatives bore in mind, as they have always done, the relevant standards of international law, in particular, the Hague Convention of 1907 (respecting the laws and customs of war on land) and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 (relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war), of which Israel is a co-signatory. They were also mindful of the conclusion reached by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004, namely, that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, all ratified by Israel, are applicable in respect of acts done by a State in the exercise of its jurisdiction outside its own territory (ICJ, 2004).

4. As in previous years, the missions were also guided by the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, including Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).

5. The Director-General entrusted Friedrich Buttler, as his Special Representative, Tariq Haq, Employment Specialist in the Regional Office for the Arab States in Beirut, and Martin Oelz, Legal Specialist in the International Labour Standards Department, with the mission to Israel and the occupied Arab territories, from 18 to 25 April 2009. Mounir Kleibo, ILO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza, and Rasha El Shurafa, Programme Officer in the Office of the ILO Representative in Jerusalem, undertook all the preparations for the mission, of which they were full members.

6. Friedrich Buttler and Nada Al-Nashif, Regional Director for the Arab States, were entrusted with the mission to the Syrian Arab Republic on 26 April 2009 for consultations with the Syrian Government and with workers' and employers' organizations, and to Egypt on 27 April 2009 to meet with representatives of the Arab Labour Organization and the League of Arab States.

7. In the course of the missions, the Director-General's representatives held numerous discussions and meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Syrian interlocutors. They met with representatives of various ministries and institutions of the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel, workers' and employers' organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutions and community leaders. The missions also consulted representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations. For the first time since 2006, the Director-General's mission was able to visit interlocutors in Gaza.

8. The Director-General is most grateful to all the parties involved, and wishes to acknowledge that his representatives enjoyed the full cooperation of all parties, both Arab and Israeli, as well as of the representatives of organizations of the United Nations system, in obtaining the factual information on which this Report is based. He also acknowledges the full cooperation extended to his representatives by the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic, the League of Arab States, the Arab Labour Organization and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU). The written submissions received from the Governments of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as the ICATU, are acknowledged with thanks.

9. This Report takes account of information obtained on the spot by the missions mentioned above, as well as the documentation submitted by the missions' interlocutors and other documentation that is publicly available. In examining the situation of Arab workers of the occupied territories, the missions conducted their work with impartiality and objectivity.